Still out of the Game

Well I am still out of my game for a while.. I have finally made it off the crutches but still am having pain in the area that was fractured.. The doctors told me it could take 5-6 months to fully heal.. So not the awnser I wanted to hear... In the meantime I also found out that I have 2 herniated discs in my back on the L4 and L5 of my lower spine with the biggest bulging one compressing my sciatic nerve which has been causing all the pain and grief in my other hip so it has been a really tough couple of months.. I go in next week to start P.T and injections in my spine for pain relief versus having surgery on it.. I hope it works.... It has significantly imroved since I first started with it so I am confident that no surgery will be required.. I still really hurt with some things I do but at least I can stand to walk and sit and lay down without too much pain..

I was so hoping to be out running again by now but it doesnt look like that is going to be in my near future. I still cant even go from a sitting position and go to run to go get the phone or chase my kids around without having pain in my fractured leg so I have a feeling its going to be quite a while before I will get my running shoes back on.. It really is quite depressing not to be out there running.. Whenever I am outside and go past my running spots I'm like oh man I should be out here running... It sucks.. However if I get the go ahead next week I think I am going to try and do my stationary bike and see how my leg will tolerate that so at least I can do something physical... We will see....

I so cant wait to get back out there and get my body back into some kind of shape....

Finally a diagnosis

Yeah we have a diagnosis.. I went back to the orthopedist to review my scans to find out I do have a femoral neck stress fracture and am now confined to crutches for 1 month.. Funny thing is I have been walking on it now for 5-6 weeks. And now they expect me to have no weight bearing on it.. They say its serious in a way because if it was to break all the way through i would have to have 1 of 3 things done a total hip replacement or a big screw put into the bone or have the bone replaced.. He said for someone my age thats pretty serious cause it can cause blood restriction to my head which is very serious so they want to take pretty strict measures that I dont injur it any further... Good thing I didnt go running on it today!! Ha ha ha just kidding.. I still cant walk to well without a sleight limp and pain so I knew it was going to be a while before I could run.. He said dont plan on any physical activity for at least 2 months and then we would see.... Holy crap 2 months are you kidding me.... This is going to kill me.. It already has been horrible not getting out there to run.. My body is in withdrawls..... WAAAAAAAA

Owell at least I and the doctors know that I am not crazy when I say I still have a bit of pain and I know there is something not right... Kinda a relief to finally know....

Owell here is to being a gimp for a while and being cooped up and bitter because I cant get out and run or bike exspecially when the weather is so beautiful now and nice and cool... AAARGGGHHH WAAAAAAAA

So Unbelievably Bummed!! Update on Injury

So a quick update from my last post..
Wed the 19th
Still having some leg problems from my pulled muscle and being stupid I went and did my 7 mile speed run trying to still stay up with my training program for my half... Very bad idea.. I was hurting from the beginning of the run but thought maybe as it loosened up it would feel better.. Never did.. By mile 4 I was really slowing down and I think I was running with a diffent gait trying to favor my leg and I think that really screwed things up more.. By mile 6 I was barely running and had to finally stop and limp my way back home.. I was in so much pain in my hip and upper leg that I couldnt even walk. I had to use crutches for that day.. I went to a chiropractor for my back originally and he tried to help with stretching it out but it didnt seem to help much.. I was hoping that it would take just a few days and then I would feel better but that wasnt the case.. Of course I have been doing alot of walking and some biking on it as I have toured around Northern MI with my family this last month so I know that hasnt helped.. I have had to take pain killers and muscle relaxers just to make it through all the walking around we did.. I finally went in to see a Orthopedist last week who thought I might have some bursitis going on so he gave me a bursa shot in my hip..

After a couple days that seemed to help my hip quite a bit. I was finally able to walk somewhat normally with just a minor limp but my leg, groin and hip flexor area was still in pain.. I think it is finally starting to feel a little better now and I can almost walk without a limp but it seems to still really hurt when I go from a sitting position to taking that first step. It gives me a fast jolt of stabbing pain in my hip flexor area at the top of my thigh and all the way across my groin and into my inner leg. So tomorrow I am being sent to have a bone scan to check to see if I may have a stress fracture there.. It's not common to get them there but possible.. I dont really think I do but I figured it wouldn't hurt to get it checked... I think its probably just a bad pulled muscle that is taking its own sweet time to heal...

I cant believe its been 4 weeks now since I have ran.. I am so bummed.. It's like having a runner's depression. My body is just feeling horrible and out of shape.. I just long to get out and run again.. It's amazing when you can totally feel and see a diffrence when you are running and then when you take a time off... Of course since I have stopped lifting weights and running or biking I have also dropped 3 pounds which is kinda nice but shouldnt it be the other way around?? I am not sure which I like more having the stronger, leaner, bigger muscles( at least that was my goal) or wieghing less... Why cant I have both??? Waaaaaa

Anyways there went my half down the drain.. Hopefully it wont be much longer and I can get back out there and get back into a routine again.. Hopefully I will find another half somewhere I can do before the year is over.. I didnt have to much luck finding many races out here but I did hear of one in Detroit in Oct I think it was so guess we will see..

With all these injurys over my running year it almost makes me think maybe I am not meant to be a runner.. Maybe this is god's way of saying hey hello your body is not cut out for running... Then again maybe this is just my pitty party talking too....

I am so sick of injury's

Mon Aug 17th

Did long run today since didnt get the chance to do it on Sat.. I hate running first thing in the morning because it takes so long to get my body warmed up so for the first 2 miles my body hurts and feels stiff.. I pulled my inner top thigh muscle almost where it goes into the hip flexor last week doing to much weight.. Ever since then my legs have been sore.. And the running has aggrevated it more.. Hope it heals quickly.. Got in 8 miles with avg pace of 9.58 which was better then I thought.. I was constantly watching my garmin which I really didnt want to do but I couldnt help it and I was constantly dropping below the goal pace in the mid to high 10 min range and it didnt even seem like I had changed my pace but I guess I did.. But then there were times I was in the 8 min range so I guess it averages out. So that was good... My highest mileage so far..... But Today I was really tired and sore and my knee started hurting around mile 6 and really nagged me all the rest of the way. I barely made it today.. I def dont think I could have done a half today.. And I got 3 diffrent huge blisters on my toes.. Ouch!! Hope weds running goes better.. I am going to skip the easy run and try the scheduled tempo run to get me back on track.. I was supposed to have an easier week last week with less mileage but I somehow forgot about that. I was supposed to do an easy 3 miler on Sat so I dont feel to bad about getting my long run in.. I should have just sticked with the sched for today and did a light run so I guess I will do the easy run on Sat instead since I did my long run today and stick with the speed work for weds.. That should put me back on track..



Wow have I confused you yet??

Tues 18th-
13 Mile bike ride according to map my run.. Felt a bit longer then that but I didnt have an accurate way of measuring until I get the cadence for the forerunner so had to use the map my run website..

