Comments (40)

By kilax, June 30, 2010 5:42 am

I met with the sports medicine doctor yesterday morning. I made sure not to wince when he applied pressure to my sore spots so he would give me the go-ahead to run.

Just kidding! There was no faking*. I felt good, and told him that, and I DID get the green light to start running again!

With a few contingencies, of course:

• THE BIG ONE: listen to your body
• Better repeat it: listen to your body
• Run only on trails or the track – no running on paved streets, sidewalks or the treadmill
• No speedwork or tempo runs for awhile
• Stretch, stretch, stretch
• Pick one pair of shoes and wear them out – don’t alternate between shoes
• Wear arch-supporting inserts
• Continue to take calcium and vitamin D
• Try to find a coach to help with my gait

We went over my running and leg-pain history, and the doctor recommended a slow plan to get back in to running (only if I am feeling well):

• Week 1: 3 runs @ 2 miles each = 6 miles total
• Week 2: 3 runs @ 3.5 miles each = 10.5 miles total
• Week 3: 3 runs @ 5 miles each = 15 miles total
• Week 4: 3 runs @ 6.5 miles each = 19.5 miles total

By the end of four weeks (July 26) the idea is that I can do a long run of 8 miles and start to build up from there.

He kept stressing that I listen to my body. Don’t run if it feels bad. Take more rest days if you need to. Run less if you need to. But also, run more if it feels better! He told Steven he should run with me, to tell me if my gait is off. And that I should learn how to tell if my gait is off so I can auto-correct it.

The thing about all this is – I was listening to my body! Was I ever! I took way more rest days than I wanted to during half marathon training and paid attention to every little pain. It’s kind of frustrating. The doctor has no hypothesis as to why this happened to me – “it’s just you.” Yeah. That was his answer. What the hell does that mean? I just have bad luck?

So, I am trying not to be too optimistic about my return to running, although I will admit there have been some dramatic slow-mo running reenactments with humming of the Rocky Theme song by yours truly.

Steven and I ran 1.5 miles last night. We walked, stretched, ran 1, walked, ran .5, then walked and stretched. I felt good, except for those silly arch supports. They make me land on the outside of my foot funny. They might have to go… or the original Adrenaline supports may have to go.

Do any of you have experience with using arch supports? What are your thoughts?

*I’m not a faker.

Comments (16)

By kilax, June 29, 2010 8:14 am

Do you remember awhile ago when I did a giveaway from CSN stores? The place that sells everything – dining room tables, rugs, a ton of houseware items… Well, they are going to let us review something – a Cuisinart Digital Kitchen Scale!

Steven has been making a lot of bread, but we haven’t shared any of the recipes yet, since we don’t have an exact way to measure the ingredients – now we will!

Do you have a kitchen scale? For what do you use it? Do you like to make homemade bread?

Comments (14)

By kilax, June 27, 2010 10:08 am

I should be training for the Chicago Half Marathon (9/12/10) + Full Marathon (10/10/10) right now, but my injured legs are keeping me from running. So this training is more of an attempt to try to keep some sort of fitness, until the doc gives me the go-ahead to run again.

Day 246 | June 21, 2010: strength

I did the world’s shortest strength workout during lunch – and not because I didn’t want to work out – I am just beyond swamped at work and that was all the time I could afford. Wah.

Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb
Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 70 lb, 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb

Day 247 | June 22, 2010: cross

Another day where I could only make it down to the gym for a short workout. I guess it is time to recommit to evening workouts and do something else during my short lunch… socialize?

I tried really hard to go fast on the bike, but really… I am just SLOW!

Stationary Bike Time: 30:00 | Distance: 6.35 (Set on Resistance Level 4)

Day 248 | June 23, 2010: rest

Day 249 | June 24, 2010: rest

I called my doctor on Thursday to tell him how much better my legs have been feeling – which they have – and he said I could come in to see him on Tuesday for a check-up. Woo hoo! I may be running again soon. For some reason though, he kept repeating he would help me get back into running slowly on the phone… what’s this “slowly” business?!

