Dad was right!

Day 22 & 23-- I am making great progress (as I am patting myself on the back), and am feeling great too! Over the last couple of days I found I can actually climb stairs and steps without using the hand rail, which is awesome because those things are disgusting, especially with the H1N1. I am doing my running and trying to incorporate the inhale/exhale exercises too. Normally I would run about 6m a day along with many various exercises. Well, today I decided I was going to run for 3m every hour(I only made it for 5h), but like I said in previous posts about the family drama and finding my zone, I did it today. My dad was right on how good you feel when this happens. I was so angry today that a tear made its way down my cheek. I thought that there was NO WAY that I was going to let that happen. I tightened the laces on my shoes and got those feet moving. I ended up running 1.57 miles in 10m. Yes you read that right, exactly 5 weeks after knee surgery I ran 1.57 miles in 10 minutes!!! That was definitely a triumph. It felt so good that I forgot why I was angry in the first place.

I think I am going to keep up with the pace requirements!!!

1st 21 day Challenge= DONE!

Day 21-- Today started off great, I could not wait to do my run on my 21st day. Then we decided to have lunch at Red Lobster. Well, that is fine except the closest one to us is about close to 100 miles away. I ordered my usual Chicken Fingers (I don't like seafood as noted in previous post), but I must say that I got full pretty quick, only ate 1 out of 5 and the baked potato. We didn't do any shopping or go any where else. We headed home, once in town went to Wal-mart to buy more vitamins, don't want to catch anything this season. I haven't been sick in a few years, just got to keep up with the vitamins. Once we got home and made dinner it has got pretty late and we both have to be up early tomorrow. I didn't feel like doing my run tonight, but thought guilty for even considering taking a break. I guess that is natural, I guess I am really enjoying this because I do not want to deprive my body of not running. So, I guess the moral of todays story is that I felt like I did not have the time, but my body kept telling me that I needed to do it.

Tomorrow starts a new 21 day challenge: I will try and incorporate more protein into my diet and hopefully by day 21 or I guess it would be day 42 actually be able to get the right amount of protein per day. That is the plan and I guess I should make some lentils for dinner. Hmmm.... what could be my third 21 day challenge?

More grams of Protein per day plus sticking with my regular routine, not too bad.

More aware

Day 20-- I am really enjoying this whole exercising thing. Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would enjoy it this much. I begin to like something is missing if I haven't done anything and it is almost bed time. I will tell DisFanatic "I just need to run a bit before bed, I forgot today" I feel as if a part of me is incomplete without my daily exercise. My dad does a regular workout almost daily, but I guess we just never did. With my PCOS it is great that I get up and workout, but I just never did. Now that I have this personal goal to run a marathon, I want to exercise and get in shape. The thing that I realized is that I am training at an elevation of approx. 7000ft. above sea level, so when I am in Florida I should find it a bit easier to breathe. I guess what they say about 21 days to create a habit is true. Right now I cannot imagine going without a day of doing some activity. Now, normally I would be looking for the cutest shoes for the season, but now I find myself looking at running shoes and sports bras. My mileage is getting up there on my Nike. I bought these a year ago for a walking class, then I took them to Disney World for a week twice in the past six months. I know with all that I have been doing I am going to need new ones soon! I love shoes!

It is funny how one little life goal can change your entire way of living. It makes you a more health conscience and aware of everything you do.

Almost into a full run!

Day 19-- I am so proud of myself, does that sound bad? I am now running a lot better and keeping a good form. I am trying to train myself the breathing techniques to inhale/exhale with certain steps. I read that is the best way to keep your breathing in check. If I can train myself in the early stages of training it should be a piece of cake when I actually really go out there and run. I am running multiple times on the Wii Fit and working up to running for 10m straight. I am doing great on balance and stability on my left leg, actually now that I think about it I may be doing better on my left than the right. Weird, huh? I am working on torso exercises and still on the yoga.

I remembered that with the marathon comes planning another trip to Disney! That is exciting yet overwhelming at the same time. Hmmm, where should I stay?

I am gearing up for this cold winter and looking for my warm clothes so I can go outside.

Oops I forgot a day

Day 17 & 18-- I didn't realize I forgot to write last night. I had been doing so well. Oh well, for all I know I am talking to myself anyway.

I am doing well and on my way to success. I just realized that I am losing weight and feeling great about it. In the 18 days since beginning this journey, I have lost 12lb. Not a whole lot, but quite a bit. The whole idea was never to lose weight, although that was always a plus, but it was to get my leg strong and healthy. I think I am coming along nicely. I am able to walk, jog, slightly run, squat, balance on one leg and climb stairs. I am proud of what I have accomplished thus far. I just need to concentrate more on my running and changing my diet to accompany my new running lifestyle. I guess moving slowly and adjusting at a steady pace is better than jumping into it then crashing hard soon after starting. I learned that I need more protein in my diet (0.36 x weight = grams of protein that should be eaten a day). For runners and highly active people it is about 0.60 times your weight. Starting with increasing my protein I should be well on my way. Okay, so maybe I should stick with the 21 day routine thing first. I am almost done with the first 21 days, so when that is up I think I will include my increased protein as my next short term goal. Seems possible to me. Keeping with the walking/running then adding my next steps slowly. Hopefully, by this time next year I will have all my little steps incorporated into my daily life.