Aug 19th
Goal was to do 7 miles 3x1600's at 8:06 pace.. with 800 jogs in between.. I knew that I wasnt going to be able to do it that is pretty fast for me.. I was still hurting up in my leg from lifting weights the week before and mondays long run really aggrevated it.. I am definently not the smartest person. I thought I could go do my speed work today and maybe the pain would work itself out.. My dad came along on his bike.. It was great having the companionship.. It made it go alot faster but it also hindered me alittle in the fact that when I was really hurting I should have stopped but I didnt want him to have to wait for me so I kept running with the pain and now I am really paying for it..
The good thing was for the first 2 miles of speed work I hit my goal which really surprised me.. The first mile I got in at 7:31 and the second mile was at 8:00 pace so that made me really happy but by the 3rd mile I was really starting to hurt and I had to slow down considerably and did that mile in 8:51 then the last 2 miles of easy run I dropped clear down into the 12 min mile pace and walked the last .25 mile well actually limped home. I was having alot of pain in my hip and thigh and down into my groin. I tried doing some rolling and an ice bath which was painful in itself but didnt help too much I have been limping on it eversince and because of the limping it is starting to cause pains in other areas... What a mess!!! I ended up pulling my muscle that goes from the outer hip across the front hip flexor into the groin and down the inner leg.. I have never experienced anything like this.. It hurts so bad.. I have actually had to resort to using crutches or a cane.. I went and saw a chiropractor lastnight hoping he could help get me lined back up and he said I was a mess.. Just what I wanted to hear.. I have alot of muscle tightness everywhere and said I needed some work on that so I guess I need to go find a massage therapist.. Plus I have a very mild case of spinal bifida which is why I have a weak lower back and have always struggeled with it.. So I am not sure how long I will have to take off from running to heal but I am hoping its not too long since my half is only 4 weeks away..

Aaaghhh this is so frustrating... If its not one thing its another.. Knee's, shin and now this...

Vacation Running..

Mon aug 10th

Increased my mileage for this day.. 4.01 miles in 10:08 Had no problem with the pace in fact avg pace was 9:33 I actually had some times where I broke into the high 7 mile pace.. I was excited about that.. I knew this week would be hard for my sched because of going on vacation..

Weds.
Dissapointed.. went outside in Fort Madison Illinoise to run and couldnt find any roads except the freeway to run on so only did a mile then went and finished up the rest of my run in the hotel excercise room which sucked.. The room was like 85 degrees they offered no towels no water nothing.. Their treadmill sucked.. I was wanting to do intervals today but didnt work out to well.. Got in 2-3 reps of 5 mins going around 7.6 in speed with 3 min rests in between but ended up running out of steam to fast and had to cut back alot and ended up doing more of a mild tempo run instead.. Was going to do 5 miles but only ended up with 4.6 and couldnt do anymore..Wasn't the best idea to do this type of run then go spend all day walking around in Nauvoo in 90 degree humid weather.. I had a hard time today.. Over did it I think!

Thurs
Had a great bike ride with my dad today.. We figured we went somewhere between 12-15 Miles.

Couldn't get my long run in on Sat because of traveling all day back home. I hate getting off my schedule but there was nothing I could do about it..

Recovery

Well I was feeling healed enough to attempt running by the end of the week, so on Thursday I got on the Elliptical so there wouldn't be any jarring and did really well. I got in 6 miles.

Friday- Went on easy run just to make sure the jarring didn't cause any problems and did fine.. got in 4.84 miles with a avg pace of 9.18 I even was able to get part of the time in the high 7 min range so that was good.. I think that was the first time I have broke into the 7 min range and it didn't even feel like I was trying that hard so that made me feel good.. Did full body weights today being careful with back.

Sat.-
It had been pouring rain all day so I really wasn't planning on doing my long run today plus I was a bit sore from doing weights Fri. but around 4:00 it stopped so I decided to get my butt out there while it had the chance and get it done.. It was pretty humid but there was a bit of a breeze which helped and was a little bit cooler in temp which helped make it tolerable.. Right as I was heading out the door we had decided we were going to go see the new harry potter movie so I was limited in my time.. Only got in 6.44 miles with avg pace around 9.32 I have noticed that I have been doing better in my paces lately.. I was supposed to stay at a pace of 10:14 for my long runs but I kept it easy and comfortable and managed to stay in the 8-9 min range so that is good. I still struggle just a little with my tempo runs.. Hopefully they will come... I registered finally for the half so now I'm stuck.. I have to commit.. Hopefully I will stick with it and be ready.. I am going to re test for the physical agility test in October (I know call me crazy) so this time I am going to get together with another girl who is doing it and a firefighter and we are going to practice the dummy rescue thing.. I just pray that during these practices I don't strain my back again before the test.. I am really going to have to focus on my strength training and get my back stronger.. Anybody have some great exercises or weight lifting moves to strengthen the lower back?? Oh ya and I finally lost my middle toe's nail that has been black for the last 2 months. Now if my baby toes nail on my other foot wood just come off....

Monday 10th
Got in 4 miles today.. goal was 4 in 10:08 My avg pace was 9:33 so happy about that.. It was so hot and humid today it about killed me. I was wet before I even got out my driveway.. We have been having such crazy storms here leaving us wet and humid and hot. It is so hard to run when its so humid it just sucks the life out of ya... Of course I was reflecting back on last years running and I swear that I was running in the 8 min range miles but that was just trying to figure it out by map my run and my watch.. Didn't have any fancy GPS gadgets like I have now so maybe my mileage or timing was off.. I don't know just seems like I am not running quite as fast.. Hope that changes..

We are heading for Illinois for vacation tomorrow so I am hoping I will still find the time to get out and run and keep up with my training while on vacation.. These next few weeks will be hard because my parents will be here and we will be traveling around the state and sight seeing, so its always a little harder sticking with the exercising when they are here.. But I just have to stay with it so I don't loose what I have gained so far.. I really want to be ready for the half and I don't feel any where near ready right now.. I am not sure I could do a half right now.. I am not doing it for any kind of record although there is that competitive side to me but I just want to be able to finish it with running the whole way and to be able to say I did it..

Here's to successful training.

Contest Giveaway

Check out my friend Julia's blog for her great giveaway of a nutrition book for athlete's.. Super cool.. I need this so bad.. I have really been struggeling with what to eat and how much and when so this would be the perfect gift to win for me. Good luck everyone!!1

Well I took the Physical agility test on Sat and failed horribly.. Not only did I fail but I injured myself as well.. AAARGGH so frustrating.. So those of you who follow this.. I was testing to become a firefighter/EMT and one of the hardest points of the test is the rescue excercise where you have to pick up and carry or drag this 120 pound burlap dummy 50 feet then up 2 flights of stairs turn around then come back down and go back the 50 feet and put the dummy back down in the starting spot all in like 2 mins.. Also you have a 60 pound air tank strapped to your back with this square plastic thing on the front of your chest and a firemans hat on so all together about 180 pounds of weight on your body that you are trying to get up and down some stairs.. It was so very hard.. I had practiced a few days before but I didnt have the air tank on and that made a huge diffrence.. I tried to do the carry under the dummys arm hold and go backwards up the stairs.. My tank kept hitting the stair case and knocking me over and I was falling back on the stairs and trying to drag myself with the dummy up backwards and I just couldnt do it.. you get 2 chances and the second time I tried dragging it by the legs and did better but still did not finish in the time allotted.. I needed about 50 more seconds..


In the process I ended up pulling all the muscles in my lower back, scraping my arms up and scraping my ankles up on the metal stairs causing them to go black and blue.. See pictures on my other blog..I couldnt even walk by the time I got home and have spent the last 3 days pretty much on bed rest.. today I can walk and it seems to be improving but I definently cant run this week.. I think I will try and see what thursday or friday brings and see if I can do a light run or at least the elliptical... So there goes a whole week of training down the tube.. I'm so bummed but it must have not been meant to be at this time.. I may try again at the next test in November... ..

