It's Been A While - An Update!

Hello hello hello! 

LONG time no "see"! I have good reason, I promise and I have several new blog posts coming in the next few weeks. Boy, I've missed this! 

I figured since it's been so long, a little update was in store. My area of the world has been through a whirlwind of a past few months (if you follow me on instagram, you know what I mean) and I do plan on sharing more on our "life" during the storms and after in future posts. I love where I live and have absolutely no intention of moving, but this year has been a doozy on all of us. First corona and shut downs, then hurricane season...I'm more than a little ready to move beyond this time in our lives!

Hurricane Laura impacted my hometown and personal home back on August 27th (also my birthday - and one I'll never forget)! Three weeks later, Hurricane Delta hit our coast just 12 miles from where Hurricane Laura made landfall. Thankfully, we had no additional damage to our home from Delta, but a lot of friends and neighbors did. It's sad to drive around and see devastation everywhere. Even now, two and a half months since the storms and things still look rough and likely will for a long time. Debris litters the roadways, homes have blue tarps on their roofs, exposed beams, or no roofs at all. In several instances, only a concrete slab remains where a home once was. Some say it's going to take years to get back to "normal".  To top all of this off, the insurance companies have made the struggle of repairing homes insane and ridiculously difficult. I don't want to get into it all here, but there are facebook group after facebook group that describe the over the top struggles we are having to face, just to get our homes repaired. Yes, I realize insurance companies are a business, too...but y'all, these cases are just downright absurd. 

My intention for this wasn't to be all doom and gloom, but I wanted to paint a picture of our current situation - this is literally where we are at in this place in our lives. Yes, we still function. Yes, we still continue on with our lives, work, church, etc because it's our "community" that is so important - we need each other in these hard times. And yes, there is still a lot laughter. :) 

Needless to say, my running groove has taken an impact since the storms as well. Downed fences means lots and lots of stray animals. Debris in the roadways means sometimes only once car can pass and it's just simply not safe. Jason works at an oil and gas refinery and they have spent countless hours in the past two months trying to get everything back up and running so the rest of the US can carry on as normal. This means he hasn't been home as much and running consistently with a 40+ pound four year old isn't my idea of a fun time, especially with the roadways as they are. Thankfully, Jason's schedule has slowed down a lot and I am just now (this week) seeing more opportunities to run so YAY for that!

As far as damage to my personal home - we are going to need a new roof, new soffit/fascia around a lot of our home, new window screens, a new sing set, repairs to our shed, new deck rails, and a new chimney on the roof. We finally have everything set in motion, we are currently on a list, waiting for our turn for repairs. In the grand scheme of things, our damage was SO minimal and I'm grateful for that. It truly is sad when you drive around town and witness some of the damage others homes have sustained. 

On a positive and incredibly random note, we are still planning on going to WDW in February on what should have been the Princess Half Marathon weekend. I'm also still planning on running the races around the resort property so that should be fun! Our plane tickets were officially purchased last night! Anyone else still traveling to WDW during that week?

Well, there's my update! I'll be back with more from Halloween shindigs to belated birthday celebrations, evacuating for hurricanes, Brayden 4.5 year update, and more! 

As always, if you'd like to stay up to date with our current lives, you can follow us over on instagram!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! 

Friday Life Update

Well, it's been a little while and it's mainly because my computer has been down for the count. We aren't sure what happened to it, but it had to be wiped and re-booted from scratch and I still don't quite have all of my programs up and running again. It will be soon, though!

Since we haven't "spoken" in a while, I thought I'd give a little update on how life is going in these parts here lately!

-It's STILL hot. Although the early mornings and late evenings are starting to slowly cool down, it's still oh so hot outside during the day. Hopefully we will have a true fall day here soon. Scratch that - I just heard our meteorologist say that although the first day of fall begins on Monday, it won't feel like it all week. Ah well, one can dream, right?

-My. Child. Is. Growing. Like. A. Weed. He officially turns three and a half next month and it's amazing to watch him grow. His brain seriously soaks up information like a sponge and I'm just amazed at all he's learned (and remembers). Seriously, if you ask him our room number from our June Alaska cruise, he remembers it! His speech has significantly improved since last fall, too. Watching videos from last year at this time makes me scratch my head over the improvement. Every day, we are so thankful for our rowdy, sweet, sensitive, mickey mouse and water puddle loving little boy!

