« September 2005 | Main | November 2005 »

October 31, 2005

Trick or Treat

Looks like we aren't going to have quite as many trick or treaters as we bought candy for. Oh darn. I guess I'm going to have to finish off all those Baby Ruths by myself. :) Seriously though - if I eat one more piece of chocolate or another cupcake it's history for me folks. Ever read about exploding humans?! :)

Not really sure what I want to write about in this blog entry. I didn't exercise at all today because I had a PT appointment to go to right after work. I like my PT. She's nice. But she doesn't really tell me to do anything I don't already do. Foot exercises, ice, stretch, repeat. At least I got all the foot care out of the way early today and don't have to do it right before bed! I'm not going to go back to the PT unless my feet start hurting. Everything I do there I can do at home.

And that's about it. Tomorrow I have class (in which I have to do a presentation) so I'm going to try and sneak in a lifting session between work and class since I couldn't lift today. I'll have to change back into my nice clothes since I am presenting which will be a bummer but otherwise it should work. I may stink a little - but hey - what's new?! :)

Posted by beth at 7:50 PM | Comments (1)

October 30, 2005

30 More

Today O and I and Roxy all ran together. We were quite a pack. I ran 30 minutes total and O and Roxy ran with me for the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes. They took a break so as not to run Roxy too much, although she was pulling so hard on the leash, I'm pretty sure she could have run circles around both O and I all day long. :)

It's a beautiful fall day today! It was only about 30 degrees when we ran but I still wore shorts knowing it was supposed to get warmer and since the sun was shining so brightly. By the time we left for church it was already 45 degrees or so and now I think it's in the 50s! The fall foliage must be either at it's peak or getting there. It seems as if every tree is either a deep red or brilliant orange color! This is definitely why I love fall so much. That, and I much prefer running in 40 degree weather over 80 degree weather!

I also did my core exercises and feet exercises when I got home. I'll probably not be able to work out tomorrow since I have a physical therapy appointment tomorrow after work. Work - UGH! I actually have to go back tomorrow! :) Must enjoy vacation time while it lasts! :)

Posted by beth at 3:34 PM | Comments (1)

October 29, 2005

Cupcake Update

They taste good...............

Posted by beth at 8:21 PM | Comments (0)

I Love Cupcakes

I really do. I like cake too, but the cupcake - it's truly a thing of beauty. I'm making some right now. Funfetti cupcakes no less. I can't wait until they're done!!!

Let me tell you a little story about cupcakes. The last day I worked (Wednesday was it?) I was in a major mood for cupcakes. They really aren't easy to find though. Our cafeteria has cake all the time, but no cupcakes. Lucky me though - on one of my units (surgical ICU) one of the nurses had made and brought in cupcakes for all the staff. It was too strange. I wished for cupcakes and they appeared!

So I spot these cupcakes in the nurse's station immediately upon entrance into the unit. But I didn't want to head right for them. They already joke about how much junk I eat (when you are the dietitian you just can't escape that kind of talk), so I bided my time. I played it cool. I decided I would see one patient and then head on over to the cupcakes and act surprised, as if I had just seen them.

Well my plan was foiled! A large group of unruly (and somewhat rowdy if I do say so myself) doctors entered the unit and immediately headed toward the cupcakes. I paniced. Doctors in our institution are notorious for showing up, eating all the good treats on the unit, and then disappearing. There were only about 7 cupcakes left when I first spotted them - I wasn't willing to be the one that ate the last one - quickly doing the math, that meant that each doctor could only take one and there could only be 5 of them. I watched and waited expectantly. And finally - RELIEF! When they cleared there was still 3 cupcakes left. I wasted no time at that point. I grabbed one up and snarfed it down in seconds. And it was GOOOOOOD! So anyway, when O and I were grocery shopping yesterday and I saw the cupcake mix. I didn't hesitate for a second. :)

Hmmm...okay - running. I get easily distracted on this blog.

This morning O and I ran an hour. I was pretty excited. After an hour, I really feel like I've actually ran. My feet felt fine, just a tad sore after which was helped with some icing and stretching. It was a beautiful fall morning. We ran on the rails to trails trail which is marked off every mile. I was kind of curious what pace we were running so I checked a few random miles, all of which were between 7:40 and 8 minute pace. It's a totally flat trail so that's probably part of it, but I was actually kind of surprised that we weren't running 8:30 pace or so. When I'm in good shape, I don't run much faster than 7:30 pace on easy days, so today wasn't too far off. Of course when you only run 3 times/week, your legs aren't ever really tired. :)

The rest of my day was spent at a dumb meeting. It was a meeting for the professional organization that I'm secretary of. I don't know why I agree to do these things. :) Actually I don't mind being the secretary so much, but I'm really not a fan of meetings. Especially meetings on Saturday. I find that too many people want to talk way to much. I refer to them as the "talkers". I very rarely open my mouth at meetings unless I have something truly important to say that will add to the issue at hand. Of course the talkers probably think everything they say is important too... :)

Anyway, I'm off to (1) ice my cupcakes, (2) change my clocks back one hour - YEAH! (3) type up the minutes of dumb meeting I attended today :) and (4) look up some conference CC results

Summary for the week:

Sunday - 30 minute run and core exercises
Monday - 45 minute cross train and weights
Tuesday - off (bellyache)
Wednesday - 45 minute cross train and weights
Thursday - 40 minute run and core exercises
Friday - off
Saturday - 60 minute run and core exercises

PS Penn State won AGAIN today. Life is good in Happy Valley! They are now 8-1 and on top of the Big Ten with Wisconsin. PSU and Wisco play next week. It should be a barn-burner!

Posted by beth at 7:19 PM | Comments (2)

October 28, 2005

Where to go From Here?

Another day off work. Another night of 8 hours of sleep! It's almost too good to be true. :)

I took today as another off day for the week (in terms of exercise). I didn't want to run because I ran yesterday and I want to run Saturday and Sunday. I thought running 4 days in a row would be too much. And since I'm not working today, I'm 40 minutes from the gym. Driving 80 minutes round trip to do the elliptical for 40 minutes doesn't make much sense to me.

