To run or not to run?

Monday, January 24, 2011

My knee is iffy. Icing helps a lot. If I go more than a couple hours, I can feel that it needs icing again.

Tomorrow is my running day. I probably shouldn't run, but
1. I like running
2. I need the endorphins -- If I don't get my aerobic exercise, I feel like I can't breathe.
3. No run, no food.

I used the Nordic Trak today. The knee is no worse, but it's also no better. If I Ice, run, then ice, I can probably make the pain go away, but I might be just covering it up.

Argh. Do I rest for a few days in order to heal? Or do I do what it takes to minimize the pain and keep going with my normal routine?

p.s. please don't anyone suggest swimming. I hate swimming, and the likelihood of me hyperextending my knee while swimming is very high. Plus I'd need to find a pool, etc, etc. And did I mention I hate swimming?

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

TAIATURTLE 1/27/2011 8:21PM

Do you wear a knee brace while you're running to stabilize your knee? I say do what you love, just do it a little smaller. Report Inappropriate Comment

COUNTERENTROPY 1/26/2011 3:27PM

My yoga teacher, also a physical therapist with a running specialty, suggests being careful to keep my stride narrow, dropping my runs to 3 miles and avoiding hills (ha, ha, ha! She lives in my neighborhood. She knows how hard this is). I ran 4 miles yesterday and iced before and after. Seemed to be OK. The knee acted up in yoga today, but I babied it, and iced when I got home. So far, so good. It's not getting worse, at least. The ice is the best thing, and I will be religious about it for a while. Report Inappropriate Comment

LIONSIMA 1/26/2011 11:14AM

Could you modify your run? Fewer hills, lower tempo, fewer sprints? Report Inappropriate Comment

making it public

Saturday, January 22, 2011

I have decided to up my mileage by 2 miles per week. This means instead of two 4-mile runs and one 5-mile run, I'll be doing three 5-mile runs. I have done it this week, and it wasn't too bad. I have been advised to stay there for a while before increasing more.

This is still 2K short of a 10K run. I guess my next step will be two 5-mile and one 6-mile run. It'll be a while (order of months) before I try that.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LIONSIMA 1/23/2011 5:15PM

I hope the twinged knee isn't a result of this ... and that it gets better soon! Report Inappropriate Comment

MORINJ 1/22/2011 6:41AM

Impressive, REL! Report Inappropriate Comment

ASDISO 1/22/2011 5:21AM

You totally rawk! I'm doing two 5Ks on Feb. 24th and Mar. 24th. Feeling my stamina creep up again after the holiday season is great. Off to the gym Report Inappropriate Comment

Hey, Asdis, read this!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Asdis, I was having trouble with my blog showing up, too. Check your settings on your Spark page. If you have "only my Sparkfriends can see my page" option checked, then the blog entries will not show up in the team feed.

p.s., did you get my mail?

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

ASDISO 1/21/2011 8:27PM

Thanks, I have the right setting for that. I'm just not getting the pop-up window that's supposed to come when you click the "Add a blog entry" button. Getting royally pissed off about it too. Got your mail, but again, not exactly the same problem. I've been running every other day, doing 5K in about 40-42 minutes. Feeling a bit slow and out of breath and powerless and am re-thinking my food intake a bit. I was totally spoiled rotten food-wise today though. It was my last day at work so we had pizza for lunch and then chocolate mousse cake in the afternoon. Then hubby took me out to dinner to celebrate the new job so I got my favourite crispy aromatic chicken with the little chinese pancakes and plum sauce and all... yum yum... and then I had some frozen yoghurt for dessert. White chocolate frozen yoghurt even *slurp* See, I need to blog... Frustration will be run off tomorrow morning. Need to get myself to bed though now. It's 1:30am Report Inappropriate Comment

Stress, stress, stress

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Today my boy turns 18. I am very anxious about his adulthood. Mostly because I fear that I have not prepared him adequately for the real world.

What will happen will happen, but all I can do is react.

I foresee more exercise in my future, as a stress-reducer.

  

logging works!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Because I need to log everything I eat, I tend to avoid grabbing snickysnacks that might be lying around at meetings and such. It's just too hard to figure out what that 1/4 c or so of party mix totals up as.

I have not made the lower number on my calorie range for 3 days running. It's a birthday weekend around here. Let's see how I do with that.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LIONSIMA 1/16/2011 12:43AM

Well done, REL! I've been off the food tracker for a few days, and I'm noticing it 8-(. Wish there was some way to do SP tracking offline ... Report Inappropriate Comment

COUNTERENTROPY 1/14/2011 12:44PM

Last time I tracked my eating, I lost 20 lb, and managed to keep it off for 3 years. I'm hoping I get the same magic this time. I think it was a combination of the food logging and the huge increase in aerobic exercise that got the weight off, and the continuation of the exercise that actually reset my weight point and kept it off. I don't see how I can exercise much more than I do right now. I know tracking will take care of the remaining 20 lbs. I don't know if it will stay off if I stop tracking -- I get really crazed about it eventually, and have to stop before it becomes a mania. Report Inappropriate Comment

MORINJ 1/14/2011 7:24AM

Tracking my food intake is really the key for me. This is why Weight Watchers & SP work so well for me. When I get to the point that I get weary of tracking, that's when I quit losing weight. It's a behavior that I'll probably need to embrace for the rest of my life. I hate that it works, but it does. Report Inappropriate Comment

MELISSAISAFOX 1/13/2011 5:08PM

I love the tracker. And I definitely think about how I'm going to track something before I eat it...if I have to search for 4 different things to add it, I just don't eat it :) Great job! Report Inappropriate Comment