I Hate Humidity

Man these last 2 weeks it has been raining off and on every day. It has been so humid here.. The humidity makes it feel like 5-10 degrees warmer.. Luckily it has been only in the mid 70's to mid 80's... But definently too hot to run in.. It has really been affecting my energy..



Mon. 27th

2.50 Miles.. I dont know if it was because I ran first thing in the morning and so I did not stretch per reccomendations from running book or just what exactly but I felt so stiff and sore and it was really hard to run today.. Goal was to run 2 miles at 10:14 my average pace was 9:53 so that was good..



Weds. 29th

Tempo run Goal 5 miles 3 miles at 8:40 Did lower body weights before running while waiting for breakfast to digest. I knew this one was going to be hard.. the last tempo run like this one I did on treadmill was brutal.. Did really well for the first 2 1/2 miles of speed run then pooped out and had to stop and catch breath for a min then started back up and was able to get close to goal.. The last mile of speed run I had slowed down quite a bit I was ranging from 8:45 to 9:15 speed so I figured I wouldnt do as good on this one.. Plugged data in and 1st mile of speed run my average pace was 8.23 2nd mile was 8.40 and 3rd mile was 8.49 so only 9 secs off goal so I was pretty surprised.. I knew the first mile would be good because when I started out my paces were around mid 7 to 8 min so I could actually slow down a bit.. By the second mile I was slowing down quite a bit. I was actually falling below goal and was having to speed up I think thats why I got so winded and had to stop for a breather.. thank heavens it gives you an average pace for the mile.. All in all I think I did quite well...



I felt much better on todays run.. I think the lifting weight helped loosen me up quite a bit.. I only had tight lower leg and ankle on the bad leg for about a mile and a half then it loosened up really good.. Even my knee was not as bad.. I even ran without the knee strap so I was quite happy that it didnt feel worse.. Once I stoped though my shin started tightening up and had to keep stretching it out and icing it and the knee. I am not sure why but that leg for some reason is more tighter then the other one and has always been that way.. My hamstring is way tight in that leg and I think that is what is causing the shin splints in this leg.. I can tell the muscles are alot weaker in my hams and especially that leg.. If I can just get it to loosen up I think that would help my shin splints alot.. I really try to stretch that leg extra good but still cant seem to get it to loosen as much as the other leg.. Any suggestions?? Finished the morning with upper body weights...

All in all a good run...



Ok so all these people say they run to loose weight but it obviously isnt working for me.. I run but still havnt lost a pound.. So I have started to watch my calories and I am trying to reduce my calorie intake by 500 a day.. Can I just say I really hate counting calories... On the days I run I dont have to much of a problem but the days I dont run I dont make the calorie goal.. I guess I am going to have to do some form of excercise everyday to be able to stick with this cal reduction.. I still havnt been able to figure it all out with what to eat after and before my runs.. Like today I lifted weights and ran so I burned double the calories and I must have not ate the right foods or amounts afterwords because all day I have just felt tired and sluggish like I needed to eat something or needed some kind of energy rush.. but nothing I ate seemed to provide that for me.. I felt the same way on the days I do my long runs.. Any helpful tips on eating and trying to loose weight while running?

Friday 31st

Long run today.. 7.67 miles
Even though I didnt get out until 12:30 in the afternoon it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be.. It was around 74 degrees when I left but there was no humidity and that made a world of diffrence.. It took almost the whole run for my leg to finally loosen up and not hurt but the last mile or two I didnt feel it at all which was nice.. It took long enough.. But also the last mile or two my knee started hurting a little more so that was a bummer.. But at least through most of the run it did pretty well.. I figured I better do my long run today because tomorrow I dont think I will be up to it..

Tomorrow I am taking the physical agility test to become a firefighter/EMT It is a pretty hard test.. I dont think I would have a problem with the test if it wasnt for the fact that they time you so that makes it pretty hard.. The one I think I will struggel most with is dragging a 120 pound dummy 15 feet then up a flight of stairs then back down the stairs and another 15 feet to the target.. I went up to the firestation to have a friend who is currently a firefighter give me some tips and show me what they will be doing and just with practicing carrying the dummy 100 feet was hard.. My hams were so tight and sore after it and that wasnt even going up and down any stairs.... I worry about carrying all that weight and doing the stairs with my bad knee... should be interesting..... I am pretty nervous..

Quote of the Day


Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about.

New Shoes

Monday-
Went for my light run today.. Training sched said 2 miles at 10:14 Actually went 2.9 I think I was good with my pace.. I decided to lift weights before my run because my running book said you should lift before runs.. So I gave it a try.. My legs and body felt really strong on the run which felt really good but I felt kinda pooped though.. I didn't have the energy.. I think my feeling sluggish was also all the junk food I ate the night before.. Sunday's we usually piece all day on junk food.. I'm sure that didn't help.. Other then that a pretty good run..

Weds.-
Got my new Garmin Forerunner 305. I was so excited to use it.. I spent tues night trying to get it all set up and learn the ropes of it for todays run.. I followed some hints from Julia's blog. She recently has gotten one too and was trying to figure some things out and got some good advice so I tapped into it as well.. Apparently the alerts dont work on the interval workouts which was what I was doing today so that didnt help me out with my pace and on the interval workouts it doesnt even show your pace all it does is show the time and your remaining miles. So that kinda bummed me not to be able to watch my pace but it ended up working out to my benefit.. I just concentrated on my effort. I was to run 2 1600's in 8:11 with 800 jogs in between. When I got home and plugged the garmin into the computer to download the data I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was faster then my goal was.. My first speed lap was done at a 7:59 pace and my second lap was done at an 8:05 pace so I was really pleased with that.. I had a great run overall and felt pretty good.. Although it was hard it wasnt as bad as my first tempo run on the treadmill.. I think the calabarations on the treadmill were off because I dont feel that I was running that hard out side.. Got my 5 miles reccomended run in..

Fri.
Only got in 3/4 of my kickmax dvd in.. Had to many phonecalls and then the fridge repair guy showed up so couldnt finish it.. plus my energy level was way down anyways.

Sat.
Long run today.. training sched reccomended 6 at 10:14 I programmed in under quick workouts a 7.5 mile run at 10 :14 This time it did show my current running pace then about every so often it would show an average running pace.. It still didnt seem to beep or alert me though when I was below or above my goal and I am not sure why.. I set it up to I am pretty sure the right way but i dont know..I constantly watched my pace through out the run and saw that I was always running a little faster then I should be according to the current pace shown I was always around the low to mid 9 min pace so I had to keep forcing myself to slow down to try and stay in the high 9 to low 10 pace.. It was a fairly easy run today.. It was a bit on the warm side today though.. I got out way to late it was pouring rain when I was originally going to go so I waited and didnt get out until around noon and it was around 78-80 degrees but with the humidity it felt like 90 it really zapped the energy out of me quick.. I noticed by my last 2-3 miles I was slowing down alot and didnt have to hard a time keeping it in the 10 min range.. There was even some times I fell below my goal pace and had to force myself to speed up.. Plus by mile 5 my knee started hurting a little more.. I didnt quite get my route just right.. I went the same way I always do for my long runs that I have been wearing my pedometer with and using the garmin today I came in short by quite a bit.. My pedometer showed usually around 7.4-7.7 but the garmin showed 6.85 miles today.. So that tells me my pedometer was a bit off.. I was a little dissapointed not to get in the mileage I wanted but I was so tired and hot today that I dont think I could have gotten much farther anyways.. It's amazing what temps can do to your runs.. I remember the first long run I did this year which was only a few weeks ago I got out early in the morning and it was nice and cool and I felt so great and felt like I could have done a half with no problem but today I know I could have never done one.. The heat really drains it out of you..