So instead, when I got up, Roxy and I went on a long walk. This is almost like running because she pulls so hard on the leash I have to walk/jog to keep up with her. We explored some in a cluster of streets that we hadn't been through which is always a nice way to find more running routes. I don't like exploring that much when I'm actually running, but if I'm just walking, I don't mind.

I did do my foot exercises and iced and massaged. I actually had an appointment with the podiatrist today but as I was stretching this morning I realized that it doesn't make much sense to go back to the doctor if my feet aren't hurting right now. I called the office and asked if I should indeed come in if things were going okay and they confimed that no coming in now doesn't make much sense, and that I should just call again if my feet start bothering me. It saved me 90 minutes of driving (round trip) and another co-pay, so I'm happy. I knew he wasn't going to say much or do much when my feet were still feeling good.

Regardless, all this foot talk got me wondering what exactly I'm doing right now. I couldn't really come up with an answer. My feet feel good but I just got the cortisone shots only about 17 days ago. I don't think I'll feel "safe" until I'm 4-6 weeks out from the shots. Last time I got a cortisone shot in the one foot, it started to hurt again about 5 weeks later.

For the past couple weeks I've been running 3 days/week, cross training 2-3 days and taking 1-2 days off. I kind of feel like this is what I'm going to be doing for a while. I don't want to have to do this, but at the same time, it keeps me much happier than if I wasn't able to run at all. I think I decided I would continue to do this for at least another 2-3 weeks and then if at that time my feet still don't hurt, I may try to slowly increase to 4 or 5 days/week of running and go from there. I don't really have a plan for if they do start hurting again. Most likely because I really don't want to think about that (despite the fact that it could very well happen).

Back when this all started I was thinking that it would clear up in 2-3 months like most of my injuries and then I could start training for a spring marathon. I'm feeling much less optimistic now, as in, even if I can start running more, my feet aren't going to be willing to withstand marathon training. On the other hand, training for shorter, faster races is probably a worse idea considering that would require faster workouts, something that I know will aggrevate my plantar fasciitis. Hmmm...what to do?! I guess the answer is - just wait and see. Wait and see how they feel in 3-4 weeks. Increase if I can. Start over again if I can't. If I can increase, hang there for a while and see how things progress. Perhaps a spring marathon isn't totally out of the question. Perhaps it is. Until then, I'm going to try to enjoy any running that I can do, and stay in at least some semblance of shape with some cross training and weights. (although at times I think sitting on the couch sounds like so much more fun!) I think it sounds like a plan!

Posted by beth at 1:26 PM | Comments (1)

October 27, 2005

Cold Feet - Literally

Today I did a little running of my own, and also watched some other people do some running. It was a good day off today. When I take vacation days I always think to myself that I should do it more often. :)

Even though I had the day off work I still got up relatively early. O had already walked Roxy before he left for work so I was able to just get up and run and not worry about her. It was only 37 degrees when I ran but I was still comfortable in shorts. I did wear gloves, and I even kept them on the whole time.

I ran for 41 minutes (lost track of time and didn't realize I was past 40 minutes until it was around 41 minutes...). I came home and did my core exercises, my foot exercises and I then iced my feet. I can see how running could be a full time job for elite runners who run 100 mpw. Heck, I could make a full time job out of it and I only run 10 mpw. :)

Okay - I just have to take a little break to mention the fact that Roxy is deserately trying to hide her rawhide in her bed. She took all her toys and one of O's t-shirts and covered the rawhide up in the corner of the bed. TOO funny!

Anyway, after I ran, did all that other jazz, showered, stretched, played with the dog, did some laundry, replied to some emails, etc... O was home. He took a half day so that we could both go watch the high school district CC meet for our area. This is the meet that qualifies teams and individuals for states so it's a pretty competitive one.

Luckily the rain held off for the meet but due to the fact that it has been raining for about 5 days straight, it was still pretty wet and muddy. It was lots of fun to watch everyone race. O and I both competed in this meet back in the day (although now it's held at a different place) so it was fun to reminisce! The only problem was, MY FEET WERE FREEZING!!! By the last race I couldn't feel them. I could not wait to get my wet socks and shoes off in the car. O made the biggest rookie mistake of all by not even bringing an extra pair of socks and shoes! What the heck?! :)

Anyway, by the time we got back home (we also stopped for a quick dinner and had to pick up my car at the shop) it was already 7 pm. Boy did this day go fast! And I didn't even get any reading in yet! ;) Better go get started...

Posted by beth at 8:06 PM | Comments (1)

October 26, 2005

High and Lows

In an attempt to make this blog entry a tad less boring than the rest of them, I've come up with an innovative idea. Okay, it's not really that innovative but you have to give me some credit. When you are injured for 4 months straight and not training for anything, it's hard to keep a *running* blog interesting. :)

Anyway, my plan was to recount the highs and lows of today. First two highs from LAST night.

10/25 HIGHS

1) I FINISHED READING A BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know, hard to believe. In case you may not remember, I had made a goal for myself in January to read 3 books this year. Bloggers like Barb would find this absolutely laughable. She reads like 3 books a day. But I don't read too much other than medical journals, text books for school and the sports page on Sunday morning, so I knew I needed to branch out. In case you are doing the math, yes, it took me close to 10 months to read just 1 book (I really didn't start until June though), so I better get crackin' if I want to achieve my goal. O had the same 3 book goal but reached it months ago. He offered to let me count the book I just finished as 2 books because it was 468 pages, but I declined. I might change my mind in December... :)

2) Roxy apparently has a stomach of steel. She did not get sick at all last night after eating O's wing bones. I was soooooo happy. She's happy as a clam as usual. I don't think she even felt a thing...

10/26 HIGHS and LOWS

1) Low - When I woke up this morning it was STILL raining. What the heck?

2) High - When I left work it had actually stopped raining. About time!

3) High - Roxy really does have a stomach of steel - still no signs of GI upset and it's now almost 9:30 pm.

4) Low - We had someone come out to our house and give us an estimate for the new roof that we need. As you may guess, much more than we thought.

5) Low - Roof guy took forever and I was STARVING. He was a nice guy but he wouldn't stop talking. Don't mess with me when I'm hungry dude.

