Purity Dairy Dash 10k Race Report!

Just to not keep you in suspense, today's 10k was awesome and I finished and had no knee pain! AH! I'm so excited and thrilled.

Back it up to this morning. I really couldn't sleep last night and woke up every few hours to look at the clock and flip over. I ended up getting up at 6:45 to get ready and head downtown. The race didn't start until 8:15 but I took a nap yesterday and forgot to pick up my race packet... oops. I just had a piece of toast with almond butter and a small banana to hold me over. I'm still a little iffy on pre and post race fueling as my stomach doesn't like most things when I run but this seemed to work out alright.

The 5 and 10k started right on time, surprisingly. Since everyone started together, it was a bit slow getting out, but they had the 4 lane road closed so it started to thin out after about a half mile. However, once we got to about mile 2, that course changed to a narrow paved trail that could only fit about 3 people wide, so it was a pretty close pack for that portion. As usual, I hated the first 2 miles and wondered why I was doing this, but once I warmed up, everything felt great. My main goals for the event were to finish (see: Clarksville 2009) and to have a negative split. At the 5k mark, I was at about 32:30. Unfortunately, I forgot to set the auto lap on my Garmin so I don't have actual splits, but I remember checking this one. Since everything felt great at that point, I started to pick it up a bit, especially since I wanted to make my negative split!

Once we passed mile 4, it turned into a regular 4 lane road again, so the pack opened up a bit. For the last mile, I was running at about a 9:20-25 pace, and then for the last quarter mile, I picked it up to about a 7:45 (you can do anything for 2 minutes, right?), pulling in to finish at about 1:02!! The second 5k ended up being about 29:30 minutes, so I met both my goals! I was trying to not puke (so elegant, I am) and forgot to stop my watch, so I'm curious to see what the chip time was. I also hope that I got a good race photo! It was about at mile 5 and I tried not to look like I was suffering. :)

Anyway, all in all, it was a great race. My legs felt good, the course was nice and flat, and the weather was perfect. It was actually in the 30's this morning so I wore a long sleeve shirt and tights, but I ended up being a bit hot. Weather.com had said it wouldn't pass 40 degrees by 10am, but it was about 55 when I finished. Shorts definitely would have been more comfortable. I also brought my fuel belt because I wasn't sure what the water stops would be like, but they ended up working out fine and I barely used the water in my belt. Nice to know for next 10k because its kinda heavy and bulky if I can get away with not having one.

Lastly, my only main complaint was the post race celebration. It seemed like most people really enjoyed it, but they were serving bbq and mac&cheese and ice cream sandwiches. Just the smell of it made my stomach turn, so I grabbed a water, banana and a luna bar, and left. Yick. I don't know how people can eat such heavy food right after running hard. It took about 2 hours for my stomach to willingly accept solid food. All together, amazing experience and I'm so happy that both IT bands feel good. I plan doing some more ice and foam rolling later, but right now, all is great!

In closing, I also ran with EN on Wednesday (5.6 miles) and then did a short run (2.9) on Thursday. Nothing terribly exciting with either, but the EN hills were nasty, which I guess is appropriate. :) Off to eat again!

I'm insane

I just registered for the Marine Corps Marathon.
Eek.

The long winding hill

Hello! I'm back from NY for a wonderful (short) Easter break. I was only able to steal home for a long weekend, but it was just long enough to get a little bit of a rest. There are only 3 weeks of class left so life is about to get chaotic. Eek

On Friday I was able to steal away for a long run. I always get nervous before I head out on a run past 5 miles or so. Anyway, I was planning on doing about 8 or so, and my mom drove us out about 2 miles away from the house and ran the first couple with me (she's coming just off injury too!). The route was basically running up this long mile long hill and back three times and then the two miles home. It was excruciating, to say the least! The grade on the hill wasn't terribly steep but it was for the whole mile up. By the 5th mile, I really just wanted to keep going and head home, but I turned around for the final time up and down that blasted hill.

Finally I got to start the trip home, with one fourth and final time up the mile stretch. However, the last mile of the trek home though was an enormous hill. Gigantic. Huge. Monstrous. My mom had suggested that I just walk it since it was so steep, particularly since it was pretty gravely. Both wanting to get home and being an idiot, I tried to run it. I made it up! And then spent the next 3 minutes trying to catch my breath and not puke. I was successful though and made it home for a grand total of 8.6 miles of pure hilly torture. Well, the whole thing wasnt torture but parts were certainly pretty bad!

