The Sure-Fire Ways of Ruining your Diet on Picnic Day

1. Start Early - get up good n' early in order to maximize your time for calorie consumption - then get right on to #2.

2. Eat breakfast - load up on carbs - you're going to need the energy for the long day of picnic activities.

3. Load up on diet sodas - this will ensure a good level of dehydration, high sodium retention, and increased thirst. It also helps to ensure a high likelihood of the afternoon bloat!

4. A word about exercise: you'll most likely be making many trips from the picnic table to the food table - count each trip as exercise :)
You should probably focus on moving as little as possible b/c of the heat - you don't want to overdo it!.

5. Graze - the food will be out all day, so eat several many smaller meals.

6. Eat a variety of colors - I found cupcakes with red/white/blue icing and sprinkles - these cupcakes paired with the numerous other items you'll be consuming will ensure a plethora of vitamins and minerals.

7. Lemon bars count as a fruit!

8. Salt - its' the spice of life - use liberally. Not only will it make everything taste a little better, but it'll help promote that 'puffy' feeling in the evening and it's a great way to ensure your rings won't fall off your fingers!

9. Don't skip supper. Just because you've been eating all day, you should plan to eat a nice supper. Be sure it's a balanced meal and includes dessert. Hey - treat yourself, it's a picnic!

10. Don't worry about calories. When you eat in social situations, calories don't count :)

Follow these 10 simple steps and in no time you'll realize how far off your fitness routine you are...........

Obviously, I overdid it today. Tomorrow is a new day and water will be my friend! Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day.

Instead of Running

I really don't think it's time to start thinking about finding another sport, but running isn't working out so well for me. I'm in PT, though, and hoping this does the trick. I'm a slave to my strengthening and stability exercises, but when it comes time to 'run,' I don't do so well. I've managed to run a 3-minute block, a 6-minute block, and a 4:30 minute block (all on separate days) - but no more without increasing pain :(

So what have I been doing? I've been working on my arms and abs and trying to just keep a positive focus.

Also have been enjoying some time outside, because we finally can :)

We went to my cousin's family camp yesterday and had so much fun. It was great to get away for a little bit. It's amazing how you can spend the day 'exercising' without counting miles, minutes, reps. I was totally dirty and sweaty when we got home.

Me and my little guys!

 Me doing my rendition of "Endless Love" - you can feel it, can't you? I guess it kinda looks like I'm having intestinal problems, but I swear I was singing.....

I look @ this photo and think if I could go back to the me from 1 year ago and flash forward to the me today, I'd be pretty excited to see what I see and wouldn't be too hard on myself for not being able to run right now. 

(Thanks for taking this photo, Jeremy!)

PT-ing it for the Weekend

I have 2 sessions of PT under my belt (and a crap-load of exercises to do over the weekend) and dare I chance to say that I think I am noticing some improvement already? Dare I? I dare....

Boy, I am really hoping this is the path back to running. I realize that I may have to start @ square 1 with running, but that's OK (well, I am a little bitter over the fact that I was running 12/13 miles and now I'd be lucky if I could run up for the mail). I will be thrilled to get the 'go-ahead' from the PT to try some jogging.

Gotta go do some leg lifts (and maybe some side bends).

On the Sidelines

Today was the Cresson Area Heritage Days 5K - this was the 1st race I ran last year (and ever). I was super-excited to run my 'sophomore run' today, but my darn knee had other plans for me.

I was all signed up to run, but decided no to run, or even walk it. Instead, I went to the race and cheered on all my friends who did run or walk the course.

Being on the sidelines has its benefits:
 *You get to see the fastest runner finish (today's 1st-place finisher came in somewhere around 19:00 - that's a crazy time that I'll never see unless I'm standing on the sidelines).
 *You get to cheer every.single.runner across the finish line.
*You get to watch the thrill (and sometimes frustration) of those crossing the finish line.
*Most importantly, you get to realize that it's not all about 'you.' Runners need a lot of support!
It really took a lot for me to go there today, watch everyone line up, take off, and come back across the finish line. Each person that crossed that finish line had a reason for running/walking today and it was really eye-opening to see that in action. I'm so used to just going out that and being so fixed on my start, my pace, my time, my finish, etc....

