An outside bike ride

Good news - I have had 2 runs with no knee pain! They were only 3 miles, but at this point, I don't care! It was a run. My knee didn't hurt. End of story.

I am still only running every other day, so my weekly mileage is low, like 9-12 miles. Don't laugh, please. Since things have been feeling well, I'm gonna try a 4-5 mile run this week. Fingers crossed everything feels good. If I have no pain by the end of this month, I'm going to start to step things up, which will be right on time to start triathlon training.

Swim and bike training have been going well. I have been consistently getting to the pool 3 days/week, swimming between 2,000 and 2,500 yards. The bike is a little less consistent, but with the weather hopefully starting to improve here in Seattle, there will be lots more riding outside. In fact, yesterday I was able to get out and do 40 miles. There was a good deal of climbing, and some slow neighborhood riding which brought our average down to 13.3 mph. I'm not too concerned with speed on the bike right now, just getting miles in. The cool thing about this ride was that I learned how to connect routes to make a really long ride right from my front door. I was always at a loss of how to connect two routes, but my friend showed me the way and now there are endless miles I can ride! Hooray to tour guides!

When the sun comes out in the PNW, it's amazing. Lots of people out and about today around Lake Washington.

It's hard to blog when you're injured

Hey all - Happy belated St. Patrick's Day! I originally wanted to run Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Dash 5k, but then I found out it was $40(!), so I decided to invite a couple friends to make a Dash of our own; we called it the St Pat's "Make your own" Dash 2012. I even made us race bibs! The three of us are dealing with injuries so we kept it short and slow by running three miles around Green Lake. Who needs the real thing, when you can get a make-shift event for FREE?

Anyway, my friend Paige did the run with me and we got to talking about the blog world and injuries. I told her I am having a hard time blogging, reading blogs and being on Twitter while I deal with this injury because all I read about is people running long runs, having awesome runs and running fast - all things I can't do right now... She agreed that when you're injured it feels like you're the ONLY one and everyone else is having a fantastic season. Anyone feel this way too?

Yes, my knee is very slowly getting better, but my fitness has dropped off the edge of the world and now running three miles is, I hate to say it, hard. I feel like I'm back at square one, picking up running for the first time. SO frustrating! So, although I'm mad and frustrated, I've decided to take it from where it is in reality, versus where I want to be. If I can only run three miles, so be it! Run those three miles and when I'm ready, add another. Slowly build, slowly add speed and sooner or later, I'll get back into the swing of things. At this point the two upcoming races I've planed (a 12k on April 1 and a Half on May 5) are currently out of the question, so I'm just concentrating on my first triathlon of the season on June 23rd.

Since swimming and biking don't bother my knee at all, this is my chance to get stronger at those two sports. I am doing a century ride at the beginning of June and I may add in a couple other organized bike rides before then depending on my fitness.

So that's my plan for the time being. Take running slow, bike and swim a lot.

Feel Good Routine

I recently fell out of my beloved routine and I instantly felt it. I was eating food I normally don't eat, not on my regular workout schedule and to add to that, I was out of town. I had to jump down to Santa Clara, CA for a work conference Monday and Tuesday and it ended up being a curve ball my body was not welcoming.

I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about - out of town = going out to eat, less exercise, late nights, uncomfortable flights, uncomfortable beds, etc. Those two days made me feel so craptastic. I was so happy to get back to my routine on Wednesday!

I love my routine. Most days look like this:

• Wake up 5:30
• Get to gym for swim by 6:00
• Swim 40-60 minutes
• Come home, eat breakfast (most days consists of 1/2c. oats + 1c. 0% greek yogurt + chia seeds)
• Get to work by 9:00
• Eat lunch at 12:00 (salad w/ carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, garbonzo beans, chicken + half PB&J sandwich) 
• Work until 6ish
• Run or bike on trainer 40-60 minutes
• Eat dinner 7:30 (steamed veggies + chicken or turkey is my staple)
• Watch Hulu (Modern Family, Glee, Biggest Loser, Smash, How I Met Your Mother)
• Go to bed by 10:00

My body feels best when I follow this schedule right down to the food I eat for breakfast, but of course everyday can't be like this. I have learned what foods makes me feel good, what amount of exercise makes me feel good and how much rest I need, so I need to try and do these things as much as I can even if a curve ball is thrown at me like my work trip earlier this week. It's easier said than done, but knowing what makes me feel good up front is a huge first step.

Do you have a routine that makes you feel the greatest?

If you care...In knee injury news: I ran 20 miles last week - Hurray! Not all runs were pain-free, but most were. The key to my success was running every other day and letting my knee rest. I started this week by not following this rule and I paid for it. I ran both Saturday (6 miles) and Sunday (5k race), so come Monday my knee was not happy. I attempted 6 miles Wednesday and made it about 4 before my knee said "no more." My chiropractic visits are now 2-3 weeks apart in attempt to ween myself off of the work. I had an appointment today and although he said my knee is tracking very neutral, he said I still need to give my knee time to recover and to take it slow - distance will come with time. Ah! I have been patient for over a month and I'm reaching my last string!