I followed up with ice and some rolling, and it seems like my ITBs did pretty well! My lower back was a little sore the day after, but I think it's from a combination of running on the pavement, lack of sleep, and the fuel belt I was using. It was slightly too big so I think I was arching my back a tad to keep it in place. My calves were also screaming the next day but that's to be expected. All in all, I made it past the distance where my ITBs gave out on me back in October and I'm pretty grateful to have made it past that point.

For next weekend, I decided to register for the 10k. I'm still a little scared of it so that's a good reason to do it. :) I think it's a pretty flat course too. Plus, free ice cream! If only they could put it on a stick and dangle it in front of me as I trot.

So my question for the day: The Country Music Half is in 3 weeks. Hypothetically, I do 9.5 next weekend, then 11 the following, should I got for it? I want to!!

Hooked on East Nasty

I'm hooked. I'd been hearing about East Nasty, a running group in Nashville, for quite some time now but didn't really have the nerve to go. I kept nursing fears about injury and pace, and didn't want to be the girl bringing up the rear of the pack. Yes, I do realize there has to be someone who does it, but still, I didn't want it to be me. So today, I finally was brave enough to try it out and I loved it. Love love love. I don't know why I waited so long to check it out. It felt like running in a race without numbers, and everyone was so supportive of the other runners.

EN does a rotating set of 12 runs and today was back at #1, a 3.1 mile figure eight. I figured it was a good distance to start me at, plus it was all of a gorgeous 78 degrees today. When I arrived, there was a giant pack of spandex clad runners, some with pups, all set to go. I think that maybe there were 100 in all? (I don't have a method for estimating that, but there were a lot) I started out pretty fast (probably too fast) at about a 9:10 mile, but settled in at around around 10ish. There were more hills than I was expecting, long ones too, but I think I did a pretty solid job of powering up those, even if my pace dropped a little. Since I run mostly flat courses, the hills were pretty challenging, but I looove the relaxing momentum of running downhill. Anyway, I ran pretty well I think, and at the 5k mark, my watch said 30:23.

REALLY!?!?!? On a super hilly course, less than two months post recovery, I shaved 3 minutes off my 5k time. Ecstatic. Now I'm dying to see what I can do on a flat course. I've been planning on running the Purity Dairy Dash 10k for the mid-distance, but now I'm considering shifting down to the 5k for the fun of it. A sub 30 minute 5k would be awesome. Things to think about... :) Although my IT bands feel pretty awesome, I bought a tennis ball a few days ago so that I can work on my peroneal muscle (peroneus longus) in my calves. They are both awfully tight and are a bit sore. Hopefully some self-therapy can take the edge off. It's amazing how much lower body anatomy I've learned with this injury!

Anyway, I had an awesome salad-esque dinner when I got home. I tried to make the Mediterranean Chickpea Patties from Carrots 'N Cake, but since my food processor is hand operated, the puree never got quite smooth enough so they kind fell apart. They were still pretty tasty, but i couldn't coat them in flour without them breaking into pieces so I just went without. Also, tonight I was out of lemon, so instead I mixed some olive oil with Greek yogurt (plus salt and pepper) and that was an amazing dressing.


All served on top of a salad w/ peppers, tomatoes, and onions, plus an Ezekiel English muffin on the side. Yum. (Check out the original recipe; they photos are much nicer!!)

Anyway, I need a good night sleep, but as a farewell, here's the little one. Martha was being a doll tonight and was begging to have her picture taken. :) I have the sweetest pup in the world.


G'night!

Improving, finally

Today I finally took some time to notice how much my running has really improved. I still describe myself as a slow runner, which is true, but it's almost like a defense mechanism to protect against criticism from "real runners". In addition, I think I tend to focus on my speed compared to other runners instead of compared to how far I've come, particularly since I'm just barely post-injury. In late October, my 5k time was 33:19, with two bad IT bands and a ton of pain. Today, I did about 3 miles of speed work (warm up + 400+600+800+600+400, with a one minute walk in between sets) and that took about 29 minutes. How can I be disappointed with that?! I walked about 5 minutes recovery in this workout and still am killing my last 5k. Maybe I can't run a 7 minute mile, but I can run a 9:30 now, and I did all of my intervals at about an 8:30 pace. Considering that until mid-February, I couldn't run a quarter mile without pain shooting up my thigh, I should be thrilled. So here's to focusing on my own improvements and not about the 6 and a half foot tall guy at Centennial who was lapping me, and to keep my eyes on my own mat (to use a yoga-ism :) ).

Besides, his legs are twice as long as mine anyway. :)

Oh, last thing. Have you seen the new lululemon ad? It's in April's Runners' World (p. 39) and is currently hanging on my fridge. Scorpion handstand with one leg in lotus? Killer.

