Wonderful Wednesday!

Last Sunday I started to think about my daily attitude. Overall I am a pretty positive person but sometimes I get cranky and grumpy and tired. So I thought that maybe I should try to be more positive, be a better listener, and just an overall happier person each day.

Well it seems to be working. Brian thinks it is because I am running again but I am not sure. I don't know how to explain it but things have been going better because I haven't been sweating the small stuff and I have been trying to be happy even when I have a bad day at work because I get to go home and leave work behind.

Last night I did head out for a short run. I did two laps around my apartment complex for a total of 0.75 miles. Brian joined me for the first lap then set out on his own. I made sure to stretch beforehand and felt great throughout the run.

Tonight I am making a homemade birthday cake for Brian (his bday is Friday!!) so I hope to have some pictures to share tomorrow! I am so excited! Hope everyone is having a great day! The weekend is right around the corner!

P.S. Go check out RunToTheFinish - She is on a giveaway rampage!

Opinions Needed!

So if you haven't been running for 3 months and you start again, will you feel tightness in your IT band??

I ran last night and I felt a slight tightness at the beginning of the run, then it went away. After wards I again felt the tightness in the ITB but stretched and took Ibuprofen and feel fine today. Since I have never taken this much time off before I am not sure what to expect! So all you ITB experts out there, please leave a comment!

Hip exercises and Stretches

Even though I can now start running, that doesn't mean I am off the hook for my exercises. I have nine exercises that I do every other day now. Below is the paper that my PT gave me to follow.

(starting from the left and going across, then returning to the left and going across again)

1. Trunk stability - I lay on the floor on my back with my arms on the ground for support or across my chest then lift my middle up and hold for 5 seconds then return to the floor. Repeat for 30-40 times. For added variety and more difficulty, lift up trunk, then extend each leg individually then return to the floor. Make sure that hips do not drop while preforming either type of exercise. This works not only your hips but also your glute muscles.

2. Hip/Hamstring stretch - Lay in a doorway and put your butt against the wall while raising leg up against the wall. Hold for 2-3 minutes for each leg.

3. Using a belt or stretch cord, tie around foot then hold leg up for stretch. For a hip stretch, rotate leg across the body (ie. if stretching right leg then cross over to the left side to stretch hip).

4/5. Windmill/Hip rotation - Attach one end of stretch cord to a table leg or something sturdy and other end around ankle. More shin and ankle in a windmill fashion to work hip (see picture). Do 30 reps for each side.

6. Step Downs - Using stairs, hold onto railing and step down making sure to keep back straight and knee bent over the foot. Add a book to the step at first to make the step down less dramatic. I started with about a 1 inch step down then increased to about 4 inches. Do 30 reps on each leg.

7. Standing Single Leg Twists - I attach the stretch cords to the frig then hold onto the other end. I hold my hands in front of my chest/stomach slightly out from my body. Standing on one leg, bend knee slightly and twist away from the frig for about 30 reps. I do this on each leg then switch sides. This works on your balance as well as your hip strength.

8. Lateral hip strides - If you ever played basketball this is easy to understand. Have a stretch band around your knees and then do lateral slides about 20 feet down and back for 1 full rep. This works your glutes and outside of hips. Make sure to stay low and bend knees.

9. This one is not on the sheet - Side Planks - Do a normal side plank BUT have your knees on the ground instead of your feet. Focus on lifting your hips and hold for 15 seconds. Do 10 reps on each side.

So these are all the exercises - I thought I would share plus Lacey wanted to know!! Not sure you can see the picture I scanned in of my workout sheet. If you want more details just let me know! Hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend!!

Photo Friday!

It is finally Friday! I couldn't be more excited to sleep in tomorrow! I just got back from Physical Therapy and I RAN TODAY!!! So it was only 0.5 miles but it was amazing! I have to admit it felt kind of weird and I may have had some pseudo pain above my knee but this is another step in the right direction!

I now can run 2x a week for 0.5 miles each and see how it goes. Then next week if I don't have any pain I can continue to run about 2-3x a week and increase to 0.75 miles. I already have my little route mapped out! I will be doing laps around my apartment complex!

