Sock Puppet

Ok, super random post. I'm an elementary ed major, and I'm in an awesome class-drama for elementary education. It is the most fun class ever! For example, we are currently learning how to incorporate puppets in the classroom, and all the fun classroom management ways to use puppets. So, I've been practicing. Totally love it. Here's a video of my sock puppet, Sarah, jamming out to Over by Blake Shelton. Makes me laugh every time. Haha. Yes, I do indeed go to college to learn how to do this. I love my life. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9bXyHqn1yo&list=HL1351148195&feature=mh_lolz

Classic Hannah Moment.

Last night, I started writing a post about how much running I was doing and how good it was feeling. I ran a 9:08 mile! And ran a whole 13 minutes a few nights before that. Woot! I got new running shoes from my

Cool new shoes!

dad, and awesome new running socks from my grandma. My family spoils me for sure! :) I was right on track for my challenge, and my legs weren't even hurting me all that much. I was feeling great!

Then I woke up this morning and got out of bed. I sleep on the top bunk, and if you know me at all you already know where this is going. I usually just hop out of bed, but I tried to climb down a little this morning. And then ended up in a heap of moaning Hannah. Somehow, in the process of getting out of bed, I jacked up my ankle. SO. BAD. By getting out of bed! I'm such a klutz. :)

My lovely roommate woke up because of my cry of pain and then went into doctor mode. She got me onto the couch, and I started throwing up because walking had hurt so bad. I was kinda panicking at this point. I called my mom, and she told me to go to the doctor just in case it was broken. My parents are both athletic trainers and physical therapists who could have figured this out without going to the ER. But, they live kinda far away. Love them both!

Artsy picture of my crutches :)

So I went to the ER! My fabulous brother borrowed his roommates care and took me. The doctors all made fun of me because I was a 19 year old that was in the ER because I fell out of bed. Haha. Quite embarrassing, yet super funny. I didn't actually break my ankle, (Phew!!) but I twisted it way way bad. They gave me a super fancy brace and crutches, for which I'm grateful. The crutches help me not look so retarded when I walk. :)

Happy things from this special moment of mine:

1. Spending the morning with my brother! At the ER. :) We got to go out to lunch afterwards too. I love my big brother, and I'm so glad he was willing to help me out today!

2. Two fine looking men helped me as I struggled to get home. Thanks to my new friends Mark and Spencer! Mark helped me get down the huge sophomore staircase, and Spencer gave me a ride in his sweet truck the last few blocks. People at BYU are so nice!

3. This sure made my day more exciting! Wednesdays are my least favorite day of the week, but instead of having boring classes all day, I got to hang out with my brother and roommate, talk to my mom and my friend Kerri! Miss and love her to pieces. :)

I'm sure I will be back and running in a couple weeks, so have no fear! I shall {hopefully} still conquer my 5K next month. :) I just get to take some time off now!

Also, anyone have suggestions for a better story? Falling out of bed... Kinda embarrassing. :)

Challenge Accepted

Warning: This is a really long post. But, no one is making you read it! :)

So, I ran in high school. Kinda. I ran cross country my freshman year, and I was pretty good. I started off really slow, but I kept beating my best time until I got fast enough that I would sometimes run in varsity races. I totally loved cross country.

I ran track my freshman year as well, but started to have intense pain whenever I would run. I remember on particularly miserable race from that season. I was running the two mile, and my legs hurt so bad that I started crying before the race was over. Yuck. My pain started out similar to shin splints, but got increasingly more severe and started encompassing more of my lower legs. It was quite miserable, actually.

So I started going to the doctor so I could get all better! I went through a lot of tests, some more painful than others. I had a lot of bone scans and MRIs, and we weren't learning anything. Then I was tested for chronic compartment syndrome. The test for that was terrible, not gonna lie. They poked my legs with so many different needles to test for the pressure in my legs before and then after I went for a run.
But, that ended up being the issue!

Post-operation :(

I think I was diagnosed with chronic compartment syndrome right around track season of my sophomore year. So it took about a year to figure out what my issue was. We scheduled surgery for the second day of my junior year, which is a story for another day.