Congrats to my friends who raced, placed, finished!

Me with Christa (who scored a nice trophy for 3rd female overall with a time of 23:32) and Sandy (who placed 1st in her age category with a time of 26:24). You gals are so inspiring - can't wait to get back on the race circuits with you 2!

Also want to give a shout out to my good friend, Sue C, who walked the 5k and asked (as she was crossing the finish line) for me not to take a photo :) She did great and I was thrilled to hang out with her @ McD's after the event.

Being a cheerleader in today's race really made me realize how much I enjoy running and need to get my focus on healing the knee (sounds like a mantra - 'heal the knee').

Going Bananas

I'm going bananas! Figuratively and literally.....

This rainy, cold weather has really gotten to me. If the old saying of "April showers brings May flowers, " then May is going to be a flower jungle around here. Everything is so soggy and wet. In order to cope, I do what I know works best for my cabin fever- bake!

We're baking peanut butter-banana bread this evening. Of course I found a recipe and totally revamped it (to try to make it a tad healthier) -

I'm renaming it Peanut Better Banana Bread!

Recipe:

2.5 cups spelt flour

3.5 teaspoons baking powder

Blend these 2 together in a bowl.

In separate bowl, mix:

1 cup mashed bananas

1 cup vanilla-flavored almond milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 agave nectar

3/4 cup PB

Add dry ingredients to wet, pour into greased loaf pan, bake @ 350 for 50-60 minutes.

I had a little monkey helping me in the kitchen!



I'll let ya know how it turns out.

In other news, I'm headed to the Podiatrist tomorrow to see what he can do about my mechanical flaws!

Mechanical Flaw

I went to PT on Thursday and after evaluating my gait, leg strength, and running style, the PT thinks that I have a "mechanical flaw." Of course! A flaw - I should've known.

Here's the quick of the long:

1. Muscle strength is good. He said my right hamstrings and glutes are a little weaker than the lefts.

2. Range of motion - not an issue.

3. When I walk, my right hip externally rotates a little; it does it a little less when I jog and even a little less when I run faster.

3. My shoes are probably fine.

4. I over pronate (roll my foot inward when it hits the ground) - more on the right than on the left.

5. All of the tests he did on my knee couldn't produce pain, pretty much ruling out meniscus issues (thank goodness).

6. Could reproduce pain upon running.

Summary - I have pain in my left knee because my right leg is a little weird! Surprise - I'm weird!

He recommended a trip to the podiatrist to look into custom-made orthotics for my shoes - something rigid to keep me from overpronating.

I have an appointment for this coming Wednesday!

I gotta get back on track - the Cresson 5K is less than a month away.

It's kinda like a swap shop....

I decided today that it's time to trade in my running/knee pain for some rehab (makes me think of that Amy Winehouse song "They tried to make me go to rehab and I said No No No." )

Thursday morning is my first PT appointment - I'm so happy that I have access to a rehab right on campus and know the PTs well. I am very lucky in that respect.

Bummed?  Yes! I thought this would just pass on it's own but after yesterday's run, it's obvious that it needs more attention that my current strategy (you know, ignore it and it'll go away). Obviously, the "what you resists, persists" is in full effect here.

Embarassed? A tad. I don't want to be known as the 'gal who used to run.' I also don't want people to see me struggling to achieve a 3-miler while I'm telling them that, "Yeah! I swear I was running 10 -11 miles with ease and at a good pace."

Humbled? You bet. I had a pretty high level of confidence about my running abilities. Now, I'm just thrilled to get a couple of decent workouts in each week. It also makes me look at my abilities in a different light. I was talking (er, complaining) with one of my students about how I trained so long and couldn't run and then I ended with something like, "I know I should be happy that I can even have the chance to train." And he said that on his recent clinical rotation there was a poster in the OT clinic that said, "I used to complain about my shoes until I met a man with no feet."

Hopeful? No doubt! I know this is temporary and rehabing my knee will help ensure a longer running career! I can't wait to get back out on the roads - hoping this will happen sooner vs. later.

I'm sure I'll have an update later in the week.