6) High - At some point during the work day I realized that I have the next 4 days off work. I think I actually let out a squeal when I realized I was only hours away from a little mini-vacation! (in case you are wondering, I randomly took Thur and Fri off and don't work the weekend - I have so much vacation time, I just need to use it!)

7) High - There was no line at the bench press area this afternoon in the weight room

8) High - When O and I got home from work there was a box of cookies sitting on our front porch from our new church. I've already eaten 3 and I'm thinking of eating a 4th. :)

So that's it folks. Looks like the highs out-number the lows. And that my friends, is the definition of a great day!

PS I did the elliptical for 35 minutes and the bike for 10 minutes and lifted as well...in case you were wondering... :)

Posted by beth at 9:01 PM | Comments (13)

October 25, 2005

Belly-Aches All Around

We have some serious belly-aches going around our house tonight.

First I'll start with myself. I felt fine this morning but around 8 am I developed quite the stomach ache. It was a little alarming at times. Not sure what brought it on but it was making me miserable. I ate my lunch because I thought that would help. It didn't really make it worse, but it certainly didn't help matters either.

I didn't have class today (professor away at a conference) so I had planned on running when I got home. But it was 38 degrees, pouring down rain, my belly was aching and my feet were feeling a little touchy. This all lead to the decision to lay on the couch for an hour instead. It was a good idea. Although my stomach still hurts a little, I feel better and I'm sure my feet will thank me for skipping a cold, wet run. They BETTER thank me for it! :)

The second belly ache is Roxy's. She's not acting like she has a belly ache but I fear she soon will be. Let me explain. O came home around 6 pm and made some wings for himself. I really don't like wings, especially when my stomach hurts, so I had pierogies instead. Anyway, after we were done with dinner, we ran upstairs real quick to make a phone call. We left the dirty dishes on the table, including the dish with all of the wing bones. You may be able to see where this is leading.

I kid you not, we were upstairs for about 2 minutes. We discovered Roxy was not with us. O runs downstairs and calls her. She runs to him with O's dirty napkin stuck to her mouth. Much to our surprise, Roxy had scarfed down 6 of the 7 wing bones in the 2 minutes we were upstairs. Uh oh.

Because I don't know anything about dogs, I'm not sure if she'll get sick from it or not. I'm thinking she will. I'm not looking forward to the potential mess this could be. This brings me to belly ache #3 - O's aching tummy when he's cleaning up dog barf. :)

Oh well. I guess we learned our lesson tonight. DO NOT (under any circumstances) leave wing bones out on table for dog to consume!

Nothing much else going on. It snowed today. I like winter but I was kind of sad that it snowed in October. I definitely remember trick or treating in snow and I remember the state cross country meet being snowy and cold (in PA the state meet is always the first Sat in Nov), but snow in mid October seems really early. There was more snow in some places than others. We mostly got lots of cold rain where we live. UGH. Batten down the hatches! I did call my parents this morning to let them know that their decision to move to South Carolina was a good one. :)

Update - Roxy just groaned. Not a good sign...

Posted by beth at 7:32 PM | Comments (3)

October 24, 2005

Not Feeling It

Man...I was not feelin' it today! It was so cold and rainy when I got up (and all day long) - I definitely could have slept for another 3 or 4 hours. And then all day at work I was feeling lazy. After work I was secretly hoping I had forgotten my shoes or something else important so I couldn't go to the gym. No such luck. I had remembered to bring every darn thing! :)

I did make it to the gym despite my lack of motivation. I did the usual Monday gym thing - cross train for 45 minutes (30 minutes bike/15 minute elliptical) and then lifted. I will admit I didn't do the bench press because there was a long line the whole time I was in the gym and I didn't feel like waiting! Once I get going in the gym I'm always happy I did it, but sometimes I have to talk myself into going.

Regardless, Roxy had her first vet appointment today (with us that is). She got her stitches out, got her last booster and got her nails clipped. And she only tried to escape once! :) She weighs 23 pounds. The vet gave her a clean bill of health and said we could run with her as long as we watched the pads on her feet and made sure she was okay there. She's already 9 months old, so I think she's old enough. I think she'll love the idea of running, now we just have to slowly build her up. I can't wait. I've always wanted to be able to run with a dog.

In other exciting news, I discovered today that with the use of 3.5 clips and a hairband, I can put my hair back in a ponytail! (not sure if that really counts when you need so much assistance...)

Alas, it's pooch playing time... Have a great night everyone!

Posted by beth at 7:47 PM | Comments (3)

October 23, 2005

Back to Back Runs

Today was one of the first back to back runs I've done in quite a while. I ran yesterday and then again this morning for an easy 30 minutes. My feet feel pretty good. I hope they stay that way. One day at a time...

The little Roxy dog joined O and I on the run. She only ran for 5 minutes and then O walked with her, but her stitches come out tomorrow and then we plan on trying to let her run a little more each day. I think she could probably do about an hour with me right now given her energy level, but I wouldn't want the little pooch to get hurt! :)

It was in the 30s when we ran this morning but I wore shorts anyway. I just can't start with the tights just yet. I was fine because it was a sunny morning (good thing after all that rain yesterday!) and it warmed up pretty quickly. It was a reminder though that winter isn't far away. I'm not complaining. I'm odd in that I probably prefer winter over the awful heat of the summer - but I'll admit it's harder to get out of bed in the morning when it's dark and cold! :)

I also did my core exercises today and my feet exercises and I iced my feet and stretched them and massaged them with the golf ball, etc... It's a full time job being injured. I'll tell you! :)

In other adventures today, O and I went to a new church this morning and that place was ALIVE! Ever since we've moved we've been trying to find a new church home, shopping around each weekend. I think we found our winner this morning, although it's a very big church, something we were trying to stay away from. The fact of the matter is though, big churches have lots of good stuff going on. This church has a school too in which O briefly taught at so we already know some people.

I've also decided that I want to plant bulbs. I believe it was my grandmother that suggested this idea. Me, knowing absolutely nothing about planting "things" hadn't the slightest clue what a bulb was, so I did some internet research. What would I do without the internet? Truthfully, I'm pretty sure I'd be a lot dumber than I already am. :) Anyway, after church O and I did a little bulb shopping and bought me a little garden shovel too. I'm pumped. The actual planting will have to wait until next weekend though because I *really* need to work on my paper for school right now!

