Ready to Run

Sitting on the trainer: Beans decided to jump up on me during a cycling session. Luckily, I was cooling down at this point.

Reasons I need to get back to running:

1. Sparta has too much energy and won't listen to me anymore. I need to take her down a few notches.

2. P.T. clinicals are stressful and nothing beats stress for my like a good run.

3. I have done so much lifting this winter that my body looks more like that of a bodybuilder than a triathlete.

4. Running doesn't require me to have to go to the gym (at least usually), I can leave from my front door.

5. I have races that I want to do this summer (Enough said!)

6. There is nothing like that new running shoe smell.

I'm definitely a little stir-crazy right now. The weather has been unusually mild here in Michigan for February. Most of the snow and ice disappeared last week with the 60 degree(!!!) temperatures. I am SO ready to get back to running. In fact, I'm finding it difficult to keep my feet stuck to the ground. When I'm walking (in the evening, for instance, when I'm walking to the gym and it's dark and no one can see) I find myself sometimes trying to break into a job. Rather it is a cross between a hop and a race walking shuffle. Most of my antics though have been taking place in the pool where I can hop around all I want because it isn't placing any pressure on my joints. I've been just goofing around so far but I am planning on starting some serious pool running next week because I am tired of the stupid elliptical machine.

I probably could start running now. I'm 5 months out of surgery. However, I do still have some stiffness and a slight amount (almost unrecognizable) swelling in my knee. Another month and that should be all gone. I also haven't gotten the okay from my doctor to do it and he told me in the beginning- 6 months. I plan on running for a long time on this knee so if it needs another month, that is what it gets. I'm looking long term at this situation. So it is a countdown right now to March 16 when I see him again.

I'm just feeling so much better. I can kneel and sit on my heels now. Joan, my clinical instructor, gave me the idea to sit with a towel underneath my knees in order to gap the knee joint a little more and stretch out the scar tissue.

(Seated Warrior Pose, I believe it's called)

I feel that I official have a herd of cats. This weekend, we are watching the cat of one of Aaron's coworkers. We originally found Oliver at a park last year but Aaron did not want another cat at the time (notice that I said Aaron) and we gave him away. He has turned out to be a very friendly and gets along really well with the rest of the brood. Sparta, a herding dog herself, takes her duties seriously of finding each and everyone one of them and nudges them out from under the bed or out from behind the furniture.

The one and only Oliver (glaring at Sparta)

Aaron's Birthday, Old Videos And Mookie

Flu season is in full swing! The fluctuating weather conditions here in Michigan have probably been partly to blame. This past week people were dropping like flies: first someone from the Speech Therapy, next one of the OTs. Last week one of the other PTs was ill for a couple days and Aaron and my dad were also ill. So it was not surprising that I woke up this morning tired and achy. At first I thought I had just this pulled muscle in my back (from lifting a patient on Friday) but as the day has gone on, the aches have shifted. Usually when I get sick, I get aches starting in my neck and they progress down my body as my illness progresses. But a long soak in a hot tub, plenty of water and a good night's sleep and I should be as good as new.

Yesterday, we celebrated my husband's 30th birthday. His family came over and we all went out to dinner. His mom brought over a red velvet birthday cake.

His brother, Justin, told us about the Shack In the Woods videos that are now on You Tube. This was a series that a group of friends, including Aaron and Justin, performed in while they were in college. We spent some time watching them. I'm posting the link to one of them here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhwG6zLq4S4

This was before Aaron was in the military so he reminisced a little about his sideburns. This particular video ended with the guys getting taken down by the Mount Pleasant police. The taping occurred shortly after the Columbine shooting. Someone saw these guys all dressed in black and carrying guns and freaked out and called the police. So their day ended with them being handcuffed face down on the ground. I had heard the back story to this before but last night was the first time that I got to see the video. Aaron actually has two parts in this film: one has Captain Eugene and the second as the soldier with his face hidden behind the gun.

After they left, I discovered "Mookie". He is Aaron's ewok from when he was a kid. Mookie looks a little rough. He's had a bath and a haircut in his time. Aaron and Justin pass this little guy from each others places. It has been a while but Mookie finally made it back to us. I discovered it in my medicine cabinet when I was getting ready for bed.