Day 250 | June 25, 2010: strength + cross

Quickie during lunch:

Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb
Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb
Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb

In the evening Steven and I went on a bike ride on the local Millennium Trail. So local, that they are planning on building a link to it in our back yard! How close do you live to trails?

They have the future trail marked out with these white poles (pointed at with the red arrows).

It’s not finished yet though. Or even started! We drove a few miles to get on the trail, then rode our bikes to the Lakewood Forest Preserve, which is about 7-8 miles away.

I wore a backpack with some goodies in it for a picnic dinner, and a soccer ball to play some soccer after dinner!

We got really sweaty playing soccer. And covered in mosquito bites. Running around and kicking the ball didn’t bother my legs though!

Thoughts on wearing a backpack while riding a bike? It’s comfortable, but it made my back all sweaty (it was about 85° and sunny out!) and I swear, it made me more out of breath than I should have been. This bike ride was actually pretty hard. I felt out of breath and very tired toward the end. It’s pretty hilly, so I blamed it on that, the backpack and my general fitness level.

After we got back to the car, I decided to ride Steven’s bike in the parking lot. Holy crap! It’s like a dream compared to mine – it must be at least 4000 times better. It has shocks, brakes that work, 28 speeds that all work (compared to my 10-speed bike where only 3 work), a comfortable seat… I definitely have bike envy!

Bike Time: 1:29:28 | Distance: 15.20 | Average Speed: 10.2 mph

Day 251 | June 26, 2010: rest

Day 252 | June 27, 2010: cross

Steven and I went to Maywood Park (in Maywood, IL) so he could do some autocross racing with Erin’s husband, Jason. I decided to bring my bike so I could explore a southern part of the Des Plaines River Trail while they weren’t racing.

I couldn’t find much info on the trail before I left, but figured it would be a bit muddy, since it it next to the Des Plaines River and we have been getting a TON of rain.

“Bit muddy” may be the understatement of the century. This was a real trail ride, complete with LOTS of mud, water:

and fallen trees:

Let’s just say there was a bit of walking through mud and over/under trees.

I made it as far as I could before there was no way to continue on the trail anymore because of water. I was kind of bummed – I was having a lot of fun!

Well, minus the bird that pooped on me, the mud that flew into my eye, the cobwebs that I kept running in to, and the poison ivy I am sure got all over me.

Thanks for the warning!

I was completely covered in mud when I finished, and so was my bike.

Luckily I brought a towel and there was a public restroom with water. I cleaned up the best I could, so I could go back to Maywood Park and watch the boys race! When I got there, Steven told me I still had some mud on my neck. Oops!

All cleaned up! Well, kind of!

And funny thing, it started pouring rain just as I got in to my car! Ha! I just beat the rain! I was happy it cleaned up my bike a little bit.

On a side note, see that dog tag around my neck? I wear that when I run/ride by myself. It has my name and Steven’s contact info, as well as saying “NKA A POS” – No known allergies A positive. What sort of identification do you wear?

Blurry on purpose

Bike Time: 48:37 | Distance: 5.8 | Average speed: 7.2 mph

Week Summary: 0 miles

Due to my work schedule, I really struggled to get workouts in during work this week. I really like working out during lunch and having my evening free to be a lazy bitch bum but I guess that might need to change. And I need to get back in to the habit of fitting in workouts on the weekends. We’ve been running around so much, I’ve let it slide. Oops.

Interesting link: A while ago, Andrea (Off Her Cork) recommended the Hollaback Health website to me. It’s basically a website about having a health blog. I found the post “How to talk about running without being annoying” interesting. The author gave recommendations on when to mention your runs and when not to… and how to not sound like you are bragging. I didn’t really think the article applied to people who use their blogs as a running log, but like I said, I thought it was interesting.

Comments (11)

By kilax, June 26, 2010 11:03 pm

We went on a long bike ride yesterday and now certain areas of my you-know-what* are sore. Does anyone have recommendations on a good brand of padded bike shorts** or a good comfortable bike seat?