Running again!

Blog resuscitation, part III? A good friend and I made a pact to blog two times a week and she's been keeping up her end of the bargain. I certainly haven't though! Trying again! :)

I went for an amazing run yesterday. As I've clearly complained about, pretty consistantly, I hurt my IT bands pretty bad back in October. However, after months of physical therapy with some amazing people and a couple cortisone shots, it looks like I may be in the clear! In fact, I feel like a stronger runner than ever, probably because of all the PT work.

So yesterday, my run was 7 miles and it felt incredible. I kept the pace pretty slow since it was the longest I've gone since injury and since I basically climbed a friggen mountain during it. I had decided to try out Edwin Warner Park, which was really pretty with tons of trails, but also mighty hilly at parts. However, no pain! I walked about a quarter mile in the middle just to give my legs a break before they needed it, but other than that, ran through the whole thing without a problem, even going up hill. A-mazing. Plus, it was 70 and sunny. Spring may finally be here!

In other news, I finally saw Coco Avant Chanel last night. It was not was I was expecting but I certainly liked it. The plot centered much more around her personal life instead of her design career but it was pretty beautifully filmed. I was also pleasantly surprised at how much French I still understand. It was still nice to have subtitles as a reminder, otherwise I probably only would have gotten a very general idea of the story. :) Hélas, j'ai besoin de plus étudier.

I have piles of work to do and would love to fit in a trip to the gym today. I had planned on taking the day off for recovery but I feel fine. Also, I'm heading to NY for Easter next weekend so things will be a tad thrown off there. Off to enjoy the rest of this beautiful weekend!

Pancake Heaven

I just had the world's most delicious, shockingly healthy pancake. (~400 calories with toppings)

Into the mix went

• 1/3 cup buttermilk pancake mix
• small handful of rolled oats
• large splash of skim milk
• egg white
• cinnamon and vanilla
• one small mashed banana

It made one giant pancake which I topped with blackberry jam and a tbsp of almond butter. SO good! I actually don't really like real maple syrup and how it saturates the pancake (ew) so I used to only eat fake syrup. However, after looking at the ingredients a while back and realizing how artificial it is, I've switched to warmed up jam. Works for me!

Anyway, last night I really didn't want to go to the gym. (I have a lot of trouble convincing myself to go on Fridays so I may need to reorganize my workout schedule to accommodate that!) I had joined the YMCA here in Nashville a few weeks ago and it's so wonderful. It's way affordable and I actually like it more than NYSC in NY and I was paying three times as much there! Anyway, I didn't feel like driving out there so I convinced myself to squeeze in a short 40 minute work out at the crappy gym at my apartment complex. So I ran 1.5 miles (no pain!) and I hit all the major muscle groups with weights. I'm proud that I was able to make myself go, even for a half workout. :)

It's miserable and rainy here in Nash, but I'm at least thankful that I'm not stuck in the DC snowstorm! Stay safe and warm!

I'm back! For real!

Oh man. So I stopped blogging regularly after I hurt my IT bands, mostly because I didn't have all that much to write about regarding training. I do realize that's a bit silly and that there are other things to talk about, but I got to the point that I would avoid clicking on the bookmarked link! However, a friend of mine inspired me to get back on the proverbial blogging horse today. (Thanks :) )

Truth be told, I really do like having the space to write down whatever I feel like telling you so I'm looking forward to turning over my new blogger leaf... again. Plus, it certainly helps that my IT bands are finally starting to get better. PT was helping to make my hips much stronger, but I still couldn't get past about 1/2 mile without pain, which would linger for hours afterward. It was so frustrating that 3 months post injury, I wasn't getting anywhere (well, I wasn't running anywhere at least!).

So, I went to an orthopedist who gave me a couple anti-inflammatory injections into my knees, which I was totatlly skeptical of and was pretty certain that they would be useless. However, I tried out running a mile a few days later and would you believe it, no pain! It actually felt good to run and I felt like I could've kept going for miles. I was a good patient and stopped after a mile though and iced/foam rolled. YES! So I'm going to very gradually increase milage and frequency and take it from there, but it finally looks like I've turned the corner on this injury.

I started having fantasies about doing the Country Music Half right away, but after some rational thought, I realized that's probably not the best plan. The last thing I want to do is re-injure myself so I'm going to take it slooooow. Plus, I found my distance race to aim for (as long as all goes well!).

