Woe is me.

I've been sidelined. For the past week, I've been running with some painful shin splints. I haven't had a good run since the Valentine's Virginia is for Lovers 14K. I started having pain when I ran 3 miles in my Under Armour cross trainers so I was thinking once I switched to my new running shoes I'd be fine. That day I ran 3 miles, I ran on a treadmill, with an incline, which I never do, and tried to up my speed. I think my body just wasn't ready for it and that's what's causing the pain in my legs, not running 3 miles in the cross trainers.

I was going to keep running through the pain because I didn't want to fall behind on my half marathon training. The half marathon in April will be here before I know it. After asking my wise, fellow running enthusiasts on the Purse Forum and Krystle, a Body Step instructor at Golds, what I should do, I have decided to take at least a 1 week break from running. I don't mind running through pain but, it seemed like running through shin splints without trying to recover, could lead to worse injuries, such as stress fractures.

Here is some of the great advice I've received thus far and am trying to follow:
(Thanks again Krystle and Purse Forum running thread friends, especially Ali, Frankie, Cristina and WestEndGirl.)

1. Verify you are wearing the correct type of shoes. I never used to think buying the right shoes made a difference but, now that I'm trying to run 15-20 miles a week, I can definitely feel the benefits of having the correct shoe. I'm no expert when it comes to running shoes but, there are various types of running shoes for overpronation, underpronation and neutral pronation. The first time I was fitted for shoes I was told I overpronate slightly and was recommended stability running shoes. Two weeks ago when I was fitted for shoes, I was told that the stability running shoe was over-correcting and switched to a neutral shoe. I haven't been able to determine if the neutral shoe is better because the shin splint pain is all I can really focus on during my runs.

I've also read that running shoes should be replaced after approximately 500 miles. Old shoes with inadequate cushioning could also be a cause for shin splints.

2. Avoid high impact activities until your shin splints are gone. Some low impact activities you can try are biking, swimming, walking, hiking, elliptical machine and weight training. You can do step aerobics but, limit yourself to one or no risers and keep the intensity low. For the week that I won't be running, I will still try to cover the mileage in my half marathon training but, I'll be doing it through walking, hiking, and the elliptical machine. Yesterday I was scheduled to run 3 miles but, biked to the park instead and walked 3 miles.

2. Apply ice for at least 15 minutes to areas where you are in pain, preferably within 30 minutes of finishing up your run. I did this for the first time last night (while watching America's Best Dance Crew), even though I didn't run. I'll try to be more diligent about applying ice as I increase my running.

3. Increase your intake of Potassium and drinks with electrolytes. Some common foods that are high in Potassium are bananas, milk, cantaloupes, oranges, meat, poultry and fish. Those with diseases, such as diabetes, should not be increasing their Potassium intake drastically.

4. Apply Kinesio Tex tape. According to the Kinesio tape website, Kinesio tape "gives support and stability to your joints and muscles to prevent over-contraction without affecting circulation and range of motion." Basically, Kinesio tape will assist you as you try to go through your normal physical activities and prevent you from injuring yourself further as you try to recover. I've been told that it is extremely important to watch the videos on how to apply this tape. If applied incorrectly, the tape will be useless and a waste of money. I want to check out the running store before I try to order this online. You know I hate shipping costs.

Four great tips I hope to be following as I recover and try to stay injury free.

It's frustrating because I was starting to really enjoy running. I've always been into sports but, hated running by itself. I'm just grateful that physical activities aren't completely out of the picture.

Okay, end sob story.

Have a great weekend! I will hopefully be going to Joe's Crab Shack tonight and finally get to order the steam bucket. I don't want to get too excited because last time I did there was a last minute change of plans.

What Would have been my MAC Hello Kitty and Creme Team haul

I've been avoiding the MAC counters on purpose. I know whenever I go to a MAC counter I usually end up getting at least one item. Sooo, I've just been appreciating the MAC Hello Kitty and Creme Team collections from afar, mostly through everyone else's blogs and hauls.

Another reason I haven't bought any MAC items is because I'm on this workout gear kick. Whenever I get into a new hobby, I tend to go all out, wanting to buy everything related to my new hobby. For example, when I started getting into MAC again, I would buy something from MAC almost everyday to build up my collection as fast as I could.

Without further ado..drum roll please..the following is why I cannot go to the MAC counter:
I ordered the Garmin Forerunner 50 bundle (pictured on the right) from Costco because it was being offered at a very good price. However, I was disappointed to find out that the calories you burn were calculated through your footpod, which attaches to your shoe, that measured your distance not by the heart rate monitor. Basically the heart rate monitor on the Garmin was useless to me. Yeah, great, I know my heart rate while I'm exercising but, I would have rather known what were my calories burned at different heart rates instead.

And that is why I also have the Polar F6 watch pictured on the left. That's actually a heart rate monitor that calculates your calories burned by weight, height, gender, and heart rate. Both the Garmin and Polar heart rate monitors use a strap that goes around your chest while you workout. Not too inconvenient but does take some getting used to. In the beginning, I kept on adjusting the tightness of the strap to a point where the strap isn't falling while I'm working out or leaving indentations on my body because it's so tight.

So, there was my dilemma. Which one do I keep? You want to guess which one I picked...BOTH! I'm so bad. I told myself I NEEEEDED both. I need the Garmin to measure my running distances outside and help me improve my running time, especially since I'm trying to run longer distances. I need the Polar for when I do the classes at Gold's. I'm so envious after class when everyone's doing a roll call of all their calories they just burnt during class. I tried to wear my Garmin to Turbo Kick class and was freaking out because the heart rate monitor wasn't working. Come to find out, it didn't matter if it was working or not because calories weren't being calculated by the heart rate monitor like I said above.