I have a $10 Amazon giftcard, so that could go toward getting one or the other. I know nothing about biking, so I hope someone has some good tips!

Not sore in that area, but you get the idea
Take my advice – DO NOT google “sore butt” pictures

*butt
**Let me know about sizing – I will probably order them online.

Comments (21)

By kilax, June 25, 2010 5:55 am

What is your favorite game to play with a regular deck of cards? What games do you like to play with specialized cards?

I don’t know many cards games, but I wish I did! Steven and I have this old book with card games listed in it. We brought it with us this week to a concert in the park so we could play cards while listening to music.

What did we play? Go Fish! Or, as the book called it, “Fish.” Can you believe I didn’t remember how to play?

I sure do play a mean game of Go Fish!

I really wanted to play something more similar to Rummy, since I had so much fun playing Phase 10 a few weeks ago with my family, but meh, Go Fish is good enough for me. For now!

Please share your favorite games so I have some to try!

Comments (22)

By kilax, June 24, 2010 5:06 am

This is meant to be somewhat humorous.

I’ve decided to quit being such a bitch.

From Natalie Dee. I forgot how funny her comics are.

It’s hard. It’s a lifestyle I’ve followed for so long. And what’s more fun that telling people how wrong they are and holding grudges? What’s better than knowing you’re always right?

Well, that is how I usually felt (and admit it, most people do too) and I thought that acting out on those feelings made me feel good.

It didn’t. It made me feel rotten and unlikeable.

Recently, I subconsciously forgave someone and felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt happier.

And I also felt bad that I had been holding myself back for so long. That is what holding a grudge does – it holds you back. I know that people say that, but I didn’t realize it until I experienced it.

So I’ve decided to try to be more understanding… AND to take a breath and think before reacting to certain circumstances. Because having a rash reaction sure doesn’t make me or the other party feel better.

And it feels good! I still have instant gut “what an idiot” and “WTF” gut feelings, I just don’t react on them like I always would. And it makes me feel better when I address things calmly. And the funny thing is, after I do this, it isn’t such a big deal anymore.

I thought about all of this when I was watching Invictus last week and Morgan Freeman’s character (Nelson Mandela) says:

Forgiveness liberates the soul

Hmm. Maybe it really does.

We’ll see where this goes.

Next step: Cut out trash talk.

Do you have a hard time forgiving others?

Comments (33)

By kilax, June 23, 2010 5:15 am

We had more severe weather in Chicagoland on Monday night. This time, it actually resulted in a tornado warning that required us to get out of bed and go downstairs*.

You always wonder – what possessions would I grab if I had to leave my house in a hurry?

Well, apparently, I would grab**:

My engagement ring and wedding band:

A blanket (this was to sleep downstairs until the warning ended, ha ha), and my external hard drive, which has all of the photos I have taken in the last 5-6 years on it:

And what would Steven grab?

His iPhone:

And the cat.

Complete with protective head gear

I’m glad we’ve got our priorities straight. How did Data end up on the end of the list? Sorry, Dates.

Later on, when we went back upstairs (I guess the storm blew over), I was laying in bed thinking “I should have grabbed the Garmin 405!

Oh, brother.

What possessions would you grab if you had to leave your house in a hurry?

*We have a two-story home with no basement, so our “safe place” during bad weather is in our powder room on the first floor. We just sat on the couch this time, though.
**And this is after putting a bra on.

Comments (23)

By kilax, June 22, 2010 5:20 am

Well, now that we are done weeding, we won’t have to do it again, right?

Before

After

Pile of weeds – not as impressive as it looked in person!

Ha, I wish!

It really wasn’t that bad. We spent about two hours on Saturday pulling weeds in the hot sun*. Then we went back Sunday morning and spent a couple of hours planting our sweet potatoes, and various tomatoes and peppers (yeah, we’re a bit late on those), in the not so hot sun.