Presenting: the Crossroads 17.75k! It's an 11 miler just outside DC (where I will be for the summer! woohoo!! More on that later) and isn't until June so it gives me a whole lot more time. I'm hoping to squeeze in a few 5 and 10ks before then, which I'll plan as I progress. All in all, it feels so good to be running again. My last run on Wednesday, I did 1.25 miles felt so good that my legs really just wanted to open up and run instead of the slow pace I'm keeping so I allowed myself a 30 second sprint at the end which was so fun. I'm thrilled. :)

Alright, I'm need to make myself some lunch. Last night I made a batch of Baked Sesame Ginger Tofu (I halved it though) which looks delish and I think I'll just throw some broccoli in the oven to roast.

updated for picture. mmmm:


Speaking of food btw, I want to make these Chickpea Blondies this weekend from Carrots 'N' Cake (a favorite blog of mine). They look so different and tasty. Yum. Hurray for the weekend!

Ick.

Goodness, exam time is never fun. I always find myself thinking of all the careers I'd rather be pursuing. At the moment, yoga teacher and nutritionist are at the top of the list!

I'm currently at Frothy Monkey, but am about to leave because it's SO noisy. I can't concentrate, even with my headphones in, and I have enough distractions running around in my own head without external help! I did want to share my deeeelicious sandwich though!
The Ned Sandwich! Marinated tofu, red peppers, hummus, alfalfa spouts, whole grain bread... wonderful. Plus, the side salad is acutally a real salad.

Alright, heading off to school where it is guaranteed to be quieter, if pretty boring.

I'll leave you with this interesting vintage ad. Funny how things change.... I particularly like the health warning regarding exhaustion at the end. :)

Pups!

Since I've talked about my pups so much (and I'm procrastinating), I thought it would be worth devoting a quick post to show of their cuteness.....

Martha on the trip to NY! Poor tired thing

Max and Sam

Martha and her wildfowl

Tired from chasing geese and getting under foot all day

:) :)

Belated Thanksgiving Recount

Alas, how time gets away from me.

I spent just over a week at home in New York for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be home and sit still for a moment! Of course, I also did lots of running around, seeing some people (but not enough!) and making it into the city. However, this time around, I did spend most time upstate, mostly because I was so exhausted and just needed a break. Plus, then I got to cook with my mom and play with all the pups! We had tons of people over for Turkey Day so it was certainly busy.

There was so much good food to be had and I ate like there was a famine coming! The appetizers I really loved were roasted chickpeas and baked brie with cranberries, walnuts, and currant jam (as well as some impromptu trail mix created by the chefs for cooking snacks!). The dinner menu was particularly amazing this year. We always have both a turkey (this year we actually had two) as well as brisket, plus all the trimmings. My personal highlights were the whipped sweet potatoes with caramelized apples, roasted root vegetables, jalapeno corn muffins, apple sage stuffing.... I'm really a carbohydrate kind of girl! The boy came to Thanksgiving too and I made him one of his favorite Thanksgiving dishes, green bean casserole, which I actually liked! (I was able to subdue the food snob in me for a bit!) I also tried these Sweet Potato Biscuits out. They were a huge hit at dinner, but for me, they were too light and fluffy. I like my biscuits to have more substance so I can load butter and other things onto them! For dessert, we also had deliciousness like lemon pecan squares, oatmeal cranberry walnut cookies, and my absolute FAVORITE, my mom's homemade rugula with nutella. A guest also brought these oatmeal bars which were filled with chocolate chips and gooey caramel. I pray that I never get my hands on that recipe because I must have eaten half of them (and finished the rest off in the morning).

I love how my mom plans Thanksgiving. One of my favorite tips is that the day after the meal, we write down comments about the menu which she files away for next year. It's always super helpful since it's so hard to remember specifics about the previous year. For example, from last years comments, we remembered that the meal worked better without a salad course (too hectic) and how it's always hard to keep mashed potatoes hot (thwarted again!). Also, we have dessert in a more informal setting and with bite sized pieces instead of full pies. Usually everyone is so full that bite-sized grazing is all that can be managed! Finally, for the cooking process, she also photocopies all the recipes so it doesn't matter if you spill vanilla extract all over it (oops) and there isn't a huge stack of cookbooks taking up counter space.

Thanksgiving Table, all set up before the masses descend...

....and the feasting begins!

Unfortunately, I barely got any work done (read: none) which means I'm in a bit of a crunch now. Only two and a half weeks until the end of the semester though and then home for a whole three weeks! Too bad there's a whole lot that needs to be learned between now and then...

Yoga has been going pretty well. I went to a class in Beacon at Shambhala Yoga and was the only one to come to the class so I ended up with a private session! I'm so used to my teachers method here in Nashville so the cadence of the class felt a little odd but it was still fun. I also was able to get some more one-on-one feedback on my headstand which was great! It was nice to be back here in my usual classes though.

