Getting in Shape...Again

A year ago almost exactly my fitness world was knocked completely out of the ballpark when my kneecap came out of place during a run. It was all down hill from there and I'm not getting into all of that again but needless to say I spent the last year not being very fitness minded. Granted, I did join a gym to workout, spin and swim when I wasn't in and out of physical therapy. After the surgery, I literally sat in the recliner for months. Needless to say my muscle mass is pitiful now except for my upper arms from two months of crutches. Physical therapy went until the end of June and so finally in July I could rethink my workouts and decide how I was going to get back in shape and stay in shape without running.

This is my plan, which I have to adapt weekly as to my schedule. I'm two weeks in and its going pretty well. What's nice is that I'm not going to the gym right now because its so nice outside but everything I'm doing can be moved inside when the weather gets colder.

Monday

I do my core workout on Monday. In a few weeks I will add some short cardio on as well and then later some short bursts of HIIT. For now, Monday is a day that if I need to miss a workout I can and just add it on to another day.

Tuesday

I do between 30-60 minutes of cardio and since I'm not running, I walk on Tuesdays. I've found the best calorie burn walking is to do hills. So if you are familiar with Pittsburgh and where we live, I walk Stanton from our apartment through Stanton Heights and down to Lawrenceville and back. It's only a little more than a four mile walk but it takes approximately an hour because the incline is so steep part of the way up from Lawrenceville and on the other side from Morningside/Highland Park.

Wednesday

I do an upper body workout on Wednesday focusing on my arms, shoulders and back. Eventually as with Monday, I will add light cardio and HIIT.

Thursday

Thursday is a repeat of Tuesday with cardio and the time amount. The only thing I change is that I bike (or try to) on Thursdays. Right now, I'm riding Dennis' bike since I don't have one but I'm not sure how long I can do that because it sucks. I might even go rent one of those ones that are all over the city.

Friday

I do a total body strength workout on Friday.

Saturday

Same as Tuesday and Thursday, although on Saturday I swim! My favorite cardio day! 

Sunday

Sunday is supposed to be a rest day but I think I'm going to start doing yoga again at the gym. I need to improve my flexibility again and hopefully it will help me relax.

I'm not perfect. So believe me, there is rarely a week that goes by  that I get some sort of a workout in everyday. Sometimes I do more than on on the weekends to make up for a lousy week. I'm happy with getting a workout in five days a week.

Alright, let me know if you want to work out sometime together!

Goodbye Running, I'll Miss You

Today was the first official training run led by the Pittsburgh Marathon. Today should have been my first official training run as well - a chilly three-mile run through the streets of Morningside and around the Highland Park Reservoir.

That was not the case however, because according to my surgeon (who did not even operate on my knee but provided a consultation of non-surgical treatments) I will never complete a training run again, let alone a half-marathon.

My orthopedic doctor at UPMC Sports Medicine was confident that I would run in May but her colleague, my knee surgeon, unfortunately did not share those opinions.

And so for the moment, as I would normally be posting my first half-marathon training post, I am writing to announce my retirement from a sport that I have grown to love so much in the last few years.

I was never fast but I loved running in Highland Park and at Lakeside and around the Navy Stadium in Annapolis. I loved those last 1-2 miles of adrenaline that pulled you through the Great Race or the half-marathon. I loved that amazing feeling of accomplishment at the finish line.

There is always the chance that I may run around the reservoir but I'll never see that finish line again. My surgeon said that running would only further irritate my knee injury and result in more treatments or possibly surgery in the future.

Right now my knee is almost pain-free after a cortisone shot and another draining. The surgeon said I did not need to return to physical therapy and am finally without my brace after almost five months. He also wanted me to receive shots to lubricate my knee joint but my orthopedic doctor and some friends with knee problems said that was not a good solution.

So, its just a waiting game right now. How long will the cortisone shot last? Will a workout routine of low-impact exercises (swimming, cycling, elliptical, etc). combined with weight training help strengthen the work done in physical therapy? If the problems persist, do I see a third doctor?

