My Physical Therapy Experience

At this point I've been to a variety of physical therapy offices and I now understand the importance of doing your research.  But when my pain first started, I picked a sports med doctor purely because it was closest to my office. They referred me to their own PT practice which I hated. Sessions were short - 30 min including ice, and didn't incorporate any exercises for strength. My therapist was strange and very negative.  She was extremely anti-surgery and told me that she herself has hip pain but is not interested in having diagnostic testing because she "doesn't want to know." That puzzled me and turned me off.  I didn't want to continue seeing this therapist, but I didn't know how to 'break up' with her so I just kept going.

After my MRI-arthrogram results confirmed a labral tear I decided I needed to take more serious action, so I stopped going.  My best friend Amy, who works as a physical therapist, had just completed a course earlier in 2011 to become a certified hip specialist with Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). Her office was all the way out in Forest Hills, but I wanted to go to someone I trusted so I decided to tough it out and make the trek.

Best. Decision. Ever. 

I admit, I might be biased, but I do think that Amy is a fantastic therapist who really knows her stuff. Sessions with her were 1.5 hours most of the time, including hands on manual time as well as a bunch of strength training exercises which really helped me get ready for surgery. I saw her from January - March 2012. After my first surgery, I wanted to continue to see Amy, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to manage a trip to Queens twice a week on crutches. I decided to find a place near my house (Nassau County, LI). 

Hospital for Special Surgery provides a list of preferred therapists depending on your type of injury or condition. For hips, this is essentially a list of practices that have a therapist that has completed the hip specialist course (like Amy). I checked out the local list and found one that included a pool for water therapy. I figured that would be awesome, and decided this was the place.

Reading about other people who have gone through these surgeries online, its interesting to see the differences in when PT is prescribed by their surgeons. My doctor prescribes PT immediately, to begin on Day 3. I've seen some people say their doctor held off on PT until 2 weeks out, and even some people who wait until they are 6 weeks out and done with crutches before beginning PT.

At first I was horrified at the idea of PT so early on. At the time of round 1, I thought it would be at least a week before I was supposed to leave the house. My surgeon surprised me on the morning of the surgery by giving me a script for PT and telling me I should schedule it for Wednesday - 2 days later.

I was nervous I wouldn't be able to book an appointment on such short notice (I hadn't thought to plan ahead). Luckily, the place I had in mind had space for me with 'hip specialist' PT.

If I had to grade my first post-surgical PT experience I would give it a B. The facility was large, and well stocked with equipment. There were a lot of assistant therapists to help out and everyone was very nice. There was the pool, which was really a big hot tub, but still allowed for water exercise. 

However, the therapists were not aggressive. I think that they worked mainly with older people, hip replacements, that kind of thing. Not young athletic women who want to be aggressively rehabbed back to shape. I did not get the impression that my therapist was a 'hip specialist'. I don't think he ever saw anyone who had impingement before or a labral tear. The worst part was that nobody there was a runner. One assistant told me he actually hated running and didn't understand why people like to run. What?!

I went dutifully and made progress, but whenever I discussed my therapy with Amy it was clear there was a lot I wasn't doing and I should have been further along that I was.  So, when they told me in early June that my insurance company was trying to shut me down I wasn't that bummed.  

Instead of fighting my insurance company for more, I thought I would try rehabbing myself. Not my best plan. It was tough to carve out the time I needed, when I wasn't actually going to an appointment. It also didn't help that my right hip was bothering me more and more.

Mid July I began seeing Amy again. First it was to try to get my right hip feeling good enough to begin running again, but when it became clear I was bound for surgery #2 the focus switched to getting the left ready to do primary duty.

With surgery #2 on the horizon, I knew I needed to find on new place on LI. So what lessons did I learn from my previous experiences? Research the places! Call around, speak to the therapist you would work with, ask them how often they have people come in with FAI/labral tears? what are the outcomes? how are they qualified? do they treat young people? It seems so obvious, I know, but until this round, I hadn't bothered to do any of that.