I went and got new shoes today.. I thought maybe my knee and shin probs could be due to my shoes (even though I have had them all along LOL) so I invested in a new pair.. I had somewhere around 4-500 on my current pair so it was probably time anyways.. I got some Brooks Glycerins..I like the purple shown but because I have such big feet all they had was blue in my size.. I am excited to wear them on Mondays run and see how they do.. I also got some energy beans and some gu gel to try out and see how they do on my longer runs.. I worry because I have heard to many scarry stories on the gels and stomach probs, and there isnt really any bathrooms or water around on my long runs so I am going to have to figure something out..
Any suggestions?

Half Training..

So this week I decided to start training for a half Marathon that I am still contemplating on doing in Sept.. Still havn't made up my mind.. Anyways for this first week I was supposed to do an easy run of 2 miles on mon. A tempo run of 5 miles on weds and A long run on Sat.

Mon.
I was only supposed to go 2 miles but after all this time of doing more miles it was hard to stick with just 2 miles. I was pretty close at 2.76 It was hard not to keep going but I really wanted to stay fairly close to the training plan I got off runnersworld.com.

Weds.
This was probably one of the hardest runs I have ever done.. I had never done a tempo run before so I knew this would be a little challenging.. I was supposed to do 5 total miles with 1 mile warm up 1 mile cool down and 3 miles at 8:40 I decided to do it on the treadmill so I wouldnt have to keep stopping and try and look at the pedometer.. I figured it would be easier.. I failed the first mile at tempo I was off by like .16 of a mile and I thought I was running pretty fast so by mile 3 I stepped it up quite a bit but still didnt make it. I was off by .5 so pretty close but I was so tired by this point I had to step off the treadmill to catch my breath before jumping back on to do mile 4 I was able to get about half way and then I had to slow it down I was dying but I was able to speed it up towards the end and came pretty close again I was off my just a couple of points. It was hard to do a whole mile for cool down I usually only speed walk like .25 miles when I normally run so it was hard to do a whole mile I slow runned for about .7 miles then walked the rest.. This was a way hard run for me.. My legs were screaming by the time I was done.. My knee was really acting up.. It actually started really hurting when I slowed down to walk. It felt better to run go figure..

Fri
Ok I was pretty dumb today. I did full body weights and my kick max dvd then went out and shoveled and hauled and spread mulch in my yard for 4-5 hrs.. As if it wasnt bad enough to do the weights then the kickmax dvd, but I didnt get a chance to do the weights earlier in the week so I really wanted to do them... I was so wasted by the time I finished in my yard I was ready to pass out and my whole body just hurt.. I didnt know how on earth I was going to do my long run the next morning.

Sat
Not as sore as I thought I would be but still pretty sore.. Decided to stick with my sched and do my long run.. Was supposed to do 6 miles at 10:14 My first mile by my pedometer it said I was right on but according to the trail markings it said I was off by 15 secs so I dont know which one was more accurate.. I headed off on trails that had no mileage postings from then on so I just went off my pedometer. All my remaining miles said I was somewhere in the 9 1/2 to 10 min range which was pretty good.. I ended up going a little farther then I should have but on the last couple long runs I have been averaging in the 7-8 mile range so I really didnt want to decrease when the whole idea is to increase my mileage so I went 7.43 today.. A little bit of probs with knee starting around mile 5 but leg did really well today.. I wish I could get a pain free run with my knee but just dont think it will ever happen.. All in all a pretty good run.. But tonight I am so sore I can hardly move.. I think all the sore muscles has finally kicked in and I am really feeling it.. Good thing tomorrow is a rest day and monday is an easy run..

Refreshing, Soggy Run

This one is a little lengthy!!!

So I just have to tell about my run today.. after Thursdays speed run I developed a anterior ? shin splint just opposite side of where I have been struggling with pains since last year. So I was not to happy about that.. But at least it wasn't really bad.. I ran a little farther then I had planned on Thursday and I think with the exertion I was using and then the hills it just put a little too much stress on my leg.. I knew I should have stuck with the treadmill... Owell I rested on Fridays and decided I would try my long run on Sat. depending on how it felt.. I did a little research on shin stretching and went back through my running book and realized that it says that if you run first thing in the morning like I have you shouldn't stretch until halfway through your run or wait until after your run.. I forgot about that and have been stretching before my runs so maybe that is my problem is I am stretching cold muscles and have been doing more damage then help?? There is so many conflicting story's out there about stretching that I don't know what I should really be doing but I think I will start waiting to stretch until half way into or after my runs...

So On to today's run... I woke up about 7:15 and decided I could prob run so I headed out by around 7:45.. Just as I got all my clothes on and was about ready it opened up and started raining.. It was supposed to come in last night but it was a little late.. I really debated on going but decided it might be kind of fun so what the hay... It started thundering and lightning so it was kind of cool to listen to.. It was just a light steady rain when I left nothing too bad but about a mile and a half into my run I had just made it out of the subdivision and was getting ready to head down the pollyann trail and I stopped to do a little stretching and I could see this big dark blanket coming for me.. I immediately knew I was in trouble and I had no where to go.. It just opened up and poured so hard.. I knew that about a half mile from the start of the trail there is a bridge that I could take shelter in but I would have to run into the blanket.. i immediately shot it in gear and started running but within seconds I was totally drenched and dripping everywhere.. My shoes and socks were soaked and I was just sloshing around.. I was trying to cover my ipod and watch so they wouldn't get to wet.. I couldn't even open my eyes the rain was coming down so hard it was like standing in a shower only harder... By the time I made it to the bridge it was starting to lighten up a bit so I stopped at the bridge and did some stretching and tried to wait out the worst of the downpour..

I was hoping my husband would come find me to take me home which he did come looking for me in the car but to no avail we never found each other.. The bad thing about the trail is there is not very many access areas to the main road so it's hard to see anyone on the road.. we must have just missed each other at the bridge.. Anyways after about a 10 min hold out at the bridge I decided I wasn't going to get any wetter so I decided to finish the run. I think I might have cooled down a little to much because as soon as I started back out my knee started hurting. I continued to run through it though.. And then there is a spot on this trail where it breaks of from the trail and goes into a bunch of other small trails around a lake.. I ran it last time I did my long run so I figured i knew where I was going but somehow I got lost and was running in circles.. These trails are like being up in the Forrest and all you can see is the lake and tree's and thick vegetation.. They are awesome running trails but a little disorienting if your not familiar with them.. And to top it off I had to go potty and wasn't going to make it back.. Lucky for me there were no other crazy people like myself running or biking the trails today so I was able to jump off the trail and go tinkle in the vegetation without being caught thank heavens.. Of course it was a little difficult when your clothes are soaking wet and stuck to your body but it all ended up ok..
I finally made it back onto the trail and decided to head for home cutting out one of the loops I did last time on my long run.. My knee was just hurting too much to keep going and I had had enough with all the stops and go's.. I had to stop a few times because my ipod kept cutting out on me I think due to the moisture in its ports.

