One Hour

I hope every had a great weekend or long Thanksgiving weekend! I certainly did! In order to make sure that I could stuff my face with mashed potatoes and pie I made sure to get in some exercise.

Last Wednesday I went to the PT for more ultrasound and strengthening. My knee felt stiff from the spin class the night before. After finishing the PT session, my therapist put me on the treadmill. I ran for a few seconds and felt great, then the knee pain kicked right in. I decided right then and there I would be on a running hiatus until at least December and/or I could cross train on the elliptical without any pain.

Over the next four days I rode the bike in the basement of my parents house and also hit the gym when it was open.

Thursday: 1 hr bike
Friday: 1 hr bike
Saturday: 1 hr elliptical
Sunday: 1 hr elliptical

There was something about completing one hour of exercise whether it be on the bike or elliptical. At times it was boring and I often looked at the clock, but other times I just zoned out or read my book. After completing a WHOLE HOUR of exercise I felt great, energized and ready for the day! Plus seeing how many calories I had burned felt good too!

I think it is the same for running - going out for an hour or hitting the treadmill for an hour just feels good! There is a sense of accomplishment when you know that you have run for an hour. I know that not being able to run for an hour is one of the things I miss the most!

And with the added rest and no pressure to run, my knee is starting to feel better. I have been doing my PT exercises consistently and have found that stretching my quad and working on strengthening my hamstring/glutes muscles brings the most relief.

This morning I didn't quite get up early enough to fit in an hour on the elliptical at the gym and still make it work on time, but I did manage 45 minutes!

Happy Monday!

Three Things Thursday

1. Although I would have loved to run a Turkey Trot, I stuck to the bike in the basement and pedaled hard for an hour to get my exercise in. I alternated between riding hard for a minute and then recovering and reading my book for a minute. It really made the time pass quickly!

2. Now I am watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade - I got to see the Rockettes and the Buzz Lightyear Balloon!


3. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Hope you have a great day with your families!!

My socks

Since I cannot seem to win any giveaway for compression socks, I broke down and bought myself a pair.

I happen to have a gift card for one of the two local running stores so I went in and asked to see their selection of socks. They happen to have two types of compressions socks, neither brands that I had really heard of. After a good 20 minutes of trying to decide which socks to buy, I chose the pair that came in black so I could easily wear them to work!


I really have no idea if these will work or help, but I like to think so and maybe just by thinking they will help, then they actually will! At least they make my legs feel good! Plus the quicker my leg heals, the quicker I can get back to running and racking up those Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge Points!

Speaking of my knee, my physical therapist said that I need to stay off the road for now (or maybe forever). He said that the camber of the road will put more stress on my hamstring and will make the healing process take longer. Well I certainly do not want that, so I am sticking to the elliptical, spin class, and yoga. He really seems to be against road running but I really have no where else to run and I can only take so much treadmilling. Tomorrow I go back for another therapy appointment where I hope he will look at my running stride just to make sure I haven't been favoring one leg.

Happy Tuesday and hope you get out there and enjoy your run - then make sure to post about how awesome your run was so I read about it and live vicariously through you all!

Three Things Thursday

1. Today I scheduled my first appointment to go and try on wedding dresses...Ekkkkk!! On December 4th, my mom and I will be making the rounds to all the bridal shops in town in hopes of finding the perfect dress! I guess I better start getting ideas of what type of dress I want!

2. Today, I also went back to my PT. He confirmed what I thought, in more technical terms, that my hamstring tendon most likely is inflamed. He did some ultrasound on the area that has been hurting, then showed me some stretches and some strengthening exercises. I go back next week for more ultrasound and to look at my running form to make sure everything is ok.

3. The Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge starts this weekend! Whose ready??

Happy Thursday (almost Friday!)

Switching Teams

We all have a brand of running shoe that we love. For me, that has been asics. I have worn that type of shoe since before college. I don't even know how or why I started wearing them. It may have been that I saw a teammate wearing a pretty pair and wanted some of my own. Currently I wear the 2150s.




When I bought this pair at the specialty running store back in the summer, they told me to go up a 1/2 size because my right foot is slightly longer than my left. So now my left foot has to suffer in a bigger pair of shoes because of my right foot! And of course I am currently having left leg pain** - I don't want to blame the shoes but that pretty much is the only big change.

Over the weekend I had a coupon for the sporting goods store so I went and picked up a pair of Brooks (Ghost 3)! Of course I am suspicious of these new shoes and how they will treat my feet, but I think it may be worth a try. I walked around the house in the shoes ALL day Sunday and they felt amazing (but don't all new shoes feel amazing??)

I think I am going to give these shoes a try and if it works out I may never go back to asics! Any thoughts? Who wears the asics and who wears the Brooks?? Let me know which one you like best!


**Even though I am not a PT, I have done tons of research and I think I may have found the answer for my pain. In the picture below, I have circled the area where I feel pain. After googling like crazy, the pain seems to be caused from inflammation of those tendons and/or bursitis.
I guess that means more stretching for me and not much running until it heals up and I don't have any more pain. It is just too bad that when I went to the PT 5 weeks ago, he wasn't able to diagnosis it. Uggg I hate injuries!