I ended up choosing a PT that is both a gym and a sports therapy office. The owners are the therapists and they are both athletes. They have a pilates focus which is something that I want to explore when I am well. I was also able to speak with my PT before hand and was really confident that I would be in knowledgable hands. Its not the closest office to my home but I think it will end up being a good fit. Only time will tell.

Post Surgery - Day 1

Today is Day 1 post surgery (right hip arthroscopy with labral repair). I woke up early and was actually pleasantly surprised by my pain level. I was in so much pain yesterday after the epic cab ride home that I thought I was in for it today. But I would rate the pain at a 6. The cold was actually bothering me more than the leg. I woke up in the middle of the night around 3, maneuvered my way to the bathroom pretty easily and then took some drugs. Went back to sleep after that pretty easily.

I was eager to get on the CPM machine to get some movement going. Derek set me up, I ate some omelet while I watched Breaking Bad on Netflix and then passed out. Napped through most of the 2 hour session, then had Derek switch me to ice machine.

The rest of the day was filled with frustrations.
Feeling great, I was eager to get some work done. But, when i went to start up my work laptop, it wouldn't start. I tried multiple outlets, but nothing. Huge bummer.
I also discovered that my antibiotics didn't make it home from the hospital with me. Not sure how that happened. I called the emergent care clinic that prescribed them and they blew me off.
Called GameReady to find out how to program my machine to cycle on and off and found out I didn't get that type of machine. Apparently its random which one they give you. They did offer to ship me the programmable though so I can switch.
Derek had a lot of work stuff scheduled today so he was swamped and not able to focus on me. So of course I dropped, and spilled and got stuck. I even knocked two full toilet paper rolls into the toilet. I had a few pity parties/tantrums over the afternoon.

CPM round 2 around 2pm for 2 hours. Followed that up with several rounds of ice machine.

Took a round of medication at 11.
Felt really nauseous  and thought that i might actually throw up. Took some Zofran and it passed.
Took another round of meds at 5.

Its 10 now, and I'm definitely ready for pain killers. Holding off so that I can take it right before bed. The pain is at a 7.5. Its on the outside of the leg.
First day of physical therapy is tomorrow. New place - I'm nervous!

A few observations so far:
-the raised toilet seat was THE BEST thing i have ever purchased. It has made going to the bathroom so much easier.
-its much more difficult to maneuver my right (freshly operated) leg with my left, than it was last time around. I have a lot of weakness in my left. I am going to have A LOT of work to do in physical therapy.

Salty Run

Todays Workout: Long Run

Location: Usual Long Island Loop

14.01 miles, 2:05:59, 9:00 pace

Beautiful afternoon today (er, technically yesterday now). Sun was shining. It was chilly but comfortable. Air smelled so amazingly crisp. Should have been an absolutely perfect run. Unfortunately area scumbags do not like to salt or shovel their sidewalks. I think the last time it snowed was tuesday. 5 days! No excuses! How hard can it possibly be to toss some salt out in front of your house?

I slipped and slided for the full 14 miles. Fell on my ass at one point but i dont think anyone saw. I also splashed through an ankle deep ice cold puddle, which was fun. And got stuck behind 3 slow walking dudes on a block that was so snowed and iced up that there was a path only wide enough for one person. I had 14 planned and almost called it quits early several times but stuck it out. Pure stubborness.

At this point im about half way through a marathon training program and have no marathon on the horizon. Really need to make up that race calendar.

Exhausted now. Time to sleep or atleast completely veg out in front of investigation discovery channel.

