Ok...this is terrible. Well sort of, it's not horrible for me, but can't I do anything in moderation? On Friday at work, I really wanted Potbelly's (a local sandwich joint) that for those of you not priveleged to have one, let's just say it's miles ahead of Subway, and I guess maybe a LITTLE bit similar to Quiznos, just not the overwhelming menu selection.
Anyhoo...I spent about 30 minutes at my desk "building" the right sandwich that would a) take me away from my usual turkey, and b) somehow be around 7 WW points, which is a little tough to do...arguably the only thing that makes Subway better than Potbelly's. Anyway, I found that if I got the Pizza Sub, minus the pepperoni, but add a craptastic load of mushrooms, add lettuce, onion, italian seasoning and another craptastic load of tomatoes (I missed you so, dear tomatoes), that the sandwich, even still with cheese, was at 7 points. SWEET.
So after my PT (physical therapy) session I braved the 90 degree heat and hit up Potbelly's. Um...the sandwich was SOOOOOOOO good. SOOOOOOO good that I stopped by the closest Potbelly's to my house on Saturday to have one. And today, the closest one to church to have yet another. That is INSANE, isn't it???
i just spent 10 minutes trying to post my last post...it kept saying the post is too long. WHAT? it wasn't that long?? so i kept readjusting the font and re-pasting it in until it finally fit. such work to keep my stupid blog updated, sheesh!
Time It Took: 35:11 (unofficial) 35:46 official chip time
Pace: 11:33 (unofficial) 11:31 official race pace
Miles this week: 5.21
Miles this month: 6.96
2008 Goal: 413.93/1000 miles
Thoughts/Comments: Well HOWDY DOODY, my first race in a good long while!Let me report back as I sit here icing my knee.So um..for awhile yesterday I actually contemplated on running the 10K…but decided I’d better just stick to the 5K.As I was running today I was nearly embarrassed that I even thought about the 10K!I’m feeling so out of shape from the lack of running.I stopped to walk 3 times, sipping on my Gatorade.Sigh.But I didn’t feel terrible, and what’s more important, the knee felt fine, so that’s good.3 weeks from today is the half marathon.I don’t know if it’s feasible that I can run it, but since it’s run by John Bingham, the Penguin himself, I can surely WALK what I can’t run.And other than my bruised ego, that shouldn’t hurt.We’ll see.My coach with my training group (that I haven’t run with since 6/14) says that if I can get a 10-miler in by the weekend before, I should be ok.
Today I met up with this cool chic named Robin, I know her from my college days at University of Illinois…we got in touch thru this cool alumni networking site that got started to encourage more people to attend this big African American alumni celebration…anyway, it was her first chip-timed race, and the half marathon will be her first half.YAY for her, she did a good job.She’s a penguin like me, so we were comfortable comparing running notes, so to speak.
Run #68 Yet another test...time will tell if I passed
Date/Time: July 18th at 5:20am
Place: lakefront; 77 degrees
Mileage: 2.11 miles
Time It Took: 24:31
Pace: 11:37
Miles this week: 2.11
Miles this month: 3.86
2008 Goal: 410.83/1000 miles
Thoughts/Comments: The last time I used my Garmin was a long run at the lakefront that ended with knee pain and a vow to visit Athletico, a sports injury place. Today, with 3 of my 6 week therapy plan behind me, I felt ok. It was sort of like seeing an old friend, cautioning yourself not to get too excited. WIll things be the same again someday? Hope so, but we'll have to wait and see.
As I write this, i'm icing my knee just to be on the safe side. That two miles seemed pretty long...
Last week I didn't run that Thursday evening 5K, for a multitude of reasons, starting with lightning and thunder, followed by childcare issues that came up... and after that, I'm out of excuses. On Sunday I will be running the Fleet Feet Women's 5K. When I signed up, I opted for the 5K versus 10K because it would have been the day after a long run. I still think I"m wise to go with the 5K at this point.
Well have a happy Friday. Sorry for not posting much...maybe I'm coming out of my funk finally.
Place: Treadmill at home, in my humid exercise room
Mileage: 1.5 miles
Time It Took: 18:00
Pace: 12:00
Miles this week: 1.5
Miles this month: 1.75
2008 Goal: 408.72/1000 miles
Thoughts/Comments: YAY!!!! A real run...granted it was only a mile and a half, but it was a real run. I felt real good-other than the fact that it was super humid and I had on running PANTS b/c I couldn't find my shorts. So I was planning on running somewhere between a mile and two miles, and landed on 1.5. I felt just a very, VERY slight twinge of tightness in my knee (maybe it was all mental or maybe not), so I decided not to push anything.
