The foot bone is connected to the ankle bone...

Had my first PT session this morning to try to come up with a plan of attack for my "runners knee". Therapist reiterated that a lot of my issues stem from poor body mechanics that can't be fixed but can be compensated for. It all starts with my feet and I have an appointment with a podiatrist on Wednesday to get fitted for orthotics. I had them back in high school but never followed up on them. I also need new running shoes, seems like the ones I have aren't stable enough. We are going to work on strengthening weak muscles and relaxing tight muscles in my leg and back. He seemed to think that I could be back on my running schedule within a few weeks. He taped my foot up (it feels strange) and wants me to try to run on it and see if it helps my knee. Had to do some squats for him, thank goodness I have been working with my trainer because they were a piece of cake, and we discussed my strecthing routine. I have to add "pigeon" to my stretches...Jodi would be telling me "I told you so" :) Hoping this all helps...its nothing really wrong, nothing broken...just the way I am :)

Fingers Crossed

So I ran a slow mile today at the gym...11:20. Felt great until the very end when I started to feel a little pain in my knee. I'm hoping it doesn't turn into the full blown pain I had a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not very hopeful. Grrr!

Back to the gym

After 2 weeks of resting my knee, today was my first day back at the gym. I forgot how hard it is to get a good night's sleep when you are getting up at 5:30. Going to take a few days to get used to that (and the fact that it is dark when I walk Lupe). Worked out with my trainer and it went really well. He took it easy on me and is going to work on strengthening the muscles that support my knee. I feel so much better though...not going to the gym really affected me. And I even get to try to run tomorrow...just a slow mile, but its a start!!!

Milestones...13 years

Yesterday was my cousin and her husband's 13th wedding anniversary. She was the first of the cousins to get married and the wedding was a blast. Unfortunately, the next day (actually only hours later), my grandfather passed away from pancreatic cancer. It was definitely a roller coaster weekend all those years ago. Jill and Larry are still married and doing well. I miss my Grandpa's quiet nature and advice.

I'm nursing a sore knee after my 9 mile run on Saturday. My foot is fine but my knee, not so much. I ran for 30 minutes today and I barely got through it. Going to try to roll it out tonight and ice it throughout the day. Not happy at all.

Finally got to see my new dentist and he's awesome! He was recommended to me by Adele and it turns out they used to be neighbors. He actually did the cleaning, never had the dentist do the cleaning and I'm thinking he does that for new patients. I have a "shadowy" spot on one of my teeth, so I have to go back for filing #3. Grrrr....

102 and holding

So I think I have my first "official" running injury...plantar faciitis. My left foot started hurting on Friday and by Friday night I could hardly put any weight on it. I cancelled my 9 mile run on Saturday. :( I've ordered a foot wheel to help work out the tension and will be getting inserts for my running shoes, if not all of my shoes. Grrr...

102 Down...398 to Go...

Tomorrow it will be 111 down and 389 to go! I'm talking about my running goal of 500 miles this year. I would have passed the 100 mark in February but I missed a couple of runs, sometimes life just doesn't allow for you to get that run in.

Speaking of running, I'm really starting to think about my first 1/2. There is one up in Rye, NH on May 1st that I would really like to do. Couple of reasons, course is pretty flat and its along the coast so some of the views should be spectacular. Another reason is that it is close to Randi's house and they could be there to watch me cross the finish line. This is going to be a huge undertaking and a accomplishment that I want someone to see me do it. Trainer said I would be ready mid to late May but I could be okay for the beginning of May. Think I need to talk to him about this some more...

Happy Friday! About 24 hours until I get to see Jay but he should be boarding his plane now! YEAH!!!

Can't think of one

Honestly, I'm drawing a blank on a title to the post...so this one won't have one :)

Been an interesting couple of days...

Let me start out with a belated birthday shout out to Bri and Alex. They both turned 6 on Tuesday. I'm lucky enough to be close to NH that I will be going to Bri's birthday party. I was at her first as Dad and I had found a ring that we knew Mom had bought for her before she passed away. I wanted to be there when Randi opened it. Beautiful and strong memory for me.

Yesterday I got a great compliment at work. I finished the first part of a multi-agreement project and my boss told me that it was great to see me growing in my role as a CS. WOW!!! I did a victory dance with Lupe last night :)

Speaking of Miss L, she and I spotted a coyote in the neighborhood yesterday morning. It was unnerving and a little tense, but I was able to pick her up and we headed straight home. Both the coyote and Lupe were totally fascinated by each other, but everyone kept their distance. I live in an area that has been developed for a LONG time and there really aren't any parks or overly wooded areas nearby. I'm also really close to the Mass Pike so to see a coyote in the area is strange. Hopefully it was just passing through and won't come back again. I worry about dogs and the bunny family (who lives in our backyard).

Training/working out is going really well. My trainer is really pushing me out of my comfort zone and I actually like it. I have another 13 miles to run this week (4 tomorrow and 9 Saturday) and I'm looking forward to both of them. Actually, I really am looking forward to my 10 mile run in a couple of weeks as that will be my longest run yet.

Weekend is going to be crazy and amazing. My brother is coming into town on Friday. He's going to see a college friend of his and will be picking me up on Saturday to head to NH for Bri's party. Sunday we have Jake's (cousin Brett's son) party and then Jay heads back to DC. I can't wait!!!

Happy Thursday all!!!

TGIF and ANOTHER birthday!

Happy birthday to Amie, my "Little Sister" is 18 today! We were matched when she was just 9 years old...crazy to think she's 18 already. I'm very proud of the person she has become. During my last trip back to Albany I got to see her very briefly. She looks fabulous and is a confident and happy young woman.

