I spent the morning yesterday doing computer work and trying to get caught up on the three classes I am teaching this semester. If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you know that I like to stay busy, BUT, teaching three online graduate courses might be a lot. Especially while trying to finish my dissertation and plan a wedding. But hey, go big or go home, right? ; ) Lu jumped up on the couch, threw her body against mine, and looked up at me like this. I guess she was needing love? I used to think Aspen was our needy dog…turns out it’s Lulu.
Yesterday morning I headed to my 3rd PT appointment, this was my second week of PT. I was really hopeful about being cleared to run after this appointment. And guess what?! I WAS! I have to come back easy, as in 1 to 2 miles and I can’t run everyday, but I get to run!
Celebratory chocolate was needed! I totally forgot to take a picture of my lunch. I can’t believe it. I had the last bit of the Moroccan Lentil Salad with Cauliflower Couscous from the Run Fast. Eat Slow cookbook. It was delicious.
They were a ton of birds in our backyard and the girls were mad that I wouldn’t let them out to terrorize them. They sat like this for over an hour…
After the super amazing news from my physical therapist, these bad boys were delivered! It’s like a sign or something. I was SO pumped. These are my all-time favorite road running shoes. I’m currently running in my second pair of Torins. I think they still have about 200 miles or so left in them, so I’ll still run in them for awhile. These new ones are what I will wear when I run the Rock ‘n’ Roll half in April!
For a snack, I had hummus, carrots, and Sriracha. It hit the spot! This hummus is not spicy at all, which is a bummer, so it definitely needs some Sriracha.
I got lots of puppy cuddles. I didn’t get nearly as much work finished as I had wanted to, but I just didn’t have any motivation yesterday!
I didn’t have anything planned for dinner and I didn’t really feel like going to the store, so I thought I’d risk it and just throw a bunch of random stuff into our crockpot. I threw in scallops, shrimp, two sweet potatoes, a bunch of kale, half a cup of uncooked quinoa, tomatoes, half an onion, chicken stock, water, and coconut aminos. I also added turmeric, cumin, garlic powder, and a little salt. It looked pretty!
I was a little unsure of how this meal was going to turn out – I told Jake that if it was bad, we would just go to Galloway for dinner. It ended up being super good! I was surprised! The shrimp and scallops made it smell really fishy, so I was worried it would taste that way. It didn’t!
Dessert! Mmm. We both love these…we put them in our freezer and eat them frozen. Anyone else like frozen chocolate??
Jake made each of us an Old Fashioned after dinner. They were delicious. I think this is my favorite cocktail!
After dinner, we both did a little work on our computers. It was nice to just sit and relax!
When we finished up with some work, we played card games until bedtime. I think here we are playing Go Fish. We attempted to play War for awhile, but we quickly realized we were playing a weird mixture of War and Speed – I always get card games confused. I think we just wanted to slap the cards…
More puppy cuddles. Aspen felt left out, so she jumped up on the kitchen chair next to me and went to sleep.
