and the world spins madly on....

Last night - I participated in my very first spin class!! It was hard, sweaty, and fun all rolled into one. Following DW's advice - - I found a nice bike in the far back left side as to not be in the direct sight line of the instructor. Following all the other advice I was given - - I did not change the resistance too often (thus avoiding IT Band re-injury). I really liked the class - never knew I could sweat that much without knowing it. Although the class was called Spin Funk - there wasn't that much Funk in the class last night - the normal instructor was absent. I look forward to going when he's back. I think I'm going to try to take a spin class once a week until I start running again.

As for the PT - I am diligently doing my exercises. I honestly think it's helping but I wont really know until I get the green light to run again...and the green light better correspond to the first day of my running group which would be June 3rd...then I will have four and 1/2 months until Chicago. I don't think my little heart can take getting injured and not being able to run my first marathon again....so I will still try to go to PT, at least for June.

On other news - I went to see Jon Stewart with DW on Saturday....so funny!! It was really good to be laughing so hard!!

Physical Therapy Session #1

So I went to my first physical therapy appointment yesterday!! I now know that the road to recovery has many different colored bands, lots of ice massages, ion pain patches, loads of stretching, and strengthening my quads. I have various exercises to do with varies colored bands that will isolate certain muscle groups. Apparently - there may be some bio mechanical issues with my knee other than overuse, and lack of stretching. My knee turns in a little...and there were other things the guy said that I can't remember.. The pain ion patch thing was pretty neat...he charged it with a fun gadget for 3 minutes and then I wore it home for 2 hours. I just have to do my exercises every day and my stretches...and visit him in a week and 1/2 - - and I should be able to start running in June!! I hope!!

4 Weeks Off & Country Music 1/2

No running for me for four to six weeks! I went to the doctor today - and they just confirmed what I already knew - IT Band Syndrome. I have to go to PT for a couple weeks and really work on my cross training and stretching. Oh and do yoga once I'm back running.

I did go to Nashville this past weekend for the Country Music Half Marathon. Trying to run wasn't my most brilliant decision - but the medal was very cool!! After a really long ride (we got lost) getting to the finish to take the bus to the start (even though our hotel was about 1 mile from the start) I started in corral 10. My leg started cramping at mile 1.5 - I jumped into a medical station and had them make an it band wrap around my leg. The lady tied it a little too tight and I started losing circulation in my leg. I fixed it and tried to run a very very slow 12 minute mile. I stopped a lot to stretch and walk....but I actually had a pretty good time doing the race, despite the pain. The music was great and the scenery was very cool. Nashville is a very intersting town. By mile 11 I was ready to be done though - my leg hurt, but if I started walking it hurt even more. After the finish - I headed to the med tent for ice....and then walked, what seemed like FOREVER to the gear check to get my cell to call AH. Luckily, I ran into her outside the gear check - where she was waiting for me! She did really well at the race - as did L her friend from her loca running group, MH and DW. They all rocked it!!!

After the race - we explored around our hotel, went to the race concert at the Sommet Center, and rode a mechanical bull!! Normal post-race activities!! Here are some pictures from the weekend!!

Trying to run....and new wheels

So since I last posted (many moons ago) I have been attempting to run. It's not going so well....but at least I'm trying. My IT Band is still having issues and I'm going to go to the doctor soon. I ran/walked the GA ING 1/2....and I ran - but mostly walked the Cooper River Bridge Run. It's still hurting a lot on the downhills and basically - I'm not doing a great job of stretching.

Here are some pics from ING - it was FREEZING!!






I signed up for the NYC Marathon Lottery and for the Chicago Marathon...and I will start training in June (in conjuction with medical visits). Both the ING and the Cooper River were still fun to do!! I made friends with lots of run walkers and had nice visits in both medical tents!! Just participating is fun!

In other news - - - I got a bike!!



BAS helped me purchase a bike - something I never predicted doing. I haven't really ridden a bike since I was 11 or 12 except for this one time as a camp counselor, and that moment was very scary - - basically the idea of riding a bike freaked me out. But so far so good....despite making BAS hold onto the back of the bike seat while I rode - I'm off to a good start. Soon I might be able to go on the Silver Comet - and my IT Band will thank me!

Running for Wine........