I just bought the new Wii Fit Plus and love it. So much better than the first one. The best part is where I get to practice my golf swing based on my balance. The marching band one is really good because right now it helps my knee with the walking. OH did I mention that it tells you now how many calories you burn for each activity. It is great and it also can tell you how many calories are in each food. It is great, I recommend it over the original Wii Fit!

"and she is down"

Day 16-- I have actually exercised in some way or another everyday for 16 days now. I am excited that I have committed for this many days. I don't always go on a daily walk outside or on the treadmill, but if I do not do that I always step up the activity on the Wii. Today I jogged for what felt like forever, okay so it was only about 12m. It definitely felt much longer than that, then I trip over my feet afterward and fell. Have I mentioned before that I am EXTREMELY clumsy? Because I am. In college I fell down the stairs to my apartment about twice a week, then there was the once time I fell off a ladder, and then fell out the back door and down the steps outside. It is not a shocker that I fell, actually when I fell off the ladder it was two weeks after my first knee surgery. I guess I should not have been climbing ladders. Anyway, I worked hard on the Wii Fit and called it a day. I put my leg up and iced it just in case I may have hurt it. I guess I am just too excited to get running.

Running with a Migraine

Day 15-- Feeling tired and a bit worn out. I came to ask myself today, how do runners do it when they do not feel well. I mean today I woke up with a horrible migraine, but had to just work through it. Do runners really just run through something like that? Do they really still go out there and run even when they feel sick with the sound, light and smells? Well, I did. I didn't want to make excuses. I didn't much, but I did run. Oh yeah, by the way I ran, yes ran today. Okay, so it wasn't the greatest in distance or time, but the fact is that I did in fact actually run. I decided to take it slow, so I started with a 1:1 ratio. I walked 1m and then ran 1m. I did this 4 times. It doesn't sound like much, but trust me my knee is feeling it. I figure if I do this for a week then I can move up slowly to something like a 1.5:1.5, then maybe a 2:2 then a 2:3, 2:4 and well you get the point. The goal is to begin slow until I can get to the point where I can merge with regular training programs. Most of the training programs I looked into are for about 10 to 12 weeks, and with the marathon in March I am still doing fine. I think this should work out just fine.

I really need to start putting all this energy I have somewhere. I know you are supposed to cross train, but that is just not cutting it when it comes to distracting me from family drama. That negative emotion is exhausting and I want to put it to good use. That kind of stuff really gets me moving, but the only problem is I don't really move along to fast. After talking to my dad I felt the reassurance about my decision to run. It was nice to hear someone actually understood where I was coming from. Lately I was beginning to think that no one could understand why I am the way I am. More so, the way I was feeling. Even if no one is actually reading this blog, it is nice to have an outlet for all my thoughts.

Inclines are like kryptonite

Day 14-- After a long weekend of activity and very little sleep I am still recovering. I am trying, I really am. I worked out for about 40m today on the Wii Fit, that did include a bit of jogging. After climbing that hill yesterday morning I am still struggling. That hill was like my kyptonite, it drained all energy from my body. My knee is still not the same today. I found it difficult to climb a few steps. My Wii even told me my balance on my left leg was unstable. When your Nintendo is telling you that you are not the same then it must be true. I didn't want to take a complete day off, I just hit the end of 2 weeks since I started. I just worked a little harder today on the Wii than I had been. No games today, all I did was yoga and strengthening, oh and a bit of jogging. I figured that if I keep doing something than I will not give up.

I am finding it difficult when I am the only one in my family who is concerned with healthy habits. This is probably why I never exercise and we eat unhealthy, well I don't not all the time. If you have ever been to a New Mexico Blake's Lotaburger then you know can see how you can easily fall off the healthy horse. Now I don't like hamburgers, but a Lotaburger with Green Chili and cheese is something I could eat everyday of the week. In my family, it is steaks and bacon. I don't really like bacon either. I think I am a misfit in my immediate and extended families. I can remember as a teenager I would go through fazes where I would be a vegetarian. I could do that for months, but the only problem is that I do not eat seafood. It grosses me out. Actually, I think the problem may lie in my childhood, we had many pets which included fish and a pet cow. I still don't know why we were allowed to name a cow when he was going to be dinner when he grew up. When I said we had many pets, I really did mean many. We had cats, dogs, a turtle, a bunny, many fish, a cow and baby chicks and ducks. So as an adult I don't see chicken as dinner I still think of it as a pet, same as beef and fish. Goodness talk about needing some therapy. Now back to the problem at hand, I am an odd eater because of my many issues with food. If I could only find some sort of median between likes, dislikes, and food allergies I think I would be okay. I know if I want to become a runner I am going to have to step up the protein, but that is where the problem lies. I think with me it is actually not overeating, but under eating and not getting enough positive energy. I think my body just takes what I feed it and stores it for the winter, and this PCOS doesn't help one bit.

