Making progress

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I got to hear a great local band Friday, spent a lot of time resting and relaxing (with a little cleaning) on Saturday, and a lot of baking and such on Sunday! I have a Special Ed staff/paraprofessional christmas party that I am hosting this Thursday and trying to get ready for it!



On the workout front, I have been kicking my ass this month! My swimming is lacking a bit, since I am trying to get 100 miles of biking and 45 miles of running accomplished. I will easily make my biking goal - 100 miles - and am more than halfway there. No worries with that!


I still have about 24 miles to go to make my goal of 45 miles for this months challenge. I am trying to figure out the best way to go about this. Since I have just started experiencing pain free runs, I don't want to push myself into injury again. I have thought of a couple different ways to achieve this distance: 1) do more shorter runs throughout the week, or 2) do a few runs but at longer distances throughout the week.

I think I am going to stick with the shorter runs, but listen to my body. For example, yesterday I got on the treadmill with 3 miles in mind, but ended up doing almost 5 miles again. I threw the towel over the distance and just enjoyed the run. I probably could have gone longer, but wanted to spend a good amount of time stretching and doing some yoga.

I think a lot of my knee issues in the past has stemmed from weak glutes/hamstrings. I also think it might have come from tight hip flexors. I have been doing my AM/PM yoga once and sometimes twice a day for the past week and it has helped immensely. I love yoga!

Do you do yoga? If so, how often and for how long?

Ugly White Shtuff

I am in my third day of the PT exercises. When I woke yesterday, I was a little sore in my upper quads. This was a sure sign of where I am weak. I struggled to do anything that required lifting my legs, ie. dressing. In addition, I am can't believe how tight my right calf is in comparison to my left (same leg as knee issues... I sense a connection). Even after stretching both 3-4 times per day for the past few days, it is still extremely tight whenever I got to stretch it. As I look back prior to my appointment, I realize that I never really stretched my calves as well as I thought. Not as the doctor prescribes.

Yesterday I did a very short run and had no pain what-so-ever. I didn't want to go too far with my quads being a bit sore. So I biked a little afterwards. My PT said to try to stay away from running for a while, and if I need to do some cardio, try and get into the pool. Furthermore, he reminded me that I know the difference between good and bad pain, and to listen to my body. My number one priority right now is the strengthening exercises and everything else has been put to the side, especially for the first week or so. I want to be ready for more challenging exercises when I meet with my PT next week.

This afternoon I did my second round of strengthening exercises for the day, as well as my Yoga for Strong Knees video. I noticed that a lot of the exercises on the video were either the same or similar to the exercises my PT gave me. So, I didn't double up. I still don't know how impressed I am with the video because it doesn't consist of too many "moves/exercises". However, it really does a great job explaining the importance of strengthening the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, and calves.

The weather here has gone ugly again. Blizzard-like conditions. Don't ask me how much snow we've gotten, but it's enough to pile up on the roads and driveways. Enough to help you get stuck when turning onto a side street or into a driveway. With the wind, there are huge piles in some areas and none in others. I had to gun it to get into my driveway and garage. I am not going to attempt any snow removal until the wind dies down. I am sure my neighbor will beat me to the punch and blow my driveway for me anyways. Lucky me.

Sounds like a good night to stay in a watch a movie?!

Yesterday's Workout:
Run - 0.75 miles, 8:44, 11:38/mi. avg.
Bike - 7.22 miles, 20:00, 21.66mph

Today's workout:
Just my daily strengthening routine and Yoga for Strong Knees

Physical Therapy and Product Review

WARNING: LONG POST LIES AHEAD....

I had my appointment this morning with the physical therapist to check out my right knee. I hate to admit it, but I was very anxious and afraid of what he was going to tell me. I spent some time giving him a little background information:

The pain started after a short 3 miler the first week of February, about a week and a half after a glorious pain free 7 mile run. The initial pain was mostly tightness and tracking issues, followed by pain going up and down the stairs. Then I laid of from running, only running about 2-3 miles 2 or 3 times per week. Then, the pain was only noticeable after 2 miles of running and was followed by tightness around the knee. At this point in time there was no concern with tracking or pain going up and down the stairs. The past week I didn't run a single mile, until this morning when I ran a little under a mile to "test out" the knee and all was pain free.

Then he did some exploring; bending my legs, playing with the kneecap, feeling the muscles and tendons around and behind the knee, rotating my feet, stretching my hips, etc. He had me do some strengthening exercises, and after all this, he noticed the following:

• My hamstrings are okay, but could be stronger
• My quadriceps, hips, and glutes are weak
• My left glutes/hips are weaker than the right
• My calves are extremely tight

He said I have one disadvantage that I can't do anything about: I am a female. With that, I am wide in the hips, narrow in the knees, and then go out again from there to the feet. He checked my feet and arches and was happy to see that they are pretty strong. No orthotics necessary.

