Maria Weeks 41 & 42

Ok, so here's the problem with not posting on a consistent basis ... can't frickin' remember what I did!

I know I did my Wednesday classes and I know I did abs class on Mondays. Also, know that one Monday I did an hour of cardio before my abs class.

I am sure I did more - I go in the mornings and jump on the elliptical or the stairmaster - sometimes the treadmill, but I don't remember when or for how long exactly.

For both weeks .... depositing $12

Maria Week 40 - Fitness Test

As part of my ESS 2500 Exploration of Movement Science class I had to do a bit of a fitness test. I am sad to say that I didn't do quite as well as I would have liked. But I did pretty dang good. I was in the above average / healthy / good category in nearly everything and in a few places I was in the excellent category.

The best part of the test, although I don't think I trust it, the results said that I have lost another 1% of body fat.

I still feel like a slacker though because I'm not working out nearly as hard as I used to. And I'm not running yet. This is more of a motivational thing right now than a knee issue really.

I am really hanging on to my Wednesday nights. I have an instructor that I just love and I get to put in 2 1/2 hours on that night alone - all her classes. That's where the bulk of my workouts come in. Although I do work out on other days, I don't put nearly as much effort into the workouts as I do Wednesday nights.

Depositing $5 - losing another 1% of body fat is a milestone, but as I said - I don't really trust those results so I'm not counting it for now

Maria Week 39 - Timp

I am so excited about the hike to Timpanogos Cave this weekend. I need something like this to get me out of my latest funk. Also, I am a little embarrassed to say that while I have hiked to the summit of Mt Timpanogos twice, I have never been inside the cave.

Depositing $4

Maria Week 38 - Oh, my achin' back!

If Jj, JBS, and Jim ;-) are actually following this blog and pay REALLY close attention to when this posts they'll see that I am a VERY bad girl. And if they don't follow this blog- then poo on you! :-D

Thanks to Janis for the confidence in my ability to potentially compete in Wipe Out. But I have to admit that for the past few weeks I've felt a bit like an old lady and just don't think I could do much of anything. HOWEVER! If I am the old lady that my mother is - WATCH OUT! That's one tough chick! I know my mom doesn't read blogs, but I gotta give her a big ol' shout out. Scared the $#!& out of us all when she took a little tumble down the front porch stairs this last Sunday and landed on the cement pad at the bottom right on her face/head. Cut up her lip, cut across her nose, two black eyes, and a huge gash across the top of her head, but nothing broken. Thank the heavens above. I hope I'm as tough as she is. But lately I don't feel like it.

My back has been bothering me a bit lately. Just a slight uncomfortable twinge, but it has been getting increasingly worse and worse. I am going to the chiropractor today. YAY! Hoping the alignment will get me all straightened out. (hehe)

Ran yesterday. I have serious issues there. If I take it slow like my PT says to then I feel lazy. So I get impatient and I run a little further than I know I should and I hurt myself. Add to my achin' back a sore knee and I am hobbling around like an old lady. Goodness!

New deal for me. I am going to tailor my workout and rewards to my PT workouts and stretches. I think that might be the only way to get myself and keep myself on track.

I also think this is a great learning experience for me. One day when I am working with people like me - impatient athletes who want to heal immediately and get back on the field/track/court - I can just slap them upside the head and tell them to knock it off.

Depositing $5

Maria Week 37 - Morning Person

I'm a morning person. And if it doesn't get done in the morning, then sometimes it doesn't get done at all. I have found that I have really been slacking off lately especially the past two weeks and it has a lot to do with my morning routine. I have not allowed myself to sleep in - even on mornings when I don't have school and I think that has helped quite a bit. But it still doesn't seem to be enough.

No, back up, scratch that. I AM allowing myself to sleep in. Many, especially Jj, would not call it sleeping in, but it is sleeping in. When I was working I was getting up at 4 AM so that I could be at the gym at 5 AM. Now most mornings I am getting up at 5:30 or 6 AM and sometimes as late as 7 AM.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I have class at 7:30 AM. I have to leave my house at about 6:15 AM to get to the University of Utah campus on time so working out before school is pretty much out of the question. And once I'm out of class I've lost any motivation to work out. There, that's it. If I don't work out as soon as I get up - I've lost it! So Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty much out.