PT has been going pretty well too. I was pretty good about staying up on my exercises while I was home but had a few days of laziness/fullness! On Tuesday I was cleared to try a 10 minute run today, but about 5 minutes in, my left knee started to hurt so I immediately stopped and walked home. I'd rather be careful this time around. Sigh. I did walk the New Paltz Turkey Trot while I was home though (walked. the. whole. darn. thing. yay self control) and had no pain! I know that I'm making progress, it just feels sloooww. I did get a pedicure today and now have glittery gold holiday toes, so that helped of course. :)

Alright, time to walk the pup and get some rest! Hopefully I'll be more productive tomorrow!

Free Cheese!

On a completely non-workout matter, I won a cheese basket today from Ile de France! I'm so excited! I never win anything. I signed up on a whim and got lucky. Plus it looks like they are giving them out for the next couple of days so you should sign up too. :) Who knows?! As a warning, I'm not planning on sharing. Well, except with the 20 people coming to Thanksgiving... no one else though!

Tonight I had yoga which was lots of fun. I got about 3/4 up into headstand for a bit (no wall!) and didn't flip over onto my back like last week (that bruise is just fading). Plus, I got to untape my feet afterward. I think that it helped, but by the end of the day, the outside of my right foot was sore. I don't know if that has anything to do with the taping or if I just walked into something though!

Alright, late night for me. Another round of PT exercises and maybe a little more time on this exam before bed. As of Thursday afternoon though, 2/5 classes down! Woohoo!

Laziness, Acorn Squash and Taped Feet

Well, not running has certainly made me lazier about updating. I tend to do my updates after a run to document mileage and progress, but since I do my PT exercises throughout the day and yoga at night.... I get lazy. I'll work on it!

So physical therapy has been going pretty well so far. I try to make sure I do the exercises consistently and my therapist sees some improvement so far. I can now walk downstairs but up is still a little bit difficult. However, rolling my IT bands out feels much less tender now. It was really excruciating before, especially on the left side, so I'd have to do it in shorter sections.

Yesterday, she also taped up my feet to see if that helps with my knee pain (the point is to keep my arches from rolling in). I'm not sure if it helps but I like the pressure on my feet. The bottom of my right foot is super itchy though. I only have to leave them on until tonight, but if they are helpful, then orthotics may help keep my feet more stable.

They look a little silly, but I hope it helps!

I also have been cooking lots! I was in the mood for squash again, so I did a quick internet search and found a recipe for Stuffed Spicy Acorn Squash with Quinoa, Walnuts, and Dried Fruit. I was out of walnuts so I subbed pecans, and also added some raisins and an apple. It was so good! I suggested the quinoa mixture to my mom for Thanksgiving and I think that we are going to make it. Yum. I also made a white bean spinach soup out of my new vegetarian slow cooker book and oatmeal for the week. Anything to put off doing schoolwork!

It made for awesome leftovers too

Besides that, I have just been trying to get through some work. I have an exam due Thursday so I'm hoping to get through a lot of that tonight, before and after yoga. However, I'm going home to New York on Friday morning! Super excited for that. I can't believe how close finals are getting though. I really need to bring some work home with me, even though I definitely do not want to. Oh well. Only a few more weeks of this.

Back to work!

P.S. How fun does this look!? Country Music Half Marathon

Running Blogs

I miss running. To make up for it, I've been reading lots of articles and running blogs. Here are some of my favorites that I read daily...

Runner's Kitchen
I love her blogs about balancing running and healthy eating, in a realistic manner! Plus, she was so kind to answer an email I wrote her about IT band injuries :)

Heather Eats Almond Butter
I've been reading this forever. I love her recipes and yoga stories. Love love love. Plus, it's turned me on to kabocha and a few new things in Nashville!

The Long Run
My friend gave me this link, which chronicles her friend's marathon (and now ultra) training! Eek.

New York Times: Training the Mind to Run Through the Winter

It's been so beautiful out so there are lots of people running out now and it makes me so jealous! Sigh.

PT and New Cookbooks!

I've been rather lax about posting recently. I apoligize!

Physical therapy has been going pretty well. I've been pretty good about keeping up with my exercises at home, I think, as I've been pretty sore every morning. However it's a good sore now! I don't mind muscle soreness as long as it's not causing pain. So this week, I've gone three times and I've got another three scheduled for next week. Unfortunately my insurance isn't covering as much as I'd like, but this is pretty important to me so it's worth it. I can walk normally now (good for Martha!) but I still can't manage stairs. It's amazing how many glares I get taking the elevator at school or the bookstore. I think most people think I'm just being lazy. Judgy.