I may get to run my 5K on Thursday evening after all, we shall see. I have a PT session tomorrow (Wednesday) and will discuss it again. She already gave me the go ahead, but I want to be sure and let her know how my run went last night.
2008 Goal: 407.22/1000 miles (this includes that "walk #1" from awhile back)
Thoughts/Comments: So I did a test run as I watched my girls and nieces and everyone in the pool.I’m sure I could have gone longer, but this was just “to see”, and I was wearing capris and a reunion t-shirt, about to head out to a picnic, so I didn’t want to get all funky and stuff.
I will try a “real” run tomorrow morning (Monday) once we’ve returned home.YAY!
Yes I’ve been gone awhile, probably with little notice.Since I’ve last written, I had two “PT” (physical therapy) sessions, and have begun a series of daily at-home exercises, too.PT is ok, it’s basically the cross-training that everyone said I should have been doing but never did in the past.My PT trainer said it’s ok to try a short run this weekend (turning into this week), a few miles.She said that if I’m feeling up to it, go ahead and run the 5K I’m scheduled to run on this coming Thursday evening. We shall see. I'm cautiously optimistic.
In other breaking news:I GOT A BIKE!!!!!!YES!!!!It was the hubby’s birthday and he’s been wanting a bike, so I got him one, AND me one.They’re not matching, but they are similar in style.
Ok, so when i got home last night, I was feeling like I was ready to try to run. I didn't want to wait til morning--when my knee is generally at its best after a full night's sleep--let's do it now! I was pumped. Got all ready and geared up, put "Go, Diego, Go" on for the girls, rationalizing that with the 25-minute show, I could get in two miles.
And then I ran. And it was killing me! My knee was hurting something fierce. And two miles turned into about 1/10....so I just walked. I walked at the threshold for where my knee felt ok to where my knee was hurting. Just under that pain level, it seemed, and that was 3.8 mph.
And my girls still yelled "Run Mommy Run", sweet gesture. I even put on a second episode so I could walk a little more. So for today, I'm counting a walk...not sure if this will count towards my total at all, I guess it really shouldn't, so here are the stats of Walk #1.
On Friday, June 20, 2008 at about 8:30pm….I broke my 42 days without having had a drop of diet pepsi.Why you ask?My husband couldn’t figure out why I was in such a crabby mood.After all, I’d had the day off.I’d cleaned out my little room in the house and reorganized all of my cookie cutters, supplies and other stuff, and with no 2-year old or 4-year old in the way.I spent the afternoon in front of the tv, watching my beloved White Sox.Watching them lose to the Cubs.I was mad!So Friday evening when hubby and his friend went out to run a quick errand I said, “pick me up a diet pepsi.”Silent pause.“Are you sure?”“Yes I’m sure, just pick me up a diet pepsi.”
He brought back the diet pepsi and they sat down at the table, eating some dinner.I put the diet pepsi on the table and marveled at it for awhile.Soon, the sweat glistened on the bottle.I popped it in the fridge for awhile. And then the moment came……Pop….fizzzzz……Sip.“ok.”Sip“ok, not bad.”And over the next 30 minutes, I drank the whole 20 ounce bottle.My usual drink would last 10 minutes, maximum.
And the Sox lost again on Saturday.So I had another.Stop, hit rewind, play again on Sunday.Oh the horror.But only 1 per day.Not first thing in the morning.Not intermittently throughout the entire day. Just 1.
I don’t even care so much anymore.I don’t know if this means I will stick to 1 a day, or if I will go back to having none at all.But I know that having one at the end of the day calmed my nerves. And there’s another cold one in the fridge at home right now. Sitting for me. Waiting patiently.
On to other news…the knee is still bothering me, but I still want to try and run tomorrow, it’s been OVER A WEEK!I miss running!I’ll be happy to get in just 2 miles.
Ok, so I went to Atheletico where I was so nicely dressed in running shorts...and a button down shirt and casual shoes...nice look. So Aaron tells me I have "Patellofemural pain syndrome." For now I should:
1. Ice and do whatever makes me comfortable
2. Not increase my distance for the time being
3. Talk with my doctor and get a referral
4. Participate in this research study they're doing on this very syndrome, meaning me nor my insurance have to pay a dime.
5. Participate in said program for 6 weeks, with appointments 2 to 3 times per week. Will focus on strengthening my hip flexors, which will help the muscles on the sides of my knees.
(I should note that he DID NOT SUGGEST DEEP KNEE BENDS, thank you very much.)
That is all.
So if I feel up to it, I may run a few miles by the end of the week, and continue at that mileage for awhile. With my long runs, I'll play it by ear. I asked him if this means I should count out the marathon, and he said "No, not necessarily. Not at all, but we should see how it goes."
