FRUSTRATION

I am SO frustrated... we did our 6 mile run- easy. Next was our 7 mile run which wasn't too bad except the day before my knee started bothering me. I wasn't going to let it stop me though and headed out for my run. My knee didn't bother me too much and I was able to complete it. However, by the following Monday my knee hurt pretty badly. I went out for a 3 mile run that evening and just couldn't do it, ended up walking most of it. By the end of the 3 miles, not only did my knee hurt but I had a shooting pain down my whole left leg. I decided to cross train for the rest of the week and did the elliptical for the same amount of time as I would run. I felt like I still got a pretty good cardio work out and I would increase the resistance and work my legs out too. I didn't seem to bother my leg and I felt strong enough to attempt my long run on the next Saturday. I headed out and did pretty well. I stopped a few times and walked for a few minutes but overall felt really, really good about my 8 mile run. I considered it a great success. By Sunday afternoon, my whole leg felt pretty tight, a little swollen and a lot of pressure around my knee.
Rick talked to a guy he works with who asked how well I was stretching out afterwards. He said he had a similar problem several years ago and found out he wasn't stretching good enough and also needed to build his core strength more. Imagine that? I have been a lot more diligent with stretching and found that my knee pain goes away if I stretch out the right areas. It's amazing! However, the problem I am facing now is that I just can't seem to stay stretched out. As soon as I stretch out, the pain leaves, I feel good but I can feel my leg tighten right back up very quickly and then all the pain comes right back! Once again Amanda has shown me what a blessing it is to have her as my training partner. She has this incredible talent of knowing how to find stressed muscles and massaging them out. She went right to the spot in my leg and within seconds had found some tension and massaged it away. My leg felt better than it had in days within seconds. Now if I could only make it last.

I am so,so, so frustrated!!!! I haven't been able to complete one single run this week. I have done my mileage but most of it has been walking. When I am on the treadmill I can only run a lap and then walk a lap. Tomorrow I am supposed to do my first 10 mile run. Between my leg and he snowflakes falling from the sky, I am feeling very discouraged. I think I will start shopping around for a sports medicine Doctor.... I must find help. I will NOT give up, even if it means I walk the whole darn marathon- I am going to do it! I will be very sad if I can't run it. Please say a prayer and send any advice you have my way!!!!!

On a happier note, Manda is doing amazing. I have assured her that I want her to keep going and not stop and walk with me when I have to. Her time is decreasing with each run and she is thriving. She is getting stronger and stronger and it is really impressive. If we could just figure out how to get her to stop losing weight while training I would be even happier. I keep forcing chocolate milk and everything that I can't have down her and she keeps losing... why can't we share some of the same struggles? LOL

7 Week Countdown....

We did a 1 hour run today in the most BEAUTIFUL sunshine and warm weather! Loved, loved, loved it! I also hit my goal for the week, even with traveling so much I still lost 3 pounds! Yipee.... Now I just have 37 more to go and lot more running to do! Gotta love Monday's.

8 Week Countdown- day 3

Did good the last two days on my ww points. =)
1 Hour Slim in 6 workout- it was intense, bet I'll be sore tomorrow!
2 more days until weigh in.... yikes!

Personal Responsibility and Accountability.... Uhhgggg!

Part of the WW journey is logging everything that goes into your mouth... Yuck! Nothing like a good, hard look at reality. I was traveling today and went WAY over in my points. Dumb fast food, it is evil. Subway is my friend. However, I did find out that you can ask for nutritional info and every place is really good about giving you a chart of info. Sadly, I now have Panda Express' (or Panda Oppress as Emma refers to it) menu memorized in WW points.

I had way too much time to think as I was making my way down the road and was just struck by how similar something like logging ww points and food intake is to so many choices in our lives. It is hard to realize the impact of a single choice that we make has. We make multiple choices throughout the day, each and every day and yet how aware are we of the direction that each choice we make will have? So many times we may think "Well, this isn't really the best choice but I will do better next time" or how many times do we get caught in the trap of just not caring. When in fact most times we really do care but it can just be overwhelming. There is something to be said about having goals and then being accountable. It really is near impossible to reach a goal if we do hold ourselves accountable and measure where we are and where we want to be on a regular basis.

So today, I am starting off the day knowing the bad choices that I made yesterday and will try to remember that not only did I not feel good physically but they did not take me in the direction to meet my long term goal. It reminds me of the same message that I have heard two different ways recently. First by Manda from her college health/fitness class said, "I learned an important lesson from physical education, everyone who wants a healthy life must give up bad habits. More then often we go back to the bad habit before we give it up completely, but don't get discouraged just keep pushing forward. Something is better then nothing". Second, from our Stake President saying that change is a very difficult thing and conversion is a long, growing process. He said that the statistics are extremely high that someone will turn back to old habits before they can completely abandon them and become more converted. It is all a growing process. What a great message. Thank goodness for each new day and brand new starts!

8 Week Countdown

DAY 1
Turbo Kick Class- not pretty
2 miles on treadmill- running was hard today but did my miles
Signed up for online WW to keep me accountable in the food dept

Turbo Kick My Rear

I decided to up the training and include a few classes each week along with the running in hopes of increasing my strength and my chances of hitting 40 by 40. So I go to this class called "Turbo Kick" in which the cute old lady in the pink shirt who had to be much older than my mother in law kicked my rear (Okay... so the picture isn't really her but she could probably do that and she just happens to be wearing pink. Maybe I should wear pink?). Apparently it helps if you know your left from your right and can move front and back while moving your arms and feet at the same time. Way too advanced for me!! Not only do I have no coordination but I am SUCH a people watcher, it's pathetic. I sat there amazed at the girl across the room who could not only do every move flawlessly as if she were actually calling out the moves but she could chew gum at the same time! Where can I get some of that kind of coordination, really? The rest of the time I kept my eye on the cute older lady in front of me trying to make sure to hide so that no one else could see me. It was useless though since I was the only one going the opposite direction of the rest of the class. So, I humiliated myself through it and ran out as fast as I could (which we all know isn't very fast!) and thought about how much I love that treadmill and am grateful for left, right, left, right, left, right....

40 by 40!!!!!!

In addition to running my marathon, I am losing 40 lbs by my 40th birthday! That is 20 weeks away, which is only 2lbs a week average. The training should help, along with healthier food choices and sleep. On that note... Goodnight, I have a 5:45 am class.