I am not putting in my "marathon" work outs anymore. I am not doing my two a days. Being at home all day - it's hard to get back out for the evening classes that I used to take. It was easy to leave work at 5 PM and go to the gym. But I find it hard to leave home to go to the gym at 5 PM.

So there you have it. I'm a morning person. And if I can't do it in the morning - and really first thing in the morning. Then doing it at all becomes a serious struggle. I must get back on track - and soon!

Depositing $4

Maria Week 36 - Pushed Too Hard

It's been tough doing what my physical therapist wants me to do. Here I am considering a career choice telling people how to get, be, stay healthy - telling people what exercises, stretches, etc to do - and I seem to be struggling to follow my own physical therapists advice. I guess one day I can truly be empathetic to my own clients/patients when they don't want to do what I tell them, right?

I am supposed to be slowly building back up to running. On Saturday I had had enough. I was determined to just see how far I could push it and ... well ... I'm afraid I may have pushed too hard. I ran, not until I hurt, I'm not THAT stupid! But I ran until my knee felt tight. I felt great for like an hour or so after the run. Went up and down stairs, walked all around - no issues! Then suddenly I went to go downstairs again and OMG! Agony! Needless to say, I was pretty bummed the rest of the day. I thought I had really screwed up my knee. Could see my dreams of being a runner drifting away.

So maybe I was a bit being a bit over dramatic. By Sunday my knee was much better and by Monday, practically good as new.

So back to my physical therapists orders - taking it slow again.
Sorry Rach - no 5K for me in June. Maybe July.

Depositing $7

Maria Week 35 - Ute

Rachel will be happy to know that I am a now a fellow Ute. Yes, it's true. I attended my first class yesterday. Oddly enough, I don't feel like I am betraying my Cougar loyalty by becoming a Ute. In fact, I have BYU Football season tickets and I think I could potentially cheer for both teams if necessary. (This is much easier said than done.) I save my real support, my real loyalty, and thousands and thousands of dollars for the school that grants me acceptance for graduate school so my true colors won't show for a few more years.


Well, that being said, this is about improving ourselves, right? And not just our physical appearances, right? I've worked pretty hard on and off, mostly on, with improving my physical appearance and now I get to work really hard with improving my mind. I'm very excited. We all know I'd be a professional student if that were possible. Anyone know if that's possible? I'll do it. Sign me up! I'm still not 100% sure what my undergrad major is going to be so I'm really on the right track to being a professional student. I mean, if I make a switch - it will be my 6th or 7th major since starting college ..... we won't get into exactly HOW many years ago that was. I have so many huge decisions to make and I feel such urgency to make them right now. I feel like I am standing on the edge of this enormous precipice! It's all exciting, nonetheless.

Well, workouts have not begun to suffer, yet. Depositing $10.

Maria Week 34 - Loser

I'm a loser again. I'm excited about that. Not a very big loser....It's really a tiny accomplishment. But I'll take what I can get. Once again I am seeing the numbers drop on the scale.

Also, I burned over 1800 calories in just one day. That always makes me feel good. I really wish I could do that everyday. But it nearly exhausts me. And hopefully I'll have a job soon and won't have that kind of time. I can't credit that to my weight loss - I just did that today and I lost the weight by Monday. But I'm sure I'll see the effects of that huge calorie burn soon.

Picking up the pace, speed, intensity, whatever, on my running again. It's feeling good.

Depositing $10 for all my workouts.

Maria Week 32

No creative title for this week - Just the facts.
Starting to lose weight again. Starting to the lose the weight that I put back on. Yay!
Haven't measured, but I'm quite certain I'm starting to lose the inches that I am sure I gained (because I didn't measure then either).
Also starting to see that definition in my abs that I had in January finally creeping back in. Might need to borrow another cell phone with a built in camera and sneak into the VS dressing rooms again! ;-)
Lots of time in the gym and lots of PT exercises (which include lots of core exercises - I'm liking that!)