Somehow I managed to run 4 miles on very sore calves...stupid 1,000 lb. challenge yesterday. Even more impressive is that I ran it in 40:30. Don't know where I pulled that out of. I have to run 7 miles tomorrow and spin on Sunday...glad Monday is an off day!

Busy day in front of me so its time to focus and get motivated...HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Must get some...

SLEEP!!! Haven't slept through the night since Friday. Lupe keeps waking me up. I'm thinking she may have another UTI. Debating on taking her to the vet today. We have a quarterly meeting at work (although nothing has really happened except an awesome dinner last night) and a snow storm (yet another one) is coming tonight. Last night I decided to take her out at 1 am and she had me up at 12, 1, 3 and 4 (not outside, she just woke me up). She right back to sleep, I couldn't.

I did make it to the gym this morning. 3 miles on the treadmill at 28:50 which is my fastest yet. I need to push these short runs because my long ones are getting longer and need to be run at a slower pace. Trying to figure out when my 1st road race of 2011 will be...will keep you posted.

Empty Tank

My physically spent. On top of that killer workout on Thursday, I ran 4 miles yesterday (41:43) and 6 miles today (63:01). 4 mile time was a little slower than my best (41:08) and 6 mile time was a little better than my best (63:16), but hey not every run ban be a PR...the point is to get off my butt and do it! I have spin tomorrow and Monday off. I'm also pretty dehydrated. When I'm at home, I don't drink enough water. Got a massage last night and didn't drink enough afterwards. Going to pump H2O into me as much as possible...must be near a bathroom!!!

I found out yesterday that my old boss is being let go from his job. He contacted me to ask if I would post a recommendation for him on LinkedIn. That's a no brainer! Mike is a great guy and was so wonderful to work with. He treated me like a human being and always was there if I needed support, both personally and professionally. You don't find many bosses like that...I've actually had 3, including my current one. I found out they hired a GC to take his place, she is starting within the next 2 weeks, but will not be located at headquarters. This should be very interesting. I worry about MB and others in the department and wonder if there is going to be turnover. I'm glad I moved on and am not personally affected by this, but its just shocking!

Well, I have some gift cards that are burining a hole in my wallet...time to bundle up and head to the mall.

Tabata

Today I did a tabata session with my trainer...WOW! For those of you who don't know what it is, you do 20 seconds of exercise of a large muscle group (lunges, squats, pushups, core, etc.) and then rest for 10 seconds...but you do this 8 times and as fast as you can!!! I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it a couple of times. You do get a 2 minute rest after you complete your 8th 20 second interval.

If I can move tomorrow, I have a 4 mile run. Working my way back up so my long runs for the next four weeks are 6, 7, 8, and then 9 miles. 9 miles?! That's over an hour and a half of running! Insanity, but man do I love it!

More snow on the way, this needs to end so I can get back to running outside!!!

TGIF!!!

So glad its Friday! This week was crazy with the snow storm on Tuesday/Wednesday...we got at least a foot and a half of snow. Spent most of the day digging out with my landlord and his wife. I know its not my responsibility, but his snowblower couldn't handle the snow, so the three of us did it all by hand. Plus I knew I wasn't going to make it to the gym, so I had to get some sort of workout in :)

Ran 3 miles today and I really pushed myself past my comfort zone pace wise. Ran it in 29:37, my last race time was 29:13 so I'm really happy about today's run. Trying to decide when to run my 1/2 marathon, guess I should corner my trainer and figure that out.

Tomorrow I'm heading down to my cousin Brett's house to see him, his wife and their kids. My cousin Randi and her family are coming down from NH as well. I think the last time I saw all of them together was in October for Dara's birthday party. Can't wait!!! Of course, I have a 4 mile run to get in before I go :)

2011 Fitness Goals

So my trainer asked me to provide him with my fitness goals for 2011. I came up with 5...in no particular order...

1. Complete 4 - 6 road races
2. Train and complete a 1/2 marathon (will be one of the races for #1)
3. Run a sub 50 minute 5 miler (can be on a treadmill, but at a 1% incline)
4. Improve my balance and flexibility
5. Be able to do 5 pushups with one hand on a medicine ball, from my toes

I think they are all achievable. My 5 mile runs are 52-54 minutes right now. My longest run is 6 miles, about 1/2 way to the 1/2 marathon.

Hopefully I will keep posting and update my progress...should I make that a goal? LOL

Happy 2011

Update

Yeah, so I've been silent for a really long time...the move has kind of taken a lot of my time and energy but I'm loving the new job and living in this area!

So last night I had dinner with Fridge and the kids, which is always amazing and even more so when we have Richardson's for dessert (www.richardsonsicecream.com). When we got home her son Joseph wanted to show me how he has been practicing riding his bike without his training wheels. He road on the grass a couple of times and then I brought him out on the street. He ended up riding by himself for a little bit and was so proud of himself. A week ago, he was still riding with training wheels and scared to try without them. It was so awesome to see him gain the confidence and just go for it!

Today was my first straight run in my training for a 5k in October. I did two miles, which took me about 23 minutes, and it felt pretty good. My cousin Jill told me she was training for a 5k so I decided to train for one too and then got my cousin Randi on board. Randi and I are planning on running the Celebrate Pink 5k in October (www.celebratepinkevents.org/5k) and Jill even mentioned she would consider coming up from Florida for it. Breast cancer has affected the 3 of us and what better way to show support and love for those who have battled this disease than running with a survivor...now Randi really needs to get her training in gear :)