Now for the football weekend update - it was a good weekend, even though Pitt won. Penn State won huge (and as usual JoePa was quite a display of sportsmanship at the end when they didn't run up the score) and the Steelers just won too (against the #1 in their division Bengals...or should I call them the Bungles... :)

Posted by beth at 4:50 PM | Comments (3)

October 22, 2005

Long Run

This morning it was raining pretty steadily when we woke up so O and I (and Roxy) kind of poked around the house a little before we got going. The rain finally stopped for a bit so we got geared up and took Roxy for a walk. Unfortunately it started to rain again on our walk so when we got home we were all soaked. Roxy looked like a drowned rat! And she also smelled kind of bad too so we gave her a bath while we were all wet anyway. She didn't mind it actually. She stood still and let us scrub her down, but she also didn't look like the happiest dog I've ever seen.

Regardless, after all that we got ready to run ourselves. We drove to the trail and finally started running around 10:20. Whew - things do not move quickly when there is a dog around! O and I did a "long run" of sorts, probably the longest I've run since my feet started hurting back in July, 50 minutes total. The trail is flat and soft, ideal for my feet. It was raining and cold (high 40s) but it was a nice run regardless. It's great to run pain-free, but I am so cautious about getting my hopes up because I fear my feet are going to start hurting again as they did last time I got the cortisone shot. I tell myself to take one day at a time...

It's been a very dreary day here today! I've been fighting off the urge to take a nap all day so we could get some stuff done. I got new tires on our car, ran some other errands, O washed the cars, and now we have some other small stuff to take care of before dinner and then the Penn State game! I think Pitt won again this afternoon so PSU and the Steeler's have to win to ensure a good weekend! :)

Here is the summary for the past week:

Sunday - off (picking up the Roxy dog)
Monday - 30 minute run and weights (and PT appointment)
Tuesday - off (class)
Wednesday - 40 minute run and core exercises
Thursday - 45 minute cross training and weights
Friday - 45 minute cross training and crunchers/pushups
Saturday - 50 minute run and core exercises

Posted by beth at 4:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2005

More Gym

Today was another gym day after work. I did the elliptical for 45 minutes, did 2x25 pushups and 2x100 crunchers and then (literally) ran up to my car to get home. I'm so glad it's Friday!! :) Now I'm at home and my feet are freezing on two bags of frozen vegetables. Cheapest ice packs I've ever purchased... :)

O and I don't have to be anywhere tomorrow! We have plenty to do, but don't have to be anywhere at any particular time so we are sleeping in. I cannot wait. Hopefully Roxy will oblige! Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 5:56 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2005

I'll Play Too

I don't have anything good to write about today in my blog (okay, I rarely have anything good to write about) so I'll play the "Tagged" game.

Here are the instructions:
1) Go into your archives.
2) Find your 23rd post.
3) Find your 5th sentence (or closest to it).
4) Post the text of your sentence in your blog along with these rules.
5) Tag five other people.

"We rested and relaxed, had some fun and best of all spent some time with my mom."

This was written the day we left Hilton Head Island in August 2004, just a few months after my parents had moved there. My mom was living there by herself while my dad was still in PA selling our old house, finishing up working, etc... My father was going to fly down that weekend O and I were visiting but a hurricane was forecasted to come through so his flight was cancelled!

Speaking of hurricanes, I can't believe another big, bad one is coming through. What's up with all these awful storms? Oh - about tagging 5 other people. I don't know 5 other people with blogs other than the eliterunning.com blogs, all of which Alison already tagged. So consider yourselves tagged again!

I would just like to mention that it's raining here so we didn't want to take Roxy out for her evening walk. This meant she had LOTS of energy so O was actually just running up and down the stairs with her to get rid of some of the excess spunkiness! I'm not sure who is more tired - both of them have their tongues hanging out. :)

Anyway, I'm way off track... Today after work I hit the gym. I did the bike for 30 minutes, the elliptical for 15 minutes and then lifted. Pretty standard gym routine. Since I've been home I've iced my feet, massaged my feet with a golf ball and now am about to do some feet exercises. My feet get lots of love and attention for sure!

Posted by beth at 8:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

So Sleepy

Okay - I promise - this is the last picture of Roxy I will post. Pictures probably take up WAY too much space on blogs anyway. I just can't help myself!

Posted by beth at 8:10 PM | Comments (3)

Separation Anxiety

When we adopted Roxy, the vet that gave her to us gave us a packet of information about owning a dog. It had all sorts of advice from how to house break a dog to how to teach them to sit, etc... There was a little piece in there about separation anxiety which I read diligently, figuring that our little pooch might suffer from this while O and I were away at work. Little did I know that O and I were the ones that would be suffering from separation anxiety!!! We get so sad every morning when we have to leave her. I might not want to have children just for the fact that I'll never be able to leave them!

Regardless, today I left work early just because I actually (for the first time in a LONG time) had nothing to do. Yippppeeeee! It was a beautiful fall day today too. The leaves are really starting to change so my drive home is very enjoyable. When I got home Roxy and O were playing in the yard and so we continued to play for a while and then we got ready to go for a run.

We went to our rails-to-trails trail. It was really pretty there with all the colorful leaves. The trail was covered in them - very crunchy! We took Roxy so we walked for about 5 minutes and then we all started to run. Roxy and O only ran for about 3 minutes. I think Roxy is going to be a very good runner but she still has stitches in from being spayed so we didn't want to go too crazy with the running just yet. O walked with her for the rest of the time while I ran 40 minutes total. This is my absolute favorite time of year so it's hard not to enjoy being outside. Period. My feet felt pretty good. I don't think the cortisone has worn off yet! :)

Oh - my PT appointment on Monday. It was okay. The physical therapist didn't really have anything too earth shattering to show me/tell me. Stretch, ice, massage, stretch, ice, massage, etc... She did show me some exercises I could do just to strengthen my feet some although she said my strength was pretty good so the exercises probably won't make that big of a difference. Humpf. Still just taking one day at a time...

