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Ashley

@ashshute

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Social worker in ATX ♿️ T38 Athlete 🐕Dog mom

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I have some thoughts about #disability #disabilityadvocacy #advocacy #hiddendisability #invisibleillness #invisibledisability #runners #marathon #marathontraining #cerebralpalsy #cerebralpalsyawarenness #paraathlete #athlete #athletics #cpstrong by @ashshute

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2 years ago

Training season is over. Race week is coming. Track me if you will. World Major #2 prize money on the line. Maybe. But if more people people with #cerebralpalsy get classified and kick my slow butt that’s great. I need more girlies to know about #parasports and for me not to be one of 3 people doing this because my goal is just not to die doing this because this summer was horrible and I do not want to have to train for the @chimarathon again with this disability. Also the only other basketball I will anywhere close to root for is the bulls. Do they say Go Bulls Go? Or what? I don’t know. I just know they’re in the eastern conference. taken in Grant Park Chicago by @ashshute

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12 days ago

You all know I am a @brunomars stan. Like to the core. In 2011, I randomly won tickets to his show for his first tour, Doowops in Wondaland. It included a hotel stay and a meet and greet. That photo of him and me still lives on my phone. Since then I have seen him six times including last night. On January 5th of this year he casually said “my album is done.” Two days later, on January 7th, while at a run group, I got a call saying my mom passed away. I hurried to my mom and dad’s house. This song was playing. On January 9th he released I Just Might. I had the biggest lump in my stomach during that song. Like I couldn’t even move. I didn’t even know what to do. Our seats were center 8th row. If he squinted he might could have seen me being a bummer. It was a grief bomb. I know you know it too. The way things worked out we had her Celebration of Life on February 28th. That was the day the Romantic came out. I cried a lot when I saw Gaga sing this song. Not so much last night. But I’m in bed this morning crying because I might have created this narrative and I’m kind of proud of this lil man and what he’s done since I got these free tickets and the girl I got them who chose to go see Josh Groban that night instead of him. In my very pansocial head I call you Flaco and Flaco, estoy muy orgulloso de ti and god damnit you put on a really good show last night. Happy early birthday too. Thanks for making me cry this morning. taken in San Antonio, Texas by @ashshute

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22 days ago

Look at go is running @chimarathon as a para athlete this year! I’m on week seven of training during the peak summer heat with cerebral palsy as a T38 athlete. I am learning so much about myself this training cycle- how heat affects my body, how to say enough is enough and when to say no, how to say my body is my body and that I do not have to run in 78 degree humidity and that a treadmill is okay. My body is different and I can adapt to make this a great second World Major Marathon. #cerebralpalsy #paraathlete #adaptiveathlete #adaptivesports #chicagomarathon by @ashshute

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3 months ago

My first summer away from San Antonio, and my first summer working in a school setting, I realized I needed a dog in my life. I had always had a dog with me. My parents had dogs and even my ex, who I lived with when I moved here had one.

I knew I needed a smaller dog because I lived in an apartment. So I started looking. And in June 9, 2016, I walked into @austinpetsalive and saw Wallace. I saw his friend Gromitt too. They had been there for a total of two days; pulled from the shelter in Lockhart.

Wallace was quiet but when we wandered around the open space he was bounced around and wanted to be loved on. So I said, “APA, I’ll take him.” Could have been the best or worst decision of my life.

But that decision is currently stretched out on my bed sleeping, thinking about tearing up boxes and plastic bags I might have left out for him to eat.

He goes on long walks, to brunches, to bars, to run groups, to my dad’s house, to parks, to the beach, he is my buddy and my little BFF. Tommy, you’re my favorite. Happy tenth gotcha day, bub. ❤️ by @ashshute

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4 months ago

About that World Major.

Boston. A 5k. A Marathon. A solo trip. Managing lots of stress. I did it. I learned a lot. As Carrie Bradshaw said, “I didn’t do it alone; I did it on my own.”

Last year was unhinged. Running Houston. Being invited to run Boston. Injury. Running. Resting. Starting to return to my baseline. Starting PT. Sorting out Botox.

You learn something every race. It’s so true. Every experience is different. Every run is different, even if it’s another lap around Town Lake.

I learned a lot last year:
1. Do not get Botox injections a month out from your long run.
2. If you’re hurt; you’re hurt. Listen to your body.
3. Wrap your knees if you’re 3-6 weeks out of Botox. You will fall.
4. People run fast fast in the first Wave. Wear a back bib to make sure they know you’re running your race, not their race.

