A Hurt Ankle, Eggplant and an Award

So much has been going on lately, I feel like an awful blogger. 

I haven't had a chance to update as much as I would like.

Bah!

Anyway, as you may or may not know, I recently started rehearsals for a new show. Yay! However, in this show, we have to tap dance. Boo! I have never tap danced before and so didn't have any tap shoes. One of my cast mates lent me a pair to use for rehearsal the other night (since mine were still being shipped to my house). It was very sweet of her, only problem was they were a bit too small. Needless to say, dancing in them for a few hours was not the smartest idea and I somehow managed to hurt my ankle. I woke up the next day and could barely walk on my right foot. It was even worse trying to go up and down the stairs. I iced it, put heat on it, wrapped it and elevated it. I also did some band exercises to strengthen the muscles a bit. It took 3 days but it's finally feeling a bit better. The only trouble I have is going down the stairs still. I'm just frustrated because I was all intent on doing my 10 mile run yesterday and it didn't happen. Luckily, I have most of my week days free this week so I can get in a ton of runs. YAY! Silver lining wins again.

Another fun thing I did was make a new eggplant recipe with my mom last night. It's a sort of stuffed eggplant parm. My mom got the recipe from WeightWatchers and we decided to try it out.

Voila!

Doesn't it look so yummy?!

It is supposed to be a sauceless meal (for those of us who can't eat tomatoes) but both my parents put sauce on theirs anyway and said it tasted just fine. If you want the recipe, feel free to email me for it. I'd be happy to share! (my email can be found in the sidebar of my blog page  <-----)

And now, I've been nominated by Meg O @Watch Me Go Run for the Butterfly Blogger Award !

So now I get to answer some more questions and you can get to know me a little bit better :)

1. Favorite Color: As if most of you don't know already, my favorite color is PINK!! I used to actually hate the color but it grew on me and now I can't get enough. Currently I am sporting neon pink painted toes, pink glittery fingernails, a pink watch, 2 pink bracelets, a pink purse and pink sunglasses.

2. Favorite Song: That's a tough one, I have a bunch of favorite songs. But, to narrow it down, I'd have to go with Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Every time I hear it, I can't help but sing a long! And I ALWAYS do the Wayne's World head bang with it! However, I will admit, Bohemian Rhapsody is not a good karaoke choice.

3. Favorite Dessert: Hmmm. I'm not generally into sweets but I do love key lime pie. Even better? Key Lime Pie ice cream. YUMMM.

4. What Wizzes You Off? Wizzes me off? Not sure what that means, but I guess it is asking what makes me angry. People who treat other people unfairly and people who mess with my friends and family. Those are my biggest pet peeves.

5.When You're Upset You: Usually listen to angry music and sing at the top of my lungs. It helps me release the tension. If that doesn't help, I usually will go to the gym.

6. You're Favorite Pet: Dogs are my all-time favorite pets. Especially my adorable dog Princess. She is a 13 year old, black and white shih-tzu. She is not a fan of the camera though so I don't have any photos.

7. Black or White: Like MJ once said, "It don't matter if you're black or white..."

8. Biggest Fear: Being a disappointment to my friends and family.

9. Everyday Attitude: Usually I'm pretty cheery and silly. Which is SO much better than the Negative Nancy I used to be.

10. What is Perfection? I think that perfection is contentment- and it's different for eveyone. When you can just sit back and be happy/content with yourself and everything that you are doing, that is when you have found your own perfection.

11. Guilty Pleasure: I love shopping. I'm quite a shop-a-holic. I especially buy tons of body care items (lotions, shower stuff, shampoo, make up), nail polish, scarves, purses, etc etc. I have a bad habit of sometimes spending money I definitely do not have. Oy.

Ok, so there you go!. Now, I get to tag some people:

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner

Kristin @ Hollywood Runs
Fruit Fly @ Little Fruit Fly in Rainbow Colored Socks

Amy @ Pumpkin to Princess

Kurt @ Becoming an Ironman

Preparing for Race Day and 25 Followers!

