Falling Down the Stairs Part 2

No, I did not fall down the stairs again.

But yes, I am still having trouble with my right knee 2.5 weeks after I fell down the stairs with Petey. So much trouble in fact that I ended up having to take a ride home today from my run, with a total stranger because I couldn't walk home and no cabs I could find would take a credit card (and apparently running with cash today didn't seem like a thing to do.)

Today's post was supposed to say 12.5 miles! Except it doesn't, because I ran exactly 4 miles before my knee hurt so bad that I had to stop random strangers in Weehawken to ask if I can use their cell phone to try and call Jeff to have him come pick me up. Unfortunately Jeff was hanging out with Petey on the deck, so he didn't hear the phone which meant that I ended up letting a random stranger drive me home. Maybe not the smartest thing I've ever done. But I made it home in one piece so alls well that ends well right? Right.

But this doesn't end well, because I think that after 2.5 weeks of heavily lessened training, lots of rest and icing of my knee I should be feeling better than this if there was nothing actually wrong with my knee. Now I'm starting to think there is something actually wrong with my knee, which is troubling for lots of reasons, not the least of which that I signed up to run the NYC marathon in three months and have asked for financial support to do so, which means that I won't just be letting myself down if I'm truly injured, but I'll be letting others down as well. Awesome.

Oh and did I mention I don't have health insurance again until Sept 6th when I start my new job? Cause I don't. Double awesome.

Alright, maybe this post is a little heavy on the drama. I'm walking around and my knee hasn't hurt THAT much over the last 2.5 weeks so maybe all I need is more time. And taking a step back in training doesn't ruin everything right? I hope not. I'm biting the bullet and calling a doctor tomorrow to see if I can at least get an opinion on what's going on without it costing me an arm and a leg. And I'm crossing my fingers that the opinion comes back as give it another week and you'll be good as gold. Or uh, something like that.

Until then, I suppose I better find other ways to keep up with my training that don't hurt my knee. I'm thinking the elliptical machine might be a good place to start. Or maybe the pool. Or both.

Here's hoping the next post has some better news than this one :-)

Summer Goals Update #2

Well I made some progress on the goals I posted two Fridays ago, last Friday I was in Vegas!

I've included my updates in colors:

Green = success

Blue = plan

Red = failure

Fitness Goals:

1. Run 3 days a week, follow my half marathon/marathon training schedule 100% - Weeks 2/3 - 75%, missed two runs due to knee injury

2. Cross train 3 days a week (yoga, swimming, elliptical, strength training, etc.) - Week 2/3 - done! Yoga and a ton of walking - need to do better with things other than walking, but Vegas was a good chunk of this time so I'm giving myself a break

3. Go to the gym a total of 30 times to get the most out of my membership - 1 more time gone, 24 left to go (yikes may need to rethink this goal or get a move on!)

4. Activate my Local Barre Groupon and attend at least 10 classes (will help with #3!) - planning to do today/tomorrow

5. Activate my Boot Camp Groupon and attend at least 5 classes (will help with #3!) - planning to do next week

6. Stretch regularly and use my foam roller every day - Stretching yes, foam rolling no, but I did find my foam roller

Health Goals:

1. Set up bi-weekly massage appointments at Massage Envy to help with my hip/leg tightness - still haven't done, need to set up for Sunday or Monday after my next long run

2. Log food into myfitnesspal.com every day - week 2/3 half check, yes for every day I wasn't in Vegas

3. Stay at or under my net calories for the day 6 days a week - no, not if you include Vegas!

4. Experiment with vegan cooking, purchase 2 vegan cookbooks - got one cookbook in the mail! had veggie lasagna today and it was excellent, also been experimenting with veggie burgers, YUM

5. Stay away from meat as much as possible - complete FAIL, ate more meat than I'm proud of in Vegas

6. Take and track body measurements every two weeks - got a tape measure today and will start tomorrow with my weigh in

Personal Goals:

1. Take more pictures - FAIL, need to do better with this

2. Blog 5 days a week and post pictures most of the time - sucked here, need to get back on the ball

3. Do one more big purge of junk in the apartment and take stuff to goodwill - still on my to do list

4. Fix computer before the warranty runs out - Check!! DONE!

5. Petey, training - find a local trainer we can work with - did find a dog walker, but still need to find a trainer

6. Read Harry Potter Books 1-7 (new! started on book #1 yesterday) - already halfway through book 4

7. Download and read books recommended to me for "self improvement" - still on my to do list

Educational Goals:

1. Purchase Rosetta Stone French once computer is fixed and spend time learning French - purchased, now need to download and get started

2. Watch Damodoran's Corporate Finance Class in it's entirety - haven't watched one class yet

3. Start playing the piano again (find a new teacher?) - haven't done anything with

4. Start playing the flute again (find a teacher?) - haven't done anything with

5. Read Joyful Wisdom - on page 230, 30 pages to go, should be done by next Friday

6. Review the level 1 CFA books - found a friend I can borrow them from, now just need to actually get them (same status)

Well, you win some you lose some. I'm not as far along with some of these goals as I'd hoped, but am hopeful that I can make a pretty good stand at getting most of them done before I start work in 5.5 weeks. I'm making a promise right now to myself to at least try as hard as I can (even if I know I won't quite make it, ahem 30 visits to the gym) and log in every Friday to track my progress. Until then...