In other news, running came to my rescue today. There is a certain doctor that occasionally covers in my units who is...how do you say it...perhaps "unapproachable" is the correct term. He's brilliant, but not easy to talk too, especially when you want to tell him what you think he is doing wrong. (ie: feeding a patient inappropriately). Well it came to my attention at the beginning of this cross country season that his son runs cross country for one of the best teams in our area. And he's one of their best runners. I knew it had to be his son because the last name is very distinct.

Anyway, I was trying to brainstorm a way to approach this doctor and breakthrough so that I would be able to approach him with my patient requests later on. (by the way - you would be VERY naive to think that what's best for a patient is what is always done in a hospital - unfortunately doctors and everyone else that takes care of patients are humans and sometimes egos get in the way) Regardless, I see said doctor on my floor today and bring up running and his son and boy did I hit the jackpot!! He was very interested in telling me about his son's season and wanted to know how I knew about this and wondered how I could be still be running when running seemed so hard on the body. I reported that I'm not really running right now because, indeed, running is very hard on the body. Good stuff man. The lines of communication have been opened! :)

Oh well. Roxy is being so cute right now I can hardly take it. She is sleeping all curled up in her little bed with her squeaky octopus, 2 bones and tennis ball all around her. AHHHHH - we should have gotten a dog sooner! :)

Posted by beth at 7:25 PM | Comments (1)

October 17, 2005

Walk and Run

The little Roxy dog is throwing O and I for a loop. We haven't quite established a routine yet (understandable - we just got her yesterday) and so this morning I was confused. O had fed her and left for work. I got up and didn't know if I should walk her first, run first, run and walk her at the same time? I laid in bed for a while and decided to walk first, drop her off and then run. She was so excited she simply could not contain herself. :)

We went on our walk and she pulled me around like crazy. She's only about 20-25 pounds but she's strong! It was about 45 degrees so I was wearing a coat and long pants, but we did run a little. I figured that was one way to get rid of excess energy more quickly. We just ran for 1-3 minutes at a time, walk a little, run a little, etc.. Not sure if it really helped with the energy level. She's a fireball! After about 30 minutes I dropped her off at home, changed clothes and then did a 30 minute run. I wanted to run more because it was a beautiful fall morning but the podiatrist told me to take it easy with the running, so I restrained.

My feet feel so good right now which is so exciting - but I'm trying desperately to not get too excited because this same thing happened last time. I got the cortisone shot, I took the anti-inflammatories and my feet were happy and I could run pain free. But once the cortisone wore off and my prescription ran out, my feet got progressively worse to the point where I was back to stage 1. I am wearing the night splint (some), using the golf ball for massage, my orthotics are a little different and I am icing more, but is that enough to make the difference so that they don't start hurting again? I guess only time can tell.

I do have a physical therapy appointment today at 4 pm. Because I have a co-pay for PT every time I go, I'm just going to ask them to show me some exercises I can do at home to help strengthen my feet. I also plan to stop by the weight room and lift before my PT appointment since the gym and the PT office are in the same general location.

And now I MUST work on my paper for school or else that thing will never get done. (or I'm going to have to take a week vacation from work to finish it the week before it's due... :)

Posted by beth at 10:42 AM | Comments (6)

October 16, 2005

Roxy the Dog

Too cute for words. She follows us around wherever we go. When O and I go in two different directions she's beside herself. Who to follow?! :) She loves her bed and her squeaky octapus. She doesn't really know her name, nor does she sit. She hasn't barked yet, even when other dogs are barking their heads off at her!

We spent most of the day retrieving Roxy. We left around 6 am and didn't get home until about 2 pm. She was very good in the car - 6 hours straight for a dog is a lot to ask. She mostly slept on my lap or O's lap depending on who was driving.

I had planned on running today but when we got home we played some, showed Roxy her new digs and then I passed out while O and Roxy watched the Steeler game (more on football later). By the time I got up, it was dinner, we ate, we walked Roxy and then it was 7 pm and I knew I wasn't going to run. My feet could probably use the day off anyway. I will run tomorrow since I have a day off work.

I forgot to do the summary for the week last week. Whatever was I thinking? :)

Sunday - 45 minute run and core exercises
Monday - off
Tuesday - weights only
Wednesday - 40 minute run and core exercises
Thursday - 45 minute cross training and weights
Friday - 30 minute total run w/walking and core exercises
Saturday - 45 minute cross training with crunch-ups and push-ups
Sunday - off

As for football - the inevitable worse case scenario occured this weekend! UGH! Pitt won, Penn State lost and the Steelers lost. Good thing we have an adorable little puppy to lift our spirits! :) At least Penn State played a close game - down to the last second - literally. My college coach always used to tell us to never count out Michigan, even when they were having "down" years, because you should never count out a champion.

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:41 PM | Comments (2)

October 15, 2005

Ho-Hum

My day went something like this:

1) get up, shower, stretch, eat breakfast
2) go to work
3) work x 9 hours
4) go to gym
5) elliptical for 45 minutes, 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchups
6) come home
7) clean up house (O put more insulation in the attic today - a bit of a mess if you know what I mean)
8) ice feet on frozen vegetables (corn and peas in case you were wondering) while blogging

Now that's some excitement! :) We are actually waiting for O's aunt and uncle to arrive to see our house and then go out for dinner. (you may notice there was no extra shower in there after the gym - that will just be our little secret :)

Tomorrow is Doggie Day! Yipppeeeeeeee!!

Now off to check the results of Pre-Nationals...

Posted by beth at 5:06 PM | Comments (4)

October 14, 2005

Thanks!

Getting up for work in 5 hours so must make this quick....

BUT - I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words of encouragment yesterday! I appreciated every one of them. Life certainly has its ups and downs and while I've seemed to be on a down for a while, I know I will soon be up again! I'm amazed at how much support everyone gives despite the fact that I have never met you guys! :)

Today was a much better day. For one, my feet felt much better. The cortisone flare must have subsided. I actually did a little running today. I went back and forth about the decision to run all day - my feet felt okay but they had hurt so badly yesterday I didn't know what to do. Ultimately I decided to do a walk/jog as the podiatrist had orginally suggested. I walked 8 minutes, jogged 20, walked 6, jogged 10, walked another 8, did some core exercises and then called it a day! :) I have been much better about icing as well. I have a PT appointment on Monday. The boot is helping. All very good things! :)

The best news is - O and I are definitely getting Roxy the dog! I must admit, this has really lifted my spirits. I love dogs. Now I will get to see if I love living with one. Tonight O and I went dog shopping...dog toys, dog food, dog bed, dog shampoo, dog biscuits, dog bowls. We are Roxy-ready! We are driving to Harrisburg on Sunday to pick her up. I cannot wait! I hope she likes us and her new home!

