Friday, April 27, 2012

Birthday Marathon.....

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28


                               Running up Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, September 2011. 


I have finally decided to stop being stubborn and to realize that I need to be healthy if I want to remain a runner for life! As one of my Spark friends said.......it is the difference between a runner for life and a once in a lifetime runner! I am stepping away from my birthday marathon as I truly feel that this injury has left me unprepared and I must do what my heart is telling me to do. 


So for now, I will be continuing my PT weekly, we are having an MRI of my knee to determine if the Bakers can be removed through extracting the fluid or if I will need to have it removed via surgery. I am reading a few books on Marathon training to increase my knowledge, stretching FAR more than before and I am starting to incorporate Yoga and Pilates in my weekly routines. 


My next scheduled race is The Oslo Marathon, September 22st and I plan on doing the Stavanger Marathon, September 1st but just as a training run (walking/running) to prepare me for Oslo. I feel very good about this schedule and I feel I can come back strong, healthy and ready to finally cross that finish line!! 


I am starting a challenge today as it is one month from my birthday which is May 27th!! See, I may be injured but I can still be working towards a goal :) NEVER stop reaching! Even if you original plan as been sidelined, it is ok. Find a new goal, a new challenge to take you one step further to your ultimate dream!! 


35th birthday challenge.....


Goals - Complete 3,500 military pushups - NO knees! You guys know me, I LOVE pushups! They are my favorite ST workout!! Since I cannot increase my mileage due to my knee/calf, I need to focus on ST once again. So I am back to doing what I love and I have seen work for me in the past. PUSH UPS!! I am almost at 300 reps for this week but the count starts over as of today!! 


The reps can include......close grip, diamond, low incline, spiderman, dive bomber, staggered hands, wide fly, standard, walking, inchworm, walking spiderman, T-plank.....but NOTHING on my knees. 


Thanks as always for the motivation, support and help you all have provided me. 











The Long Food blog....

As most of you know I post pics of my foods on my FB page daily. It motivates me and helps increase my accountability.

Here is a look at a few of my meals the past few days for those of you not on FB....

My challenge is going great and I am very happy to be back eating a mostly Vegan diet.






Buckwheat noodles and miso soup with Veggies!




Salad with tuna and garbanzo beans




Big salad with avocado on whole grain bread with melon




Quorn baked with eggplant and topped over black Quinoa




Chia, flax, banana, and kiwi blend



Grilled Salmon with broccoli and hot peppers



Vitamineral Green and Earth from HealthForce Nutrtionals




Raw Veggies and fruit for the day



Wakame Salad with black beans and avocado




Vega Shake with coconut milk




White bean and avocado hummus



Celery and cucumber juice blend



More juicing.......



Vega one shake with oat bran and berries along with Green Tea blend




Oats, chia and flax blend



Raw salad topped with black beans and spinach




Oat bran spelt blend with VM green and earth




Oats, chia, quinoa and flax blend with berries and apple



More VM Green and Earth




Black beans, tomato, avocado and nutritional yeast on bread



Black beans with chia seeds, flax and nutritional yeast with avocado and red bell pepper


 Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday, April 23, 2012

Update on injury, plan for this week and thoughts on the marathon....

I feel truly encouraged this morning. My calf is doing MUCH better. So much so that this weekend I was able to walk slowly, start and stop for about 2 miles. This was huge for me as remember earlier in the week I could not make it .30 miles without a cramp!! My visit with the PT went very well. This was my second visit to the sports clinic and I am even more impressed with the level of care they are providing me.

The ultrasound revealed both good news and interesting news. The big news for me was that I did not have a large tear in my calf. This was such a relief!! It meant that through resting and proper treatment, I would not need a huge break from running. The interesting news came from what was causing my calf pain.  Some of you may remember back last year when I was receiving the injections for my arthritis that I also had a bakers cyst behind my knee. I have had this cyst for years, so that was nothing new however due to my new running routines since moving here I have aggregated the cyst greatly and it is very inflamed. The brusa extends into my calf which is why I was having the cramping and pain. So my bakers cyst caused a calf strain from the pressure of the fluid and inflammation. Now, the PT said it was due to down hill running. The pounding only makes my arthritis in my knee worse which in turn inflames the Bakers causing the fluid build up to spread down into the calf.  So I have been icing behind my knee and it has helped greatly.

As far as treatment....well, we are taking a wait and see approach. He said he DOES NOT think I should run the marathon BUT he was going to make up a program for me and we will see if I can walk the race....which would be fine with me!!!!!!!!!

I have to keep the knee wrapped with a brace/compression sleeve , ice a great deal throughout the day, stretch, do my yoga daily, take some anti-inflammatories, and bike for at least one hour 4 times a week. I can also walk as long and there is NO pain whatsoever. I am going in today for some more treatments along with a deep tissue massage and some acupuncture. If all goes well this week, I am going to aim for a long walk with maybe a few running intervals on Saturday. I have to still work on getting walks/runs in IF....and I do say IF I am going to do the marathon in 5 weeks. I HAVE TO be able to walk/run a 15:15 mm to be able to meet the time cut off. Normally, this would be nothing but I am not sure how fast I can walk as of now, so this week if I am healing well, I am going to do a test run if you will to see if I can walk/run less than a 15 mm with my injury. We will see.

