Thursday, January 29, 2009

MRI Results

So, as I expected, nothing came out of the results from the MRI except that I now know that I did not tear or break anything, which I guess is a good thing to know. I'm not exactly sure that information was worth the money to get the MRI though. I'll let you know when I get the bill (which I'm sure wont be pretty.) The doctor basically went through a couple possibilities of what could, maybe, possibly, might be wrong with me. I find it so interesting how little people know about endurance athletes and I find myself forgetting many times that most people in this world do not do Ironman (shocking, I know.) I tried my hardest not to get annoyed and I took the information he gave me willingly and with a smile (probably a fake one lol.) The most helpful piece of information I got out of this whole experience was an amazing IT band stretch.

ANYWAY... I do have some good news though! Today I ran 41 minutes pain free! Each day I have been adding just about 5 minutes to my run time and I am feeling great! I am very, very VERY happy! The pain of the cold temperatures is the only thing that bothers me, but I am afraid to run on the treadmill since that is where the injury originated from, so I'll stick with the snow and cold. I'm going to have to figure something out for my face though because a scarf full of snot and spit is not something I enjoy dealing with every day on my runs! But without a scarf on my face the cold is just way too painful to deal with!

On a different note I started grad school this week at Roosevelt. I like the class sizes. They are so small compared to ASU and it's nice. It kind of forces you to learn more because you can't just blend into the crowd and get by just sitting there daydreaming... or in my case eveningdreaming now. I am taking Human Development 407, Foundations of Education 405 and, unfortunately, a World History since 1500 undergraduate class since apparently I didn't take a class at ASU that fulfills the non-western requirement for my masters program. It is going to be very time consuming and I am going to be a very busy girl. I find it hard to take school 100% seriously though as I know I could just start ASU's program in June and move out of this frozen hell back into the real 120 degree hell in Phoenix, but I'd be avoiding this ridiculous snow and cold which I really just cant stand at all. So, we'll see, I have a lot to think about regarding school. But for now I'm going to see how this semester goes at Roosevelt, keeping ASU in the back of my mind.

Next Friday I'm getting my Primary Group Fitness Certification as well, so maybe I'll start teaching some classes at the gym as well. I really want to teach spinning, so we'll see. I kind of feel like my life is all over the place right now as I'm just trying to figure out what I want to do and where I want to be. My brain hurts!

All for now

XOXO
Cori

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Staying on the bright side... or trying to!

On Wednesday I bought new DS Trainers from Runners High 'N Tri, my new favorite triathlon store (probably the only triathlon store in the Chicagoland area) and I went straight to lifetime to try to run for the first time in three weeks. I ran about 2.5 miles before my knee started to feel pain again. I got very upset and went straight to the stairmaster for an hour on the highest level I could handle. On Thursday morning I finally brought myself to call Fox Valley Orthopedics, the doctor's office where I went my senior year in high school and where I had surgury on my right knee for torn cartilidge. I called at 8:40 and was in the office for my appointment by 9:15... yes, that's 35 minutes later. After I told them what was wrong, with tears in my eyes, they xray'd my knee and gave me a physical exam. I was dissappointed when they couldn't draw any conclusions to what could be wrong with me. I was then asked to schedule an MRI, which I did on Saturday morning. On Tuesday morning I will see the doctor again for the results from the MRI. All I can do now is pray that they will be able to tell me what is wrong and exactly how I can fix it so I can start running like normal again!

I also spent a couple nights Google-ing and reading forums about people that have had similar knee pain in the back of the knee while running. I found that most people said it was either they needed new shoes, or that they slowly eased back into running by starting at a mile and adding just a tiny distace every day until they built back up to where they were before. Most people said their doctors were unable to diagnose the problem as well. How annoying! Anyway...
on Thursday I started by running 14 minutes around my neighborhood. On Friday I ran 17 minutes and yesterday I ran 22 minutes. So far, so good. I did not run today because it is so cold outside that yesterday I developed hives all over my stomach and legs after being out there for 22 minutes and I couldn't bring myself to get out there again today so I went to the gym and did some work on the elliptical instead. I will get back out there tomorrow and attempt 25 minutes.

