Running

With all of the mental and emotional changes I've consented to making over the past two years, it only seems logical that I would want to change something about the physical as well. Over the years I've made half hearted attempts at "getting into shape" or "eating healthy" with the same results: I don't do it consistently so "it doesn't work." I'm not terribly overweight, about 30-50 pounds at any given moment. I hear that's the danger zone for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and a host of other ailments. Given my love of all good food, this is a problem. Of course I also hear that wearing a bra causes cancer now so looks like I'm gonna die from my wicked vices. Add to all of this that I have a host of joint problems from being too flexible and not having enough muscle tone, that I have a sweet tooth, and a vast propensity towards sitting and knitting, and you have a hurricane of potential weight gain. With the hysterectomy and oophorectomy looming on the horizon, I've not heard any great things about health in the twilight of my life (aka Menopause) so I'm worried that if I don't lose the weight now, I never will. Enter "THE CHALLENGES!!!"
     I began the first challenge about two months ago with a girlfriend who had made a commitment to do a work out a day for 10 weeks. We found one we liked (Sean T's T25) that was quick enough that we could squeeze one in every day. Shortly thereafter I began having severe knee problems and had to work out a lot less often than every day. Try once a week, if I could manage to bend the knee. There was something 'wrong' with my knee that was new and frustrating. I couldn't bend it. If you know me, you know how utterly flexible I am. Not being able to bend my knee one of the three directions it goes is incredibly frustrating and affects everything I do in my life. No bending, kneeling, easing into a chair.
     No stair climbing, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, bike riding, walking running. No getting down on the floor with an expectation of getting up again. It was a very sudden change from feeling flexible to feeling old. I console myself with cookies.
     I start therapy and I can work out twice a week if I go to 2-4 therapy sessions. The terms 'Meniscus' and 'torn' and 'surgery' are thrown around a lot and I get scared. Orthobionomy, chiropractic, and Bowen therapy were all not enough. Given how expensive that gets, I opted to skip working out as often.  This went on for about 2 months. I was really getting scared. I console myself with pasta and ice cream. Often.
     I knew I could fix my knee, I just didn't know how.
      Driving through a Starbucks one morning on a whim (consoling myself), the barista happens to be talking with other baristas about exercise, and the conversation gets going about how she's in school to be a kinesiologist (physical therapist in my mind). I ask her what she would do for herself if she felt knee pain, and she said to look up VMO. I do, pick a couple of exercises and within a day I feel tons better. Not 50% yet, but there's a lot of improvement. I console myself with a protein drink and a work-out every other day. A lot of pain, but not as bad as it was.
     Off I went to try something new to see if I could get my knee back without surgery. Enter active release Chiropractic. I go to see this new guy for whom several of my colleagues have given excellent testimonials, thinking it's worth a shot. I get my adjustment and he gives me a few exercises to do at home, more than the Google version and right at my level. Two days in and my knee is at 70%.
     So today (July 15) I decided to run a 5k with a couple of girlfriends. One girlfriend is training to run a marathon in March and I've gone with her to train before, albeit on my bike while she runs. Little side note about biking next to a runner: It takes significantly less effort to ride a bike than it does to run and hurts different body parts. I would say that I can bike 7-10 miles for every one that I run/jog/crawl.
    The very next morning, marathon girl and I get up extra early and run around the park. NOTE: I would NOT have done this on my own. Any excuse to get out of it, I would have taken. Oh, my period started, the sun isn't up yet, the sun is up, the sun is too high, there's a bug on my windshield... You name it, I would have totally backed out if I thought I could get away with it. I had a host of excuses ready to go in my arsenal. Marathon girl is really great for not giving me boot-camp style encouragement though, and I crave being physically fit without feeling bad about myself as a person, so I dragged myself out of bed and got to the park, still thinking of excuses along the way. Stay tuned for the next blog to see how it went!!