Maybe I should title this blog "cows and hills = kryptonite"

What a workout

Day 13-- What a workout I had today. We arrived at the Balloon Fiesta and had to climb up and down a steep hill to get in. Oh man, I was terrified that I was gonna roll down that hill. The angle of my foot and the strain on my knee was horrible. We also walked about 1 mile and stood for hours. By the time we got home I crashed. I had only been working on 3 1/2 hours of sleep. I hopped on the Nintendo Wii Fit and it kept telling me that I was unstable for my left leg. I figured that with all the things we had been doing maybe it wasn't such a good idea to continue working out. I am out for today, but will be back and going strong tomorrow.

Another day down

Day 12-- I walked a lot today. I walked 1 mile while pushing 30lbs. (baby in stroller with stuff in the cargo area). Then we got to the hotel and walked 1.1 miles on the treadmill. My leg feels exhausted. We ate tons of food and when I weighed myself I still weighed less then I did 3 weeks ago. I am so proud of myself. This weekend with my family on a weekend getaway is the last of my bad habit eating. I decided to wait until after this weekend so we could enjoy all the treats that come with a festival.

This morning I found a brand new pair of jeans that I had bought in January and misplaced, but fortunately they no longer fit. In fact, if I hold them up against me I look like one of those weight loss commercials. I am going to go see if I could exchange them for a smaller size, a way smaller size. Never would I have imagined that I would come for a weekend getaway and actually use the fitness room. I must really want that medal at the end of that race. Every day I think about all the running I wish I could do now. They say you should visualize yourself running and that will encourage you to run. Well, I even have dreams of myself running. When we drive by a road, I see myself running that same route. I am already motivated, I just need the knee to go along with it. I tried using a knee brace the other day and that did not work too well. I felt like it held me back more than it helped. Same with the Ace Bandage, it seemed like I was kind of limping along the way rather than actually walking or running. Maybe my leg still feels like it is in injure mode and automatically wants to limp. Oh I don't know.

I am just super excited that I will be able to get the okay from my Dr. on running the 5K in March. I am certain that he will give it his stamp of approval because he told me the day of surgery that he would like to see me back on the golf course within weeks of surgery. Only problem with that is, its cold already. Living in the mountains will do that I guess.

I did it, I climbed stairs!

Day 11-- Whew... I had a busy day today. Most importantly I climbed stairs today without even realizing I had done so. I jogged on the treadmill for only about 1/2 a mile, but it was a lot faster than I was used to. I got off tired, but I did some laundry and was all better. I also did some more of the Wii Fit, I love that game. I mean where else can you have fun and work out. My little Mii was so cute today when I hit the 30m mark and needed a break. I did more yoga breathing, the half moon, something where I stretch my thighs, a torso twist, leg extensions, some step aerobics, squats, hula hoop and I ran for 5m. I was also ecstatic that I beat all my high scores today! Of course being the Disney fans that we are, we went to see the Toy Story /Toy Story 2 double feature in 3D. I was carrying our drinks and climbed up the stairs to the stadium seating without realizing I had done it proper and without holding the hand rail. I had completely forgot for a moment that I couldn't climb stairs and I did it. Knowing that I climbed those stairs was the highlight of my day. DisFanatic is the one who had to tell me that I had done it. I can't wait to climb some more.

Living in New Mexico we are known for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta with hot air balloons, so we are doing that this weekend. If non of you know what it is like it is amazing. The concession area is 1/3 of a mile, so if you want breakfast you have to be prepared to walk. Supposedly this is the largest Hot Air Balloon event in the world.

Today had been a great day. I am realizing that I am getting better and it is because I believe I can do it. Okay, partly because of my Wii Fit. Now I just need to go and buy the new Wii Fit Plus and the EA Active for the Wii. Gotta love Nintendo for keeping me fit. I was just remembering today when they came out with the running pad for the Nintendo (NES), seems like just yesterday when I was a kid running on that. Now, I am an adult running on the Fit Board for Nintendo. Boy have we come along way.

I think I will just have to do the treadmill at the hotel tomorrow.

I Can Jog, kind of!

Day 10-- I was getting tired of the same old walk. People are always talking about the "runners high" and how good it feels to just run. Well, I can't run, yet. I want to get out there and do something. I feel worthless just walking back and forth, up and down the road. It is time to get a move on. I did not go outside today, it was cold and I haven't pulled out winter clothing yet. I hopped on the Wii Fit and did a light jog. Yes, I did a jog. Okay, so it was slower than my walk, but the point is I can kinda do it. I jogged for 06m and I am ready for bed. I also did some yoga exercises that included breathing and the half moon and something else. I did some strengthening exercises like the a torso twist and balancing on each of my legs. I did the step aerobics and was excited that I could take the step. I know I am afraid, but I need to get over it because it actually does not hurt to do it. I am so scared that my knee is going to give that I have not realized that my knee is okay. If it weren't fine I wouldn't be able to do all the things I am doing. I wouldn't be able to walk 1.5 miles in 30m or jog for 06m or more importantly be able to walk without my crutches only 3 weeks after surgery. I know I am okay. I can do this!!!