Then it was up to go RUN!!!!! Wahoo! I was cleared by my PT to run 1-2 miles this morning. I was super nervous. While I haven’t had any hamstring pain lately, I knew I was going to be devastated if it came back at all. When I took ti
me off (almost 2 weeks, not nearly long enough), the first time (before Christmas) and came back to running, I didn’t have the sharp, shooting pain that I had been having, but I was definitely aware of my hamstring. It didn’t feel 100% normal, but I figured since the pain wasn’t as bad as it had been that I was fine. I was wrong. I ran with that uncomfortable feeling for about a week before the sharp pain started to come back. I had 2 or 3 runs with that sharp pain before I finally decided that I needed to legitimately rehab this injury. It was then that I made the decision to take 6 weeks off from running. I also started seeing a PT after 2 weeks off. At that point, I was able to do the elliptical, the row machine, and the stationary bike without any pain at all. I also wasn’t having any pain while sitting, which had been happening a lot. As of yesterday, I had officially taken 4 weeks off from running. At my PT appointment yesterday, she cleared me to run. I told her my plan to take 6 full weeks off. She said I could do that if I felt like that’s what my body needed, but that she saw no problem with me starting to run again. Um, heck yeah I’m going to run! (Also, my body has felt GREAT.) This is the first time in 8 or 9 months that I haven’t had hamstring pain. That’s huge. So, I left the appointment SUPER excited. Then the nervousness started to kick in. What if the pain comes back? What if this is an injury that NEVER heals? What if I can’t run again? You know, all the crazy little things that nag at you. Before I could spiral down that anxiety tunnel, I told myself that a negative/scared outlook isn’t going to do anything positive for me. I need to be confident and listen to my body. That’s all I can do!That’s exactly what I did! I ran my first mile at a 9:13 pace. That felt REALLY good, so I sped up to a 9-minute pace for the first half of my second mile, then I finished up with an 8:45 pace. I felt SO good the entire run. I never once felt my hamstring. No pain, no tightness, nothing. As badly as I wanted to keep going after my successful 2 miles, I made myself stop and walk a mile. Kayla ran next to me, which was awesome! I think she was just as excited as I was that I was running again. She has her longest run yet on Saturday (7 miles) – send some positive vibes her way, please! She’s going to crush it!
me off (almost 2 weeks, not nearly long enough), the first time (before Christmas) and came back to running, I didn’t have the sharp, shooting pain that I had been having, but I was definitely aware of my hamstring. It didn’t feel 100% normal, but I figured since the pain wasn’t as bad as it had been that I was fine. I was wrong. I ran with that uncomfortable feeling for about a week before the sharp pain started to come back. I had 2 or 3 runs with that sharp pain before I finally decided that I needed to legitimately rehab this injury. It was then that I made the decision to take 6 weeks off from running. I also started seeing a PT after 2 weeks off. At that point, I was able to do the elliptical, the row machine, and the stationary bike without any pain at all. I also wasn’t having any pain while sitting, which had been happening a lot. As of yesterday, I had officially taken 4 weeks off from running. At my PT appointment yesterday, she cleared me to run. I told her my plan to take 6 full weeks off. She said I could do that if I felt like that’s what my body needed, but that she saw no problem with me starting to run again. Um, heck yeah I’m going to run! (Also, my body has felt GREAT.) This is the first time in 8 or 9 months that I haven’t had hamstring pain. That’s huge. So, I left the appointment SUPER excited. Then the nervousness started to kick in. What if the pain comes back? What if this is an injury that NEVER heals? What if I can’t run again? You know, all the crazy little things that nag at you. Before I could spiral down that anxiety tunnel, I told myself that a negative/scared outlook isn’t going to do anything positive for me. I need to be confident and listen to my body. That’s all I can do!That’s exactly what I did! I ran my first mile at a 9:13 pace. That felt REALLY good, so I sped up to a 9-minute pace for the first half of my second mile, then I finished up with an 8:45 pace. I felt SO good the entire run. I never once felt my hamstring. No pain, no tightness, nothing. As badly as I wanted to keep going after my successful 2 miles, I made myself stop and walk a mile. Kayla ran next to me, which was awesome! I think she was just as excited as I was that I was running again. She has her longest run yet on Saturday (7 miles) – send some positive vibes her way, please! She’s going to crush it!
I can’t even describe how good it felt to run. I’m going to do my stretches and exercises from my PT later. I also have a date with my lacrosse ball. I am going to do everything in my power to keep rehabing this hamstring. I won’t run tomorrow, but I’m planning on 2 miles again on Saturday. Next week, Jake and I are both going to start doing a Performance Enhancement Program at the same place I’ve been doing physical therapy, HealthTracks. They create plans geared toward whatever you are training for, so our plans will focus on endurance and mine will have some rehab type stuff included in it. We are both excited! Strength training is SO important for runners.
I ran by the store super quick after the gym and I saw these! Holy yum. I can’t wait to try them.
I have 3 interviews to conduct today, so it’s going to be busy! We are also having 2 of our Grandmas over for dinner, so we are looking forward to that! I’m going to make a lasagna out of the Run Fat. Eat Slow cookbook. I can’t wait to try it!
Happy Friday Eve, friends!