Color Run Recap

As of yesterday, I am officially 6 weeks post op, and starting to feel more and more like myself each day. I'll get to that in a bit, but first I want to recap the color run that I wasn't even going to participate in. So as you my have already read, I was back at my house for Memorial Day weekend. My parents went to Canada, and so they dropped me off at my house. I still was unable to drive, so my friend, Melissa, so kindly picked me up to take me to the color run so I could see all my coworkers.

I had registered for the color run earlier in the year thinking that my surgery was going to be sooner than it was, so I honestly wasn't planning on running it anymore. The morning of the color run was sunny, but very cool, so I threw on a pair of my running tights, a long sleeve tee and a jacket to ensure that I would be warm enough watching my friends from the sidelines. Melissa, Sam and their friend picked me up around 7:30 and we were headed to the run. There was so much traffic, but that provided a lot of time for us to catch up. Once we finally got there and got parked, we met up with some of our friends. My friend Angie was already at the race, but no one could get ahold of her, so I was hoping we'd run into her at some point during the after party.

(Melissa and me before the run!)

I still wasn't planning on running, but Melissa asked me to run with her. Luckily, the week prior at my 3 week follow-up appointment my doctor said I could start working on my cardiovascular endurance. As you know I had been going for walks with my mom. So I agreed to do the run with Melissa, and we decided that we would do intervals. We joined the sea of people in the start corral at the race and slowly made our way to the front, and then we were off.

(The group before the race)

We started off slow and to the side of the course so the faster runners could get past us. This was my first time running since my surgery, so I was not out to break any records, and to be honest, I was worried how it was going to go. Before I knew it we were rounding the corner and running into the first color station. I was feeling great so far which was exciting considering surgery was a month prior, and I could remember a time when just walking around my house would increase my heart rate to >110 BPM.

We took our time doing run and walk intervals as we both needed them, and it was a lot of fun! It gave Melissa and I plenty of time to catch up, and I could hear about what was new at work. We rounded a corner, and started heading up a hill to a point where the race doubled back and we passed runners who were on their way back towards the finish. As luck would have it, I was watching the runners coming down the hill on the other side of the road and I saw Angie! I shrieked, "ANGIE!" She stopped in her tracks and I gave her a hug. I know I surprised her, I could tell by the look on her face. Melissa and I continued on, as I looked back and saw Angie giving me a look... A look of confusion. I would explain to her later, but I was so excited to literally "run into her". 

Melissa and I made our way through the course getting splashed with color, and it started to warm up. I had to admit, I was feeling great, and it really surprised me! It also seems like every year they change the course a little for the color run, which keeps it exciting. We were about a quarter mile from the finish, and a guy passed us holding a condiment bottle with orange corn starch in it. He looked us and said, "Oh hey, girls!" And then sprayed us with more orange color! Haha! We finally made it to the finish where they were throwing glitter on all the finishers. We made our way through the finishing chute, received our medals and each a bag of glitter and color to throw at the after party. Then weaved our way to the water table. It wasn't long before our friends finished, and we celebrated together by throwing our packets of color. 

Shortly thereafter, Angie did track me down and I was able to catch up with her, and explain why she saw me on the course.

We hung around the finishers party for about an hour before we decided to head out. By this time it was beautiful out, clear blue without a cloud in the sky!

6 Weeks Post Op:

It's hard to believe it's been 6 weeks since my surgery, the time has really flown by! Like I said, I'm feeling a little more like myself with each day. I still have some pain, but it's better than it was when I reported 2 weeks ago. The majority of the pain I have is on my right side in my pectorals. It's still a little painful to lay on my right side in bed, but I can for awhile. My incision is looking even better, and I think the Mederma may be helping. I've also been using the Mederma on the spot where they had an arterial line in my arm, and it's helped to reduce the appearance of where the sutures held the line in.

In other great news, I am also back at my home! I was given the go ahead to start driving again last Thursday! I'm not allowed to take long trips, but this works for me. As long as I can drive around town to do the things I need to do, that makes me happy. I'm slowly getting my independence back. I still have a few questions for my doctor which I will email in about this coming week. For now, I'm feeling pretty good, and happy things are progressing.

QOTD: Have you run a Color Run with friends? Do you have a favorite race you like to run with a group of friends?

Celebrate Miniature Milestones & Memorial Day Weekend

Sunday (5/24/15) marked one month since my surgery! It's amazing how quickly time has gone, and what has changed since my surgery. I last left off filling you in on my 3 week follow-up with my Cardiologist, which, if you read, went really well! If not, he said I could work my way back up to running, and start with some light yoga. I have yet to do any yoga, but last week I did sign up for a "New To Yoga" class at a yoga center, and that won't start until July. Mom and I have also been going for some brisk walks since I was "released" to increased my aerobic activity. As always, it feels great to get out and move in the fresh air.

