Getting Ready

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I sure did. It was a nice relaxing dinner with a couple of our friends. :)

Today was a good day. I'm getting ready for the Hot Chocolate 5k on Saturday, so today I {finally} remembered my brace and it made a big difference!

I finished the 5k in 41:53. So proud of myself! It was such a good run. I think I went the perfect pace and didn't really push myself until the end.

I did get a cramp and had to slow down once, but still not to shabby. :)

I do need to start looking for some socks for this weekend. I don't know how cold its going to be, but there is a cold front coming in. Hopefully it doesn't get too chilly.

Hells Yea Bitches!!!!

I did it! I finally got  my 5k time to under 45 minutes!!!

Can you tell that I'm pleased with myself. :)

I set this goal for myself a while ago, and it has been my unicorn.

I just couldn't catch it. But not today. I caught the damn thing and braided its hair!

I feel really good too. I'm so happy that I was able to maintain the same pace throughout the entire run. Even when I wanted to slow down - I was able to alternate between jogging and power walking.

I should have remembered my brace, because my left knee is still giving me problems. That is getting annoying. I think I probably bruised the patella pretty well, because stairs and the like are killer when I've worked that leg to hard. Oh well. it will heal. I'm going to the gym on Friday and then I'm going shopping with my Mom.

I'm  also going tomorrow. Because its Zumba!

I have to get ready for the 5k on the 3rd :)

Maintaining Pace

I meant to write this post on Tuesday, but forgot.

I could have also called it sweatfest, but that's kind of gross. :)

It is what happened though.

Tuesday I ran another 5k, but I paced myself. I did this for two reasons. The first being that I did not want to continue on the jog/walk routine that I seem to be falling into. I'd like to be able to do a 5k while maintaining one pace, no matter how fast, but of course I had to push it a little. No work no gain, right?

The second reason is because a week ago, I hurt my left knee while  getting out of my bathtub. I have one of those big soaking tubs and the deck around the tub is kind of a pain to step over to get in and out of the tub. Well I was drowsy after taking my bath, and I wasn't paying attention as I got out and I came down wrong on my left knee.

So all weekend I rested my knee, but every once and again I would tweak it again, and the pain would come back full bore. Sunday I went to  the gym and played around in the pool. I did laps which was fine, as long as I didn't try to rotate my knee.

Tuesday - I did my weights and the 5k. It took its toll. The knee was acting up again, and the right knee was starting too. I'm glad I maintained at least a 3.8 mph pace, but the times I tried to speed it up to 4.2 or 4.5 were probably not a good idea, but at least I tried.

I ended up finishing 3.33 miles in 52:01 minutes, which includes a 5 minute cool down. It was a slower pace, but with my knee the way it was, I'm glad I slowed it down.

Wednesday was Zumba, and I felt like a beginner. I had a brace, and I should have worn it. My knee was feeling a lot better, so I left it off but the first time I came down on that left knee with any rotation or force the pain is was back. I know I flinched a lot during that class, because even though I tried modifying some of the moves it didn't always help. I know I held myself back because of the pain, and I'm really frustrated by it.

I haven't been back to the gym, but I'm hoping to get in a run on Sunday. Depending on the weather, I'm hoping to be outside, but I may not be. I need to pick up some outdoor gear for these temps.

Target is in my future. :) I'm hoping that the 3 day rest is going to help, but even walking around Walmart tonight was painful if I rotated my knees. And this time it was both damn knees.

I am really hating my knees right now, but hey - this is what I get for having dislocated them so many times, and carrying around so much weight on them. I'm trying to take the weight off, but its a process and I know that, and a knee injury now will just slow me down more. That would be frustrating, with a capital F.

So that's where I am. I'm hoping that rest will help them, but if not I'm going to take it slow on Sunday and put the brace on whichever knee is hurting me more that day.

Night guys!

21 pounds!!!!

Such a happy day!

I woke up this morning and hopped on the scale and the old girl read 275.5!

That's exactly 21 pounds lighter than when I started my journey in July/August!

Hell Yea!!!

*happy dance*

Had another aquatic fitness class today, and while I was late and did not get my full hour I still rocked the other 45 minutes.

Tomorrow is another day, and I'm hoping to get another run in.

Wish me luck!

Heather

Back on the Saddle

So now that the ill has left the house, it took me some doing to get back into the swing of things at the gym.

Why?

Because the new gym opened. You know the one that was supposed to open Oct. 1, but construction delayed it by a month.

Well it's open now, and it gorgeous. A little overwhelming but gorgeous nonetheless. Its also more crowded. I don't particularly like crowds.

I don't mind crowds if I know the people I'm with, but I'm not a fan of strangers. I get a little self-conscious. Especially at the gym.

So when I went back last week, it was wonderful and kind of dreadful at the same time.

That first day I did squat. I did do stuff, but it was like going around buffet and sampling some of everything.

Then I went to my first aquatic class. LOVE! I can't wait for tomorrow's class. I hurt {a lot} after it. Mostly my toes (I need aqua shoes), my ankle (I came down on it wrong during one of the exercises) and my obliques. Those jumps and twists are really felt afterward, but I'm such a water baby that I'm not giving up on this class.

So today I went back to get a run in. I would have liked to run outside but that wasn't in the cards. I couldn't find my jacket. Then I had no babysitter, so off to the treadmills I went.

The gym was wonderfully uninhabited today . There were people there, but it wasn't the crush that it had been during the week. So I dumped the kids off at the kids club and went off to find my bliss on the treadmill.

I punched in a 5k run and took off. Then I started getting some discomfort in my knee and my hips, so I slowed it down and walked it off. Then sped back up. After a bit, I had another cramp. Damn, I knew I should have eaten a better breakfast. So I backed it back down again, and walked that off. Much to my chagrin the cramp did not leave me and I couldn't figure out why. I also couldn't figure out why I was so out of breath while going 3.5 mph.

A look to my screen solved that. There was a 1.5% incline. WTH? Apparently I had chosen a nature path for my 5k that included hills and the like; which is fine, but I wish I'd known. I don't run hills, I take them easy because I have bad knees. Like, seriously, bad knees. They like to dislocate. I am not trying to injure myself here, so yes, I baby my knees. So I walked. As the incline reduced, I sped back up to 4.5 mph, but the damage was done. I decided to call it a day, rather than push myself.

In the end I ran 2.04 miles in 31:27. Not my fastest, not my farthest, but I'm not displeased with myself. Its been a while since I've run because of the things going on the house the last few weeks. I am disappointed that I didn't finish, but cest la vie. I'll get there.

In the mean time, I'm going to grab a shower, do some laundry, sew up some pillows and impatiently wait for tomorrow's aqua fitness class. :)