This also brings me to my next argument for my workout gear haul. I NEEEEED two different types of shoes - one for running and one for the classes at the gym, usually Step class, Body Attack, Turbo Kick, etc. Basically classes that cause a lot of impact and shock on your body that running shoes aren't really good for. So, my generous boyfriend, bought me Under Armour Proto Speed II Trainer shoes. Under Armour just recently released their line of running/training shoes this past January. In the picture, you'll also see my gloves and headband for running in the cold. I'm hoping to get new running shoes next weekend.


To complete by cold weather running gear ensemble, I bought the tightest outfit ever. And by tight I don't mean "cool", I mean actually physically tight. I've never tried on cold weather running gear before. My, is it snug. I ended up getting black Under Armour tights, long sleeved blue Under Armour shirt, and a lightweight grey Under Armour jacket. Under Armour is quickly becoming my favorite brand.
And that folks is why you aren't seeing my MAC haul and my reasons why I NEEEED all that workout stuff. I feel a little bit less guilty about buying workout gear. It's for my health right? Even if if I don't do well in my upcoming races, at least I'll be a well dressed runner with some high tech running gadgets crossing the finish line last.

P.S. Next on my wishlist are running shoes, insoles that the manager at Dick's Sporting Goods was showing me, and Oakley sunglasses.

She's a Maniac

She's a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she's dancing like she never danced before
She's a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she's dancing like she never danced before
by Hall And Oates (I had to verify was who really sang it because I was corrected in one of my previous posts.)

Anywho, I've been feeling maniac-like lately with my workouts. Instead of dancing though, I've been exercising. I guess sometimes I am dancing during some of my classes like step. Currently, I have three things motivating me:

1. My Iphone "Lose It" app
2. Training for the half marathon in April
3. Fitness challenge at Gold's Gym.

I talked about this Iphone app called "Lose It" that I'm real hyped up about. I even talked about this app on my status message on Facebook. Being able to see how many calories you consume has really regulated my eating. Before there was no holding me back when I ate. Now it's like, dang how many calories are in that tiny sorry piece of cake. The true test, however, is the weekend. I messed up last weekend when I went to a baby shower, out to a club and then the next day was the Super Bowl. I finally stopped counting calories those days after I reached my allowable calorie intake but, I'm sure I went way over, like 1000 calories. Then this past Monday, I really started sticking to my recommended daily intake of 1512 calories. I've been doing pretty good with not going over my target.















As you can see I don't always eat the healthiest of food (note the ice cream cake, spinach dip, hawaiian bread, and fried chicken) so I usually end up hungry because what I eat isn't satisfying. Kind of like splurging on makeup when I should be paying the electric bill. On the left hand screen capture, where it says shells, those were actually these mini-shells that you put chicken salad in. I haven't gotten desperate enough to eat seashells if that's what you were thinking.

If it wasn't for my workouts after work, I would have been over on my calories everyday this week. With the half marathon training, I'm running on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. For this past week, I've been running 3 miles on those days so that's about 300 calories lost for each of those days. Plus I'm doing the Gold's Gym fitness challenge. It's basically a punch card and you get a punch for every class you attend. Once you get 10 punches on your card, your name goes into a drawing and you can win a variety of prizes including a heart rate monitor. During those classes I usually burn between 400-500 calories.

I'm actually glad I have the half marathon and fitness challenge to motivate me. All those calories give me flexibility during dinner. On Tuesday, I went to the gym to "earn" more calories so we could eat at Panchero's, this Mexican restaurant we wanted to try and Skinny Dip, a low-fat frozen yogurt place.

I'm hoping I can keep this up without getting burnt out or frustrated enough to quit. I haven't weighed myself because they took the scale out of the women's locker room at Gold's. I'm thinking about buying a scale tonight.

I also purchased the Garmin Forerunner 50 bundle so that I know exactly how far I've run. It comes with:

• USB ANT stick
• Heart rate monitor
• Foot pod
• Owner's Manual
  

I was excited about it because when I was researching it, I found the watch retailed for $99 by itself and the foot pod was about $119. I was able to find this bundle for $80 at Costco.

If you're interested in purchasing one, I got it here. I was hoping I'd get it by this Saturday when I plan on running outside. According to the tracking number, though, I won't be getting it until Monday.

I'll be running a relay called Virginia is for Lovers with my coworker on Valentine's Day Morning. It's a 14K so one of us will run 4.1 miles and the other person will run 4 miles.

June 9, 2009

According to this Iphone app I just downloaded, I will reach my goal weight by June 9, 2009. This app is really neat. If you are trying to lose weight and you have an Iphone, it will really help you. It keeps track of your calories consumed and burned and what your calorie intake should be throughout the day. It also lists a lot of restaurant foods and activities that burn calories, allowing for easy searching and logging of calories.

I put in what I've already eaten so far. Geez, I eat a lot. I only have 182 calories left that I can consume, unless I work out, and I still haven't eaten dinner. At least it's opening my eyes too how many calories I consume. It's so easy to keep eating and not worry about the amount of calories in each food and drink.

Find these images and others plus more information on the "Lose It" app here.

Next on my list ..... Olympics

Well, I've done it. I just signed up to accomplish one of the goals on my "Things I would like to Conquer" list. I'll be running the Dismal Swamp Stomp Half Marathon this April. I need to start running ASAP so that I won't end up crawling past the finish line.

If anyone would like to join me, just follow this link.

http://dismalswampstomp.kalerunning.com/

I started looking for a half marathon beginner schedule and I liked the quote they added at the end.

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian