Tagged

I got this award from the lovely Kelly over at She Wears a Red Sox Cap. I feel totally honored! Her and I have a couple significant things in common right now, teaching and knee injury.... so I feel constantly motivated by her to keep my attitude positive in the midst of this frustrating knee issue!

In order to accept this award I have to answer the following questions with only 1 word answers...

1. Where is your cell phone? nightstand
2.Your hair? curly
3. Your mother? sweet
4. Your father? successful

5. Your favorite food? chicken

6. Your dream last night? non-existence?
7. Your favorite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? Ironman
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? blogging
11. Your fear? failure

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? meeting
14. Something you aren't? unhappy
15. Muffins? warm
16. Wish list item? car?
17. Where did you grow up? Bismarck
18. Last thing you did? eat
19. What are you wearing? Twins :)
20. Your TV? FSN
21. Your pets? none
22. Your friends? superb
23. Your life? happy
24. Your mood? drained
25. Missing someone? always
26. Vehicle? chrysler
27. Something you're not wearing? jewelry
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Vegas
32. Your best friend? sister
33. One place that I go over and over? groceries
34. One person who emails me regularly? teachers
35. Favorite place to eat? Spitfire

Alright, now I need to pass this torch on to 6 bloggers. It's so hard to narrow this down to 6 other bloggers of ALL the ones I read, but these are the ones I choose:

Kelsalynn over at Kelsalynnfitblog - Love her blog. She's super tough (don't mess with her) and her and her hubby are working their way to living debt free! She's very motivating!

Jess over at Run Girl Run - Love reading this girl's blog! She posts about everything and anything - work, running, sports!, running, did I mention running?

Leana over at RunnerLeana - This girl is training for Ironman Canada in 2010 and is pretty much a rockstar! Sometimes I wonder how she squeezes in all her training sessions! Totally inspirational!

Jess over at 21 Days - This lovely lady just had a beautiful baby girl and is back at running. I love reading her blog!

Amanda over at Run to the Finish - She is super positive, always trying something new, and handing out giveaways! One of my favorite things - her daily Gratitude Journal!

Danielle over at From 5K to Marathon - She's another teacher and training for the Nike Women's Marathon in October! Pretty impressive!

Thanks again, Kelly, for the tag!

On a completely different side note, I need to vent for just a sec. Do I ever mention how much I love my job? It's been one of those weeks, and it's only Tuesday. Let's just say that in the midst of dealing with "behaviors" when I should have been enjoying my lunch break, I was spit in the face by an elementary student. That's okay that I missed my lunch then, because I kind of lost my appetite. And I am supposed to try and stay germ free to prevent any ilnesses? right. I work in a building that is full of germs-spreading species!

Oh well, tomorrow is another day, and I know that it will be complete different from today. Everyday is a new day; new surprises, new challenges, and new laughes. I love my job, despite the challenges and difficult situations!

Vegas Recap

My trip to Vegas last weekend was great. It was a short weekend, but plenty of time to have a good time with friends and catch up with my brother-in-law while he was home on his two week leave from Iraq. I got home late Monday night and the rest of the week was super busy at work and the evenings were filled with other things as well. Thus, I haven't had much time to get back into blogland. So, I am going to try my best at a quick recap of Vegas.

I didn't get in until after dark Friday night, but there was still plenty of time to grab some drinks and do some walking up and down the strip. We took in a couple water shows at the Ballagio. Something you can probably never get too much of!

Saturday, about 6 of us went to old town near Freemont Street and grabbed a large lunch at a wonderful buffet. Afterwards we hit up a microbrewery and took the Deuce, a cheap transit, to the other end of the strip to get in some great pics.

That evening all 16 of us had dinner at Trevi, an Italian Restaurant located in Ceasars Palace. It was good food for the price. Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel and enjoyed the rest of the evening there. Some fun times were shared around the beer pong tables. Oh... and many Mai Tais topped with 151 Rum... and some enjoyed a handful of tequila shots... boy oh boy. Most of Sunday was spent around the pool. There were definitely some interesting people in the pool and we had some great laughs while people watching. That evening we went to The Beatles Love Cirque Du Soleil. Now that was probably my favorite thing we did all weekend. It was a great way to spend our last night in Vegas! Too much fun.

Monday the last 6 of us left Vegas on the same plane and went our separate ways for our connecting flights out of Denver. It was a great weekend spent with many friends. Laughter all around, but it was hard to say goodbye that afternoon. Especially knowing that my brother-in-law was heading back to Iraq. Only 5 more months and he will be home for good!

Oh... and I will be going back. There's so much more to see... and so much more to be done!

in a matter of hours...

1 bag,

4 dresses,

2 pair of jeans,

2 pair of shorts,

5 tops,

2 swimsuits,

1 swimsuit cover-up,

4 pairs of shoes,

cash,

camera,

1 plane ticket,

24 hours and I will be on a plane....

...to Vegas!

There's 16 people going,

from ND, MN, WI, CO, and AZ.....

.... to make the most of a weekend with my sister and brother-in-law while he's home on a 2-week leave from his 2nd tour in Iraq!

Now that, my friends, is a reason to celebrate with a crap-load of people! Be prepared for pictures next week when I return! Have a great weekend, y'all! :)

Pump It Up!

I want to thank everyone for their wonderful comments in regards to my knee. I appreciate all your ideas as to what I should do next. I am trying to stay positive about this and not let my non-existense running get the best of me. It is very hard with this time of year being my favorite time to run. It's just so much easier then biking and swimming... you can just go out there... and run.

Anyway.

I am still trying to decide when I should see a PT/Orthopeodic/Chiropractor. I just don't know if I should schedule something now - OR - continue to take an extended absence from running, ease back into it, and then see if the knee issue is still present.

Any thoughts?

In the meantime, I am keeping myself busy with swimming and biking, and adding in some other stuff as well. In fact, this afternoon I took a BodyPump class at the gym. It was a great workout that combined cardio and strength. Imagine a 60 minute Jillian's shred workout. Ummm, yeah. I left there feeling like Gumby. We did do a lot of lunges and it didn't seem to bother my knees. I think as long as you really focus on sticking your butt out and putting all of your weight on your heels, you are in good shape! I am sure I will be sore tomorrow!

At my wits end...

Sorry for the absence from blogland. Things have been very busy at work and I am still in a bit of a funk with running.

I have reached a point where I don't know what to do anymore with my knee. I have rested, I have iced, I have stretched, I have incorporated strength training, I have been implementing my TriPower routine, I have slowed down, I have crossed trained... I have done almost everything I can think of ... besides taking a longer break.

I am down right irritated. Frustrated. At my wits ends with this issue.


Knee history:

I had a problem with this same knee in February and saw a PT. I was given exercises, did them and the knee improved. In June I had some issues with the same knee after a night of volleyball and softball. Something was "pinching" on the inside and there was a pain behind my knee that was running down to my ankle - almost as if a ITBand issue. It was painful.


Current issues:

I am only able to run about two miles, maybe three miles before the "pain" sets in. I use quotes because it isn't a pain, but more of a tightness/stiffness that forms on the upper-outside of my right knee. After stretching like crazy after a run, it really isn't noticeable. The knee doesn't really bother me when I am walking even though I know it doesn't feel right. I have felt my knees while walking a bit, and my right knee does this weird popping thing. What the heck is going on?


What to do next?

I have thought about cutting out running for a while, but it's a hard thing to do. Why is it that all you want to do is run, when you know you shouldn't? I am going to cut back, significantly.... keep up with my swimming and biking while encorporating more yoga, stretching, PT exercises, and strength training.

I feel like this a never-ending issue and it's all I talk about. I am sure all of you are sick of hearing about it. I am trying to figure out what I need to do next. Go back to my PT even though it's different issues but same knee? See a different specialist, but who? A friend recommended a chiropractor type guy that has been a miracle worker for her, but is that what I need?

It's been too long

Yesterday I had my first massage in I don't know how long. Actually I do, I think it was Christmas break of 2003. It was before I started student teaching. yikes.

I ended up going to a sports massage therapist and he literally worked EVERYTHING! He was surprised that I didn't come in for any particular reason besides just wanting a massage. However, I did tell him about my nagging knee issue and he planned to work on my legs real good, working on the ITBand and glutes. My rear is the only thing sore today. My neck and back was really tight with tons of knots. This didn't surprise me. He was afraid he was hurting me while working these out, but to be honest it just felt really good. I WILL be going back in the near future! It was sooo relaxing!


Well, August is done, and September is here. With that, here are the stats from August:


August Stats:
Swim - 9,500M ................ 13,500M in July
Bike - 97.60 miles.......... 98.55miles in July
Run - 20.20 miles.......... 22.32 miles in July

Time to reflect? Where do I start? How about bullet points!

• Returned from NYC the end of July and didn't have much desire to finish my last couple of weeks training for the triathlon.
• Lowest numbers for running since my injury in February and am dealing with some serious funk in regards to my running.
• Knee is still bothering me, on and off. I have good runs and then I have many crappy runs. I am wondering if I will ever be able to run more than 4 miles again!
• Did I say I am in a real funk with running?
• I would love to sign up for some fall races but question the point if my running is not going well.
• Back at school the for the past 3 weeks and learning to juggle working out while adjusting back into the work mode. Things are crazy busy at work this time of year.

On the positive side?

• Overall, I am content with how much I have been working out in the past few weeks. Work has been busy and I don't fret over missed workouts!
• Started to incorporate more weight training - 2-3 days a week and feeling stronger!
• Eating really well and starting to see the lbs melt away!
• Feeling really good!

Happy Hump day y'all! I will try to get to some of your posts when I am not putting in 12 hour work days!