Todays Workout: Long run

Location: NYSC - LI, Treadmill:(

13 miles, 1:58

Too much snow make the long island streets obnoxious. Had to take it inside today. Went to gym to do long run on the treadmill. Dont have accurate stats on pace today. The particular treadmill I was on stops your workout after an hour and a half and makes you restart if you want to keep going. I had my Nike+ wristband but i havent been able to calibrate it yet. It registered over 15 miles at something like 7:59 pace. I did the first mile at 6.3, then 5 miles at 6.6 (9:05/mile) and then 7 miles at 6.7 (8:57/mile). Incline was 1.0. The workout was intended to be 13 miles at MP +15 seconds, or about 9:00/mile.

And yes, I did say NYSC. They made me an offer I couldnt refuse - a passport membership at half the cost of what i was paying before to go to only the one gym in my home neighborhood. Its a great move bc now i have a gym next to the office, next to my house and next to BFs house on LI. No excuses!

Yesterday went to the same gym, did 30 min of cardio on the elliptical and then lifted. I've actually lifted 3x per week successfully for the last 2 weeks. Crazy sore but glad to be back into a routine with lifting. As I began to get busy in the 2 months before the marathon i had stopped doing in regularly. I justified this at the time as a taper for the race but really i just wasn't making the time, particularly on a weekend day.

My next goal is to make up my racing schedule for this year. Im obvi doing NY if I get in, which i should unless something horrible happens since i did the guaranteed entry thing. I'd really like to do 2 more but i havent gotten serious about figuring out which ones. Off to do some research now...

Hello 2011

The purpose of this blog was to keep a record of my training for a marathon so I could someday go back and read it over and see how awesome I was. Total fail there.

I did run Philly November 21st 2010 with my brother and it was amazing. It was also no joke. Never felt pain like mile 23 before.

My finish time was 4:03:39. Tom was fantastic in 4:45:18. We ran together through about 15 miles before we separated. I was so proud that he finished as he was in a lot of pain.

I'm going to try to keep this blog up more regularly this year. This is going to be a brief post however.

Todays workout: Long run

11.55 miles, 1:45:49, 9:10 avg pace.

Hang with me

argh im bad at this blog thing.
Today was "key workout #2" - 1 mile easy, 7 miles tempo. finished in 8:25 pace. I ran after work along the west side hwy. it was a gorgeous night for a tempo, just a bit windy. i feel strong and in shape. its exciting. i cant wait for this marathon.

earlier in the week I ran an interval workout (Tuesday) which consisted of 5x 2min 'fast' and 2 min 'easy'. My fast pace according to my plan - the FIRST marathon training program - is 7:3o, which i usually do at about 7:24 (8.1 on the tread). The easy pace I did at 6.0. I lifted after the workout. Wed I went on an easy 4 mile run. Tomorrow im planning on getting up early to do some elliptical and lifting, then head to work.

Resurrection

Im back! Seems like years, not months. Much has happened. Including a lot of running. Training right now for Philly with the brother.

Today was a rest day. Tomorrow am 12 miles.

Happy St. Pattys Day!

Return of the spring weather. Thank you jebus! After the horrible rainy weekend the last two days have been so gorg. Monday was rainy in the am, but by nightime it had stopped. Went for my usual Monday tempo-esque run. Tuesday I canceled on lifting at the gym and did a recovery run outside, nice and slow. It was soo nice, and as an added bonus it was still light out when I started! Ran around Astoria park.

March 15- Garmin: 4.20miles, 37:05, 8:50 pace; Nike+:4.15 miles, 38:10, 9:10 pace

March 16 - Garming: 3.64 miles, 35:51, 9:50 pace; Nike+ 3.85 miles, 38:43, 10.01 pace

Today was off. Had dinner with the friends. KM made the tasty Irish foodies. Had a bit of Baileys but otherwise a dry day for me. Tomorrow is an interval workout on the track in the lovely warm weather!