I wanted to post one of my favorite pictures - it is from about 2 summers ago and I was babysitting for my neighbor. I would bring my camera because the little girl loved to take pictures! I think this one is so cute!



I cannot THANK YOU all enough for your support! I feel so blessed to have such a great support system not only with my family but with all my blogging friends! Have a great weekend!

TIART and Thursday thoughts

It is Thursday. It is time for TIART. I don't think I am even awake yet.

This weeks sponsor is Kitzzy and the topic is:

I find yoga to be an excellent companion to my running to avoid
injury, improve flexibility, and help relieve sore muscles after a
hard workout or race. Tell us about your experience with yoga as it
relates to running. If you have not tried it, why not? If you have,
did it help? How often do you feature yoga in your weekly workout
regime? What are your favorite yoga poses and routines? Pass on your
recommendations for your favorite yoga DVDs, instructors, podcasts,
online resources, etc.

Well I did yoga/pilates once in my life. About 4 years ago when I was working at an internship and they offered classes at the gym in the company. It was pretty sweet and I loved it.

But I don't really do yoga, I just haven't gotten into it yet. I do however stretch. I do at least 3 hamstring and hip stretches a day and in the last two weeks I can already see a difference. I think doing yoga or stretching helps flexibility and that in turn prevents injury so it is all good! So go get your stretch or yoga on!

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And now in list form, here are my random Thursday thoughts!

• The lady next door to me has two cats. Every morning they sit in her bedroom window and watch me walk to my car. I love cats (and dogs). I also love animals that have great personalities!
• Finally reading a book again - How I love now by Meg Rosoff. I also recommend any books by Sarah Dessen. Anyone reading any good books?
  
• Does anyone else do this? I put hot chocolate mix in my coffee instead of milk. It adds a yummy chocolate taste!
• Next Friday is Brian's 23rd Birthday! I am making him a homemade fully decorated, in "Cake Boss" style, Red Velvet cake! I will of course post pictures!
• It is FALL!! And with fall comes all the great things like pumpkin spice lattes, apple pies, and warm sweaters!! What do you love best about fall?

And those are all my random thoughts this morning! Happy Thursday!

Can I Run Yet??

This whole swimming thing is getting old. I want to get back to running. I can't even remember what it feels like to run.

My physical therapy has been helping so much and my PT Greg says that the next step is doing jumping exercises. If my leg/hip/knee can handle that then it can handle the stress of running!

I am very curious to see what kind of plan he has for bringing running back into my life! As soon as I know, I will share!

Since swimming really is the only thing I have right now in my life I guess I should report on it so you all know that I am trying to stay physically active! Last week I was on a mission so I did two intense workouts Monday and Wednesday.

Monday
200 yard warm up
6x50 yards on a minute then
200 yards easy
I did three sets of this then a 200 yard cool down

Wednesday
Brian was away for work but I sent him a text Tuesday night asking for a good workout. Well apparently there was a miss communication because I did
200 yard warm up
ladder workout - 50, 75, 100, 125...continue adding 25 yards all the way to 300 yards
200 yard cool down
That was 2325 yards

Apparently every swimmer knows that when you do a ladder it is actually 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 yards. Not up by 25 yard increments. Opps!

Counting laps on the track is so much easier! Happy Tuesday!

FAIL

I left my cell phone at home and I do not know anyone's numbers by heart

I forgot my coffee on the kitchen counter

My pants are too big and the belt I am wearing is not helping

BUT there is some good news:

A few weeks ago I went to return a pair of jeans to Banana Republic. Apparently BR has this RIDICULOUS return policy that after 30 days they will NOT accept any returns. So it has been 35 days since I bought said jeans (that did not fit and look horrible on me - I don't even know why I bought them) and I went in there and demanded a refund, store credit, anything at all! The pants were originally $79 and I got them on sale for $70. They finally said they would do an "un-receipted" return and I would get whatever the jeans were selling for at that time. Well I got $82 dollars returned to me and I got the check in the mail last night!

So there Banana - you should have just done what I told you to do because you just paid me $10 to return a pair of jeans!

Happy Thursday!

What the doctor said...

Friday I went to the doctors and then right next door to the physical therapist.