And now I must sleep. That alarm is going to be going off pretty soon! Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 11:38 PM | Comments (2)

October 13, 2005

What the Heck

Let me just say, I'm one sorry state of affairs right now. Please do let me vent...

My feet are killing me. I hate them. They feel WORSE than they did before going to the podiatrist yesterday?! The one actually hurts so badly that I called the podiatrist's office this morning to make sure it wasn't going to fall off. I'm told this is a common side effect of cortisone - a "cortisone flare" if you will. Um...next time I'm just saying no to cortisone. It's more trouble than it's worth. I had hoped to run tomorrow but that might be on hold until I can walk without holding onto the wall. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but truthfully my feet don't feel very good. And the boot (night splint), while I think it will help, kept me up all night. Actually, I took it off around 1 am but didn't fall asleep anyway so I'm thinking the sleeplessness has more to do with my overall stressed state than with the actual boot. We shall see. Needless to say, this injury has gone on long enough. We are going on 4 months here and my patience has long run out!

Next up - my stressful job has got to go. I used to have one of those jobs where you kind of did what you wanted and you really weren't too accountable to anyone but yourself. No longer and I don't like it! More than one person asked me if I was okay today at work. That is not a good sign. One positive - my boss knows I'm struggling and she let me take Monday as PTO (paid time off) despite the short notice. Thank goodness!

Then there is school - it's stressing me out to. I tell myself I'll quit but I know I won't. If it takes me 5 more years, well than 5 more years it is. UGH!

And O and I have had some financial concerns as well that are eating at me. Worrying about money is not a fun thing - ever.

So there we have it. I kid you not - I cried the whole drive home from work today. I was just feeling so overwhelmed and worried and letting it all crowd in on me. But now I've gained some perspective. All the same worries still exist, but O got me to laugh and realize that IT WILL BE OKAY. School work will get done, bills will get paid, feet will get better, jobs will become less stressful. And even if it doesn't happen all at once or at all, we will survive! Life is good! I'm feeling better already. PLUS - we may get a dog!!! A co-worker of mine has a friend that is in vet school and she has a cute little dog named Roxy who she wants to give away. I asked O if we could have her and he actually went for the idea! Not sure if it will really happen but my co-worker is inquiring about it as I type. Yippppppeeeee!!!!!! (although we've already discussed that O would be the feeder/walker in the morning because I cannot get up any earlier than I already do!)

Ahhh....exercise. Despite the fact that I wanted to drive straight home and curl up in a ball and never uncurl, I did go to the gym after work to do the bike and lift. My feet would not have withstood the elliptical today. That's one good thing about the bike - your feet don't feel a thing. I did the bike for 45 minutes total and lifted as well. Tomorrow is still up in the air - more cross training vs run. It will probably be the former. I am now telling myself that no matter what the case IT WILL BE OKAY. I think I may make that my new motto - IT WILL BE OKAY!!! :)

Posted by beth at 8:21 PM | Comments (6)

October 12, 2005

Feet Update

Well - tonight's podiatry appointment yielded much of the same as the last one. This podiatrist was definitely a runner, actually more acurately he is a triathlete that runs a lot. He took more x-rays and yep, you guessed it, MORE CORTISONE! I was so stressed about the cortisone last time. This time I was kind of like, "okay, whatever". I got shots in both feet and this time the shots hurt a lot more. Yuck.

Differences - the "orthotic technician" (I just made that up but it sounds pretty good doesn't it?) doctored up my orthotics some. The doctor didn't think I needed new ones which I guess is a good thing because they would have been expensive, but they kind of overhauled my old ones. Trust me when I say, they look a lot better and feel better too.

This doctor also gave me a night splint. I had been toying with the idea of getting one of these but I wanted to see what he thought about it. Apparently he doesn't like the socks but think the actual splints work good. All I can say is, I hope I don't kick O in my sleep because he would be badly bruised with this thing! It's a good thing I have no trouble falling asleep because I can see this thing being a bit cumbersome...

This doctor also wanted me to go to PT which I bulk at merely from a time/money standpoint. I have to pay a copay every time I go and it's so time consuming but I can't complain about such things when they may help me be pain-free. I'm going to at least go once and see if they will give me a home regimen to work on.

He told me I could continue to run 3 days a week but to tone it down a little in terms of time, biking/ellipticalling was fine.

I asked how this was going to be any different from last time when I got the cortisone and anti-inflammatories and my feet felt better only to start hurting again. He claims the PT and splint will make the difference. We shall see! I am cautious but hopeful.

Posted by beth at 8:59 PM | Comments (4)

A Much Needed Day Off...

...from work that is. After two very long and stressful days, I was really glad to have today off work. It's my day off for working Saturday, but it came at a good time because Monday and Tuesday really tired me out!

Work has been really stressful for me lately and I've determined that I'm not that great at handling high stress loads. Something to work on I guess. Both Monday and Tuesday were especially long as well. Tuesdays are always long because I have class. But Monday was a leave-home-at-6 am-get-back-at 9 pm kind of day as well because I had a dinner lecture to attend. The lecture was sponsored by a professional organization that I'm secretary of and so I was in charge of registration. UGH.

Regardless today was great to have off so I could SLEEP IN! And sleep in I did. I didn't wake up until a little after 8 am. Wonderful! I've been busy every since, getting lots of little things done. No homework yet. I guess that's something to worry about later.

Yesterday I was able to sneak in some lifting (actually my full lifting workout) after work but before class. Today I ran and it was great! I drove to the park where the HS cross country course is and did the course 1.5 times (+) for 40 minutes of running. My feet were pretty status quo. The one good thing I can say about my feet is, for the past two weeks, they haven't gotten any worse. When I got home I did my core exercises, and all that is enough to make me and my out of shape self tired! :)

And now O and I are headed off to my podiatrist appointment. This is the new podiatrist who apparently is a runner himself. I'm excited to hear what he thinks/says and possibly get new orthotics as well. We shall see!