Race Time

Little bit late with this post. Im writing 3/17 but am just going to backdate this to make it easier:)
The 8k race was this past Sat - yes I did end up manning up and doing it. I woke up and it was raining, but not pouring so I decided hey, why not, Im tough. Was surprised at how many other people apparently felt the same way. There was a lot more people there than I expected. I was wearing my black tights, a white tank, my white Nike core long sleeve and my Nike storm jacket. Also had on my headband and gloves. I thought about wearing a cap, but the only one i found was distorted from being shoved in my closet and looked too ridiculous so I passed. Got uptown about 20 min early. That was the miserable part. I hung around a bit in the subway station at 103rd to stay out of the rain and then decided to just head to the start. I jogged over to the park for a warm up and then went up and down the corrals to keep warm and stay loose. I was completely soaked and my pony tail was dripping. Couldnt wait to get underway. Told myself not to push, just relaxbut it was hard not too. I had to hold back from sprinting in at the end. I still have to digest the info from the garmin as far as splits go, but I was pretty happy with the end result. Plus, never raced 8k, so auto PR! Added 2+ miles at the end by running down from the finish to the subway at 57/5. Knee started hurting here and the wind/rain had started to pick up. I was sooo happy when I saw the subway and hopped on home. Took a nice hot bath and then a nap.

Garmin Race: 5.04 miles, 41:57, 8:19 pace. Extras: 2.27 miles, 21:22, 9:25 pace
Nike+ Total: 7.57 miles, 1:06:16, 8:45 pace

Wednesday & Thursday

Rough workout wednesday. I planned a treadmill interval workout that I found in an older issue of Runners World. It was supposed to be 3x3 at a pace 10 seconds faster than your 5k pace and 2 min recovery. I havent run a decent 5k since HS, so I though i would do the interval at 8.0. When I was walking up to the gym I thought I would do 15 min warmup at 6.0/6.5 then do 5x3, with a follow up cooldown to be determined on how I felt. Walking up my leg/knee felt fine. Upstairs in the tread room, not so much. I had a strange sharp pain in my hip/butt area. I tried to stretch it out but it wasnt going away. This and not getting the treadmill I wanted psyched me out (lame I know). Then I pull out my ipod and its dead! Ugh, worst ever. I start the workout and get through the 15 min warm up (6 min 6.0, reamining at 6.5). Hip is throbbing randomly, like every third minute. Out of stubborness I decided to continue. I ended up readjusting to 3x2 min with 3 min recovery at 6.5, then about 2 min at 3.0. After each interval I thought I would quit but I forced myself to finish it. The pain continued on and today my knee has been aching off and on. Ive noticed if I keep my leg bent under myself (as I often do) I get super stiff and achy when I try to get up. Not good.
Sadly no stats since my ipod was dead. The treadie said it was about 4.5 and about 40 min. Did a 2% incline again.

This sat is the 8k. Its supposed to be pouring rain. Not happy about this. Im not sure I want to do it. I guess Im going to wait and see what its like when I get up that morning.

Tempo Time

Gorgeous day again today. I was definitely looking forward to the evening run. Managed to get through it without being molested by random strangers.
I wanted the run to be a tempo run, not sure if I succeeded there though. Ill need to digest some graphs on the garm. I tried to run hard(ish) through 4 miles and then slowed it down. I actually stopped running 5 blocks from my house, as my leg/knee was starting to ache.
Stats:
Nike+-5.01 miles, 44:37, 8:52 pace
Garmin-4.74 miles, 43:16, 9:08 pace

Signed up for a race this weekend- an 8k. Its supposed to rain:( I also signed up for a 4 mile later on in april that last year had a nice technical tee, so hopefully they will repeat with nice swag.