We started our sweet potatoes at home on May 15th (you can see some process photos here). They were ready to plant about a week ago. And they take about 120-150 days to fully grow in the ground, so it was time to get those bad boys in there! Maybe they will be done just in time for Thanksgiving?!

Waiting to be planted…

… and in the ground!

The soil in our garden is so wet and dense right now. It was a struggle to break it up to plant on Sunday. I spent a lot of time breaking up the soil with a shovel while Steven did the planting.

We planted a few kinds of tomatoes  (8 total plants) – lemon boy (3), heirlooms, red beefsteak, better boy and bonnie grape (2).

And we planted a few kinds of peppers (6 total plants) – big early red bell, bonnie green bell (2), yellow bell, purple beauty, and wenks yellow hots. And a little tiny basil plant (above the second “p” in “Peppers” in the photo above).

I hope our new plants are successful!

And our “older” plants? Well, some are doing better than others. The cucumbers and zucchini are going strong – no surprise there! The lettuce and onions appear to be doing well too.

The green beans and broccoli though? They seem to be struggling. And the carrots are coming along fine, it seems… only time will tell. Honestly, we have no experience in this and no idea what to expect!

I’ve been having a lot of fun doing all of this gardening! (That is, until I am dehydrated and hungry… hours in the sun make me cranky sometimes!) Like I said, I don’t really know what I am doing, but Steven is giving directions!

Do you like to tackle new projects, even if you know nothing about the subject?

Steven is really good at that. And like I said… I take direction. I told Steven I am the “Sous” gardener. Ha!

*I only had to call my grandma once to identify a plant. We were 99% sure, but I knew she had them (green beans) in her garden too, so thought I would ask.

Comments (16)

By kilax, June 21, 2010 5:25 am

I love summer picnic food – watermelon, strawberries, chips, cookies, fresh veggies, potato salad, hot dogs.

Wait! How does a vegan eat potato salad and hot dogs?

Veganize them!

We’ve been craving vegan hot dogs. There are a few varieties out there too! Our favorite is the Smart Dogs Jumbo brand. If you find them in your area, consider yourself lucky! We’ve only found these a few times, so we had to use the regular (smaller) smart dogs.

Vegan hot dogs don’t equal a complete meal though… what goes with hot dogs? Potato salad*! Steven came up with a really good potato salad recipe on the fly on Saturday:

Vegan Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 6 potatoes
• 1/3 c chopped onion
• 1/2 c chopped celery
• 1/2 c chopped carrots
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1/2 c veganaise
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Paprika (for looks)

Directions:

1. Peel and wash 6 potatoes. Cut in to small chunks (your size preference) and cook in boiling water until almost soft.
2. Remove potatoes with slotted spoon and put in large bowl. Save potato water and keep it boiling.
3. Cut up onion, celery and carrots. Press 4 garlic cloves. Blanche all in boiling potato water, remove (you can dump the water now).
4. Mix potatoes in large bowl with onion, celery, carrot and garlic.
5. Mix the remaining items, except the paprika, together in a small bowl. Mix in to larger bowl with potato and veggie mix.
6. Cool (if you are patient enough).
7. Sprinkle a bit of paprika and celery salt on top. Enjoy!

Yum! This potato salad was so good! I love how Steven can just whip things together without following a recipe! And this could obviously be made with regular mayonnaise in place of veganaise.

And how did we dress our dogs? Well, Chicago style**, of course!

That’s with:

• a poppy-seed bun (almost purchased, oops!)
• yellow mustard
• chopped white onion
• sweet pickle green relish (forgot, oops)
• peppers
• tomato wedges
• pickle spear
• celery salt (oops, forgot again)

Notice something missing? No ketchup. I am pretty sure if you eat a hot dog with ketchup on it in Chicago you will get shot. Just kidding! I am not sure where the “no ketchup” rule came from. Don’t tell anyone, but we each put ketchup on one of our dogs and each enjoyed that one more!

What is your favorite summer picnic food?

*Real complete meal after we added the ice cream at the end. Ha ha.
**As close as we could get, anyway!