Posted by beth at 4:02 PM | Comments (2)

October 9, 2005

Turning on the Heat and Blind Surgery

Considering it was in the 80s just a couple days ago, I didn't think turning on the heat in our house today was something we'd be discussing this morning. But when we woke up it was freezing in the house. We waited it out, but when we got back from church it was still only 59 degrees inside. Brrrrr. Despite multiple layers my feet and hands were freezing. So we turned on the heat. And just like that, WINTER has arrived. What happened to fall? :)

This morning O and I ran on the Butler-Freeport Trail and it actually did feel a lot like fall. There were lots of colorful leaves and also lots of fallen leaves making for some serious crunching. It was nice and cool, in the upper 40s. Just felt like cross country season. And I truly enjoyed it. Since I don't run very often now (due to misbehaving feet), I try to savor each run.

We ran for 45 minutes. My feet felt about like they always do - hurt for the first 5-10 minutes, then feel fine with the left one aching every so slightly. We just ran easy and enjoyed the scenery and also enjoyed talking about Penn State's BIG win last night!!! What the heck?!?! Even if Pitt did win yesterday, nothing could overshadow Penn State's victory over #6 Ohio State. Life is too good sometimes. :)

When we got back from the run I did my core exercises and took a HOT shower. And then, after stretching, I broke the blind on the window in one of the upstairs bedrooms. This developed into a full blown blind surgery. O acted as the attending surgeon and I was his assistant. We had several tools, tape, tweezers, and some very intricate hand-work. We didn't have time to finish our surgery before we had to leave for church, but we're now about to head back to the OR and see how our patient (er...blind) is doing! :)

Posted by beth at 1:56 PM | Comments (1)

October 8, 2005

Heart Walk

This morning I, and several of my co-workers, participated in the American Heart Association Heart Walk. It was a 3 mile (5K?) walk to benefit the AHA. It was pretty fun, mostly because we just walked along and talked and then went out to lunch after. :) Not too sure how much the event raised for the AHA, but I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow in the paper. Before I left this morning, I did my core exercises.

I didn't actually get home until around 2 at which point I jumped back into bed for a nap. It's definitely napping kind of weather, dreary and colder and raining. I think I could sleep for a few more hours. But now O and I are off to my father-in-law's birthday party. There is cake to be eaten!

Summary for the week:

Sunday - 45 minutes cross training and weights
Monday - 40 minute run and core exercises
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - off
Thursday - 45 minutes cross training and weights
Friday - 45 minutes cross training and situps/pushups
Saturday - 3 mile Heart Walk and core exercises

Tomorrow - another try at running!

Posted by beth at 3:52 PM | Comments (0)

October 7, 2005

Halleluia!

Halleluia is a hard word to spell. O tells me there is more than one way to spell it. I hope I've spelled it correctly. I guess it's not the end of the world if I didn't.

I AM SO GLAD IT'S FRIDAY!!! And I don't work this weekend either. Two whole days off in a row. Sweet surrender! :) Today after work I went to the gym again. I didn't want to try out my new feet just yet. Still a little sore from all the scraping. I did the elliptical for 35 minutes, the bike for 10 and then did 2x25 of pushups and 2x100 of crunchers. And then I got the heck out of there.

Now I am sooooo sleepy. But O and I still have to get some groceries and then (since it's raining and gloomy) we're going to stay in and watch Four Minutes (which I had taped yesterday but did not yet watch). Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 6:20 PM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2005

Back to the Gym

I was just there on Sunday but I felt like I hadn't been to the gym for a while. Today after work I returned and noted that nothing had changed. I guess I hadn't been gone that long... :)

I didn't want to do the elliptical today because my feet were still a little tender from yesterday's ART session. So I started on the bike. I got to around 15 minutes when my dumb pager went off. I hate having the on call pager. I rode until 15 minutes exactly, got off to return the page, messed around for a while trying to take care of the page, and then about 10 minutes later, returned my attention to the gym. At this point, I decided I should lift and so I did. Nothing exciting there other than the fact that I heard just about every Pitt student in the place talking about "going out" tonight. I really felt like I was back at Penn State again where the parties actually begin Wednesday or Thursday night vs Friday night. Truth be told, for some hard core PSUers, the parties began Sunday night and never ended. Regardless, I finished my lifting and then got back on the bike for another 30 minutes.

The good news for the day is, I was able to get an appointment with the podiatrist suggested by the ART doctor for next Wednesday! I didn't dream I would be able to get in so soon. I was given strict instructions to bring old orthotics and come prepared ready to run. This got me excited. I'm really holding out some hope that this podiatrist, some more ART and new orthotics are going to be the answer to my feet problems.

Alas, I have much to do tonight and it's already 8 pm. I am the secretary of a local chapter of a professional organization and our semi-annual dinner lecture is coming up Monday. Somehow I got roped in to doing all the registration stuff and it's driving me batty. So many people register late. Like what the heck? I am currently entrenched in figuring out how many people want chicken, salmon or the pasta. I feel like I am planning our wedding all over again... :) Good night!

Posted by beth at 7:33 PM | Comments (1)

October 5, 2005

The Man With the Magic Hands - Part Two

Last winter when my hamstring was acting up, I went to see a doctor (he's an actual MD, not a PhD) who does ART. I blogged about the experience in an entry entitled The Man With the Magic Hands.

Today I went back to see the same doctor, this time for my feet. And he impressed me all over again. I don't know why I waited so long to call him. Mental note - next injury (as much as I hate to admit it, there will ALWAYS be a "next" injury) - call ART doctor ASAP! :)

My feet are in no way healed, and he was a bit skeptical of how much he could do with them actually, but he is so knowledgeable and great to talk to. I'm lucky such a great resource lives and works here in Pittsburgh! He worked on me for about 90 minutes. He worked extensively on my feet and then on my calves and hamstrings/hips some. Unfortunately I was pretty flexible and loose - if I was tight (calves, hammies, feet, etc...), loosening me up would probably have instantly made my feet feel better. But alas, tightness was not the cause of my plantar fascitis. He had some very painful tools that he used to scrape away at my feet - wow did they sound crunchy and wow did it hurt! My feet feel sore now, and he said they likely will for a day or so, but this will hopefully help that tissue break up some and feel better.