This past weekend, my parents went to Canada for the long weekend, and so they dropped me off at my house. Words cannot describe how great it felt to be back in my home for 3 days! We drove to my house on Friday, and my parents left from there on Saturday morning. Since I am still unable to drive, I talked to my friend Melissa earlier in the week, and she said she would pick me up at take me to the Color Run, so I could see all my coworkers, and celebrate with them at the finish line as they came running through in a rainbow of color. I got up that morning, and put on some of my favorite running/yoga tights, a long sleeve shirt, and a light jacket. It was cold out that morning, and I knew I would be cold watching all the runners from the sidelines. Well, as it turns out, I decided to run with them!

(Color Run fun!)

I had registered for the run before I knew when my surgery would be, and then when surgery wasn't scheduled until April, I had thought there was no way I could do it. I figured if I took it easy, I would be fine. I'll recap the color run later, but I had a blast! After the color run, Melissa took me back to my house, and I spent the day relaxing. Since I had got up early to be ready for Melissa, I took a nap, and then spent the evening watching television and movies with Coco.

Sunday morning, Nita picked me up at 7 to take me to the Team RWB 21 Guns WOD With Warriors Crossfit event that one of our teammates was hosting at a local Crossfit. At the event the participants had to run 400 meters, do 21 push ups, 21 box jumps, 15 burpees, and 9 pull-ups, and keep cycling through the workout for a total of 21 minutes. Since I am unable to do any weight bearing exercise, I watched as all of my teammates pushed through the challenging workout (I know if I had done it I would have died). I was just so thankful to get out of the confines of my house and see my friends and meet some new people. Even just being able to talk to people was great - after being at home alone for 3 weeks, I'm starting to go a little crazy.

(2015 Team RWB 21 Guns WOD With Warriors. Photo Cred: Andrew Follett)

After 21 Guns, Nita and I went back to my house so I could change my clothes and grab some money, and then we ventured back to her house. She changed and then we went out to breakfast with her husband and their family that were in town. We hung out at her house for a few hours, then headed to the mall for a few hours. On the way back from the mall, we grabbed some Thai food for dinner, then Nita brought me home around 10. Definitely the busiest day I've had since my surgery, but it was A LOT of fun!

Monday morning I got up at my usual time, made my coffee and sat down to watch Live with Kelly and Michael. I've been setting my alarm for 8:45 AM to make sure I get up, and I've also been going to bed between 10:30 and 11 (most nights). Doing this is important to me for two reasons. One, so I wake on time to watch Kelly and Michael, and two, so when I do go back to work, I won't be completely exhausted because I've stuck to a certain schedule. I spent most of Memorial Day lounging around my house, until my parents got back from Canada. I sat out in the sun for a bit to read a Runner's World Magazine, then went inside to binge on Young and Hungry on Netflix.

Now that I've recapped my Memorial Day weekend, let's update on how I'm doing now that I'm one month post-op:

The Good: Celebrating miniature milestones everyday!

Increasing My Aerobic Activity:

As you know, I had been going on brisk walks with my mom. Now you know I ran/walked my first 5K this past weekend. Like I said, I'll get into that with my Color Run recap, but it was very exciting for me! (Celebrate Miniature Milestones)

Yoga:

I have not started doing any yoga yet, and I'll get to that below. As you know from above, I did sign up for a yoga for beginners class. That gives me something to look forward to for when I get back home. It will also help to increased my flexibility, which I'm certain the little bit I had (which wasn't much) I've lost.

Mederma:

I spoke to my surgeon on the phone last week, and he said as long as all the scabs from the incision were gone, I could start using Mederma on the incision to help reduced the appearance. I've never used it before, so we'll see if it really works. The scar this time around is not going to be as prominent as the one I had as a baby, so I'm not too concerned, but I figured why not try.

My Level Of Exhaustion:

This has begun to improve as well! For the first few weeks after my surgery, I would get up, have my coffee and eat breakfast, watch a few shows. Then after I ate lunch, I could barely keep my eyes open, and would need a nap. I no longer need a nap everyday, some days I still take one just because I can. [giggles] After talking to my coworker about it, she said it was completely normal, and to take the naps when I felt I needed them. It's all a part of the healing process, and I needed to listen to my body. She also told me last night, I needed to be knocked down like this because I was always on the go (which is true). I have a lot of energy for someone who is living with congenital heart disease, and going through this surgery and recovery has certainly tested my patience, but it's for the best. I told her to wait until I get back to work, I'm going to be like The Flash, and have all this new found energy! She said she already forewarned my coworkers that I'd be running circles around them, ha ha.