So I learned a little bit more about my IT band from talking to my physical therapist (love her, really!). It seems that something that I do every day might also be really stressing my IT bands. When ever I'm standing still, I tend to cock my hip to one side, which really stresses the band in that leg. Once I noticed that I do it, I see that I do it ALL the time. While brushing my teeth, washing the dishes, even during pauses while walking the pup. I'm trying to keep my weight evenly distributed on both legs, but I've had few lapses. It looks like this is going to end up being a total re-education in how I walk, stand, run... I usually sit on the couch in a way that stresses it too because I fold my legs under myself in a weird sorta way. I'm trying to be pretty conscious of it so that I can learn new ways to do things that don't stress my legs.

I've been making it to yoga at least! I went on Tuesday and Thursday this week, and I hope to make it to the free class at lululemon tomorrow too. I've been taking it easy and trying to not push it, but so far, no pain from class. I think I've developed a little bit of fear towards re-injury too. It hurt a lot. These past two classes, I've been using my new lululemon yoga mat and I'm shocked to report that I really don't like it! I even switched mats mid-class yesterday because it was so slippery that I can't stay in downward dog. Luckily, the company stands by their products so much that I've heard that they will take it back! I will test that theory out tomorrow and see what happens. Maybe tomorrow if I make it to the class?

I picked up a couple new cookbooks to try out as well! As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not a vegetarian, but I tend to eat a rather plant-based diet so I bought two vegetarian cookbooks. I find that most others revolve around meat as the main part of the dish (i.e meat and a veggie side instead of veggie with a little meat), especially for slow cookers. I'm pretty excited to try both out and if I'm really craving bacon, it looks like it would be pretty easy to toss some in.

First up: How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

I really like Bittman's column in the NYT and his food philosophy. I also have his book Food Matters, and while the recipes are really good, it's got a lot more narrative than cookbook. I was especially excited about the section in this book on seitan! I love getting it in restaurants but am clueless as how to handle it in my own kitchen. I'll let you know how it goes!

Second: Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker
I just bought a slow cooker, thinking how wonderful it would be to just toss some ingredients in it in the morning and to have something ready for dinner! However, most slow cooker cookbooks are for roasts and stuff. This one has a great white bean and escarole one that I can't wait to try out. Yum.

One last comment on food before I get back to some physical therapy exercises. I had some Ben and Jerry's light Phish Food Ice Cream last night which is deeeelicious, but I took a gander at the ingredients and almost fell over. Ingredients 2-4 are liquid sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and sugar. ICK. I'm going to finish out the pint (can't waste tasty ice cream), but I'm kinda conflicted at buying it again. That's a lot of sugar and artificial sweeteners, and since I'm so careful about not throwing that into most of my diet, it seems like a bit of a shame to eat it for dessert. Any thoughts on this?

So tasty! But so artificial! What to do!

As I go, I'll leave you with a picture of Martha (who just turned two!). The poor pup has been trying to climb into my lap for the past half hour and has been asking me to hurry up with the update so she can settle in. She says hi. :)

Physical Therapy Round I!

Fantastic! Wonderful! Awesome!

What are: words that describe my first physical therapy session?

:)

I'm really pleasantly surprised at how well that session went. I love the office and the people who work there are so nice and helpful. I was seen right away and the therapist I was working with got a pretty detailed history of the injury and then proceeded to examine me. She looked at my feet, how I walk (limp?), checked strength on both legs.... plus, she said I had very good feet for running! Something on me is natural for running! Her assessment showed that my knees curve a bit inwards, my glutes are a bit weak and the muscles on the insides on my knees aren't responding as quickly as the outside ones... that's my summary in very non-medical terms of course. So she worked on the IT bands on both legs which was about 25% nice massage and 75% ouch pain, but I was shocked when I stood up to walk. My knee was still twinging, but I could walk on it. Amazing. I'm a convert. Finally, she put the e-stim pad thingys on my left leg with some ice and showed me my "homework" exercises. I'm heading back in tomorrow and Thursday!

I'm so excited. She said it will probably be about 2 weeks off of running and then from there we'll start with light runs and she'll watch my stride and see what is causing the injury. She already had a bunch of ideas from inserts to taping my feet to more exercises. I'm so happy to find something that I think is going to work for me. I've still got a whole load of work to do before I can really train again, but that's ok. We're on the right road at least. The idea of running pain free is amazing. I hope I get there. :)

For dinner, I just warmed up some left over frittata and made butternut squash. Delicious for watching House. Now it's time to get some reading done... and do my exercises again!