Adventure Time

Went on a long run adventure today to Roosevelt Island. Friday I saw on tv that the weather this weekend was supposed to be lovely, high in the 50s and sunny. After hearing that I knew it was time for an adventure. Ive wanted to run some place new for awhile. I orginally wanted to run on Randalls Island but I couldnt find any route maps - maybe you can get there on foot from queens? who knows. So i settled for Roosevelt and set out around 12:30. I wore a black tank, black zip up longsleeve and black tights and was perfectly dressed. Headed out and ran down my usual way to astoria park then veered off to head towards the bridge. The route took me through some not so nice areas. This is definitely an early afternoon daytime run only. I got turned around once in a project parking lot but got back out quickly and found the right way. Roosevelt Island was very quiet and calm and it was such a nice day. I really enjoyed this run. I had planned to go about 9 miles, which seemed a bit ambitious but for some reason I really wanted to complete it. My left leg, thigh to knee, was aching during the last 3 miles, which had me worried that I would have the mystery knee pain come back. Its still sore, as I write, but no intense pain so thats good. I did a full loop of the island and then came back over the bridge around and headed up 34th ave. I initially stopped when I hit 9 miles but I hadnt yet hit 21st street so I decided to keep running to get closer to home. (i was also trying to meet KM at the gym at 2 for lifting, and it was 2:14 at this point so figured I couldnt have the luxury of a long stroll. Ended up stopping at bakeway on broadway but they were out of bagels:( Got a giant Zico instead and then walked home from there. Tried to meet KM but she had come and gone by the time I ended up at the gym. Did some quick lifting- arms only - and headed home to veg out.

Overall, great run, beautiful day. Im happy about my fitness too. I didnt struggle cardiowise at all and I kept it smooth and evenly paced pretty much throughout the entire run. Yay!
Stats:
Garmin-9.52miles, 9:31 min/mile pace, 1:30:31, HR=148
Nike+ - 10.32miles, 9:12min/mile pace, 1:34:55

the nike was really off on this one! although i did stop the garmin when i was going up and down the stairs on the way in/out of roosevelt island.

Heavy Lifting

Solo lifting sesh today. Did 30 min on the elliptical, and then hit the weight room.

Why is everyone on American Idol this season so bad?? Those group performances are soo awkward. yek!

Intervals!

Tough workout at the gym tonight. Did an interval workout on the treadmill.

2% incline, 10 min warm up (6.0, then 6.5) 10 intervals of 1 min @ 8.0 and 2 min recovery@ 6.5. Finished at 40 minutes, walked it off for 4, then finished off an even 5 miles at 6.5.

Nike+ Stats: 5.01 miles, 44'00", 8:46 pace.

This is basically the same interval workout I did before, but with more recovery.

I totally freaked out on my run tonight. I headed out the door at 9 on my usual later night-time route. About 5 minutes in I was just crossing the intersection at broadway and 31st when some guy yelled something at me and made some hand waving gestures, which of course I ignored. The scumbag then started running after me trying to say something. I had my headphones on so I couldnt hear what he was saying beside "Miss! Miss!" I kept going ignoring him, picking up the pace and hoping he would just drop off. Usually when this kinda thing happens its kids or young teenage boys who run after me a bit and then immediately stop, annoying but non threatening. This was something totally else. This jerk followed me more than half the avenue block, on a dark poorly lit street trying to get my attention. Who does this? It became obvious that he wasnt going to leave me alone, so I finally ripped out one of my earphones and said "what the fuck!" the idiot guy says "whats your name?" at that point I screamed out, like at the top of my lungs "Fuck you!" I think I stunned the guy with that because he stopped and I sprinted on down the street. Seriously, who does this to a woman running alone at night? Did this guy really think he was going to pick me up while I was running? Ugh. It totally ruined my run/night. I obsessed for the rest of the time about it too, afraid I was gonna see the guy again or that he was gonna come after me. I still cant believe that I yelled out like that though. It was extra loud too because I still had my headphones on in one ear. Oops!

Tonights Run: Garmin- 32'44", 9:11 pace, 3.57 miles; Nike+ 33'45", 8:51 pace, 3.80 miles

Update post for the last week including the big race report coming soon.