Viva Las Vegas!

Four days in Las Vegas with some fantastic girlfriends. What more can you ask for??? The weather was fantastic (it was actually cooler in Vegas than in Manhattan the entire time we were there), the company was great, hotel was nice and comfy and the food was spectacular. Oh and the shows were great and the clubs were pretty fun too.

Here is the hotel that we stayed at - highly reccomend the Plazzo, it easily fit the four of us quite comfortably in one suite:

The only real downsides of the trip were one, that none of us won any money and two that the plane right there and subsequent treadmill run made my knee hurt so bad I hard time walking the first half of the trip. That said, I never plan to run on a treadmill again if I can help it. I don't know if it was the treadmill or the 6 hours of sitting in the same place on the plane that aggravated my knee, but either way, I'm not planning on taking that risk again anytime soon if I can help it.

I had been to vegas before, but it had been a few years, and this trip definitely exceeded my expectations. I thought for a minute about counting calories and sticking to my new vegetarian ways, but that quickly went out the window pretty much the minute we landed:

If you're ever in Vegas try Hash House a Go Go. It was a real crowd pleaser. The service kinda sucked, but the food more than made up for it.

Luckily though it doesn't look like I gained any weight on the trip. I'm sure walking for miles every day up and down the strip in the 100+ degree heat had something to do with it. Official weigh in is tomorrow and I plan on giving a weight update then.

Weight Loss (or Lack Thereof Update)

I think the best way to start this post is by saying UGH. So UGH.

My lowest weight right before I left my job was 159.8. My lowest weight since being off was 159.8 a few days ago. After 44 days of watching what I eat and working out like a crazy person (more details on that below) I've lost ZERO POUNDS.

And the thing is, I'm not thin! I'm overweight by anyone's standards. The highest acceptable weight for my height is 154.9 pounds. I'm still 5-7 pounds above that on any given day. And it's not like I have some crazy body type or something, I don't. I'm just overweight and there is no way around it.

In the last 44 days I have logged a total of 160 miles of both walking and running. This milage doesn't count the 2+ miles I walk every single time I go into the city or the miles I walk running errands. These are just exercise specific miles. And I RAN 88 of those miles. 88!! I ran 88 miles in the last 44 days (ha, an average of 2 a day) and walked an additional 70+ miles and haven't lost a pound. I've also practiced yoga, swam and done strength training. And I've logged every damn calorie I've eaten.

All I can think is that I need to eat less. Or workout even more and eat the same. A few days ago I changed myfitnesspal to a goal of losing 1.5 pounds a week which took my calorie count goal down even more, so I'm hoping that by staying close to that every day (and most days under it) that I can start to see some movement on this whole $&*(#$& weight loss thing.

I'm also going to buy a fabric tape measure this weekend to start taking measurements, because honestly, something has to give, for my sanity.

Lastly, as added motivation, I really want to start my new job wearing much more professional clothes than I have worn at my previous jobs. I think I'm finally at an age and a level where I need to start not only acting the part but looking the part. I'd really really really love to be able to purchase some staples for my wardrobe before I start that are in sizes I can be proud of and not ashamed of. I really don't want to have to buy nice clothes in the size I'm in right now, and I really don't want to buy anymore clothes from target or old navy because I'm chubby.

I have 51 more days to make some serious progress. I'm in a teeeny bit snug size 10. I'd really love to be a solid size 8 by the time I go back to work, and my dream goal is to be a size 6 (I was at one time a size 4 but I'm going to leave that as my super duper dream goal for now.)

Wish me luck. I really need to see some progress or I'm going to lose my mind.

95 Days of Summer - Day 44

I've said it before and I'll say it again, time is flying! I honestly never realized that I'd be THIS happy being off of work. I knew I'd be happy, but I never expected this. I'm not sure if it's just that I really needed a break (I did) or if it's that I was really unhappy in my job (I was) or some combination of factors, but these days I'm the happiest I ever remember being in my life.

Granted, that's a little scary when I think about the fact that this lifestyle isn't permanent for me. I've been giving a lot of thought of how to keep this type of happiness in my life even when I do go back to work and things get crazy again. That has to be possible right? I hope so. I really really do.

Ok, enough serious stuff for one day!

In happy news, I went to yoga today for the first time at this gym and I'm very very proud of myself for going. It was tough but I lasted and didn't get up and leave 10 minutes in (I did think about it though!) My muscles were even tighter than normal due to the long run yesterday, BUT it was obvious to me that yoga does so much good for me (stretching my poor overtired running legs and helping with stability) that I need to practice more consistently. Problem is, I don't really enjoy it. I want to enjoy it, and I enjoy the IDEA of it, but I don't love the practice. But, the teacher told us newbies to give it five times before we give up, so that's what I'm going to do. Planning to try and hit a class on Monday or Tuesday again. I'd like to hit two more classes before we leave for Vegas. VEGAS! Wahoo!