Comments (9)

By kilax, June 20, 2010 9:05 pm

I should be training for the Chicago Half  Marathon (9/12/10) + Full Marathon (10/10/10) right now, but my injured legs are keeping me from running. So this training is more of an attempt to try to keep some sort of fitness, until the doc gives me the go-ahead to run again.

Day 239 | June 15, 2010: strength

I woke up Monday morning and felt like I needed to crawl out of bed! My legs were pretty sore from walking the half marathon the day before. I was not surprised… I didn’t really train to walk a half marathon! That was just me being stubborn!

I decided my upper body should match my lower body in soreness, so I focused on it during my strength workout.

Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Shoulder Press: 3 x 15 @ 20 lb
Lateral Raise: 2 x 15 @ 37.5 lb
Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb

Day 240 | June 15, 2010: rest

Day 241 | June 16, 2010: cross

I was finally able to do a vigorous bike workout during lunch. That meant I could only work out for 30 minutes since I had to allot time for a shower, but it felt great to be covered in sweat and completely exhausted. I miss that from running.

Bike Time: 30:00 | Distance: 6.33 (Set on “Forest Ride” but varied it so that I could keep up the intensity)

Day 242 | June 17, 2010: strength

I am so happy I made it to the gym to do strength twice this week. That hasn’t happened in… awhile!

Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 70 lb, 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb
Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 65 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Shoulder Press: 3 x 15 @ 20 lb
Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb

Day 243 | June 18, 2010: cross

I’ve been wanting to ride our bikes on the Des Plaines River Trail for a long time, but never did, since it was a pain in the butt to get the bikes there. Not anymore!

We headed south on the trail and went 7 miles before we turned around. We stopped at a forest preserve on the way back to fill up our water bottle (it was hot – 90° and muggy). We ended up riding a total of 15.25 miles!

A lot of the path is shaded, which makes me think it might be good for running… but a lot of it is open too!  We saw a few runners and I was surprised – we were out at noon, on a hot day with no shade. Doesn’t seem like a good time to be running.

I had a lot of fun riding my bike for so long. I thought, maybe I could replace running with this. Maybe.

And I love having the bike rack on my car. It’s so much easier than putting the cars in to the trunk! However, after this bike ride, I was spent. I felt pretty dehydrated and dizzy. Oops! Guess runners are not the only ones who shouldn’t be out exercising in the full sun!

Too tried to lift the bike up – it is really heavy though!

Oh, and something to remember when I am biking? Close my mouth! I ate a bug!

I’d really like to know – how fast do people ride their bikes in triathlons? I don’t have a road bike, but I am curious about what sort of speed I should be aiming to hit (although, if I am out of breath and my legs are sore, I am pretty sure I am working my body!).

Bike Time: 1:23:51 | Distance:15.25 | Average Speed: 10.9 mph

Day 244 | June 19, 2010: gardening

Oh yes. I am totally counting the two hours I spent pulling weeds as a workout! If my legs are sore, it was a workout!

Day 245 | June 20, 2010: gardening + cross

We spent another two hours gardening in the morning – this time shoveling through heavy, heavy dirt!

Then we went on a leisurely bike ride through the neighborhood near ours after dinner. Every time I sped up, Steven kept telling me to slow down. Ha ha.

Bike Time: 37:52 | Distance: 5.41 | Average Speed: 8.6 mph

Week Summary: 0 (running) miles

This week has gone so much better than the last few, considering the amount of activity. I like to think “no running” means “do nothing at all,” but it really doesn’t.

I would like to focus more on stretching and yoga this next week. I completely forgot about it this week, believe it or not. And I am feeling it – my right hamstring is feeling tight – either from biking or weeding.

I am trying to be optimistic about my recovery from these stress fractures. I am taking all of my vitamins, including spraying the Calcitonin up my nose. I only felt a slight twinge under my left knee twice this week – and for maybe a few minutes, max. I am going to call the doctor at the end of this week and see if he will see me the following week. I haven’t run at all in June. I want to start running in July again.