Monday, September 27, 2010

5 weeks left...

I was at my doctor's office today so that she could work on my knee. As we were putting together a plan for me, I realized that my first 1/2 marathon is only 5 weeks away. Yikes! My husband and I plan to run the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (http://monumentalmarathon.com/) on November 6, 2010. I'm trying to take good care of my knee so that I can post a respectable time. I'm so excited and I can hardly wait to run in Indy!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

My Feelings about Fall...

I don't like "fall" (or autumn). I also dislike winter and spring. The only season I truly enjoy is summer. Today is the first day of fall and the high temperature will be in the 80's where I live. I love that! I really need to move to the desert so that I can enjoy blazing hot days with cold nights. I tend to be cold, so I don't like cold weather. Cold weather to me is anything under 75 degrees.

There are a few things that make fall more palatable:
Hooded sweatshirts
Chili and other Crock Pot meals
Hot apple cider
Indianapolis Colts Football (when they win games)

I will definitely rely on these things when the weather turns cold. Until then, I will enjoy the lingering summer weather.
What do you love about fall?

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Viva Las Vegas!

My husband and I took a short trip this past weekend. As the title suggests, we went to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada! Neither of us had ever been there before. The weather was awesome! It was over 100 degrees outside each day that we were there. We did a whirlwind tour of casinos. We managed to eat at the MGM Grand buffet without stuffing ourselves, view an acrobatic act at Circus Circus, see the dancing fountains at Bellagio, and play some Black Jack. On top of it all, we met up with a good friend and got plenty of sleep.
Overall, I give the trip high ratings. In fact, I had so much fun that I'm trying to convince my family to spend Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. I'm sure that will go over well and I can't wait to go back!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Ready, ready, ready, ready, ready to run...

Remember how I mentioned that I had some pain in my knee? Well, that pain has affected my walk & it forced me to stop running for almost 2 weeks. I went to a doctor (actually, he was a physician's assistant) at our campus health center. To be honest, he made me panic about my knee. He told me to stop running immediately and said that I needed to have an MRI that very night. He was under the impression that my meniscus had been torn. Don't worry, I'll speed up this story.

I got the MRI that night. P.A. called me on the phone & read the MRI report to me. I guess he assumed that I had extensive medical training. The important part was that he wanted me to see an orthopedist as soon as possible.

I saw the orthopedist today (I know you wonder why it took me a week to go. I'm a busy gal.) He watched me walk & moved my knee around some. A short time later, he gave me the news. I beg your pardon for my lack of medical lingo, but essentially my kneecaps suck at being kneecaps. They are loose and irritate the tissue (cartilage?) behind them as they shift around while I'm running. He thinks that I might have surgery when I'm 60, but we can explore that later. His short term strategy was to give me a shot of some sort of steroid in my knee (please also forgive any 'roid rage) & have me take some strong anti-inflammatory medicine. He said that a simple solution is to have me work on strengthening my leg muscles. I start physical therapy on Friday morning.

The good news is that I can start running again next week! Woo hoo! I'm super excited about that. No surgery (yet) and I can hit the road again.