Of course by the time I got back on the trail it had stopped raining so I was able to finish up the last 2 miles in dryer weather.. Other then the few setbacks with the rain and my knee I felt really good.. I never got hot or winded and it was really a easy run.. And to my surprise that even with cutting out the extra loop I still got in 7.73 miles in 1 hr 18 mins. Of course there was alot of down time in that time but I was not worried about time at all.. I am however a little surprised because the last time I did my long run with the added in loop I got 7.31 miles in according to map my run but my pedometer said 7.73 today so one must be off just a little or I made up alot of mileage when I got lost but it didn't feel like it was all that much more distance..

When I got home I was still dripping from my shorts and when I got my shoes and socks off my feet were pruned it was quite the run and of course an hour later the sun came out and it got hot.. I should have either got out earlier or just a little later... Owell I can now say I have ran in a downpour..

I am so excited we just got a new home gym unit delivered today and I cant wait to use it.. We had gotten one from walmart called the gold's gym s45 or something like that but when we got it all hooked up and went to use it I couldn't even move the pulley with my legs and that was with all the weight off.. Something was not right with it so we took it back and went shopping around for something else... We found the most sweetest gym.. It is so nice and easy to use and I can hardly wait to start using it.. You can do pretty much any weight exercise on this machine its like having 20 different machines all in one... I figures it would probably not be a good idea to work out on it today where I did a long run but on Mondays when I do just a easy short run of just 2-3 miles I will do a full body weight workout.. Yeah.. You can check it out below.. Awesome!!

Outside speed intervals

Weds- rest

Today (Thursday) I decided to work on speed intervals again but this time I took it outside.. It was a beautiful day.. Started out a little later then I wanted but didnt sleep well last night so coudnt quite make it out of bed at 6:30 so headed out about 8:45 It was quite a bit harder doing it outside because I couldnt control my speed or the hills.. I was probably running harder and faster today then when I did it on the treadmill judging by my breathing and feeling like I was wiped out.. I really had to concentrate on the 2 mins of recovery trying to get my pace slowed way down so I could catch my breath.. The 4 mins of faster running was the longest 4 mins. I think thats part of my prob running outside is I tend to run just a bit faster then I do on the treadmill so I had to really force myself to a real slow jog... And of course the hills didnt help.. Luckily there isnt to many on my route.. I walked most of them in the beginning for my warm up and my first interval had 1 but I had pretty good energy for that one but my 3rd interval had one as well and it slowed me down a bit thankfully it was a short one..

I know I was running faster because I got almost a whole nother mile more on this speed workout then I did on my one on the treadmill last week in the exact same time which i think is pretty amazing unless my pedometer calculations or the treadmill calculations are off.. I got in 4.66 Miles in 45 min 46 secs

My knees did really great today and my shin only twinged a little right at first and then felt great after that so that was a relief.. Other then feeling really pooped when I finished I felt really good..

There is a half Marathon coming up in september I am thinking of doing.. I am a little hesitant.. Not knowing the area and never running one before makes me a little scared. I wish I knew someone who was going to do it or had a running partner to kinda show me the way so to speak.. guess I will have to think about it some more.. It would be a great accomplishment if I did.. OK people I need some encouragement!!

Tearing Up The Sand

More catch up... So on Thursday i went and played some beach volleyball for 2 1/2 hrs.. I dont think that was such a wise decision.. It really tore up my knee's and aggravated my shin leg problem.. I wasn't too happy with that.. Even my feet muscles were sore.. Crazy!!

Friday-- Attempted to do my kickmax dvd but about 15 mins into it the power went out so there went that and I had family coming in that day so I had way to much to do so I ended up doing squat..

Saturday-- got up to do my long run but still felt to sore in my leg and knees and thought it would not be good to start a run already hurting so again nothing..


Monday 6th--- Feeling a little better but still sore. Went running anyways.. Leg felt good after the first mile or so but the knee continued to feel bad.. I got in I am guessing 4.45 miles.. I mapped it on map my run and it says 4.25 but I ran it with my new pedometer last week and the same distance said 4.49 and today (going the exact route) I accidentally switched to to km instead of miles and when I calculated it out it said like 3. something which wasn't right. So I am going with what the pedometer said the first time..

Tues 7th---- Kickmax dvd.. Almost made it through all the exercises.. Still cant get through all the lunge switch jump thingys.. Those really kill my legs.. Knee's and leg is still hurting but I dont want to not run either so I am not sure what to do.. I just dont want to have a repeat of last summer with my leg but it's so hard not to do anything.. This is so frustrating.. I would like to know exactly what it is and why it's happening.. Guess I will just watch it..

mid week review

Increased pushups to 15, crunches still at 100 and added 50 oblique crunches and 25 dips.

Monday 29th 4.49 miles..

Tues off

Weds
Decided to do interval work on the treadmill.. As much as I hate running on the treadmill I think its the easiest way right now to do speed intervals because you can be in control of your speed.. And because I was so focused on the intervals it made the time go by pretty fast and wasnt so boring.. I hope I did them right.. If anyone has any diffrent ideas or has advice please share.. this is what I did.. Got on and speed walked for a warm up for about 7 min around .4 miles at around 3.8 speed then increased to a slow run at 4.2 speed for 2 minutes then increased to 6.0 speed for 4 mins then repeated this 3 times on the 4th and 5th interval I increased to 6.2 speed for the fast run and then just for fun on the 5th iterval after the 4 mins i ran 1 min at 6.8 and 2 mins at 7.0 then dropped down to 4.2 for my 2 mins then dropped to 3.8 speed for a 2 min cool down.. Took about 45 min and gave me 3.9 Miles I was pretty pooped by the time I was done but it felt really great.. It was a good workout for being on the treadmill..

First long run this year

I really wanted to share my run today.. Well let me back up a couple days first.. Weds I ran 3.72 Miles. When I left it was 83 degrees and very muggy it was a very hard run.. The heat and humidity just sucked the life out of me and I really didn't think I would get my whole route in but I managed to push though it.. However by evening time I started feeling pain in my inner shin again the same exact place that I had trouble with last summer..
For those of you who have followed this blog knows that last summer I really had a hard tine with my leg.. at first the doctors thought I had a deep inner shin splint that ran right up just above my ankle up to the middle of my leg or calf.. And it just wouldn't get better well of course I kept kinda running every so often on it but then they thought it was a stress fracture but with the MRI they found no fracture so I dont know what was causing it.. They thought it was because I increased my miles to quickly and ran to much, so needless to say I ended up taking a whole lot of time off from running because of this.. Anyhow so this winter and spring I didn't really do to much running and my leg finally healed after 3-4 months and it has been doing really great.. I have just gotten back into running more often now and have slowly increased my mileage wanting to be very careful not to have a repeat but after weds run I started hurting again.. I was so mad and frustrated.. I cant believe this is starting all over again.. i really thought I was being careful.. I dont know if I didn't stretch enough or maybe too much who knows..

Anyhow so Thursday I did nothing and Friday I did my kickmax DVD but didn't start it until 9:30 at night and got done about 11:30 by the time I finally finished it.. I had to take a little break in between to put kids to bed.. But I was pretty excited because I had great energy and I was able to get through almost the whole DVD without dying off and having to stop.. There was only 1 exercise I couldn't do the whole series too and that was the jumping lunges. I get through the 1st 3 sets but then my legs start shaking and hurting and my legs give out but I was able to rest a sec and jump back in for the last set of 8. So that means my legs are getting stronger.. I was pretty happy about that but this DVD still kills me..
So anyways I got to bed about 1:00 with the help of a sleeping pill because I was so wound up from exercising so late and I really wanted to get up early sat to go for my long run before I started my garage sale at 9:00 but I thought I would probably be wiped out to get up which brings me to today....