Depositing $10

Maria Week 31 - MOTIVATION

It's definitely a motivational issue for me. But I don't lack the motivation to get to the gym - I lack the motivation to post. (I suffer from this on both blogs as anyone who attempts to follow me can see.) As I mentioned, I had one day two weeks ago where I burned more than 2000 calories .... So you can see - most days getting to the gym is no issue, but logging into blogger does seem to be. :-(
I have been given the green light by my Physical Therapist to ease myself back into running. It's the "ease" part that is difficult. Every time I want to disobey my Physical Therapist and push it a little I just try to remember what the day after Moab felt like. I try to remember how hard I cried every time I tried to move my knees.

Depositing $10 for workouts and fruits ... as soon as I'm employed and have money to deposit ;-)

Maria Week 30 - I JUST MIGHT BE A RUNNER

I went to the PT this week and I am so excited to report that I am a runner! So the answer to my previous quandary is YES!
I was assigned to the running team at TOSH, because, well ... I'm a runner. My PT is a runner, his PT assistant is a runner, and his other assistant (who I didn't have the pleasure of meeting at this visit) is also a runner. They did all sorts of really cool evaluations and measurements on my joints, watched me run, stretched me out and determined that I am, in fact, a runner. They also told me that for someone who has been only running for like 5 months, I sure do look like a runner. It has also been determined that I have done no major damage to my knee (or hip for that matter), that there is nothing seriously wrong with me knee or hip, and that there is no reason I should have any problems running in the future.
I was given a series of stretches designed to try and alleviate my sciatica issues as well some good sound stretches any runner should use. And then I was given some exercises designed to help strengthen my hip muscles to assist with protecting my knees.
Ok ... so as for the other Butterfly Girls stuff. I am back to the gym with a vengeance. Now that my knee is feeling better and I am well rested and recovered I am hitting it and hitting it hard. I burned 2003 calories last Monday - with no job I can afford to spend 5 hours at the gym and it's a beautiful thing! I am back to resistance training, back to boot camp, back to cycling. I am loving it. Hmmmm....wonder if I can find a job that will just pay me to work out. Now that would be COOL!

Depositing ... Max $10.

Mj - I am STOKED for the Timp Cave hike!

Maria Week 29 - The Blues

Looks like we did it again. We are a bunch of slackers. It is Thursday night and none of us have posted yet. I can't blame my ultra busy life - that would be a lie. I blame my lack of motivation.
Last Thursday I got laid off. That's right. You all know how much I loved my job, loved my co-workers, loved going to work. (It's sad, but I looked forward to Monday's and got a little sad on Fridays - how pathetic was I?)
Since then I've suffered from a serious lack of motivation. I've still hit the gym, but I get there and don't really feel like doing anything. I get back home and definitely don't feel like doing anything. Just want to take a nap - crawl into a hole and escape. In fact, if I didn't go to the gym first thing in the morning, I'm not sure I'd get out of bed at all. (And I can't explain why I get out of bed and to the gym first thing in the morning.) I don't think it's depression, just a little case of the blues. I'll snap out of it eventually, I'm sure.

(Maybe I'll feel better when I can run again, too.)

Depositing $6 for work outs

Maria Week 28 - Not Much to Say

Well, I took all of last week off for recovery, but I still don't feel completely recovered. That's a very frustrating feeling. It was hard enough taking one week off - I am not about to take two.
So I returned to the gym this week. I am taking it easy. Will hold off on the two-a-days for a while. Will hold off on the long runs for a while. Might even hold off on running altogether for a while. (Much to my dismay). But it is more important for me to heal properly than to turn what I am hoping is a minor and temporary injury into a permanent injury.

Interesting to note .... when I am not working out I have a harder time drinking as much water and eating healthier foods. Funny how those two things seem to go hand in hand.

Depositing a measly $4 for workouts and fruits and veggies. What a sad week for me.

Maria Week 27 - Recovery

Big week for me! WOW! As you can see from my previous three posts things have been a bit crazy.

So Saturday was the BIG day. And as you can see from my post about the half-marathon I was really hurting by the end of that race. I was in a lot of pain on Saturday, soreness and stiffness of my knees set in pretty quickly. My hip hurt, but not like my knees. The sciatica issue is easily remedied. Stop moving. As I mentioned - it hurts worse to walk than to run, but if I stop moving COMPLETELY, then the majority of the pain goes away. I thought, like following my 10 mile run, I'd need a day to recover. My hip would feel better in only a few hours really. What I was not expecting was the intense pain in my knees....WOW! I truly underestimated the damage they had suffered.

