It's Been a Fun Day

What a great day! Chief and I went out to Waterfall Glen. He took Dusty and went running with some of his faster friends and JJ and I headed out for 3 miles and doubled back. JJ was a pain in the butt for the first mile. He gets so excited when we start. He has to pull and cut behind me because he is too nosey and needs to meet everyone. He wants to see who is behind us and wants to catch up with whoever is in front of us. Eventually he settled in and by the time we got to the 3 mile mark we seemed to run like a fine oiled machine. That is until he saw the deer! JJ ears perked up and off he went to get a better look at it. The problems with this is that I was being pulled so hard while running down a hill. The only way to stop him was to literally stop. I was glad when the deer jumped back into the woods. JJ of course wanted to follow but with me giving him strong "no's" he figured it would be best to listen to me. Now because of his extra work his tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth. Thanks to TNT (team in training) I got him a drink of water. The last 3 miles went fast. In fact we finished in 64 minutes which is good for us. We then walked about a half mile or so and met up with Chief and friends. I was glad to give JJ's leash to Chief that way I could run a little bit quicker. I had a great workout today.

After showering we picked up a buddy of Chief's and drove to Aurora to the "Wurst Kitchen". This is some sausage place that Chief really likes. They have all kinds of flavored brats which being from Wisconsin you know he was like a kid in a candy store. We bought tequila and lime brats, regular brats, atomic sausage sticks, southwest chicken brats, and a big pickle for me. We then finished the morning by shopping for new rugs for the house. Linens and Things is going out of business so we got some runners and throw rugs at reasonable prices. I can't wait to scrub the floors and put them down. It should look really nice.

We went to Cooper's Hawk in Burr Ridge for lunch. It is a restaurant and wine bar. It was very good. Chief was on call so we didn't have any wine or beer. I am sure next time we will be taste testing. We ended our afternoon getting a new toaster. I hope this one will be the "best toaster ever". I have toaster issues.

Chief got called into work so it's time for me to work on the floors, walk the boys, make out a grocery list, possibly go to Trader Joe's, and maybe have a glass of wine. I had a really good day.

Busy Days

I have been busy these past days. On Monday, I volunteered to work at our new after hours care clinic so I put in my regular work day and then went to the clinic until 10:00pm. I like to do extra stuff. I feel getting involved is a good way to meet new people and help me advance in my career. Tonight I went out to dinner at Hugo's in Naperville with friends. They have the best steak. I am told their fish is wonderful. They have HUGE dessert servings. So if you go be prepared to share! I brought home some of my steak and broccoli and I brought home my key lime pie to share with Chief. He had good left overs! The rest of the week is going to go by fast. Chief is also busy at work so we have not had a ton of time to talk lately. I can't wait for the weekend.

My diet is coming along. I have been eating more fruit lately and sometimes I go a little crazy on the Pringles. I guess when you have cravings you just have to go with it. I don't want to end up not eating what I want to. I think that cutting out everything that is "bad" will shoot me in the foot later. So I did have my fill of those evil Pringles and I am satisfied. I ate a few malted milk balls which tasted really good. There are days when I make bad choices. What can I do about it? Nothing but try to do better the next day. I know that I have lost most of the weight that I need to. I don't weigh myself often. I don't care about how much I weigh. I just want to remain active and I want my jeans to continue to fit me. I've been getting comments about me being "too skinny" or that I lost the weight "too fast". I am becoming annoyed at these comments. People don't understand that I work out at least an hour a day. I eat a very healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't eat the candy, cookies, pie, or fat and carb loaded meals brought from the drug reps. Maybe I need to let comments roll of my shoulders but it is hard not to say back "what did you do at 5:00am for your workout?" I don't like to be judged by those that are not in my running shoes.

I can report that my running is coming along. I was at Waterfall Glen on Saturday and ran/walk over six miles! On Sunday, I ran 3 miles and today I ran too. I have also started going to spin classes on a regular basis. I feel good about my progress. I hope that I can keep this pace and not get re-injured.

The injection has helped my knee. I guess I will be needing the surgery. I will be seeing Dr. E in 4 weeks to discuss this. I hope that the injection will last a few months!

Chondromalacia Patella

I saw the orthopedic surgeon today and was told that my problem is not so much my ITB but something called "chondromalacia patella". I guess as time goes on and with over use the cartilage starts to wear and fray. Dr. E told me that my ITB is only mildly tight at this time. I was happy to hear that all my stretching is helping. I did get a steroid injection into the knee joint. If this helps...arthoscopic surgery . If it doesn't...that is the question I didn't ask.

My restrictions are no running for 2 weeks. I honestly couldn't decide if I should get the injection because of the running ban. I know it is crazy but I would rather run in pain than not run at all. Dr. E totally understood my dilemna and waited patiently while I sweated out an answer.

The injection was not bad at all but then again I have a really high pain tolerance. He said I could resume spinning, elliptical and walking tomorrow. I have to admit that after working all day post shot my knee did hurt a little. It also feels weird like something is under my knee cap and it feels like I want to pop/crack my knee.

So, I will be very good and I will not run for 2 weeks. Chief is going to walk the boys tomorrow because on Tuesday I normally run and I don't want to be tempted.

I guess I am glad I rejoined the YMCA. Elliptical and stinky dudes here I come.

By the way, I have arthritis setting in on my right knee (the one I had the ACL repair on when I was in highschool). The knee that hurts has no arthritis, go figure.