KNEES!

So, as I was walking today with my friend, we decided to take a different route than usual.  This different route took us down a small, barely-two-lane road with no sidewalks.  Normally, I'd be very concerned, but this road is hardly ever travelled; plus we could see cars coming with plenty of time to get over for them to pass.  So I wasn't too concerned.

Of course, we hadn't been in the road for two minutes when a large moving-type truck came barrelling toward us.  My friend had her little one in a jogging stroller, so she was able to get off into the grass.  I, with my dinky little umbrella stroller, had to fight my way through the thick underbrush (which, of course, was the same thickness as what my friend so easily navigated).  Once the truck passed, my friend was a little ahead, so I decided to jog up to meet her.  I shuffled along, pain in every step.  Definitely thought to myself, "This was a mistake.  I'm obviously not physically ready to run."

Another car came through, and again I found myself just a few yards behind my friend.  I don't know what possessed me, but I decided to jog up to her again.  This time, though, I actually picked my knees up more as I ran.  And lo and behold: it didn't hurt as badly.  It still hurt, so I won't be running any marathons anytime soon, but I may have had a small epiphany there.  It actually excited me to know that there was something I could do to my form to lessen the pain of running.  It makes me want to work harder, just to get to the point of jogging a significant distance, in order to test this new form I've discovered.

(Of course, those of you who are active runners are probably rolling your eyes and snickering behind your hands at my realization of something so obvious.  Well, to that I say: Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.)

I will say, however, that I'm a little concerned that the pain in my knees isn't getting any better.  I mean, I'm not expecting them to be pain-free overnight, but I'm a little worried that I may have done irreparable damage to them by being so sedentary all that time.  If I can't see any improvement in a couple of weeks, I may go to the doctor and make sure there isn't something else going on.  I'll keep you updated!

Workout for Monday, 20 September

Had a GREAT walk today with my friend around our village.  Took a slight detour from our regular route, and VOILA!  Nearly three miles!!

Walked: approx. 45 minutes
Distance: 2.9 miles

Workout for Thursday, 16 September

Got a good walk in today ... and increased my speed quite a bit.  Yay!

Walked: 40 minutes
Distance: 2.25 miles

UGH ... BLAH ... and lots of other yucky-like noises ...

Okay, so I fell off the wagon today.  Like, BIG.  I ate an entire box (that's eight, to the layperson) of chocolate-frosted donuts.  AN ENTIRE BOX.

I'm recording this moment of weakness for two reasons:

1. Accountability: You guys and gals will read this, shake your heads and tsk in pity and shame, and that will remind me never to do this again (because I hate feeling pitied and shamed); and
2. History: This will act as my proverbial walk of shame.  If I record how amazingly gross I feel right now, the next time I'm tempted to down almost 1400 calories (yeah, you read that right, folks) I can come to this post and remember how vile it feels to know that I ate nearly my entire daily calorie allowance in thirty minutes.

And they weren't even that good.  Kinda waxy, which makes me wonder how long I'll be paying for this transgression, if you get my meaning.  (One word: YIKES.)

Anyway, for what it's worth, sorry folks.  Or really, I should be saying, Sorry Heather.  Won't happen again.

Now get back up, dust yourself off, and get back in the race.

Workout for Tuesday, 14 September

Got in a good workout today, in the rain no less!  Had to transfer The Munchkin to my friend's double jogger since I don't have a rain cover for my little stroller (yet).

Walked: 45 minutes
Distance: 2.4 miles

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming ...

Sorry I've been AWOL, folks.  I went on vacation for a week and forgot to post here that I'd be an absentee blogger for a while.  But I'm roaring to get back into the swing of things, especially since I got some decent exercise while on vacay: walking on the beach, at tourist attractions, to dinner, etc.  Can't really quantify it, but I feel like I did some good.

So lace up those shoes, peeps ... let's get movin'!