D, M, and S had a great race!! I will be honest and say it was really hard to be there and not run, but I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. It was a lot of fun being a spectator....I got to walk them to the bus in the morning...and help M with her race number (although I pinned it so well that she couldn't get her underlayer off during the race....so sorry M!) and then I got to make signs!! I love signs!! J (M's husband) and D (non-runner D) and I went to the Target and purchased lots of poster board and markers to make some fun cheering signs! Here are some pictures from the race!!













and after the race we went wine tasting!!

The Golden Girls in San Fran

D, M, D, & I arrived in San Fran today.....well tonight for them/ today for me. I took a different flight and arrived around 1pm. I headed to the hotel, sanitized myself from the plane, and headed to the SMOMA...to see the Friedlander exhibit. D, M, & D arrived around 6 or so and we headed out on the trolley to a great italien dinner. Tomorrow - we head out to Napa.....will add more later!!

Going to Napa

I leave for Napa on Friday....very excited! I am not running - D, M, and S are....so I'm going to go cheer them on!! I just don't want to injure my IT Band any further!! I think I will have fun spectating with some wine!

Looking forward to Napa and hanging out there for awhile....maybe I can get a small run in at some point! Last Tuesday, J, my running coach did a IT Band workout for me. While everyone else ran I did box jumps, and other excercies to work on my balance and stability. For now I keep stretching.....can't wait to be able to run again!!

I survived the eye doctor!!

I am a HUGE wimp when it comes to my vision. As previously mentioned, in other posts, I have extreme eye sensitivity (or at least that's what I'm calling it). Basically - I squirm and just get completely and utterly uncomfortable at the thought of anything near or around my eyes! The notion of an eyeliner getting close to my eyes freaks me out - so you can imagine what a fun patient I am at the eye doctor. The irony is that one of my closest and bestest friends on this planet - is an eye doctor...and she's not getting close to these babies! My uncomfortable ness about my eyes even extends to conversations about other people's eyes. I can barely listen to any discussion regarding pupils or eye surgery...without cringing. So as you can imagine - today's eye appointment wasn't on the top of my Fun List - but I survived!! I purposely scheduled it on Valentine's Day - just to add a little joy to the bleak appointment.

It's been two years since I have had an eye doctor appointment. Two Years!! Not long enough!! I only went because of pressure from the masses (and because I lost my glasses about a year ago, I'm a bad driver, I squint a lot and the squinting is often misinterpreted as a mean glare, etc...). Oh and - Side note: I am terrible about wearing glasses...and my vision isn't that great. When I asked Hale if I could ever consider getting laser eye surgery - she laughed and said no. She didn't mean that my vision wasn't correctable by the surgery - what she meant was that I would have to be awake during the surgery and I don't think they make valium strong enough to handle my issues.

So regarding the actual appointment....it went well - I was amazing!! I stayed calm for most of the time...and took deep breaths during the eye drop portion of the program. I was even a stellar patient when the blue light started getting closer and closer to my tiny precious eyes. So the outcome - new prescription...it changed a tad...and I don't have to go back for another year!!

Not so sure about Napa now....

My optimistic attitude has changed a tad since Saturday. I was only able to run around 10.5 miles....and I walked quite a bit. I was never in major pain - but I started getting sore early on in the run. I stretched and walked a lot for fear that my IT Band would get worse. I'm not sure if there is a way that I can run the marathon in Napa. I want to rest this week and see how I feel. I was just very disappointed in myself on Friday....very frustrated in my body's inability to perform the way I wanted it to. I just wanted to run....why won't it co-operate.

Anyway - I did have a good weekend...moved to a new condo in Buckhead....went to brunnch twice with a former running group friend who came into town....all in all good weekend minus the knee issues.

Resting the IT

So I ran 6.5 miles the weekend before last - and felt ok. I had to stretch every 2 miles - and people kept asking me if I was alright - but I managed to run without any pain. I took last week and this past weekend off (did have a day of skiing in beautiful Gatlinburg) - and I'm going to start running either today or tomorrow. I signed up for the Country Music Marathon in April - so I definitely have a back up race if something happens and I cannot run Napa successfully. I feel pretty optimistic about my 20 miler planned for this coming weekend....cautiously optimistic, but optimistic.

Very excited for CMM - Hale is coming to town to run the 1/2 and MH signed up for the full. Should be a fun time!! Oh - and since I last posted I have aged...I guess turning 31 is just the beginning of more injuries and pains to come.