Race Report of Kneee Disaster

Well, I've been putting off doing this race report because the race did not go nearly as well as I'd hoped... however, I'm sitting in class, enjoy some nice oatmeal with banana and almond butter, so now is as good a time as any I suppose!

I'll start with Friday. I dropped Martha off in the morning to stay with a puppy friend and headed out to Clarksville to pick up my race packet. The "race expo" definitely left much to be desired but it was cute. This year was also the inaugural Clarksville race so there were expected kinks to be worked out for next year. I also checked into our hotel and instead of doing work for a bit there, I just napped in the patch of sun on the bed... ah....

After a bit, I picked my mom up at the Nashville airport. Hurray! I was so happy that she flew in to run with me. We had a pretty good dinner at Cafe Nonna in Nashville, but I was a little disappointed with the lasagna. Not nearly as many tasty fall veggies as I had hoped. We drove back to Clarksville and after some ice cream, called it a night in preparation for the morning race.

We were up and fed and at the starting line by 7:45am the next morning, and the race began at 8. The course and weather were both perfect! The course winds its way by some wineries and farm houses and had a good mix of flat stretches and good hills. It was about 60 degrees when we started and I was actually kinda hot as it warmed up. All in all though, perfect conditions. Plus, the run felt great. My legs felt relaxed, the pace was nice, and my heartrate was comfortable. At about mile 2, my left IT band started twinging, but not too bad. However, by mile 6 it was really starting to hurt. We stopped to walk for about a half mile, hopping that it would give my knee enough of a rest to come back. Between mile 6.5 and 7.5, it hurt but I figured that i could run through it. Only another 6 miles to go at that point! However, between 7.5 and 7.9, it went from uncomfortable to unbearable. We were going around a curve and within 10 steps, I couldn't put any weight on it. With some tears (I'd say half from frustration and half from pain), we got a ride from a really rude cop to the finish line, where the EMTs had to check me out.

Beginning of the race! You can see how beautiful the weather was. :)

Once they determined that I wasn't going to die on the spot and I signed a refusal of treatment form, my mom got the car and picked me up, and off we drove. I didn't want to stick around for the festivities and medal stuff because it would just add to the depressing situation.

After a few days of contemplation, I know that it was the right call to stop and that I probably ran through it for too long in that I still can't really walk on my left leg. I think I kept going because I didn't want to stop and give up and then think back that I hadn't pushed hard enough. I think the lesson is to listen to your body and when it says no, it means no. Also not to take two weeks off with a race coming up!!

So for the future! I'm going to physical therapy today and we'll see how it looks. Hopefully in a few months, I can start really training again and maybe the DPHM is still a possibility. Rehab it and try again! I'm more determined than ever now to finish it because having an unfinished half hanging over my head is going to irk me until I finish one. I hope I can come back stronger and quicker. I also hope that my knee feels well enough for yoga tomorrow!!! I have it in a brace now because it helps keep it stable as I drag myself around. I'm a tad worried that I'm going to throw my right hip out with the awkward way I'm walking but hopefully we'll talk about that at PT today. It felt a whole lot better this morning after icing it lots and elevating yesterday, but it's pretty uncomfortable in class with the angle of the chair and all the stairs I have to hop up to get to my seat. Last class of the day at least! Hopefully someone can give Martha a long walk for me today too... poor puppy.

Here's to hoping that PT goes well today and that I'll have some good news in a few hours!

Frittata Success

My run yesterday was a tad miserable. I got about 2 miles in on the treadmill and the left knee was starting to twinge and by the 2 1/2 mile point, it was downright hurting so I stopped. I'm glad that I got a little bit in but I'd feel better about it if I could've gotten through the whole thing pain free. Right now I'm just focusing on getting the knee swelling down and making it through Saturday in one piece. My mom suggested that I just do the 5k instead of the full half, but I want to try. Hopefully my knees will play along. I wish I had fit more runs in the past two weeks. Sigh. Things to do next time around.

Yoga was pretty theraputic though and felt great. My teacher did lots of corrections on me and it felt great on my knees and back. Plus, I really am starting to get the hang of headstand!! I still have my legs bent but I can hold that for about five breaths. I wish I had more room in my apartment to practice on. Now that I'm not totally relient on the wall maybe I can try the living room? There isn't a whole ton of free floor space! I'm looking forward to Thursday and told her that I might need to opt out of a few warriors so I don't exhaust my legs for this weekend!