Sparta + Shoes = BAD

For those of you who don't know, there are three Friday the 13ths this year. Today, in March, and one in November.

If I was a superstitious person, I'd take today (Friday the 13th) as an omen for how my racing season is going to go. I woke up this morning to find pieces of one of my running shoes strewn around the living room. I couldn't find the laces. This was surprising because she hasn't destroyed a shoe since I first got her 1 and 1/2 years ago!

I think she might have been upset because Aaron shut her out of the bedroom last night. Apparently, she was hacking up something and he couldn't sleep. Why she didn't go after his shoes, I don't know.

Still, it made me a little sad looking at my torn up shoes. I have realized that I haven't ran in 6 months and I'm still not sure when I'll be able to start. I am almost 5 months post-surgery. My doctor didn't want me running before 6 for various reasons: mainly, the hamstring graft is a bit weaker than the patellar tendon. My concern is the remaining stiffness in my knee. I still have to work to bend it although it doesn't take nearly as long as it did a month ago. I was told that before I started running that I need motion equal to what I have on my non-affected side. That means nice, easy motion. When that is going to come, who knows.

It has me a little bummed. Running is the final piece that I need back in order to race triathlon this summer. The longer it takes for me to start running, the later that I can start racing. So now that we had a break in the cold weather, I am getting impatient to get started. I want to start running with my dog again! And shopping for new running shoes!!!

On a happier note, I'm getting my rhythm back in the pool. I've had two great swim workouts this week and I feel like I am getting faster and my endurance is improving.

A New Place To Play!!!

This week I found out that as an intern I could get an employee membership for the hospital's wellness center. I didn't even know that this place existed in the little town of Chelsea. It's super nice. The weight room is enormous and has about everything that an athlete (and PT) would want. There is a spinning room, aerobics studio, and a little corner with all sorts of balls and mats for doing ab and core workouts. It also has two pools, one for laps and a warmer one for aerobics. I was in absolute heaven when I saw the locker rooms with the towel heaters, spa, sauna and steam room. I think I could live here.

The best part is that I pass it everyday both to and from work. I started using it for lap swimming this week and I next week I plan on doing some weight training as well. My schedule is becoming pretty regular now that I have the same work hours everyday:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Bike Bike Bike Bike Bike Bike Bike

Weights Swim Weights Swim Weights Swim

Currently I am doing lots of riding on the trainer. It drives me crazy to ride inside but I'm getting used to it. I've started having my morning coffee with my ride so by the time I'm done I'm really wired. I've discovered that a combination of riding and bending of my knee is the morning really helps it to loosen up. I'm also working on bending it each evening. The sooner the stiffness goes away, the sooner I can start running.

It's All In The Family

This weekend I went to visit my dad. Almost 2 weeks ago I got a call from him telling me that he had fallen at work and injured his left knee. After a lot of questioning, I deduced that it was most likely a meniscal tear (cardilage tear) in his left knee. Apparently, he was reaching for his coffee and just twisted it. There was a fair amount of pain and a lot of clicking along the joint. I emailed him some exercises and told him that I would come up in a week to look at it. Most likely, a surgeon might just go in and remove the loose piece if it kept bothering him.



Fast forward another week...



I gave him another call to see how he was doing. Turns out, he was laid up on the couch after just getting his knee scoped. It turned out that he went to a surgoen the following Monday after his injury (almost 1 week later) and the doctor told him that he could send him for an MRI but the cardilage flap was so visible even underneath the skin that he might as well just schedule him to have it taken out.



He then asked my dad: When would you like to have it done?



My dad responded: How about tonight? It didn't happen quite that soon but 2 days later he had surgery.



Now I know where I get my level of patience from. After my injury, I was the same. I wanted my knee fixed right away. (And I would have had it, if the doctor wasn't out of town).



Anyway, I went to see him on Saturday and he is doing really well. There is still a fair amount of swelling but that will go down. His strength his normal and his motion is pretty good for being only 3 days out. I expect him to be back to his normal activities in about a month.