Woke up Sunday morning at about 4 AM - very uncomfortable in my current position, but to try and move - unbearably painful! It was all I could do not to cry or scream whenever I tried to move I was in so much pain. (It's hard for me not to cry now just thinking about how painful it was.) You just have no idea how much you use them (even when you don't think you're using them) until every tiny movement is excruciating.
The rest of Sunday was pretty bad, but I loosened up a bit by Sunday evening - to the point that I could walk by myself and could actually sit in a chair and then stand back up by myself.

Sunday night/Monday morning I set my alarm for every few hours to wake up in the middle of the night and take meds as needed for the pain. I think that helped a lot. Was pretty stiff again by the morning, but after a few hours I loosened up again to the point that I could do many things by myself - including move my foot from the brake to the gas without too much pain so I could drive to work.

By Monday night I was feeling pretty good. As my knees loosened up I started to feel how sore my muscles really were. My left knee didn't really hurt at all anymore and my right was feeling much better. Went to bed Monday night feeling pretty good again.
Woke up Tuesday morning a bit stiff and sore again. But loosened up pretty quickly.

So my recovery has not been as quick as I had originally expected, but quicker than I estimated based on how terrible I felt on Sunday morning. I am just about going crazy actually taking time off from working out.

Now ... here's what I've learned from all of this ....
Huge way to relieve or prevent sciatica - stretching.
The problem with my knees, based on some internet research (not a doctor's diagnosis) - IT Band Friction Syndrome. Very common in runners. One of the easiest ways to prevent it - stretching.

Moral of this story - STRETCHING IS IMPORTANT! Take a leaf out of Mj's book - stretch.

It's going to be a new goal for me. I am going to stretch every night for 15 minutes. And for every week that I do that - a milestone.

Depositing - $8. $6 for working out and $2 for the half marathon milestone.

Maria Week 26 - Can I sympathize with Mj?

I'm in the final home stretch of my training....for THIS half marathon anyway. I hope that there will be many more to come and if all goes well, perhaps even a full marathon someday. I don't want to make a habit of running full marathons, but one or two might be nice. IF I can stand to continue running.

I want to thank Brady for his words of encouragement regarding my running issue. You have given me hope. I am determined to become a runner. That was a very daunting thought in the beginning, but now I believe that I can learn to love it. Thank you for that.

On Saturday I ran 10 miles - my longest distance yet (and a milestone). I started off the run with some minor pain in my hip and knees. Knee pain and often shin splints at the beginning of a run are very typical with me and if I can tough it out for about 30 - 45 minutes the pain usually goes away. Saturday, the pain in my hip slowly increased. By mile 7 it was approaching unbearable. By mile 8 I was choking back the tears. By mile 9 I considered, for the first time, walking - at least for a short distance. And it occurred to me - I've been in this same stride for so long that I'm not really sure how to walk at this point. But after a few minutes of serious thought I figured out how to walk again. The pain was unbearable! I probably only managed to walk about 15 feet when I had to start running again. It was much more painful to walk than to run. (Go figure!) So I kicked it back into gear. I cried the last mile. And by the time I finished I was in so much pain I wanted to collapse and just sob. (I nearly did). I don't know what it's like to live with that pain everyday, but Mj, for one day, maybe I could sympathize just a little. You are a real trooper.

I do at least one hour of cardio everyday but one. And on one day I did nearly 2.5 hours (Saturday). I am also pretty good about eating fruits (although not so good with the veggies). So I'll be depositing $12. My max amount plus one milestone.

Maria Week 25

Jj - I'm with ya! I was just thinking yesterday afternoon that it was Thursday already and no one had posted. Of course, that didn't get me moving either. I've been preoccupied - sorry.
So....shout out to my BG's who are awesome and bought me a beautiful necklace with a 4-leaf clover for luck in my upcoming half marathon.
Haven't really done much with regards to workouts aside from my running and then doing some light cardio or weights on my "rest" days.