The Not So Good: I don't want to say bad because nothing bad has happened since the suspected Pulmonary Embolism incident a few weeks ago.

Sternal Aches And Pains:

I still have aches and pains in my chest. Honestly, I think my sternum itself has healed, it doesn't feel like pain from that. It's more musculoskeletal in nature. The pain that is currently nagging me the most is hard to describe. It's on my right side, and sometimes extends from my shoulder across my clavicle to the base of neck where the clavicle and sternum meet. Sometimes if I bend over to get something, I feel a sharp pain in my neck almost as if a tendon has snapped across a bone. It's truly the strangest sensation, and very hard to describe other than that. That is why I haven't started any yoga yet.
It's still hard for me to lay on my right side in bed without getting pain in my shoulder and chest (almost along the same area). I'm sure it's all a part of the healing process, but I'll talk to my doctor about this on Thursday when I call. What little chest pain I have is just the muscles still healing and getting settled. The nerves are still irritated as my chest is still sensitive to touch around the incision.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day and took at least a moment or two to honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

QOTD: What did you spend your Memorial Day doing? Were there any parades or festivals in your area?

Color Run Recap

I apologize for the delay in posting my Color Run recap from last weekend! The Color Run is also known as the happiest 5K on the planet, and justifiably so. I'm sure you've heard about it, but for those of you who may not have, the Color Run is an un-timed 5K in which participants run through various color stations along the 5K course and get doused in a rainbow of colors. The color that is tossed at you is not paint, but colored cornstarch. The Color Run in my area also benefits Teens Living with Cancer.

This past winter I asked a lot of friends and coworkers if they would be interested in running the Color run, and they all agreed it sounded like fun. So, last Saturday we all ran the Color run together! Before we could run, I had to prepare, and by prepare, I mean make tutus for my coworkers and myself!

(Cutting 11 yards of material required a glass of wine...)

(All the tulle finally cut)

(Starting to make progress on the tutus)

Cutting the tulle takes the longest when making tutus, but once that's done, looping the tulle onto the elastic goes fast. I found the instructions on pinterest through another running blog, and since then have made a lot of tutus for races!

(Who doesn't love a tutu?!)

Saturday morning finally rolled around and I was beyond excited to be running a race with so many friends and coworkers! I always get so excited when I can share my love for something with others around me. I rode to the Color run with 3 of my other friends - in the pre-race e-mail we received it said parking would be limited, so we thought it would be best to meet and carpool.

We all met before the race so we could try and stay together during the run. Of course we could not start the color run without taking some "before" pictures while we were all still clean in our white!

(Getting ready to run!)

(Melissa and me before her FIRST 5K!)

(Let's take a selfie!)

The race started, and we made our way into the starting chute. There were so many runners that they started the runners off in waves (which is typical to avoid congestion). Before I knew it we were off! Surprisingly the race went by SO quickly!! It honestly didn't feel like a 5K, but I think it was because we were all having so much fun running together that we were distracted from the actual running.

The course itself was nice, and it started and finished at the baseball stadium. The majority of the course was flat, and looped through some of the main streets in the city. The color stations seemed like they were spread out evenly along the course (as you can see by the course map below). You could tell when we were coming up on a color station as the air around the area was filled with that stations specific color. As I stated before, the color they toss at you is colored cornstarch, so what I told my friends that had not done the run before, it's best if you can hold your breath as you run through the stations. This way you're not inhaling a lot of the color.

(Source)

The one negative thing I do have the point out, was that the map showed two water stations along the course, but I only remember running by one. Not that it was super hot out, it was actually quite cool when we started the race, but it warmed up quickly, so I would have appreciated another water station.

After crossing the finish line of the race, the volunteers hand everyone a color packet, and you're invited to the post race color party. Last year I learned my lesson not to get caught in the middle of that. So this year my friends and I enjoyed tossing our color packets on each other. We were also given bottles of water (thank god!), and I think there may have been Kind bars, but I didn't grab one. 

(Post race color party)

(Gotta love a good action shot!)

A few of us ended up getting separated during the run, but we were all able to meet back up after the run. We hung around the post race party for a while singing and dancing, and this also gave us plenty of time for photos!