Something else I have to do on Monday or Tuesday? Get a new drivers license. UGH. I flipping hate the BMV. But then again, who doesn't.

And speaking of a new drivers license, I am going to look at new cars this afternoon on our way down to Philly! I'm a little excited about it. The last car I bought was back in 2001, a two door silver honda civic that my sister now owns and it still runs great. I'm a honda girl through and through so I'll be upgrading to either a civic hybrid or the insight hybrid. Need a hybrid to deal with the 50 mile (EACH WAY) commute I am going to have before long. Should be interesting!

Summer Goals Update #1

Well I made some progress on the goals I posted last Friday...I've included my updates in colors:

Green = success

Blue = plan

Red = failure

Fitness Goals:

1. Run 3 days a week, follow my half marathon/marathon training schedule 100% - Week 1, done!

2. Cross train 3 days a week (yoga, swimming, elliptical, strength training, etc.) - Week 1, done! 2 Elliptical sessions, 1 swimming and lots of walking!

3. Go to the gym a total of 30 times to get the most out of my membership - 2 more times this week, 25 left to go (yikes!)

4. Activate my Local Barre Groupon and attend at least 10 classes (will help with #3!) - planning to do after Vegas

5. Activate my Boot Camp Groupon and attend at least 5 classes (will help with #3!) - planning to do after Vegas

6. Stretch regularly and use my foam roller every day - stretching yes but foam rolling no (can't find it?)

Health Goals:

1. Set up bi-weekly massage appointments at Massage Envy to help with my hip/leg tightness - need to call today for appointment tomorrow

2. Log food into myfitnesspal.com every day - week 1, check!

3. Stay at or under my net calories for the day 6 days a week - only was under 4 days this week (but I did change my calories to target 1.5 pounds lost a week from 1 pound, so I'm still eating less than I was - need to do better this week!)

4. Experiment with vegan cooking, purchase 2 vegan cookbooks - made spaghetti with fake meat sauce, vegan chocolate chip cookies and cookie dough bites, and stir fry with tempeh, also pre-ordered one vegan cookbook, just need to find another

5. Stay away from meat as much as possible - did pretty well here, just ate pepperoni on my pizza today, I was meat free every other day

6. Take and track body measurements every two weeks - FAIL, need to buy a tape measure for tomorrow!

Personal Goals:

1. Take more pictures - FAIL, need to do better with this

2. Blog 5 days a week and post pictures most of the time - blogging yes but pictures no

3. Do one more big purge of junk in the apartment and take stuff to goodwill - need to do before Vegas

4. Fix computer before the warranty runs out - need to make genius bar appointment (this weekend?)

5. Petey, training - find a local trainer we can work with - in contact with local dog walkers who also do training, might kill two birds with one stone there until he's ready to go to group classes (in about a month)

6. Read Harry Potter Books 1-7 (new! started on book #1 yesterday)

7. Download and read books recommended to me for "self improvement"

Educational Goals:

1. Purchase Rosetta Stone French once computer is fixed and spend time learning French - need to fix computer first

2. Watch Damodoran's Corporate Finance Class in it's entirety - haven't watched one class yet

3. Start playing the piano again (find a new teacher?) - haven't done anything with

4. Start playing the flute again (find a teacher?) - haven't done anything with

5. Read Joyful Wisdom - on page 110, want to finish before Vegas (too ambitious?)

6. Review the level 1 CFA books - found a friend I can borrow them from, now just need to actually get them

So not too bad for the first week eh? I have 6 more weeks to accomplish everything on this list - at this pace I'm sure I can do it, as long as I keep it up. And if I don't accomplish everything on the list, that's ok to, even accomplishing most everything would make me feel pretty productive. Until next week...

11 MILES!!!!!

I believe running 11 miles deserves to be in all caps don't you? I'll say it again, 11 MILES! I ran 11 miles today and I did not die! I ran for 2 hours and 20 minutes and lived to tell about it. My first double digit run and my longest distance to date. I may or may not be quite proud of this fact!

Very similar to my run two weeks ago (9.5 miles) I got less than 8 hours of sleep and was exhausted and felt like crap and didn't want to run. I was also intimidated by the distance ahead of me and worried that my sore knee wouldn't let me accomplish it. But I'm thrilled to report that while my knee was a little sore (but nothing bad at all!) and I did feel like crap when I was getting ready, I got my butt outside and ran those 11 miles. And I feel awesome!

Here are my stats from the run:

11.01 miles

2:20:09

12:44 min/mile

1253 calories

150 avg bpm

As my reward for conquering the distance I ordered myself a gluten free pizza from my favorite pizza place here in town. I even got pepperoni on it, which goes against my new vegetarian ways, but it was a treat and I enjoyed every bite of it. I did give Jeff two of the 8 slices, so I didn't eat the whole thing myself, but I'm pretty sure I polished off at least 1000 calories worth of pizza after that run.

Today was one of those runs where I really do feel like I'll have what it takes to finish the half marathon in a little over 6 weeks. I love runs like this, they really are so much better than the 3 mile runs where every single step feels like torture. Maybe there is something to getting up early in the morning and running??? Food for thought!