I had my alarm set for 6:30 to just see if I could get out of bed after 5 hrs of sleep and to my surprise my body already started waking up at 6:00 so by the time 6:30 came I had no problem getting up.. I decided to go do my run before eating so I could get it in before it got to late. I was leery running with the way my leg had been hurting and going without any food and energy in my body to sustain me for a long run. I had no idea how far I would be able to go with my leg, and knees and no nourishment.. I really wasn't too sore at all like I thought I would be after kick max just 8 hrs earlier so that was a nice surprise..

Let me just say I had the best run yet this year.. It was my first long run for the year and it was great.. The weather was nice and cool probably high 60's when I left and I was able to run in the shade for most of it.. And no humidity and it made a world of difference on how I felt.. I had plenty of energy my breathing was nice and steady. I didn't get tired at all.. My knee was bothering me a bit and there was a couple of times when I had a couple hills to go through that really bothered them but thankfully they weren't long hills they were just right for a good challenge for my legs without killing me off.. I could feel the first few miles my leg was tight but by the time I got to around mile 4 it was loosening up nicely and I had no pain at all so that was a huge relief..

So other then my knee hurting some it was darn near the perfect run.. My body felt like a machine..I couldn't believe how good I felt for not running this long in over a year.. It wasn't quite the runners euphoria nor felt like I was gliding but it was pretty darn close.. I really felt like I could have done a half marathon today and been just fine despite the lack of no training for it.. There was only 1 big pain I didn't take into consideration.. Since I hadn't been running this long yet this year I didn't think to put on any glide and I had a little shorter and looser shorts on then I normally wear and my inner thigh on one leg really got chaffed as well as my under arm.. By the time I was finishing the last mile I was really feeling the burn of my chaffed skin... OWIE!!! Other then that it was such an awesome run... I got in 7.31 Miles in 71 minutes.. I did walk a little for my warm up and cool down probably about .6 a mile total.. And for being my first long run I felt pretty good about that.. I was really not trying for any speed today....

I'm not sure if I could have gone much further then I did without some nourishment however because by the time I finished I was pretty shaky and a little light headed and it was starting to warm up a bit.. But I really loved the early morning run. The temp was so much better and there was hardly any traffic out and it was just beautiful.. My music really kept me pumped.. I dont know how anyone can run without music...

Anyways that was my run today.. I hope to have many more like it minus the burns.. And I pray that my leg will not start back up with the pain like it did.. I dont want to go through another summer like that.. Is there anyone out there that has had this type of pain before and knows what you can do for it other then icing and not running on it? I just cant not run.. My husband said maybe you will just have to stop running and switch to an elliptical and ride your bike and the very thought just made me depressed and mad.. There is just something about being out side and taking in the beauty and feeling the wind and air and taking in the smells and the way your body feels when you are running outside.. You just cant get that on an elliptical or a bike really.. It's just not the same.. Now that I know what its like to be a runner I just cant imagine not running.. Owell here is to a hopeful running future....

Goals

I really need to get up earlier and run.. Lately by the time I get around to running after my kids swimming lessons it somewhere between noon and 1:00 so in the heat of the day Not good!! It was about 75 when I left so nothing too terrible but with the humidity it felt more like 90.. I thought I left all the humidity back in jersey but I should have known that with all the lakes and ponds out here that the humidity would be bad here too... Since running out here I have experienced more hills instead of nice flat roads.. It's been challenging and its really killing my knees especially going down them.. I hope to get better at it.. I can feel my legs starting to get stronger again so that is good.. I started to increase my mileage a bit.. I am planning to kick it up to 4 by next week.. we bought a golds gym xr 45 strength training weight machine over the weekend and I cant wait to get it set up and start using it.. Finally I have something that can build my legs up.. It has a pully system for your legs so I can do all the exercises my P.T had me doing for my knees so that will be great..
Today I set another goal.. Of course I keep setting new goals and end up not sticking with them but I really hope to stick with it this time.. Besides running 3.62 miles today I did 10 pushups , 100 crunches and 25 dips.. I want to do these everyday well at least 5-6 days anyways despite whatever else I do so I guess we will see..

Catch up

I havnt been doing very good on getting on here and posting.

Last week

Tues- 3.11 miles
Thurs- Kick max
Fri- 3.11

This week

Weds-Kick Max

Can I just say for any of you runners who really want a good cross training workout you should try kick max.. Oh my gosh it will lick your butt.. It is a awesome full body workout.. And it's a killer on your legs.. It really strengthens and tones them.. I have never sweat like I have doing this dvd.. There are parts of the leg excercises (jumping squats, lunges and curls) that I cant keep up with and do all the reps they do because the burning and pain is so intense. I was still sore today from last weeks workout.. It really works the hip flexors, butt, quads, calves and hams.. It totally kills me... But now after doing it 3-4 times I am getting a little more endurance with it.. Hopefully soon I will be able to stay with it and do all the reps and exercises... This is such a great workout for runners it really helps with building and strenthening your whole body.. I would highly reccomend it.. If any of you are interested I have a dvd that I will burn for you and let you try it out if you want to pay for the shipping and cost of the dvd..

Wow now that I did all this promoting for their dvd I think they should pay me something.. LOL
Anyways thats been my 2 weeks so far.. I am hoping to get out running tomorrow.. Today it has just down poured all day.. I have never seen it rain so hard.. But tomorrow is supposed to be dry hopefully so I am gonna try and get a run in if I am not to sore from today..

Update..
Thursday the 18th 3.60 miles Ran the pollyann trail today.. Ran some hills drn near killed me but felt pretty good after run was over..

Kick Max

Today I decided to do my kick max dvd and holy crap I am outta shape.. It's been about 2 years since I did it last and I am totally exhausted.. Physically as far as my stamina or endurance goes I was able to keep up with it due to my running but when it came to the leg workouts it about did me in.. There were a couple of the bursts that I pooped out on becuase my legs were cramping so bad and were pooping out on me.. Wow talk about a killer workout.. I used to do it every so often when I was teaching aerobics at a local church for some women in the area and I was in pretty good shape but since we moved out of state and I no longer have that I have really gone to pot.. I can definently tell now that I am going to have a hard time even walking tomorrow.. I am hoping that if I keep up with doing this once or twice a week in between my running I'll get back in shape in no time.. I have really missed getting out there and running like I was at this time last year.. Hopefully as soon as school gets out here I can start going outside and running the trails around here. That is if my knee's will cooperate.. I have really been hurting lately.. I started back up with the celebrex so hopefully that will help..

Slow Start

Ok so have pretty much been out of it for a while.. With all the house hunting and moving and then unpacking and to top all that off as soon as I got here I got pretty sick which turned into a sinus infection which hasnt gone away yet and its been 2 weeks and then of course I either got sick from the antibiotics or it was just a fluke that I came down with a stomach bug so I really havn't done much since I have gotten to MI.. and there are some great trails I am dying to go try.. Also with logan out of school and the other kids with still a couple weeks left I cant go out and leave her so I am stuck with the treadmill thing for a couple more weeks until school gets out then I will be able to start going again. It will be great come fall when she starts going to school full time. Then I can go anytime during the day...