Those questions remain unanswered right now. It has taken a few weeks for me to grasp the realization that I won't be running in my fourth half-marathon in May or that I won't be spending the majority of my afternoons this summer running at the park.

It hasn't been easy but I'm young and healthy (other than my knee and my sinuses) and I want to preserve my knee as much as can so that I can still play tennis, walk another Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and live my life knee pain free and without the brace.

Life goes on and even though running has been such a presence in my life these last few years, I'll find a new hobby, a new workout to replace it. I already have one in mind...swim to Kelley's Island!!! I've wanted to do it since I was little. Who's with me?

And one last thing, save your knees! They aren't as strong as you think!

Revert to My 99th Blog Post

Lately, I've been trying to schedule blog post ideas in an effort to help me post more regularly. Today's post idea: My 99th Blog Post.

Turns out I wrote that post following my second half-marathon: Runner of Steel Recap.

Kind of ironic now looking back because I'm coming off an injury that has the potential to affect my running moving forward. The good news is that I've been running, I've been discharged from physical therapy and that my therapist doesn't even want me running with the brace. The bad news is that now I really do have a bad knee, in addition to being incredibly out of shape from not running.

The next few weeks will hopefully tell if I will be able to run more than a few miles on a treadmill. At this point, I'm thinking that running the relay is much more realistic than trying to run the half again. We'll see...

Anybody interested in joining a relay team? Let me know.

Returning to My Roots

I love swimming. It's my favorite. If it weren't for my eczema, I'd like to think that swimming would have been my sport and not tennis.

Well, after my running set back this summer, swimming seemed my only workout option besides slow walking that wouldn't do any more damage to my busted knee.  I went to North Park and Highland Park Pools a handful of times and then last weekend we joined LA Fitness. I'm addicted to the pool.

Even swimming isn't easy with my knee. I won't lie. I can't kick as hard. I do flip turns one legged. Yesterday was a breakthrough for me and feeling bad for myself with my knee problems. I met a woman in the pool who had a knee problem that would never get better. Mine will. She encouraged me.

Then after weeks of trying to do the breast stroke kick. I finally mastered it! That might seem like nothing but for someone who is used to being incredibly active and swim like a fish this is a setback because my knee wouldn't move that way but with perseverance it did! I was so happy!

So, I'm enjoying being back in the pool. The Great Race might not happen but I'm OK with that if I can run at least one race a year and get back to my active lifestyle.

My New Armor

Today and indefinitely, I'm sporting this lovely piece of armor on my left knee. Aren't you jealous? Don't you wish you had this awesome accessory? Be glad you don't because the pain and hassle are so not worth it.

 

Tennis and running have not been kind to my knees. But just like in middle school when eczema threatened to become an end to my love of swimming, I am not going to let some knee issues keep me from two of my favorite activities.

Last fall, I sprained my knee doing too many lunges. Well since then it has been a roller coaster ride as far as if it will work or not to run. Last week, after what I thought was a great short run, my knee decided it was done.

For more than a week my knee was so stiff that I could hardly bend it. It was so swollen. It felt like when you have a fat lip, only I felt like I had a fat knee. And it was moving and crunching and just plain painful.

So after a visit to Urgent Care followed by a visit to UPMC Sports Medicine plus multiple X-rays...the prognosis is there is fluid around the knee, possible cartilage damage and a shifted knee cap (gross I know.)

According to the doctor, I WILL BE RUNNING in the Great Race in a few weeks so to make that happen I have water exercises to reduce the swelling (if that doesn't work I have to be drained) and a stabilizing brace, hence my new armor to help the knee cap. Plus an MRI soon.

At first I was pretty down about my latest running setback but I'm trying to be positive and I will overcome this challenge. I missed the Great Race the last two years because of late registration. This is my year! I'm going to run this city with the help of my new armor!