He showed me a handful of strengthening exercises, with and without the bands, and gave me homework to complete prior to my return appointment next week. If your interested, and looking for some strengthening exercises to work similar muscle groups as I am, here are a handful:

1. Leg lifts (on back, elbows, and sitting up): Start with laying on back, one knee bent, and other leg straight with toes pointed outward. Then raise the leg, stopping when it reaches the height of the other knee, hold for 2 seconds. Do 10 repetitions, 2 times. Repeat with other leg. Do this routine while 1. laying on the back, 2. propped up on the elbows, and 3. sitting up. They will, and should, be more difficult when sitting up. This should be done 2 times per day.
2. Side Leg lifts: Lie on side with right leg on top. Bend lower leg slightly. Raise top leg straight up, without letting it come forward. Make sure to keep body in a straight line from shoulders, to hips, to feet. Hold for 2 seconds, and relax. Do 10 repetitions, 2 times, on both sides. This should be done 2 times per day.
3. Knee Strengthening: Using a stretching band, create a loop at one end. Place one leg in the loop, and stick the other end in a closed door. Make sure the band is wrapped around the knee and step away from the door far enough to have some good tension. Begin with knee bent partway, then slowly straighten the knee (into locking position). Slowly bend knee again. Do 15 repetitions, 2 times, with both knees. Do this 2 times per day.
4. Side-stepping: Use a stretch band with two ends tied together to create a loop. Place both feet inside and wrap it around the legs, halfway up the calves. Side step, keeping tension on the band, and shoulders level. Do NOT let the leg drag as you are stepping to the side. Do 3 sets to fatigue.
5. IT Band Stretch: There are two different ways you can stretch the IT band. 1.) you can stand with the right leg behind the left, reaching over to the left. It may help to stand near a wall and use your left hand to support the body as your right hand stretches over your head. Hold 5-10 seconds and do 5-10 repetitions. Switch and do the same on the other side. 2.) Lie on your left side, the edge of your bed or a table, with your left knee slightly bent. Lift your right leg and let it hang over the side of the table/bed. You should be able to feel the band stretch in the right leg. Hold for 10 seconds and do 5-10 repetitions. Switch and do the same on the other side. One of these stretches should be done 2 times per day.
6. Calf Stretch: Position body against the wall with one left foot behind. Point toes straight ahead and hold heal down. Lean into the wall so you feel a stretch in the left calf. Hold for 30 seconds, 1 repetition. Switch and do the other calf. This should be done 4 times per day.

If you are confused with any of these, let me know and I will try my best to clarify!

The PT recommended that I work to strengthen my muscles before really getting back into my half marathon training. He said that I need a good 5-6 weeks of strengthening. He didn't say I couldn't run, but if I do, he said to keep it minimal. He also said to be careful on the bike as well, as that can make knee issues worse, especially when on bikes that are not specifically set for me (ie. upright bikes). He was glad to see that I came in before it got worse and that I didn't continue to run through the pain. He says that with strengthening these muscles, I should be able to run with little to no pain in the future. I left my appointment on cloud nine and ready to strengthen some muscles!

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Product Review:

Yesterday I tried my Yoga for Strong Knees video. The total run time is 50:00 and a lot of it is used to explain what kind of muscles do what and why it is important to strengthen those muscles. I thought that was very informative, but don't want to watch it every time I do the video. I think that if I do it a few more times with the video, I will be able to do it without the video in about 30 minutes. So far, I think it is a good video. They recommend doing it every other day, but with my strengthening exercises given by the PT, I will try to incorporate this yoga video a 2-3 times a week.

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Today's Workout:
Run - .75 miles, 8:47, 11:42/mile avg.
Bike - 10.81, 31:00, 20.92mph

Today's Song:
Lady Gaga - Poker Face (in sidebar)

Time Trial and Goodies

When I was planning out my next swim workout in the pool, I wanted to encorporate a 10-minute time trial. I feel stronger and faster in the pool and wanted to see if there has been much improvement. In the process, I found a post from last February where I had done one, and the overall swim was 1600M. I thought if I did the same thing, it would be fun to compare numbers.

Here's what today's results were in comparison to a year ago:

10-minute time trial:
Today...........................................Last Year
525M (1:45/100M) ..............................400M (2:30/100M)

Overall workout - 1600M:
Today...........................................Last Year
35:07 (2:11/100M) ..............................42:00 (2:37/100M)

And, to top things off, I KNOW I could have pushed myself harder! I left the pool feeling good, but not tired. Hmm.

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When I got home from work today I found my two packages propped up beside my front door. That irritates me when the postal service will do that, but at the same time, I didn't want to pick it up, either.

Look at what I got!! I can't wait to try the yoga video and start reading my book! I am really hoping that encorporating both into my routine will help with my knees and my overall strength, core conditioning, endurance, and flexibility!


Today's Workout:
Swim - 1600M, 35:07 , 2:11/100M

Today's Song:
Beyonce - Halo (love this song.... the music and wait for the piano solo!)