(With some of my wonderful coworkers)

(Melissa, Samantha and me)

 (Melissa and me after her first 5K - SUCCESS!)

(We're a colorful bunch)

A small forewarning if you are considering doing the Color run: your hands will more than likely be covered in the color, and the colored cornstarch will also seep through your sneakers and socks onto your feet. 

(Exhibit A - gross!)

The clean up is a little tricky. I scrubbed and scrubbed in the shower, and I could not for the life of me get all the colored cornstarch off my hands and feet. Over the course of the weekend the color finally washed off, but it took a little time. You will also need to clean color out of your ears and nose (gross, I know). 

I know people have mixed feelings about novelty runs like the Color Run for various reasons. Some runners don't like them because some novelty races are not timed (the Color run is not timed), they are too crowded, they think they're silly, the list goes on. Honestly, I think novelty runs like the Color Run are great, and necessary. While we were running, I noticed a wide variety of people participating in the race. There were runners of every age, every fitness level, and every shape and size. It made me really happy to know that races like the Color run encourage people to come out and have fun all while doing something good for themselves. All in all, if you don't mind crowds or getting a little messy, I highly recommend the Color Run, it truly is the happiest 5K on the planet. This was my second year running it, and I've had a blast both times!

QOTD: What's your opinion on Novelty races like the Color Run? If you've run the Color run before, do you have any tips for running the race, or tricks for cleanup after the race?

Memorial Day Weekend 2014

I can honestly say that this has been one of the best Memorial Day's I've had in a while. It was my first weekend spent at home in 7 weeks, the weather was perfect, and it was filled with friends and fun!

Friday I got home from work and had a package waiting for me! Unfortunately, it arrived like this...

(Seriously, is this how packages are "handled" these days?)

It was my Team runDisney shirts!! Fortunately, they arrived undamaged even though the package looked like it had traveled to hell and back.

(Yay for happy mail!)

I just love these shirts, I'll definitely have to order more in the future! Off topic, but I also need to order a Team RWB shirt and Sweaty Band when they're re-stocked.

Friday evening I went to see Godzilla, and it was amazing! I have never seen any of the Godzilla movies that have been out in the past, so I din't have anything to compare this one to. However, I'm not sure you could even compare this against the others, it was so good! I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't already.

Saturday morning was the Color Run, and I ran that with friends and co-workers (which I'll recap later this week). After the color run, my friend, Nita and I decided to grab a bite to eat. After last years color run we went to Moe's for burritos, but I think the race started earlier this year, as we were done before 9:30. So we decided on breakfast, and went to a Bruegger's. Thankfully, we were not the only two who had this idea after the Color Run. There were a handful of people in there splashed in a rainbow of colors from the run. During the time we were there, more color runners came and went. I opted for a plain bagel with plain cream cheese and a lemonade. Yummy!

I got home, and showered immediately to try and get all the color off. I could not for the life of me get all of it off my hands and feet (I'll post pictures of that in my Color Run recap). After my shower, it had warmed up and it was absolutely gorgeous out, so I went out on my deck to lounge with Coco and finish my lemonade.

(Notice how gross my toes still look from the color?!)

Coco had been grounded from her tennis ball for a few incidents that resulted in damaged furniture (and not just my own). I was feeling nice, and I decided that since we were outside I would give her a Tennis ball to play with, I figured there was nothing she could destroy outside. She was one happy poodle, fetch is her all time favorite game!

(Break time, it's hot out!)

Saturday afternoon I went to a friends house and we decided to drive out to the lake to have dinner and drinks. Not surprising, it was packed! There we no tables available, and they were all first come first serve, so we had to stalk out a table and wait. We were lucky enough to snag a table right on the water once a couple left, and our view for dinner was gorgeous!

(A girl could get used to this!)

Dinner was delicious, and we had a great time relaxing and catching up on life. We stayed there until dark, then decided to walk along the water to let our dinner settle.

Sunday I didn't have any big plans during the day, but a friend came over in the evening for dinner. We grilled steaks, and I also made pasta and cut up veggies for salad. Let me just say, I am not the world's greatest cook, but for my first time grilling steaks without my dads help, I did a pretty good job! After dinner we took Coco for a walk around the neighborhood I live in, and then watched a movie. A low key night, but it was just what I needed after being on the road the previous 7 weekends!

Yesterday I was supposed to go to a local park/beach, but those plans fell through. I can't complain though, I got a lot of work done around the house, and it felt great! It opened up the rest of the week to do things in the evening, which are actually filling up quickly!

QOTD: How did you celebrate this Memorial Day weekend? Did you kick off the weekend with a race or training run?