I'm slightly nervous but also very excited for tomorrow's race in Danbury. My ITB on my right leg has been a little stiff, but I've been stretching it out and heating it in hopes that it will be good to go for the 5k. My intent is to finish the 5k in 45 minutes or less. I'm being very generous with my PR. I truly think I can finish around 40minutes, but in case something happens, I'm giving myself a cushion of 5 minutes. (Aren't I just so nice?!) Chelsea is being a sweetheart and is coming to cheer me on (she's also going to possibly take some photos of me running, which should be hysterical to look at!... Which reminds me, I've got to charge my camera!) So, THANK YOU in advance to Chelsea! And wish me luck!!

I am a little sore because yesterday I fell through my parent's glass and wood coffee table. (How's that for a fun story?!) The night before, we had moved the coffee table back against the couch and pushed it so that it straddled the border between the living room and dining room. For those who read my cross training post HERE, you will notice its location in the photos.  Yesterday morning, the table was still sitting in it's new position, just in case we were going to dance again. I was sitting in the dining room on my computer, reading some blogs, when I noticed the time. I needed to get ready for work! So, I closed my laptop, pushed back my chair and stood up. Somewhere in that process, I managed to trip and fall backwards over, onto and into the coffee table. Have no fear- the table itself is fine; I only broke one half of the glass (and luckily did not get it embedded in myself). I'm going to have a nice bruise on my left leg, where my bum and leg connect, but otherwise I came away unscathed (so did the table really). 

Anyway, in other news..... 

I've reached 25 followers! HOORAY!

It is indeed time to celebrate!

YUMMY!

I remember one day, as we drove to work, mentioning to Kurt @ Becoming An Ironman that I was slightly down because it didn't seem like people were interested in my blog. I hadn't gotten a new follower in a while and no one was leaving comments. I wondered if my blog was too boring, too random, too amateur, or just plain silly for people to want to read and follow. He reminded me, in his Yoda like way that he has, that I originally started my blog for myself, and to keep writing for myself. When I said that, that is pretty much how I function, he advised me to perhaps go back through my blog and see what posts people commented on the most- then I could work from there. You have to understand, I truly do enjoy writing for my own benefit, it's nice to sometimes go back through and read about my experiences because perspectives shift over time. Something that might have been disappointing to me 2 months ago could seem insignificant now. However, I do love my followers: my followers and their comments are the cherries on my blog sunday. I have to be honest when I say it thrills me to know that people can relate to and appreciate what I'm writing about. It helps, especially on the "down" days, to have people leave comments showing that they support you and either have gone through or are going through the same sort of things. (Remember: Everyone has an "off" running day every now and again.)

So here is to all of my followers.... 

A super HUGE Thank You directly from me for taking the time to read  my blog where I bare it all and where you often share parts of yourself in return. It makes my day! 

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter! or a Happy Passover!

On an On, I Seem to Go On

So many things to update, so little time.
Friday was my rest day, thankfully, as I had a wedding to go to in New Rochelle, NY (which is about an hour and a half from where I live). Needless to say by the time I got home, it was very late at night (or early in the morning, depending upon how you wish to look at it). I had to get up early to work, and after standing on my feet for 5 hours, I had to do my long run of 60 minutes.

On the up side, the weather was rather Spring-ish (in the 50's) and I went running with my buddy Chris. The park was packed with people and cars, but we managed to do 4 miles in an hour. Yay! We even managed to impress an older woman who was sitting in her car. She rolled down her window and asked how many time we were planning to go around the park. When we told her we were doing 4 laps she replied with, "You're so brave!" As we were finishing mile three, she was leaving the park and called out to us again, wishing us the best of luck as we finished. It was sweet. I'm thinking of recruiting her as a personal coach. Maybe I can convince her to follow alongside of me in her car as I run and just yell encouraging things at me? Here's hoping!

