Patellofemoral Pain Fixed by Yoga

Happy Thursday all. Tomorrow is the last day of school for Albuquerque, which means my last day of work! Actually, I may not even be needed as it is a half day and most teachers don't need a sub. Sooo it's summer time! We go on our cruise in ONE week. I CANNOT wait.

I just finished uo some Yoga X (yeah, didn't do the whole 90 minutes). It is HARD man?! I mean, seriously. If you had been a fly on the wall you would have thought I was completely incapable. Tumbling and jerking and falling on my head. But to be positive here, I am noticing marked improvement in my flexibility, balance and strength. So, one day, when I do master this 90 minute Yoga X vid, I'll show you all some stellar moves. But for now I'll just do it in the privacy of my home where I can't embarass myself. For any one who does not practice yoga, I am telling you to incorporate it into your routine. Try 20 minutes, 3 days a week. I promise that you will reap the benefits. The reason that I am committing to it is for various reasons, one being my unavoidable knee pain. I know that it stems from muscle imbalances, so strenghtening and for me, the strectching aspect, is key to relieving the pain. From skiing I know that my quads and hamstrings are all messed up regarding % of strength, and that my hamstrings are far too tight. I'm hoping that with regular yoga I will work out these kinks and see the knee pain start to diminish. I have also been doing some exercises to strengthen my entire quad muscle. Tight hamstrings and hip flexors are also a major cause, so the yoga helps drastically with this. Any one else have Patellofemoral Pain (runner's knee)? It CAN be fixed. A great resource is right here.

So, now that I am done being a yogi, I'm meeting the hubs to swim a bit. First must feed that child o' mine, though...and it will probably be hot dogs again (this is all he will eat as of right now. gross).

We workout fiends DO like being called crazy.

View out of our back door at Gateway Canyon

So...the mini-vaca was to Gateway Canyon Resort, in CO. It was cool, but weird. Totally out in the middle of nowhere, they were understaffed, and the spouse sprained his ankle pretty badly from falling off a cliff (literally). Sooo...overall it was fun, with a few bumps in the road. But now I'm back! And detoxing and getting back on training schedule. As of right now, I started my Olympic training schedule for the next 7 weeks until the Cochiti Triathlon here in NM. I'm actually following the one in the book The Woman Triathlete, by Christina Gandolfo. So I'll keep you all updated on how it's going!

Today - biked an hour (inside) and ran 20 minutes
Tomorrow - swim 45 minutes. I am too lazy to let you in on what the workout IS, so too bad.

Back to the mini-vaca, though...I thought I'd run this by you all. The vaca was really a meeting for the shareholders of my husband's company. We were in CO, surrounded by hiking/mountain biking trails, swimming, atv'ing, white water rafting...and every one at this said meeting sat around the pool ALL day EACH day drinking beer (or Crown or wine or tequila...) In my mind, I'm thinking, what a bunch of fat lazy ****s!! Is that totally mean? But really, what a weird place to bring people who don't work out. Mike and I (and Logan) took advantage of the activities until he wrecked his ankle, and they named us "fittest couple of the weekend".

Isn't it funny how some people see us as being off our rockers? I love being called nuts.

Here to chat about my latest track workout...but off for vaca tomorrow!

Greetings fellow runners, mothers, friends, and workout extraordinaires. How've you all been? Sorry I've been MIA a tad this week, but super busy with uh...life. But I won't bore you with all that. No one cares that I take the trash out on Tuesdays and that my sitter for work next week is bailing on me, right? Of course not! So onward to better conversation.

Last night I was at track practice, as usual. I think I have only missed one of them, which is great because otherwise I wouldn't do speedwork. Coach had us doing some "longer" speedwork. 2 800s, 2 1200s, 2 800s. Mile warm up and cool down. We were supposed to run them at about 10k pace, with the 1200s being a few seconds slower if need be. I don't know what was up with me, but I felt AWESOME! Times were as follows:

800 - 3:43
800 - 3:41
1200 - 5:41
1200 - 5:38
800 - 3:45
800 - 3:41

Then he had us do a 400, for "fun". I managed a 1:29. After the entire workout my legs were bricks for the first 100 of that, but I felt solid and strong the whole time. LOVE love love those workouts where it seems like you could go forever and ever. Not that I wanted to keep doing 800s over and over, but I could have. SUPER pumped and I feel as if I'm getting faster.

Also...I have this burning desire to do a marathon. Have never done a full. I was training for one when I found out I was preggo and stopped. Having that itch again, though. Hmmmm...

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We're leaving for SOMEWHERE tomorrow morning. It's the husband's company meeting/vaca...and they have yet to tell us. Like it's supposed to be fun that we will be driving 7-12 hrs without knowing where we're going? Some people think we are going...see pic below. Yep. Moab, Utah! How cool would that be! ANNNDD if that is so, we have a new Kelty hiking backpack to throw the kiddo in. We got it from a friend, who threw in two pairs of kid's hiking boots for when he's like, four. How freaking cute are they?

Alright, must pack and prepare. Check you all later.

I'm super fast, yo!