 One of the great things about this trial was that I joined the swim team! Because I was unable to run, I joined the swim team. On my first day of practice, I couldn't swim to the other side of the pool. I was a terrible swimmer. Haha. I got a lot better though, and now I know how to swim and not just doggy paddle! I made a bunch of awesome friends on the swim team too. Swimming was a great experience, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to join the swim team. I swam my sophomore and junior year, which I never would have done if it weren't for my leggies.

Recovery from surgery was a slow process, but I was able to race at the very end of my track season junior year. It was so rewarding when I was able to run again.  I raced cross country my senior year which was SO much fun! I absolutely loved cross country that season.  We went to Tempe and raced at Nike Cross Regionals, which was an absolute blast. Not being able to run with the team for so long made me so grateful when I was finally able to run.

My team at Tempe! :)

But then my pain started up again. I couldn't stand running anymore because it hurt so bad! That was so incredibly frustrating, since I was loving running again.

There are four compartments in your lower legs, and I had only had two of the compartments released. After a lot more tests, it was decided that it was those last two deep compartments that were the issue now. I had surgery again a few days after I graduated. Because they were the deep compartments, the surgery was more intense and it took even longer to recover. I have still not really gotten back into running. Running is still not pain free for me, and I'm not sure if it ever will be. But I love running! 

So here is where the challenge comes in.

I have signed up for a 5K next month! Lame, I know. Haha. Especially since my beast of a roommate Johanna ran a marathon yesterday! And totally dominated it, might I add. But a 5K is a big deal for me. I haven't run a 5K in over two years, I think. 

I have already gone for a few runs since I have signed up for it! So the challenge here is that I won't give up on running, even if it hurts sometimes. Because as I build up my muscles again, I am hoping it will become less painful. And then I will finish the 5K! I won't worry about my time, I will just race again. Then I will keep running. :) My brother and Johanna have signed up for the 5K with me-what great friends I have! 

So here's to late night runs, sore muscles, and conquering a mental block against running! I will finish the 5K that is in 5 weeks and I will love every moment I spend running. :)

I love BYU!

Wanna know a really good reason why I love BYU?

Because there are tons of incredibly nice people here.
And I have three stories to prove it. 

Story Number 1:

So there I was, on my way back from my climbing class. (Yes, I'm in a climbing class. Way sweet.) A guy from my class had given my a ride back to campus, which also goes along with this kind person theme. Anyways, I was struggling to get my bike out of the bike rack. There were two bikes on either side of mine, and my pedals and handles had become firmly stuck in the tires of the neighboring bikes. Not very nice neighbors! Some guy saw me struggling, and ran up to help. He rescued my bike, and made fun of the lame road bikes that had trapped my beautiful red Giant bike. Then he wished me well and was on his way! Totally made my day. :)

Story Number 2:

I work at the gym at BYU, and I on my way into work. It had been a super rough morning, and I was running really late. I had burned my breakfast (which was just scrambled eggs, don't know how you burn those. Haha.). And I forgot I had left my bike at work on Saturday, so my form of transportation was currently where I needed to transport to. Because of the breakfast fiasco, I was already running late when I realized I would have to longboard to work instead of ride my bike. Which is so much more work, especially with a huge backpack! I struggled all the way to campus, but finally made it. I was super sweaty and frustrated and angry and thought I was going to have a terrible day. But! There was a girl sitting right outside the gym, working on her homework. She just looked up at me, smiled, and said "Good morning! I hope you have a great day." And my mood was suddenly so much better, and she turned an awful day into a great day. Just by saying hello!

Story Number 3:

This is my favorite of the three stories. Again, I was at work at the gym, and I was just doing my thing. A girl walked in wearing jeans, which is a no no in the gym. I was about to get after her, when she walked up and handed me a smoothie. From Jamba Juice! And just said, "I thought maybe you could use some breakfast. Happy Monday, hope you are having a wonderful day!" She said to pay it forward, which I am totally going to do. Because she absolutely made my entire week! What an incredibly nice thing to do for some complete stranger. Not to mention that she got me a super yummy smoothie, and gave it to me on one of the few days I didn't eat breakfast. What a great person. :)

It just makes me so happy!

I hope these stories made you happy like they make me happy! And I hope they will encourage you to do something nice for someone else too. Even just smiling at someone can totally turn their day around. You never know how their day is going, and how much they may need that smile. One of my favorite quotes is, "Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give."