Today's run was rather eventful as well. I planned on running for 40 minutes around my neighborhood even though my body was still rather beat from the weekend it had been through. On top of the wedding, waking up early Saturday for work, and running for an hour- on Sunday I had to be in to work for 8am, and it was daylight savings so I lost an hour of sleep. Boo!! Needless to say, my poor body was not very excited to be moving. It would have rather sat on the couch and watched Netflix.

Anyway, as I was about 3/4 of the way through my first mile, I tripped on an unknown object and ended up rolling my left ankle. Now, for anyone who has ever walked/run/done anything on two legs, you know that sometimes if you roll your ankle you can catch yourself- but once it gets past a certain point, you are just going down so you had better brace yourself. I hit that point today and I went down on the side of the road in front of about 4 cars.

You know how some people freeze up when they get embarrassed? Well, I had a similar moment. As I sat on the ground, still trying to process what had just happened, I decided that instead of pretending I had just fallen, I would pretend I was sitting down to stretch my legs. So, I started doing toe touches on the side of the road as cars zoomed by me. My inner voice told me this would be the less embarrassing option than brushing myself off and getting up to walk off my fall. (As side note- on my return run, I looked around in the spot I had fallen to see if I could find the unknown object that tripped me, but there was nothing around. Either it rocketed out from under my foot as I fell or I tripped on air. I'm going to go with option A, please.)

My left foot, on the outside, is sore from having all of my weight roll onto it. I'm going to see how it feels tomorrow and that will decide if I'm going to run my 45 minutes in the afternoon or not. My right leg, which took the other half of the impact is scraped up some, but it's not life-threatening.

Luckily, my ego is really the only thing that is bruised. On the up side, I still managed to finish my 3 mile run- so take that embarrassing fall! I win!

An Interesting TMI

Yes, I know.... I fell into the deep, dark, black void of no-man's-land and haven't posted anything of significance for a while. It happens. I'm starting to get used to it. I figure as long as I continue coming back, then I'm good to go.

Alright, lots of fun things have happened lately- got a 3rd part time job, had a bit more snow which continues to put a damper on my outdoor running plans (I have no urge to do a full triple axle for my entire neighborhood while running thankyouverymuch), and I have some more upcoming auditions and shows. Yay!

Now on to something of extreme note: This may be slightly too personal for some people to handle, but I feel if I'm alright talking about it, then it's okay to read.
So..... here it goes!

For the past two weeks my nipples have been incredibly sore. Painfully sore, even. I mean to the point where I was in tears because they hurt so much. Normaly I would chalk this up to PMS symptoms as it is something I suffer through monthly for the most part. However, I have never had the soreness last for more than a few days. Being the paranoid person I am, I did some research online (which when it comes to medical things is not always the most reliable) and I came across something which, at first, I thought to be a joke, but turns out to be a valid and documented injury amongst runners. It's called Runner's Nipple. No joke.
Apparently, it is a condition where an athlete suffers from soreness of the nipples, even cracking and bleeding, due to friction with their clothes while exercising.

According to LiveStrong.com, "The skin on your nipples is very sensitive. Jogger's nipple, which is a common sports injury for runners, is when the nipples get irritated from rubbing against their shirts as they run. This painful condition could lead to soreness, bleeding and inflammation.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/4312-need-joggers-nipple/#ixzz1DFiVOmuP "

They continue on with ways to prevent and treat this condition. They suggest always wearing a sweat-wicking base layer, a sports bra for women, and a loose fitting top. They advise to stay away from cotton tops however, because cotton tends to absorb sweat, which can actually make the friction and irritation worse. Another form of protection is the use of medical tape or a band aid placed over the nipples to form a barrier, as well as the use of vaseline which will protect the skin from irritation.

I have been running much more frequently lately, and honestly, I haven't been wearing the proper sports bras, etc. So, I'm going to change up my tops and see if it helps reduce the irritation I am experiencing. I'm a little leery about using a band aid or medical tape, solely because once I start sweating I don't think they will be of much use. However, there's no harm in trying, right?

There now... that wasn't too awkward, was it?