Meh Meh Meh

Meh! Today is the first day of lent and already I am craving candy. My annual lent challenge is to give up sweets /dessert and fried foods. This is my fourth year. The first year I made it the full 6 weeks without cheating. The next 2 years are a totally different story. Both 08 and 09 were super stressful times at work. Yesterday I felt I had renewed vigor to make it through the challenge but right now im dying. I'd kill for some brownie mix. Meh.

Making it worse, I totally bonked during my workout tonight. I was trying to repeat my treadmill interval workout from last week but it didnt work out so well. I was dying after 5 intervals and had to walk it out for 3 min. I tried to finish it off but could only make it through 3 before I set it back to walking. Overall it was about 3 miles of running.
After going back and forth with myself I signed up for the Haiti benefit race. You get 2 marathon credits, and you do your humanitarian duty all in one. Im nervous though. This will be my first race totally by myself and also my first winter race. Not sure what to expect. I guess we will see.

Long Weekend

So the long valentines day weekend has come to an end. sigh.. I had an excellent relaxing and lazy weekend. Ate a lot of food and watched a lot of olympics. Pretty much spent 24/7 with the BF and it was great.

Backing up to last week, Wednesday 2/10 was the big snow day. It looked worse than it was in the am, no issues on the train or anything. But as the day went on it was apparently getting worse and worse. Work excused everyone early, so I left and got home fine. I was planning on trying out an interval workout on the treadmill but I canceled it in favor of hibernating on the couch.

Thursday 2/11 I debuted my interval workout on the tread. I nipped the program from a blog I read. Here is the plan:
1-5 6.0
5-10 6.5
at minute 10 start 1 minute intervals of 8.0 followed by 1 minute rest at 6.5. 10 repeats
31-end at 6.5
This workout was tough! also humbling. I though I was in better shape. When I was planning it I thought I could do 8.5 intervals no problem but after 1 I switched to 8.0. I did finish up the last 2 at 8.5 though. After the final rest interval I walked it out for 2 min and then started running again at 6.5 until i hit 4 miles. The Nike+ data for this workout is strange. The graph is like completely straight across, making it look like I had a super even pace. Whatever.
Stats: Nike+ = 4.02 miles, 37'06" 9'13" pace. incline of 2%
I had half planned to head to the gym after but it was late and the BF was waiting for me to eat and watch our shows so I just headed home.
Friday 2/12 - Wii Fit day. I boxed it out and hula hooped for an hour. The next day my arms killed.
Sat 2/13 - Met with KM at the gym for lifting. Then did 30 min cardio on the elliptical. I felt like I had no energy at all. I had wanted to do a longer run today but decided to switch to Sunday.
Sunday 2/14 - Valentines day. Great 6 mile run. Beautiful weather. I had too much on actually. I was wearing my warm tights and a tank, and then I had a Nike core pro thermal half zip and on top of that a new black zip up fleec lined jacket. plus gloves and a headband. It was around 20 degrees with the windchill but the sun was blazing and I was definitely regretting the double layers. I was nervous, as I was doing the same 6 mile loop that cause my mystery 2 day knee pain last time. No problems this time though.
Stats: Garmin = 6.06 miles, 54:51, 9:03 pace, avg HR 152; Nike+= 6.45 miles, 58:14, 9:01 pace
Monday 2/15 (Today) Home today, thanks to Presidents Day. Another beautiful day for a run.
Stats: Garmin= 3.54 miles, 31:37, 8:57 pace, avg HR 148; Nike+= 3.75 miles, 32:28, 8:38 pace
Best thing about todays run was that I barely had to stop at any stoplights. Unlike yesterday when I stopped at every single one.

Ok time for more olympics

Bummin'

Im so mad at myself. I kept putting off registering for the NYC Womens Half in April and now its full. Meh! Im an idiot. I need a race. Im considering doing the Race for Haiti.

