The struggles, the good news, and the good(est) news!

Hey! I am back! It's been a crazy month ... the craziness has not extended to running alone. I was out of town for a week at the end of March to go to Atlanta to take a Vestibular Rehabilitation Certification course. It was intense! I loved all of the things that I learned, but the skills check offs in front of the experts of all experts were nerve-wracking. I had to do canalith repositioning maneuvers in front of Susan Herdman, the queen of Vestibular Rehab. It nearly sent me into a stress related Crohn's flare ... oh, man. That was fun. I am glad I took the course, but I was so glad to be done and come home to my hubby, my kitties, and my own bed!!

As far as running goes, I have continued my Mini Marathon training. It is about 3 and half weeks away and approaching quickly. I started to have some of my 2nd toe issues again. It feels like I am stepping on  a rock at times. I normally feel it at the start of runs, then it fades out some. I feel it more when I have been standing for long periods of time, actually. Alex did some dry needling to my calf and my anterior tibialis muscle. My calf felt like it had been punched the rest of the day! It felt better afterwards. I am not feeling the numbness so much, but still have that stepping on a rock feeling at times. I can manage it, but I may end up needing to get it checked out again (most likely after all of my training for the Mini and the Tinkerbell Half). Right now, I am taking some anti-inflammatories, not wearing tight shoes, taking off my shoes when I don't need them on, and trying to be good about icing. This is the struggle part of the title, but it's one I can manage!

I did the Indy Miler Series 10 Miler run on 4/8/17. I was very pleased with how it went! I had spent the week before in Atlanta, so I was not sure how I would feel. I felt pretty good and managed to run a 1:22:09 - 8:13 min/mi pace. It was good enough for 24th woman overall! It was a little chilly start, but it felt good by the end of the race. I enjoyed the course, it gave us a great chance to run through so much of downtown Indy. At mile 8, the course went past the new cat cafe!!! I was so tempted to stop :) I guess I just have to go some other time when I am not running. Since I ran all 3 of the miler series runs, I got a medal at the end of this run! And I did not forget to get my M&M cookie this time. After this run, I feel a little better prepared for the Mini coming up. I am not anticipating a PR, but if I can run like I did last Saturday, I am hoping to have a very solid run!

My medal for finishing all 3 miler series runs!

10 Miler Finish Line - a beautiful day downtown!

And now ... for the best news! So, I randomly entered a contest that I saw on Facebook that was related to the Mini. I checked my email the other day ... and you know what? I won! You want to know what I won? Yes ... you do! I was chosen as one of 50 people who will get to do a shake out run the day before the Mini with the one, the only ... MEB! MEB Keflezighi!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I can't believe it! I am so excited! My Wednesday running buddy, Danielle, also gets to do this. We chatted about our excitement this morning :) I will be sure to let you all know, in detail, how this goes.

And .. that's all for now! I will try to be better about updating in a more timely fashion with continued Mini training updates and/or personal posts. I am still working on a Crohn's story post, as well. Have a beautiful week, friends!

Reggie!!!!