I learned even more this year:
1. Even if I can full send the first 10 miles, I should not. This is not 3M. It is Run For the Water.
2. This is not a “walk the water stops race. I need to sprint the water stops.
3. Even having a back bib that says I am an “Adaptive Athlete” or “Para Athlete” does not guarantee that others will recognize that my time, my body, my time, and my run demand the same respect as their run does.
4. I will get water splashed on my back because people are wild.
5. I don’t quite know how I feel about people I don’t knows cheering me on while on the course. They do not know my journey.

This year was better. It wasn’t what I wanted. And that’s okay. I’m still learning. I also came in 3rd in the 5k so take that.

Up next, a spurs playoff run. #gospursgo taken in Boston Marathon Finish Line by @ashshute

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6 months ago

It’s RACE WEEK!

I haven’t posted much about it this cycle because there’s been lots of personal things going on.

And, I’ve done a lot of learning after last year’s @bostonmarathon . Number one was no Botox two months out of race week. It will eff you up. Last year was my worst marathon of my life and I’m hoping to make 2026 my best one yet.

I’ve been doing lots of physical therapy with @sperorehabcentral and bless them. Truly, it’s the PT I’ve needed my whole life. I’ve switched up the type of Botox and where I get it. And it’s been a game changer with my whole body and efficiency and energy.

And mental health, you all know I’m an LCSW. Take care of your mental health, therapy and medication. It truly will make things better. Shout out to all my supporters from @muellermamis, @themorningjos, @speedshopmafia, @esbrunnersatx, @atxrunners, and @atxrundivas you all made these training runs fly by.

Oh. And I’ll be at least $250 richer when I get home because I placed third in the 5k this year. It’ll just pay off all the crap I bought pero, money is money. by @ashshute

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6 months ago

Update #priorauth #healthinsurance @aetna please “investigate” and press your button. by @ashshute

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a year ago

Meanwhile in ##healthinsurance land and #priorauthorization land with @aetna I may not be getting the Botox I need today because prior auths are lame. #cerebralpalsy #cp #spasticity #disability #americanhealthcare by @ashshute

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a year ago

I put Lady Gaga on at Heartbreak Hill, the Complete playlist; skipped her standards and went for the good stuff. When I started running Born This Way was my jam. Hair, You and I, Edge of Glory…these lived in my soul on the treadmill when I was doing couch to 5k in grad school. It was monumental hearing it. And that’s how I crossed the finish line, bloody, swollen, overtrained, with Hair blasting in my ears, crossing the finish line of the Boston marathon at 6:14:something, the only way my body will ever let me, as a mobility and coordination impaired athlete. But, I am a Boston marathon finisher. And maybe one day they’ll let me back to redeem myself. But for now, I’m going to do yoga and eat tacos. #paraathlete #bostonmarathon #cerebralpalsy #cpstrong #cpathlete #adaptiveathlete by @ashshute

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a year ago

By 16 I looked at my watch and texted my people at the end “sub six or bust. as long as I get done before 5:30.” I calculated how slowly I could walk to get through it, how horrible newton could be, how I visualized Heartbreak Hill. How the conversation with Des went last March, “it’s downhill after Heartbreak.” It is not all downhill after heartbreak, easier, but not all downhill.

21-26 I just gut it out. Do my fucking best, might run for 30 seconds, might jog, my take some snacks, might get some Gu someone offers on the side, take all the salt sticks I see on the side. Mile 25 I see Cedric, a lower limb amputee who started in the adaptive wave. I couldn’t let him finish before me. I like those pictures where I’m in front of him. Except I couldn’t eke it out. He finished in front of me. Oh well.

The finish, 25.75-26.2. I cannot even explain how loud it was and how long it actually is. I trained for it as if Bolyston was the south 1st bridge by the trail. That was my Bolyston. Throughout training I always sprinted it, made a point to say it to myself, “This is Bolyston.” by @ashshute

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a year ago

Mile 4.4, my right toe clips the ground as I am heading down a bit of a down hill. DAMNIT. I literally roll into the spectators. Yall, I have a band aid in my fuel belt. I had my water. My eyes are closed I hear all these Boston accents and I’m like, “just let me clean up and fucking go.” They try to give me small band aides. If this was Austin someone would be like “damnit, Ashley, just go.” So I put on a band aid, think about just trying to make it through.

Mile 6 I see a medical tent. My right knee is literally dripping with blood, I have 20 more miles of this and I need a nap. I go in, they fix me up. It takes way too much time but I know I’m just finishing at this point.

Two miles later, maybe? Someone I met at a Oiselle event two summers ago flies by me. It was amazing. Gave me a bit of a boost. Mile 13, two girlies from Austin that I knew were running catch me by the scream tunnel. I wanted to cry. I might have a little. I also knew I was done by then. by @ashshute

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a year ago