Depositing $10 for workouts, fruits and veggies.

Maria Week 24 - To be or not to be....That is the question

What does it take to be a "runner"? Do I qualify. I run 3-4 days a week. And I have now run as far as 8 miles in one run. I am signed up for and training for a half marathon. But does that make me a runner? I sure don't feel like a runner. And while I plan (at this time) to continue to participate in races and half-marathons; I plan to continue to run 3-4 times a week; I gotta be honest with you all ..... I don't think I enjoy running. And that sort of bums me out. Because I want to like it. Hopefully my problem is that my running at this time is primarily on a treadmill. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that THAT is my real issue here; that once I get outside with the sunshine on my face and shoulders and a breeze in my hair - I'll catch the running bug and be addicted!

Ran 8 miles last Saturday - new milestone!

I want to take just a minute to revisit a monster from my past. By the time I had graduated high school I had never successfully run more than about a mile and a half without stopping to walk a while. By the time I was 31 I had never run more than about 2 miles without stopping to rest or to walk a while. I have now run 7 miles without stopping at all. (I took a much needed potty break with my recent 8 mile run - hehe). I think I'll pat myself on the back today. And when I finish that half marathon in a little over 2 weeks - I think I might reward myself. Not sure what my reward will be yet. But I believe I will have earned SOMETHING!

Depositing $12. Max $10 for workouts and fruits and veggies and $2 for the 8 mile milestone.

Maria Week 23 - Totally Bummed!

So the totally cute guy checking me out at the gym is totally not checking me out afterall. I am so bummed!

That's twice now I've been disappointed at the gym. The first time was when some guys started whistling at me and I turned around to discover they are my brother-in-laws buddies. Not that THAT alone makes it disappointing - but clearly they weren't whistling at me cuz they think I'm hot.

Oh, well.....I still have Kyle Whittingham.

Anyway .... depositing max $10 for workouts and fruits and veggies.
Narrowly missed a milestone as I mentioned in my Jordan River Parkway post. Bummed about that too. Darn it!

Jordan River Parkway

Nearly a year ago - I took a walk along the Jordan River Parkway. I started at 12300 South and walked as far as I could stand. I felt like I had walked forever and there was no end to the Parkway. It made me very curious. It had to end eventually and I wanted to know where. But it was clearly too far for me to ever able to find unless I was on a bike. Well....that was last year. This year - I am strong enough to find the end of the Parkway. And it wasn't walking it - it was running it!!!!!!

Only....the thing is....I didn't really find it. I ran into a residential area and thought that was the end. Called it quits, turned around, and ran all the way back to the beginning.

I got onto www.mapmyrun.com to map out how far I had run - the goal was 7 miles. And the beautiful satellite photos of the parkway and my running trail showed me that 1- it was NOT the end of the parkway at all! It continued on after the residential area. And 2 - I had only run about 6.7 miles! DANG IT!

So I missed a milestone this week. Next week is my scheduled 8 mile run so - I should hit that milestone and just bypass the 7 mile one altogether. Oh, well! Whatcha gonna do?

But I am very proud of myself because that was my first time running on the road and not on a treadmill. Holy crap - you use completely different muscles on the road vs a treadmill and I was SORE! It helped build my confidence and that is a good thing. Moab doesn't look quite so scary anymore.

Maria Week 22

My focus is back on running. I have 1 month until my half marathon and I feel like I have really slacked off recently. I have a training coach and that is helping a lot in the motivation department - as well as keeping me on track.
As a result of shifting my focus to only running I have been forced to take some "rest" days - which are primarily days where I work out much lighter and for a shorter amount of time. Because let's face it - I WILL NOT take a real rest day. So I do what I can. And that may equate to smaller deposits each week.
Also, I have been avoiding weighing myself since that is no longer an issue for me - and because I was honestly obsessing about it.
Oh, and I fell of the wagon again with recording my foods. Gotta get back on that! Starting today!
I hit 6 miles again in my running and I am on track to go 7 this week so I should have another milestone week next week! YAY!

Depositing $12.00 - max for workouts and fruits and veggies and $2 for the 6 mile milestone