He suggested that I see a particular podiatrist in the area that is a runner himself and treats lots of runners. He thinks I need new orthotics at the very least and that perhaps this podiatrist will have some ideas. I'm going to continue to try to run (as much as I can tolerate) and visit the ART doctor as needed for more scraping. I'm hoping between that and new orthotics and some new ideas from good running podiatrist guy - something will become of it all and I will be running pain free sometime in the near future. Not sure at this point, but hopeful.

The ART doctor is fascinating. He is a triathlete himself and has lots of good stories. He apparently treats several elite athletes and so goes to most really big track meets - this year alone he went to the NCAA championships, USA T&F championships and World Track championships in track. He also treats other sport athletes. Pretty cool. In addition, he did his residency where I work so we had fun talking about the mutual doctors we knew.

Anyway, the weird thing about this all, is the guy never charges me. He didn't charge me back in March and then again today. I don't know what to make of it. I feel quite badly. As based on his office and house, he doesn't need my $75, but I find it odd that he doesn't charge for his services. He told me he doesn't charge a lot of his athletes - I get the feeling that he somehow made his money a long time ago and he's not into making it now. Odd. I feel like some kind of pro-bono case or something. Either way, I'm not complaining because I'm quite certain my new orthotics are not going to be free. :)

So by the time I got home it was close to 7 pm (and I went to his office straight from work). The only down-side of seeing him is that he lives south of Pittsburgh and I live north. South of Pittsburgh = lots of traffic and far away from north of Pittsburgh. Lots of driving tonight! Again, not going to complain if my feet somehow feel better when all is said and done. Anyway, I didn't exercise tonight which is probably a good thing considering the beating my feet took today. We shall see how things feel tomorrow!

Posted by beth at 9:27 PM | Comments (5)

October 3, 2005

P.S.

Totally forgot to mention that this weekend was yet another good football weekend. The Steelers had the week off (Monday night football next week for them!) but the other two "good football weekend" requirements were met:

1) Penn State whomped Minnesota to become 5-0. I could almost here the parties in State College all the way in Pittsburgh. What the heck? JoePa shuts them all up yet again...

2) Pitt lost miserably to Rutgers to become 1-4. It makes Penn State's win so much sweeter. :)

Posted by beth at 12:39 PM | Comments (1)

Someone is Watching You

Since O and I are members of the Pittsburgh Zoo, they send a calender to us each year. I have the calender pinned up by my desk. October's picture is of a Western Lowland Gorilla which the caption informs me, is named Mrithi (which means Prince in Swahili). I swear Mrithi is watching me. He's got those eyes that make him look like he follows me around the room. It's kind of freaky. I'm looking forward to November when the picture will be changed to a Pot-Bellied Seahorse! :)

So far my day off today has been delightful. First things first, I slept in until 8 am and it felt so wonderful, I can't even explain. I woke up when O left for work around 6:30, fell back asleep and then when I woke up again I felt like it was going to be 6:31 but indeed it was already a little past 8! Nine glorious hours of sleep. :)

I tooled around a little and then drove to the park for a run. It seems odd that I complain how my feet hurt, but run anyway. Truth is, my feet don't feel that great running (although much better than when I first wake up), but they are not getting worse by running 2 or 3 times a week so in the interest of my sanity, I'm going to continue until someone tells me to do otherwise (or they get really bad and I decide I'm hurting myself). The ART doctor might tell me to stop Wednesday, and then I'll listen. Regardless, it was a beautiful morning when I woke up so I enjoyed 40 minutes or running on the trails in the park. I ran some errands after the run, came home, did my core exercises, showered, stretched, ate lunch while watching ER re-runs and that brings us to the present. I'm contemplating my next move now. I'm thinking I need to work for a good 2-3 hours on school work and then I'll walk over to the shopping plaza to get my hair cut. Sounds like a plan!

Have a great day everyone!

Posted by beth at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2005

Home Improvements

This weekend was comprised of a major home improvement undertaking. I'm so tired. And I didn't even do anything. Mostly just standing around and watching other people work (which is apparently a lot more tiring that it sounds :).

My father was here from South Carolina and my grandparents were in (they are from around here) and after it was all said and done our house is now pretty much all rewired (things were a little screwy before), we have more electrical outlets upstairs, cable upstairs, a fireplace that works, new locks and a refurbished lawnmower. Whew.

So going back to Friday, I didn't do anything exercise wise. I stayed late at work and by the time I got home my father was already in and it was nearly time for dinner. I figured if I didn't run Friday my feet would have a better chance of feeling okay on Saturday's run. On Saturday morning, as the rewiring was starting, I took off for a 45 minute run. It was very chilly outside and it felt great. The run was okay - my feet are definitely not 100%, but I survived and didn't cause (I don't think anyway) too much damage.

Today I actually worked so after work I went to the gym and did the bike for 25 minutes, the elliptical for 20 minutes and then lifted. Then I came home and cleaned the house. Now I'm ready to sleep for about 12 hours straight. It's a good thing I have off work tomorrow (for working today)! I plan on sleeping in. Poor O gets no rest - it's back to work for him tomorrow. But it will all be worth it. Our house is now spiffed up and amazingly, we can use the toaster, tv, and microwave all at the same time (not something we could do before without tripping the breaker).

My feet. Hmmm... They don't feel great, either of them actually. Not sure what to make of that. I'm not talking to them because I'm disgusted with them. I did make an appointment with the ART guy which is scheduled for Wednesday. I talked with him Friday and he seemed to think he could give it a try with the plantar fascitis. He tells me PF is his absolutely least favorite injury to work with because it's caused by so many different things. I told him it was my least favorite injury too (at least for the time being until something else starts to hurt :). I hope he can help because my feet definitely need something!

Here is the summary for the week:

Sunday - 25 minute run and core exercises
Monday - 45 minute cross training and weights
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - 35 minute run and core exercises
Thursday - 35 minutes cross training and weights
Friday - off
Saturday - 45 minute run
Sunday - 45 minute cross train and weights

Posted by beth at 8:19 PM | Comments (0)