Hey guys - it's hump day! And I am SICK as a DOG. AGH! I hate being sick. So annoying. So, the results for the Jay Benson Tri finally got posted. Of course, I only did the run, which was 3 miles exactly. Like I said, I had forgotten my watch (really disciplined athlete I am, huh?) I thought I'd hit the 23 min mark, and would have been happy with anything in the mid-23s...but I ran a 22:12! Nice! So, that basically means I ran a 23 minute 5K, and the fastest I had ever run a 5K was 24:07 or something. I mean, I have not raced a lot of 5Ks...but still, I am pumped! Getting faster is fun :-) Pace was 7:24. I know I can do better than that (can't we always?) I guess I aspire to run an under-23-minute-5K. Totally doable. Below is a video that's pretty cool to watch - about an 8 minute creation of the day. See if you can find me somewhere near the beginning, when we all set out for the run. All the men go out, and then I am the second girl you'll see.



Find more videos like this on ABQTri

Anyway, I'm sitting here with a tissue shoved up my nose to stop the constant drainage. Yuck. Must go remove it and take some medication to stop the pressure in my head. Have a great day all!

Tired Monday, new tri suit, and things to be happy about!

Today is a windy day here in NM. What else is new? It dies down as May progresses, though. This means no run outside - unless I want sand in my eyeballs, which I don't. Yesterday was the Jay Benson Tri...I did not get to do the entire thing as I didn't sign up in time, however, I did finagle a spot on a team. So I got to run. And I got to run in my new tri suit. I know, I wasn't biking or swimming buuuuut....it is just so comfortable! Can't wait to use it for REAL. Anyway, I don't have an official time on my run, and of course I forgot my watch that morning soooo I am at a loss for how fast I went. I felt pretty quick, however. I'll let ya know once I find the results.

Last week was a tough week for various reasons. And now we are all sick. Bleh. Hate having a clogged up nose. So this morning I am feeling a little tired and sluggish and blaaahhhh.

However, things to be thankful for AAAARRRE:

- vaca next week from Thursday-Sunday with spouse's company (he'll have one day of meetings, and then the rest are just play time - but they are keeping the location a secret. AGH! How can I PLAN without knowwwwing!?)

- cruise! I will miss Logey :-( But this will be good for spouse and I to get away for a bit. I think we need a much needed break from reality. Any one else feel that way?

- work is over on May 28th for the summer! So Logan and I can head on out to the park/pool/trails whenever we want! I may put him in a baby swim lesson with a friend and her 1 yr old...not sure about that one yet, though. Seems pointless when I used to teach every level of swim lessons known to man...but what's 40 bucks to have some extra fun with friends, right?

- spouse (why do I use the term "spouse" instead of "husband"...?) is getting all the p90x videos from someone at work today! YEY!!! Looking forward to new workouts, because I am totally getting bored and sort of plateauing.

- I am planning a much-needed trip back to New England for July, I think. I wasn't going to, but now I think I want to. It's about time to see the other set of grandparents (my parents) and all of my friends, etc.

- the view out of kitchen window, and little things like newly planted flowers in the backyard. More pictures to come once I'm done planting in our backyard. We've done a LOT back there this year...lots of sweat (no tears, but I might have wanted to at times) and hard work!

Cruise Fashion Show

I was bored today while baby napped (a rare 2.5 hour nap for him, I was like uhhh hello dude?) Anywho, I entertained myself by basically playing dress-up and taking pictures of myself. Don't lie. You would all do this, too. I'm slightly embarassed that I'm showing you all of these - even a bathingsuit shot. Yes, I did prance around in my swimsuit. In my house. By myself.

10K results

So I ran my 10K on Sunday, and it was great! The Run for the Zoo in Albuquerque had 11,000 runners. 11,000!? Crazy. I had never done this race before, and I'll say that considering the amount of participants, it was a very well run race. Being that so many people partake, the first couple miles were pretty dense and I found myself dodging and weaving. It never truly thinned out, but at least got easier to run. My time was 50:39...which I actually was surprised by because that's what I crossed at, and I know that it took a while for me to cross the start line so I thought I would have possibly broken 50 minutes...so I'm not sure what happened there. So, I guess I would have LOVED to break 50 min, and that will just be my goal for the next 10K. I know I can do it. It was a great race, though, and Mike stayed with Logan and another husband with his kids while we ladies ran :-) Good husbands we have :-) Since I had never run a 10K before, I wasn't sure how to set out for this one. I probably could have started out faster, but I didn't want to burn out and die by mile 6. My splits were negative, though, by a lot. I didn't take them myself, but at each mile they yelled out your time. From what they said, I figured I was running around 8:30s at the beginning, and the last couple of miles were under 8's. Overall pace of 8:05. I'm pretty happy with that. My PR 1/2 Mary was at 8:12 pace sooo....I'm not toooo far off. Now I'd like to see what I can run a 5K at! Under 24 minutes would be nice!

On another note, I am about a month away from our cruise. Aaaand I am worried about getting into a bathingsuit. More specifically, my mid-section. I'm pretty much being OCD about it, though, because it's not really that bad. I do want to diminish some of it, though, but how? Any suggestions? I have just been running/lifting/swimming, so I believe it's time to switch it up. Any one use the P90X workouts? I have been researching them for two days now, and they seem like they have phenomenal results. I have never been one to use workout videos, but these intrigue me. Do I want to shell out the cash for them, though? I found used ones on Amazon for under $100, so I may go that route. If you have personal experience with them I'd love to hear about it.

Alright, it's another day so enjoy it! I'm going to finish up some coffee/breakfast and get some yoga in at some point this morning. Have a good one!