I am also obsessed with
my new fluid trainer which I've spent the past two Saturdays on in my basement! If you're looking for a trainer... I highly reccommend CycleOps. I bought three Spinervals workouts and the one I've been doing on Saturdays is called "Tough Love." And it is just that! Three hours of ridiculous intervals! I love it! At least if I can't run at the time I can get faster on the bike, which I need to work on anyway.

Trying to keep my spirits u
p! Tomorrow is my first day of school also so I am very excited for that!

More later!


XOXO
Cori

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Getting back into it




It's been a while since my last post and the biggest reason for that is I am trying to take it easy on my knee (little to no running) in order to recover from this pain-in-the-butt injury I am dealing with. My workouts have been pretty boring lately as I have pretty much gone into maintenance mode for two reasons; one being recovery and two being the ridiculously cold and snowy weather in Chicago. I have found myself "Arizona sick" as I am calling it because it's not exactly home sick. Although AZ was my home for five years, I still believe IL is my true home since I lived here for 18 years! The cold winter weather is starting to take it's toll on my emotions and I'm getting depressed that I cannot workout outdoors or even be outdoors for an extended period of time. I am a lot more hungry here too because my body is cold and just wants comfort food (FAT!!) and I have less desire to workout (hard to believe I know). I haven't been swimming as much as I would like to be because I am always cold and I never feel like getting in the water. I would just rather get hot and sweaty in the gym because it makes me feel good. Getting out of the pool and freezing does not feel good... not to mention I have to spend the time showering and drying my hair afterward because I don't want to get sick in the cold with wet hair! How annoying! I have also been busy with work and spending time with friends. Since I never went out to bars or did anything fun in the past year and a half, I am not used to staying up late with my friends and family here in IL! My schedule is all thrown off because I was used to going to bed around 10 or 11 each night and getting up early for workouts, but here everyone stays up really late - and I don't want to miss out on things on the weekends - so I have been very tired to say the least. I figure since it is off season and I can't run because of my knee injury anyways it should be time to have fun before spring rolls around and race season begins.

One good thing that has happened over the holidays is that I finally have a bike trainer in the base
ment... HOWEVER of course one of the knobs has to be broken so I'm going to take it back when the roads clear up from the snow and get a different one. For now I've been using the one I have which is a Performance Bike brand fluid trainer. I am happy to have it downstairs so I don't have to go to the gym to use the spin bikes every time I want to ride. It's easy to pop in a movie and play loud music in the basement.

T
oday I went to an 8 a.m. spin class at Lifetime and I met a girl who does Ironman. I told her how sad I was about the weather (it's really snowy and yucky out today) and how I miss biking outdoors. I also complained a bit about feeling alone out here because I don't know anyone that does triathlon. She assured me that there is a huge triathlon community here because of Ironman Wisconsin, and that everyone will come out of hibernation in the spring. THANK GOD! That was music to my ears! She also told me they have open water splash and dash's in Crystal Lake on Wednesday nights when the weather gets warm and that also put a huge smile on my face! And when she said there are group rides on Saturdays starting in the spring my day was made! I'm was so happy to talk to this girl, Tracy I believe she said her name was, and I really hope we run into eachother again so I can start making some triathlete friends!

School starts on January 26 and I am excited for that. It will help keep me from going insane during this horrible winter weather because I know I will be VERY busy. I will be working M-F from 2-6 p.m. and then going to school from 6:30-9 p.m. afterward on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.


The holidays were great and I was very glad to be home around family and friends again. I can't be
lieve I missed Christmas last year... that's just not right! BUT it has made me really appreciate everyone I do have in my life here in Illinois - amazing, supportive and loving family and friends.

XOXO

Cori