Sunday - Elliptical 30 min
Monday - Back to the usual schedule of the Monday run. It was cold and dark at 9pm, so I headed to the gym. Still going to old gym to do treadmill work. Not looking forward to weaning myself off from it. Since I had planned on starting to up the mileage for the half I decided to do 5 miles. Started off fine but then I got the mother of all cramps on my left side. Being the crazy person I am I started to think things like, what if Im having a heart attack. It didnt help that my left arm also started going numb. Inside I was totally panicking, but I forced myself to keep running. I ended up doing a mile and a half at my minimum pace - 6.0 mph before I got some semi relief and could start to increase the speed. The end result was 5.01 miles, 48'24", 9:38 pace. 2.o incline.
Tuesday (tonight) - 30 min elliptical, then lifting alone.

Tomorrow we are supposed to get buried in snow. Fun commuting!

A Tale of Hibernation and Other Short Stories

I've been a very bad blogger this past week. I got on the computer many times to start writing something but ended up either being too tired, not feeling like it or just forgetting to - oops. The good thing though is that I've been getting the runs in albeit my schedule got a little wonky.

Summary of the past week.

Thursday 1/28 - Day off. Had a restaurant week dinner with my dear friend Tim at Smith&Wollensky steak house. Very tasty.
Friday 1/29 - Took most of the day off work to do some chores, run and get ready for the Millrose Games starting at 4pm. It was super cold and windy outside. Silly me chose a route going down by the water so my face could get wrecked by the wind.
Stats: Garmin= 37'00" 4.10 mil 9'01" pace; Nike+= 38'22", 4.3miles, 8'54" pace
Had to pop into work to do a few things before rushing over to meet AG at MSG. I've been to several elite meets in my day but this was the first as a spectator and the first that featured current US track allstars and olympians - hello bernard legat!!. It was expensive to go, I had to get seats at the finish and wanted them to be close, but it was worth it. Legat won the mile for the 8th time (record) and a high schooler set the mens HS USR for racewalk. Fun times all around

Saturday 1/30 - With the BF out of town skiing I hibernated all day. Me and baby Chloe watched an abundance of ID (Identification Discovery channel) and I caught up on my tivo. I also watched the new Final Destination which was as bad as I thought it would be. Was supposed to go to gym with KM, but she needed to catch up on some work. I contemplated going alone to lift but decided hey, let me actually use the Wii fit to work out and see how it is. Did an hour of programs including boxing, stepping and my new personal fav hula hooping. Im slow to learn but caught on to these and think I was pretty decent. The balance stuff - no way. I suck horribly. I tried to snowboard and was awful. I need a lot of practice. My Wii age was 38:(

Sunday 1/31 - Lifted at gym with KM. Was actually sore after the Wii Fit experience. I think it was the boxing moves. Did approx 40 minutes of walkking at incline on treadmill after the lifting. The BF came home early and we had a nice night of TV.

Monday 2/1 - Rough day at work and cold as balls outside = evening hibernation. Did not go for run.

Tuesday 2/2 - Groundhog day. Missing my run the day before made me committ to getting it in today despite being colder and snowing. KM and I were on for a lifting date when she got back around 930, so I hurried home from the office to do a quick run before meeting her.
Stats: Garmin = 33'36", 3.72 miles, 9'02" pace, avgHR-153; Nike+=34'57", 3.88 miles, 9'00" pace.
The only thing I remember about this run now is that snow was hitting me in the face and I was afraid of slipping. Otherwise it was uneventful I guess. Made it out and back in time to meet KM at gym for our lifting session. Feeling strong, I think its paying off.

Wednesday 2/3 - Was planning on running again tonight, as I had dinner plans scheduled for Thurs but again, hibernation won me over. Stayed in and watched the weeks 2 eps of idol with the BF. Shockingly, a girl who I went to HS was featured which caused me to freak out and call people i know. and No, she did not make it to h'wood.