By the end of my three hours at the doctors my legs felt like jello! I did strength exercises for the resident doctor, then the orthopedic and then for another resident. Then I did all the same stuff with my PT, Greg. But I am on the road to recovery!

The doctor said that I have a very weak right hip which then causes my knee to not stay in place when I run. Hmm...didn't I have a right hip flexor injury 6 months ago...sadly this is all related.

So I have hamstring stretches I do 3x a day and then exercises I do 1x a day and after 4 days I already feel so much better! No more pain going down stairs, no pain while swimming.

My quads and calves are a different story - It's like they have been in hibernation for 2 months!

I go back to the PT this Friday to assess my progress and then make a plan for running. Not exactly sure when I will be able to run again but I feel like I am on the right track!

Thank you to everyone who has left comments for me - they have really helped me to stay positive! I am happy that I got "good" news and I don't have any major knee problems. In fact the doctor said my knees were in excellent shape for playing so many years of basketball - he was actually surprised at how well they had held up! So that made me smile! Happy Running!

Photo Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Here are some pictures from the "D" date that Brian and I went on last Sunday!

Camera Man!

The white tiger! We saw it on the last day it was at the zoo!

The fishes!!

The sea lions - they were so cute!

And the penguins!

And of course the ELEPHANTS!!!

It was a fun day at the zoo!

I can't believe that it has been 8 years since 9/11. I can still remember vividly sitting in my 10th grade homeroom and watching the news. My workplace has something planned for 8:35am this morning but sadly I will be at my orthopedics/physical therapy appointment. Hopefully I will have some good news to report back with. Thank you to everyone for the thoughtful comments through this whole process with my knee. You all have kept my spirits high!

Oh I almost forgot! This weekend is the Half marathon I was supposed to run. Two of my college friends are running it. I am going with Kaylie (who I ran it with last year and hopefully will run it with next year) to watch them finish on Sunday! I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Quick updates

The weekend is over and it is back to work.

Starting this week I am back to regular 8 hour days which is a welcomed change. I love getting into work early (7am) and leaving before 4pm.

I have a few updates from my last post:

Doctor's Appointment Friday went awesome. I LOVE my new doctor - she is so nice and considerate. She looked at my knee and gave me a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon as well as a physical therapist. So this Friday I have my appointments and hopefully will get some news on my knee.

Girls night was awesome with Kaylie! We did a little scrapbooking and I got inspired so Saturday I went home and got tons of pictures! My mom's birthday is in October so I want to make her a scrapbook!

Saturday morning I went to a local race to volunteer. I worked at the first water stop for the 12k race and it was awesome to see all the people out running. It really got me back into the running spirit and I really want to start running again! I honestly miss it so much!

Brian took me on the alphabet date Sunday - D is for Day at the Zoo. We went to the local zoo, which I haven't been to since I was little and saw the elephants, polar bears, penguins and much more! I have tons of pictures I will post later!

That's it for me really - a busy weekend and now a busy week at work! Happy Wednesday!

The weekend is so close I can smell it!

I am at work right now and I am dying. I hate to gross anyone out or give TMI but I am having serious woman problems. The worst EVER! I have such bad cramps that even 800mg of Ibuprofen will only dull the pain. The reason for this (i think): Not Running. I think that my body is freaking out because I have gone almost 7 weeks without running. I am a mess. Plus no one here at work understands because I work with ALL MEN!!

But tomorrow is my doctor's appointment so hopefully I will have some good news from that.

Besides the doctor's appointment I have some fun things planned for this weekend:

• Girls night tomorrow with my bff Kaylie - we are going to watch movies, drink wine and scrapbook!
• I am volunteering at a local race Saturday morning - I am hoping this will get me back into the running spirit. (And Brian comes home from his business trip today!)
  
• Sunday is the "D" date for Brian and I - I mentioned it way back here and its based on a book called Alphabet Weekends by Elizabeth Noble. We have been so busy with school that we are finally getting back to the dates. I already have the "E" date all planned out for sometime in October!
• Monday we are going to the local fair/carnival in Brian's town - I plan on picking up some fried dough!

It is going to be a jammed pack weekend! Maybe there will be some running in my future??? Happy Thursday!