So for now I cannot say whether or not I am racing,  but I can say that my mind is open to the possibility of canceling IF I need to. The PT was SO extremely helpful and we talked about my marathons in September and October and I feel through his help and following his plan, I can do this! But the key is I MUST follow the program. I cannot do my normal crazy thing and get out there and do trail runs going over rocks and uneven surfaces as I was....remember those awesome trail runs?? OH!  I am going to miss that!! BUT...that was putting crazy amounts of strain on my knee which lead to all of this.

Who would have thought that my KNEE would be causing my calf to cramp up?? To me it is crazy but when I started doing research on Runners world etc... it is actually quite common. The funny thing was a few weeks ago I was going to send a text to my aunt the elite runner and doctor who I always talk about as she always helps me....anyways, I was going to text her and ask if my cyst could be the cause of my calf pain. As I was feeling such pressure and pain behind my knee and I was wondering if the cyst was cutting of blood supply or something to my calf. I never sent the text because I thought it was a crazy idea.....well, I should have stuck with my gut....but you live and learn right ;)

So that is pretty much it. Now, all I have to do is wait and do what I am supposed to do. I feel blessed to have found such a wonderful sports clinic here and I am so thankful God is helping me through all of this. I have learned so much about myself once again. I have learned I am one stubborn, determined girl :) It can be a good thing but if I am going to continue racing I need to learn MODERATION in all things.

Now onto my plan for this week.....

I am using this time to really focus on my diet. Those of you on my FB page will know that I am switching back to the plan I followed last year which brought me such amazing success with my weight loss. It was a mostly Vegan diet with a focus on raw foods. I already feel so amazing eating this way and look forward to learning more about raw foods and various ways to incorporate more nutrient dense foods into our diet. I am reading once again the BEST book in my opinion.....Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live. I read this book last year and gave it to my parents which in turn, caused them to become Vegan and it has changed their life as well. Along with this I am reading Kathy Freston's new book The Lean.....it is very good as well, a fast quick read.

My nutritional goals for this week are.....

1. Take my Vitamineral Green and Earth twice daily
2. Juice or blend daily
3. Eat at least one raw salad for either lunch or dinner daily.
4. Make sure to have 1/2 avocado, 1 oz of nuts and chia seeds daily
5. Eat at least 4 servings of fruit a day
6. No Coffee for this week....just tea
7. No Dairy, Eggs or Meat other than fish ( not fully Vegan I know, but it is a start)
8. Limit fish to no more than once a day
9. Eat one serving of beans a day
10. One tbsp of flaxseed oil daily

My fitness goals for this week are.....

1. EVERYDAY stretch and use my foam roller
2. Yoga daily for at least 30 mins - using Cathe's Yoga Max dvd along with Rodney Yee
3. 4 - 5 days this week bike for at least one hour
4. Try to walk daily for at least 30 mins as long as there is no pain
5. Complete 3 rounds of ST (M,W,F) and reach a total of 500 push ups for the week


Friday, April 20, 2012

A Super Sweet and Yummy Vegan Dessert!

And for my sweet Momma, here the Banana oat bars I was telling you about! ;)

From the Eat to Live Book.....

http://www.drfuhrman.com/shop/ETLBook.aspx


cups quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (optional; see note)
  • 1 tablespoon date sugar (optional; see note)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Press into a 9-by-9-inch baking pan and bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. When cool, cut into squares or bars.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Veggies, Beans and Grains......Happy to be back :)


So very happy to be back eating the way I love! It just feels right. Here is a look at yesterdays Fuel....

Looking forward to posting my daily results once again. It has been too long.






Oats, chia seeds, flaxseeds, apple, almonds with soy milk




Spinach, carrot, celery, cucumber, ginger and lemon......YUMMY!


Vegan chili with broccoli and spinach with brown rice





Chia seeds, coconut flakes, ground flax and water chilled for an amazing snack!






Dinner I made for my husband ( I had left overs from lunch with avocado)....this was a Vegan Chana Dal...very good!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Back to basics......

Going back to the plan which has worked so very well for me.....clean eating, mostly plants, nuts, fruits, fish and moving around as much as possible.....

Fuel for today....

Oats and egg whites, peach Oolong tea
Raw carrots and more egg whites....with a bit of egg yolk
Raw cabbage, beans, avocado and an orange
One Apple
More carrots and a few peanuts
Vega one protein shake
More oats and massive amounts of water......over a gallon

And finally I will probably have another Vega shake tonight with berries


Off today from running but I did some ST then I used my foam roller to help my calf and ITB

We are back!

I will be posting a few photos regarding our family vacation later on but as of now I am finishing the massive loads of laundry we have from our trip and unpacking and reorganizing things around the house. So much to do!! The trip was truly a dream and we had a fantastic time seeing our baby girl experience so many new things. Her second birthday was simply perfect and we will never forget the memories made on this very, very special trip!! We toured all throughout Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland. The weather was fantastic until the last day, so we were thankful.  So many amazing memories to last a lifetime!

I am happy to be back however and to be back on a schedule. I have a great deal of running to do.......my marathon is 7 weeks away!! Yea!!

Blessings to all........if my posts are a bit off for the next few days it is only because I am so busy doing various projects I have planned for my girl and I in addition to working on a new family website for our photos,video etc...so many special things happening right now for us. Such a blessing!!

Runs for this week......

Wednesday - 5 miler....slow, just to get back running
Saturday - 14 miler......VERY slow...walking breaks to see if my calf can do a long run, it will be the first one since the 11 miler where I hurt my calf. It seems to be better but we will see after Saturday - the goal is to just get the distance in without my calf cramping up! NO matter how long it takes......