Thursday 2/4 - So again, the days previous laziness had me committed to running despite having no time. My commute is approx 45 min and I was meeting KM at 8:35 at the train. I thought if I left at 5:30 I could run no problem. Didnt get out of there until 6, and didnt walk in my door until 6:50. By the time I changed and helped hold Chloe down for her meds (she is getting tired of taking it and has started to rebel) it was 10 after 7. Ahh - time to spring out of there. I was conflicted bc I was pressed for time but wanted to do atleast 4 miles. Since it was earlier I had different route options and I was tired of the old faithful Id been doing lately. I figured I'd do the loop I used to do with KM that I thought was almost 5 but Id cut up to S'way 2 aves earlier to knock it down to 4. I set out and was running faster than I had wanted to, but felt I had no choice had to get back and shower. On the way out baby Garmin told me he was low on batteries but there was nothing I could do. I was hoping this was like an early warning type thing and that I could still get the run in before he died. Nope. He died after 7 minutes. I didnt know this though until more like 25 min in. Normally this wouldnt have been that bad, besides the loss of the HR info and more accurate data. However, tonight I hit every single light. I seriously was stopped at any possible intersection. It sucked. So while Garmin will autopause in these situations and keep my data solid, my Nike clock keeps ticking and my avg pace info gets screwed. Stinky bc I think this would have been great stats on this one. Plus it would have been itneresting to know how much time I spent hopping around on street corners. Oh well.
Stats: though its hardly worth mentioning, Garmin= 7'49, .83mi, 9'22" pace; Nike+ = 42'06", 4.71 miles, 8'56" pace.

In the end I was late meeting KM by 20 min and had to throw my body into the train doors in order to prevent being seriously late to the reservation. We had our bi annual friend restaurant week dinner with other BFF AP. This year was at Fig & Olive. We realized as our train was about to go underground that I made the reservation at the wrong one, and now poor AP was going to show up at a diff restaurant. It all worked out though, we made it only 20 minutes late to the restaurant, had a delish dinner - yummy lamb skewers and couscous with greek yogurt and honey - and got home before 12.

Friday 2/5 - was planning on doing the gym for some cardio upon arriving home but instead for some reason walked from my office in chelsea to soho to the bloomies down there to pick up more trish lotion. got home after 8 and just wanted to hibernate again. so i did. BF and I watched our shows and ordered indian.

ugh, am I done yet? this is the longest post ever. must finish!

Saturday 2/6 (today!) - plan was to lift at 11 with KM. Her regularly scheduled sat morning event was postponed due to the mega snow we were supposed to get. my own plan was to get out and run before meeting her. Woke up and it was clear of snow but balls cold again. Decided I would go to my old gym, since i still have access until 2/20 to run on their treadmills (they have built in fans that im really going to miss) and then go over to lift. Gym was busier than I thought it would be but I got a tread and got to work. I read recently that 2.0 best mimics outdoor elevations. So i thought what the hell will try it.
Stats: Nike+ - 38'11", 9"32", 2.0 incline
Run was ok. My bunion foot was sore after my walk last night in less than desireable shoes (stupid). By the end it was really hurting and so was my knee, a bit similarly to the last time. I stretched right away and then headed over the lift. Then had KM stretch out the IT band after we were done there. So far no pain but it def got me worried. I need to be careful about my foot.
I wonder if I had gone a few more miles if the pain would have been back in full force.

The rest of the afternoon today was spent in hibernation mode again. Where is spring?? Im lucky I have a personal heater (aka baby Chloe). She was laying on me all day keeping me warm and Im sure vice versa.

Yay Im done catching up. Now its almost 10, Im starved and need to kick BF off of Xbox so we can order food.

Late Night Post

Watching TVland's High School reunion right now but I should be sleeping. The people on this show are such train wrecks. Ran at the gym tonight. Still pain free in the leg. Don't understand it but I'll take it. Did 4.01 miles on treadmill with 1.0 incline, 38'04", 9:28min/mi pace. Yesterday I lifted at the gym with Kristen and did 25min on the eliptie. Tomorrow is going to be an off day. Having a delish dinner with college friend Tim.

Night Night.