So today I was really depressed when I couldnt fit into the capris I had worn last summer so I got on the treadmill and was able to speedwalk a mile then run 1 mile to finish with a quarter mile cool down. So not too bad for starting back up again.. I hope I can work up fast and get back into a really good system and good mileage without the aches and pains.. I think with all the trails up here I am going to be doing more biking then I have been so that will be a good workout for the inbetween days. Now if I can just get the motivation and energy back.. Its amazing what a few months can do to ya..

Falling Behind

Wow I really have been slacking lately.. But i do have an excuse with all my traveling lately and getting ready to move.. I have been having some activity but not as much as I would like.. I have also been neglecting to get on here and record my activity so here is a quick catch up..

The week of the 23rd I only got some biking in on friday.. My parents are up staying with us until we move and my dad just had knee surgery a month ago and he still could kick my butt on the bike.. It took everything I had to keep up with him.. Go DAD!!!!

Then we headed to michigan again and I got on the treadmill in the hotels gym on the 1st and ran 3.06 miles then went and swam some laps.. It felt great to put in a little more distance this time.. I was really looking forward to doing the Diana's run 5k in May but unfortunatly we wont be here for it so I will have to see what is going on out in Michigan for races.. Although I havnt really had the training this summer.

Owell hoping for a better week this week. I'm really looking forward to getting settled in to our new home in Michigan so I can get back into some kind of routine and hopefully get my body back in shape..

Weekly Cap

Well last week I didnt do anything because of being out here in Michigan house hunting so we spent most of our days being out, but this week Steve had to work so I was confined to our hotel room with no car so my choices of doing anything was very limited so I did get in some running this week.

Monday
I got to go check out the hotel gym and I did 10 mins of the stair master and 10 mins of biking, did some weights then ran 2.5 miles.. It was a great workout.. Maybe a little much after too long of inactivity because by late afternoon I was stiff and sore and hurting.. I have been batteling some kind of nerve or muscle or both in my dairy'er that has just been killing me for the last 2 weeks and I think the excercising today inflammed it and made it worse.. I sit on it just right and it sends shooting pains all the way down my leg.. AARRGGHH

Tuesday
Today it was like 65 degrees here so I headed out side.. They have a sidewalk type path that runs along the street of the hotel that I decided to run.. It felt great to be outside.. I got in a 2.35 mile run in..

Weds
Had appnts in the AM so it was a rest day..

Thurs.
Did the hotel gym again today.. Biked 15 mins, then ran 2.3 miles then did some weights.. Aching again tonight.. I must be getting old... I would hate to see what I felt like without the aid of my celebrex..

Fri
I dont know if I will do anything. Flying home today but steve has to work a half day so maybe I will go run.. I will update if I do when we get back..

Recap of last week

I decided I would start blogging once a week on my activity. I think it will be easier this way as long as I remember to keep track of my miles and what not..

Thursday I di full body weights after a long time of nothing.. I was quite a bit sore by that evening and then dummy me I went rock climbing that night and my arms were so tired and sore.. That wasnt such a great idea..

Friday easy steady run. 3.03 miles Wasnt as bad as I thought it would be with my legs being so sore..

The rest of the weekend I slacked.. And so far have not gotten back into it yet.. It's been so cold here and we got our first real big snow storm monday so I just havn't been able to motivate myself to get on the treadmill.. Tomorrow I have early morning appnts after kids get off to school so it probably wont happen again.. In fact I doubt anything will happen for a while.. I have a freind coming in from utah on thursday and we are spending the weekend in The Big City and then I am off to Michigan house hunting for 2 weeks so my running will prob go down the tube for the next few weeks... AArrgh I just realized all this now.. It makes me crazy that I wont be doing anything.. I feel so much better when I can get out and run... Maybe I will have to see if the hotel we will be staying in has a work out facility.. Something is better then nothing I guess...

Thank Heavens For Drugs.

I finally made it out today..I was dressed to go yesterday morning thinking it would help motivate me but it was so cold yesterday and breezy that after standing out in it for 15 mins with the kids at the bus stop it quickly unmotivated me... I was going to get on the treadmill but came home and got on the computer and got lost into cyberspace and before I knew it the day was half over.. So I really have been slacking. Today was better.. Temp wise it was about the same but only a very slight breeze which make a big diffrence out here.. With the humidity and wind chill factor it felt like in the teens yesterday but it was really 25.. Today it was 25 degrees when i went out but much better.. Still a little cold for my liking but I really needed to get out and run.. My knees felt really great today... Just a little twinging in the right one.. I finally got the Dr. to give me a couple more prescriptions for some celebrex and it has made a world of diffrence in my knees..

I was planning on keeping my miles low but after I finished up 2 I decided since I was feeling pretty good I would go take my dog around the block for a cool down brisk walk.. It ended up being more of a run but as long as I felt good I figured it was ok.. Right towards the end I could feel the right one aching a bit so I went home and iced it and now feel pretty good. Hopefully if I can stay on the celebrex I may get back into this a little better..

All in all a pretty good day!! 3.03 Miles

Funny Excercise Diary!!

I got sent this diary in an email and thought it was so funny!! I can sympathetically relate..

Dear Diary,
For my birthday this year, my daughter (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me.
Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.
I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.
My daughter seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

MONDAY:
Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me. She is something of a Greek goddess - with blond hair, dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!
Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring!
Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week-!!
_____________________________

TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT-!! It's a whole new life for me.
_______________________________
WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot. Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair monster. Why the heck would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. She said some other crap too.
_______________________________
THURSDAY:
Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late - it took me that long to tie my shoes. Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. She sent another skinny witch to find me. Then, as punishment, she put me on the rowing machine --which I sank.
____________________
FRIDAY:
I hate that witch Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic little cheerleader. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it. Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the stupid barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?
________________________________
SATURDAY:
Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel.
________________________________
SUNDAY:
I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my daughter (the little brat) will choose a gift for me that is fun --like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!! In three words, I can sum up everthing I've learned about life.....
IT GOES ON!
-Robert Frost

I havn't been doing to good keeping up with this thing.. Of course there hasnt been much to blog about.. After the last blogged run I think I had over done it with mileage because my knees really ached horribly for 2 days.. I could hardly walk.. So I took a little time off. I had gotten my MRI's back and the Dr said they were ok. I had some cartlidge wear under the knee cap on one and some fluid in the other but that all I could do was P.T and rest and ice and maybe if I cant get them under control with decreasing my mileage for a while that I may have to stop running which I wasnt to happy hearing.. I was not really impressed with the DR. I had been doing therapy and it didnt seem to help all that much.. I was doing better in the summer but still not great. And it seems like lately they have been getting worse.. So I attempted to run again next week after a little break and kept my mileage low. I lost the sheet I tracked my mileage on but I think it was around 2 miles with 1 mile of it being fast walking and my knees did much better but still kinda hurt..

They are still not doing great so I have not been doing anything.. I may try and go out again tomorrow or thurs depending on weather to see how they react.. I think I will wait until I move in a couple months then get a second opinion on them.. I was so hoping to do a half marathon this summer but I just dont think I will ever get there.. I just dont want to give running up. It just makes me feel so much better and there isnt really anything that takes the place of it and gives you quite the same high as running does.. Of course with moving to another state my time will be very hectic so I dont know how much running I will get in..

So I'm a little bummed out with my running progress but hopefully it will get better..

First Run of 2009

Sorry for the double post today but I wanted to blog on my first run of the year....

Well I was going to wait a while to run due to some knee problems but I woke up this morning feeling pretty good and it was actually 10 degree's warmer then it has been for a while and I have really been itching to get out and run lately so I decided why not let's give it a try... I tried to stretch out some before heading out hoping it would help.. It was 28 degrees so much better then the 18 and 19 that it's been.. I was only planning on going a couple miles since it was my first time out in 6 weeks. I figured my lungs would probably give out on me any further then that but to my surprise I did quite well. I tried to do a good warm up fast walk to get the blood flowing.. It was quite cold starting out, but after the first mile I finally started warming up and feeling the blood flowing and was able to breath without my gloved hand over my face.. When I first started running I was thinking I was not going to make it far I was already breathing hard and feeling like I was gonna bring up a lung, but I soon was able to even out my breathing and it was pretty smooth sailing from there..

My knees had a little pain but nothing to drastic.. I had a band on my right one I dont know if it helped or not.. I have heard so much controversy on whether or not they really help or hinder but I thought I would wear it anyways, My chest started hurting about a mile into it but I remembered last time when I took a couple months off and then started back up that the first couple times running again I had some chest pain but then by the 3rd time out it was gone so I wasn't to worried.. I was able to run the whole time other then my warm up and cool down.. I really felt pretty good and I could have gone further and wanted to , but I thought I better not push my luck too far..

I ended up doing 3 miles and got back home and saw my poochy Lucky standing at the door thinking he was ready to go for a walk so I decided why not and walked about another 1/4 mile and ran the rest giving me another .9 of a mile giving me a total of 3.91 miles today.. Much further then I thought I would go but I felt really good and I hope it wasn't too much for just starting up again.. I could really feel my knee's when I started running again with the dog but once I got running I didnt feel it anymore so I dont know if that was a good thing or not.. I came home and Iced them so hopefully that will help.. They are a little sore now but not to bad and hopefully they wont get any worse as the day goes on..

So all in all it was a really great run minus the few nagging pains.. A great start to 2009.. Hope it stays that way... Here's to :

My Miles for 2008

I started running in March of 2008 and found I really loved it despite nagging pains from my knee due to 2 previous surgerys.. I decided to blog this so I could move it off from the side of my blog so I could start my running log for 2009 plus give me something to go back and refer or compare to.. As you can see there was quite a jump from first starting out to my next couple months I think that is why I got the stress fracture in my leg as you can tell that put me down significantly in June and July. There on out it has been kind of hit and miss with injurys and pains.. I hope to eventually get back to how I was running in May and get a few more races in this year. That might be a challenge because I have been having knee problems and will be having some MRI's done on them to see if another surgery is necesary. Hope not!! Plus we are expecting to move come June so that will screw up any races in this area so I will have to see what happens and where we go.. I may have to forget the races this year...I am shooting to do the Diana's Run again in May so at least there will be one race.. Unless I need surgery... that may put me out for a while.. Guess we will see what happens... I hope it turns out to be a good year and I can continue my love of running..

Running/Speed Walking/Weightloss Log
March 15th --------------------2 Miles
March 29th --------------------2 Miles
March 31st --------------------2 Miles
---------------------------------------
April 1st ------------------1 1/2 Miles
April 2nd ----------------------3 Miles
April 3rd ----------------------5 Miles
April 9th ----------------------5 Miles
April 10th --------------------6 Miles
April 11th --------------5.2 Miles +3
April 15th -----------------6 Miles +1
April 16th --------5.8 Miles N0 +/-
April 17th-------------7.30 Miles -1
April 23rd- --------------5.26Miles -2
April 24th-- ---------------7.23 Miles
April 26th-----------------3 miles +2
----------------------------------------
May 3rd----------------5.45 miles +1
May 5th----------------6.83 Miles +1
May 6th-------------------7.30 Miles
May 7th-----------------7.72 Miles -1
May 8th ----------------5.68 Miles
May 13th---------------5.93 Miles +2
May 15th---------------7.51Miles -2
May 16th----------(B)8.35 (R) 1.? -3
May 17th-------------10.25 Miles +1
May 19th-------------5.21 Miles +2
May 21st ---------------6.40 miles
may 23rd---------------6.40 miles +1
May 27th---------------3.82 Miles
May29th---------------5.92 Miles
May 31st 5K race----3.1 Miles 24:45
----------------------------------
June 2---------------6.42 Miles +2
June 5th-------------7.12 Miles -1
June 6th -------------5.44 miles -1
June 17th-----------(B)9-10 Miles
June 19th---4.34 Miles B 9-10 Miles
------------------------------------
July 1st---------------2-3 Miles
july 14th----------------3.59miles
July 15th-------------(B) 9.09 Miles
July17th----------------4.64 Miles
July 22nd---------------2.3 Miles
July 28th---------------4.50 Miles
July 29th-----------(B) 12.08 Miles
July 30th---------------4.33 Miles
------------------------------------
Aug 7th-----------------5.58 Miles
Aug 8th------------------B 9.34 miles
Aug 9th--------------------6 Miles
Aug 12th-------------------5.9Miles
Aug 14---------------------5.92 Miles
Aug 16th-------------------6.78 miles
Aug 19th-------------------6.85Miles
Aug 20th-------------------5.17 Miles
Aug 22---------------------9.26 Miles
Aug 26th-------------------5.92 Miles
Aug 28th-------------------6.85 Miles
---------------------------------------
Sept 1st--------------------5.44 Miles
Sept 2nd--------------------6.41Miles
Sept 13th-------------------3.36 Miles
Sept 15th-------------------3.52 Miles
Sept 23rd-------------------3.4 Miles
Sept 30th-------------------3.84 Miles
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Oct 14th--------------------4.55 Miles
Oct 16th--------------------3.83 Miles
Oct 18th--------------------5.93 miles
----------------------------------------
Nov 1st---------------------3.05miles
Nov 10th-------------------3.05 Miles
Nov 12th-------------------3.92 miles
Nov 17th-------------------3.78 Miles
Nov 22nd------------------3.05 miles
Nov 24th-------------------4.25Miles
--------------------------------------
Dec 3rd--------------------4.20Miles
Dec 5th--------------------4.25Miles
Dec 10th------3.34Miles (B) 1

Here is to 2009

I know I have been suck a slacker lately.. Its been 6 weeks since I have done anything and I am feeling like such a fat outta shape couch potatoe.. I have done absolutely nothing these past 6 weeks other then eat and eat and eat some more.. This is what I hate most about the holidays... plus that it is so dang cold to go outside to run and I cant stand to run on the treadmill... I have had such a horrible time with my knees for the last month that I have really been worrying about my continued running.... I am going in to have MRI's done on both of them on Monday to see whats going on with them... I really want to get out and run because I feel so much better when I do but I dont know if I dare chance it with how my knee's have been.. I tried doing some stretching a couple days ago and couldnt believe how outta shape I had gotten.. I could barely get my legs past a 90 degree angle when lying on my back.. How pathetic is that.. I was really tight.. I figured maybe I would work on my stretching a little then give it a try and see how they handle.. I am going to have to put up with the treadmill to start out because its been so cold, but at least my miles will be low so it wont be too bad..

So I am hoping that with this new year my knees will improve and I can work my way back up and get some races under my belt. Well I would take just being able to run again pain and injury free.. Drop some pounds and tone up and feel good about myself again..Maybe start to recognize my old body again... Here is to 2009!!!!!