Last night, I opted out of going to Zumi because I am both trying to save some money and get more veggies into my diet. Solution: I made this awesome frittata from the Clean Eating website!! I've been considering subscribing to the magazine, mostly for the recipes, and now I think that I definitely will. I found the recipe on their main website, under Menus&Recipes (I can't seem to get a direct link to the recipe), and it was delicious with potatoes, arugula, and cherry tomatoes. I subbed in red potatoes because I like how creamy they are and added onion.

Easy Deliciousness

So amazing. I planned on eating half of it, but could only manage to eat about a third so now I have lunch for today and tomorrow! I'm going to roast some butternut squash to accompany it, if I have the time. I have another class this evening and a presentation to work on for the next couple of hours so I don't know how much time I have to devote to cooking. Unfortunately.

However, when I get home tonight, I'm going to try my hand at this Curried Vegetable Stew, but I think I'll just have a nice chunk of sourdough bread instead of the couscous. Hopefully it goes well! Goodness, what would I do without the internet and its recipe search functions.

Swine flu avoidance at school

So the knees are feeling a bit better today! Hurray! I bought another IT band strap for my left knee yesterday and I'm going to try a 3 mile jog or so this afternoon to see how it goes. I'm hoping it goes well ... or else. I know that the straps are just a temporary fix, but after this weekend, I can work to get to the root of the problem. Eeks, I also have lots of work to do and errands to run as well. Yikes. I can't believe it is already November!

Plus, school right now basically sounds like a swine flu infirmary. On all sides of me, people are coughing and sneezing and looking downright feverish. When I had the swine this summer, I was out of work for almost an entire week so these people must really be suffering trying to get here for class. On the other hand, I am working so hard this semester not to get sick so being surrounded by all this illness really stresses me out. I had bronchitis during both sets of finals last year and got pneumonia this summer. My poor lungs just can't take another round! I'm doing all I can with eating well, exercising, sleeping enough, and taking lots of Airborne. Hopefully I'll make it through the semester unscathed as I definitely do not have time to get sick again. Although I should be immune to swine flu now, I still fear the seasonal flu... and any cold really, as it always goes straight to my lungs.

On a happier note, tonight I have yoga, hopefully after a successful run! I'm working on my schedule for next semester and as of right now, it looks like I'm going to have loooong Tuesdays, with class intermittently from 8am to 5:50pm. Sigh. I was trying to avoid that but the schedule of offered classes for next semester is pretty terrible.

OK, I'm off to get some more reading done and have a snack, of course. Skim cappuccino and cashew cookie lara bar it is! However, before I run off, I have a bone to pick with Starbucks...

Really!? It's the beginning of November! I love the holidays as much as the next person, but this is getting ridiculous. I am officially boycotting all things holly jolly and jingle bell-y until post-Thanksgiving. Call me Scrooge but this is starting to become absurd.

IT Band strikes again. and again.

Well, my running freakout was certainly justified. Unfortunately. However, I did complete my first official 5K on Saturday!! It was just a fun experience in general to get a number and line up and run with lots of people you don't know. Plus, there were some fabulous costumes which provided on course entertainment. :)

Awkward pre-race, sun-in-my-eyes picture.
At least it proves I was there!

Blurry action shot

I'm not sure what my official time is, but the clock said 33:10 when I finished. I'll update when I find out the official time. (UPDATE: Apparently the official time was 33:19... Don't know how that happened but maybe I saw the clock wrong.) My knees were in a world of pain though, and not just the right one. By mile 2 they were both hurting, but it was really the left one that was killer for the duration. It feels like it's the IT band on that side too. Sigh. I think it was caused by a combination of things, mostly that I hadn't run in a while and the entire course was pretty much uphill. They were pretty swollen on Saturday night and when I woke up on Sunday, my left knee was so swollen I couldn't bend it all the way. I iced them on both Saturday night and Sunday morning, but I'm not sure how much it helped. Any kind of motion that involved pivoting was super painful. I cleaned the apartment last night and just vacuuming was pretty painful.

Of course, the swollen knees prevented me from my long run yesterday and now that the half is only 5 days away, I think I just need to focus on getting my knees back to normal and will run it without doing a last long run. I'm definitely looking forward to the race, but I'll be happy when it's done and I can go to a doctor to get my knees checked out again. I think I may pick up an IT band strap for my left knee as well, since the right one seems to give my knee some relief and that knee recovered much quicker.

For some reason, if I have a long run scheduled and I can't fit it in, I just skip it instead of doing a shorter one in its place. With finals coming up, I definitely won't have time for long runs (long being 9+ miles) but I'm really hoping to squeeze in 3 or so 3-5 mile runs a week, focusing on speed. Then when finals end, I can start working on distance again, hopefully to do the DPHM. :)