-Physical Therapy. It's still going. Hamstrings are just so slow to heal and although I'm getting there, progress seems so slow sometimes. In the past 12 weeks, I've run one-1 mile run and three-2 mile runs. That's it. For someone who has spent the past 11 years as a runner, this is tough. I know it's necessary, but it's tough. After a little discussion with my PT, it was suggested that I try a treadmill run instead of an outside run, so I did. Thinking about the mechanics of the treadmill vs the ground makes sense and it worked - I didn't have any residual stiffness the following day and I didn't feel as if it set me back. So, I'm going to attempt another 2 mile treadmill run this Saturday to see where I'm at. For the record, I'm not going fast or hard with this and I'm listening to my body the entire way. If I feel anything at all, I stop. The road to recovery is a strange one to say the least and all of my "running" has been physical therapist directed. Hopefully I'll be up and "running" for real, soon.

-Since y'all know I can't sit still - with three months of not running, do you think I've been sitting on the couch watching TV all day? No. Apart from working and spending time with my family, I've cleaned out my entire house from top to bottom. The entire attic (minus Christmas boxes) was sorted through and items were donated or thrown away. Then, my entire house-room by room-drawer by  shelf and container was gone through and cleaned. Items were also either donated or thrown away. Every room also received a thorough clean (including under the beds). I'm sure y'all feel me when I say a good purge feels amazing!

I hope life has been treating all of you just fine! A great way to keep up with our life on a more consistent basis (if you're interested in keeping up with us) is over on instagram. I've also recently published several videos from our August Disney World trip over on YouTube. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!! Stay kind, friends!

Physical Therapy Update (Hamstring Injury)

If you've been a follower over here on the blog or on instagram for any length of time, I'm sure you've noticed my lack of participation in Orangetheory, week day runs, and long runs. Well, the reasoning behind this lack of fitness is not entirely my own.

For a while now (and I mean a long while now), I've been experiencing issues with my right hamstring. It would become irritated, bother me, I would rest/ice it, then it would feel better and I would move on. This cycle occurred once every couple of months, but it definitely continued. After some time had passed, I noticed that the interval between "flareups" was becoming shorter and shorter before one day, the pain stopped going away and began to travel higher - above my hamstring - and started to cause leg stiffness. I decided I would take a 2 week break from running (after Mayhem at Orangetheory was over) and mostly rest while on our cruise - with the exception being National Running Day because...hello, I can't miss that day.

My leg mostly felt ok on the cruise until our formal night when I was trying to waste time and chased Brayden up and down several flights of stairs for 45 minutes in heels. (Dumbest move, ever.) On National Running Day, I ran 2 miles around the ship and although I definitely enjoyed the run, that nagging pain was in my leg the entire time which also led to leg stiffness for the next day or so. It was only then that I decided to push my stubbornness out of the way and call my ortho. They were able to fit me in the following week and before I knew it, I had an order for physical therapy in hand!

Starting on a new physical therapy journey with an entirely new (to me) PT was scary and exciting all at the same time. Lucky for me, the one I chose is a runner, and her office is literally located down the hall from my work space! When I tell you this scenario literally could not have worked out more perfect, I seriously mean it!

This physical therapy center is setup in a one on one type manner. Basically, I have the undivided attention of my physical therapist for the entire 45 minute session and it's wonderful! She focuses on deep tissue, cupping (ouch), and proper technique.

What type of work does she have me doing? Well, on the first day, she introduced the...(insert ominous music here)...theraband...and I actually groaned out loud. For those who attend Orangetheory, I'm sure you feel me on this one! I always avoid theraband days if I can - which is probably why I landed myself in this boat in the first place! Note to self - do not avoid Orangetheory theraband days in the future!

Most of my exercises are centered around glute strengthening and alignment. The body working in a criss-cross manner seriously still blows my mind but I definitely see it here! It amazes me how a muscle weakness on one side of the body can cause the opposite side to overcompensate which then leads to the boat I'm in...injury.

Interestingly enough through all of this - my IT Band has not bothered me AT ALL which is amazing to be honest!

I've officially made it to the 6 week mark of a running/Orangetheory break which also means I've completed 6 weeks of physical therapy thus far. How am I feeling? Well, I the pain has gotten a LOT better. Although the pain is still there, it's not even close to the scale it was prior to starting with PT. I saw my ortho last week for a follow up and he was encouraged with my progress. He re-certified me for an additional round of PT and I'm so grateful! Hopefully with a few additional weeks of visits and strengthening, I'll be able to start running again slowly and we will see where that leads!

I also realize that hamstrings are quirky and can become re-injured at any time. Keeping up with this strength training is going to be ever important for me as I continue on with my running journey. I'm ready!!

So tell me, have you ever dealt with a running related injury? How did you overcome it? Anyone else have a successful hamstring injury story? 

Today, I'm also linking up with KookyRunner and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics!