Shin Splints

So after complaining about pain in my calves.....I asked one of the Personal Trainers at the gym I go to and showed him where I hurt and he said I had shin splints.  Ugh!       Wish I had google images this earlier - the Posterior Tibial Stress Syndrome pain is 100% me! Sweet. not!           

So I was told to go home, rest, NO running for a minimum of a week and to ice and foam roll.

Of course I had to google this when I got home and sure enough wikipedia and a ton of other sites agree.

If you're feeling kinda nerdy like me right now- I'll sum some stuff up for ya regarding Shin Splints so you dont have to waste time on google and can spend that valuable time on facebook instead.

1. Shin Splints are caused by exercise such as running, jumping, swimming, cycling, dancing or other sports

2. The onset of shin splints is most common after exercise, caused by high-impact training, excessive training, poor technique or biomechanical problems such as flat feet or pronation.

3. Standing for long periods of time and wearing high-heeled shoes may also induce shin splints (But I LOVE My High-Heeled shoes!!)

4. Shin splints can be initially treated with rest, ice to reduce inflammation, non-steroidal anti-inflammation drugs and physiotherapy

5, For healing, rest may be required for a couple of weeks or up to 3 months for severe cases.(Really hoping here a week or 2 of rest will do me good)

 (#1-5 source)

The only good thing out of this is that I have to study for an upcoming CPA exam - since I cant run I've been studying more - the trainer did say I can swim, cycle and elliptical, so tonight I did the elliptical in the gym. Felt good.   Then I foam rolled. I wanted to cry.  No not really but holy sweet moley - wowzers - pain pain pain.  Now that I know how to correctly use my foam roller - (I'll post on this later too!) yah these calves of mine are wayyyyy too tight and I dont help by wearing my pumps to work.....maybe I'll bring my flip flops and walk around the office in those instead, OR oooh pencil skirt and sneakers? LOL hmmm

Giveaway

So skinny runner is at it again - another giveaway! Check her out www.skinnyrunner.com
But don't enter because I want to win! Hhaha

The Mall

This is 100% accurate.  I love going to the mall, walking around, window shopping, browsing, and real shopping too.  Back in HS - me and my BFF were probably at the mall like everyday. I'm pretty sure she introduced me into the whole store credit card thing because I got my first store credit card at Express because of her. Heck she introduced me into Express too (this is 10 + years ago when Express was 10x better than it is now).

Ahh so Ok - Orlando has wayyyy too many Malls

- The old time favorite as its my 'home' mall

- Orlando Fashion Square Mall - the one thats now close to my current home - and was the fun place to go during lunch when I had a job close by in college

- The Mall at Millenia - ahh - Heaven on Earth- Love this place - its pretty new - opened in 2002 but still feels new! 

Orlando  also has The Florida Mall, West Oaks Mall, Oviedo Mall, Seminole Town Center, and then gobs of Outlet Malls :)

Ok what the heck is this rambling all about? I'm So Super excited! I went shopping tonight. With Spring here - stores send me emails about their new items - I've been DYING to go shopping to get a cute new spring/summer outfit.  Hubby is on a 'save money' kick so hes been trying to limit my mall adventures.

Tonight though - I had to go to Pearle Vision to drop my glasses off for my new lenses. They said it would take 30 mins - know whats next to Pearle Vision??? The Fashion Square mall!!! Now this place has gone downhill - lots of stuff has closed so I didnt think I'd find much but boy was I wrong. Their Limited is still in business and I helped keep them in business tonight.

I'm just so excited I had to share some of my cute new outfits.

I was SO excited - I did my infamous hold the iPhone to the mirror to take my own photos - classy - what can I tell ya.

I've been dying to find a khaki pencil skirt so I was so happy when I found this tonight. The purple top (also the same style as the one below) are 29.90 with 30% off right now. YAY for deals! Tried looking online but cant seem to find the top - maybe I have the price wrong....

When the hubby came home I told him I'm now content - the shopping bug is outta me. Hope you enjoyed my little fashion show. 

Run #62

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." - Jim Ryun

So today I walked home from work again (2.9 miles) - I'm kinda liking my walks. I think downtown Orlando is so pretty. Especially the water and the fountains.  Its a warm one - but I finally got smart and took my backpack which was great for walking.

So after I got home and cooling off and chit chatting with my mom, I went out for my run. I committed to myself that I'd do 2 miles - I have a 1/2 marathon I have to finish in oh 290ish days and I've only run 3.25 miles ever - 10 to go. No more 1 mile runs.

Lake Eola is a great place to run, hence how many people are around. Tonight was the square

Then the circle around the lake - I could do it. I had to! I cant let myself down. So I started out, and I felt like a turtle and an elephant at the same time

                                                                          (source)

My legs felt So heavy and I felt like I was running SO slow - I didnt want to look at the garmin - I was sure it was going to confirm my slowness but I said to myself oh well - youre out running and a run's a run so just get it over with. 

During my run:

1. I saw Kitzzy - waved at her - funny I see her more often now on my runs. Glad I saw her because I was at the point of where I wanted to quit and its kinda silly but just seeing someone I kinda know motivated me to keep going so thanks Kittzy!

2, Ran into a small child - its true - he was so eyeing something at the lake and was running towards it so like any logical thing I start going the opposite way but being a small unpredictable child, he changes path and WHAM right into me - I had to grab him otherwise he was going right to the ground.  Nobody was hurt and luckily my mental focus wasnt ruined.

3. Its HUMID - I probably sweated 10lbs. Or at least thats what it felt like.

4. I saw one of the Park Rangers bringing a swan back to the lake - I guess it wandered over to a local business so she was walking behind it making it go back home. I giggled when I saw it - it was too cute! Lake Eola has so many swans I <3 it!

Results of Run #62

Distance: 2.25 miles

Time: 21:09

Pace: 9:23 / Mile

M1 - 9:31

M2 - 9:18

M3 (.25) - 9:07 / mile pace

Run # 61

"Run hard, be strong, think big!" - Percy Cerutty

Tonight was a great run around my favorite place - Lake Eola. I initially set out to do a 2.5 mile run - but ended up pulling out a 3.25 mile run - I've never done this before. I'm really happy.

The calves are still super sore - its the inside of my calves near my ankle and its not the entire calf so I'm running out of guesses in determining whats wrong. Could I have bruised that part of my leg by foam rolling? Could they just be bruised?

The 1st mile was bad - only because my calves hurt - they felt so tight - like a rope being pulled. Im not sure if I forget about the pain or if it just stops but miles 2 and 3 were fine.

Tonight Brett ran too - he ran the opposite way from me so we could high-five eachother which was a HUGE motivator for me tonight to get to 3.25 miles. I also think what really helped me was not starting off super fast and not throwing in the towel too early. I figured if I started off slower and sped up then I might be able to go further, and I was right - and I wouldnt look at my pace until the very very end which was a smart move on my part.

Watch out Disney - I'm coming for ya! hahha

Results of Run #61
Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 31:28
Pace: 9:40 / mile
M1 - 10:01
M2 - 9:45
M3 - 9:29
M4 (.25) - 8:45 / mile pace

Run Disney

So on St. Patricks Day I did something crazy.....no I didn't go out and drink gren beer. I signed up for this...

The 2012 Disney 1/2 Marathon was happy to take my money and my husband's money and send me a confirmation that we are registered for the race. Oh my goodness. Craziness!!!

Hard to believe in 291 days from today I'll be right here

With what 20,000 other people? probably looking at my husband saying why did we do this? to which his reply will be, not we- you! you signed us up for this. LOL. I hope hope hope the weather will be decent like it was for the 2010 group and not like 2009 (record cold!).

I'm excited and nervous - my mom and mother in law have committed to coming and cheering us on so I'm really excited about that.  I just have to get serious about training and I'm SO thankful I have 291 days to add 10 miles to my training.

So tell me - have you ran Disney? What did you think?
Have you run a 1/2 before? how much time did you give yourself to train?

Garlic Chile Shrimp with Rice

Ok so this might not look extremely good from the picture - BUT it is yummy if you like Shrimp and Garlic and Orange flavor.

Besides being Yummy - this is SO easy to make (especially when you buy shrimp already cooked)

Ingredients:

1 Cup refrigerated ginger salad dressing
2 Tablespoons roasted garlic
4 Tablespoons Orange Marmalade
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Chili pepper blend paste (if you're into spice add a 2nd teaspoon)
1/2 lb - 1lb cooked shrimp

Steps:
1. In a small sauce pan combine all ingredients above (minus the shrimp). Allow sauce to simmer on low until ready to serve (about 15 mins) Stir occassionally

2. While sauce is simmering make 2 cups of Rice ( I use Minute rice because its quick and easy - if youre talented or have a rice cooker - sticky rice would be awesome!!)

3. When rice is ready, using a serving spoon, spoon 2 spoonfulls onto a plate and sperad the rice evenly.
Place 6-8 medium size shrimp ontop of rice

4. Spoon the sauce overtop the rice and shrimp (I do about 2-3 large spoonfulls, using a serving spoon).

Sauce Serves 4 - for me and Brett this is an easy meal for 2 nights.

Run # 60

"Keep varying the program. Your body will tell you what to do."  - Joan Benoit Samuelson

Ok so this is my most favorite running shirt. It's really comfortable and eventhough I'm a hot sweaty mess I dont feel gross in it after my run.

I'm behind on my studying - studying for what? The CPA exam.  Yah I know makes my stomach turn too.

So tonight I didnt really want to run but I wanted to do something - I was in between 1 mile and 2 - the 1.25 mile won. My calves still hurt - I think I've pulled them. They kill once I get going and then they stop maybe about .25 of a mile in..... not sure what that means but ugh worst pain ever.  I'm not foam rolling them to see if that helps because oh goodness does that hurt bad.

Not sure whats going on in blog land but everyone seems to be posting about food latey - I'm notorious for always being the last to know, so if there was a memo that went out I didnt get it. So I thought ooh I'll join in on the cool kids and post some pics of my dinner tonight that I love to make. So stay tuned.

Results of Run #60
Distance: 1.25 miles
Time: 10:47
Pace: 8:37 / mile
M1 - 8:54
M2 (.25) - 7:37 / mile

It's giveaway time

Skinny Runner has a giveaway on her blog for some compression socks!!
Www.skinnyrunner.com


(I'm bad blogging at work and on my iPhone so no fancy post until later)

Love Orlando

I attend the  First Baptist Church of Orlando. We are a 15,000 member Church and Give approximately $1.5 million per year to missions, the largest contributor of any Southern Baptist Church in the U.S. The Church started the Love Orlando campaign to give back to the community. I will admit, with my hectic schedule and speed bumps in life, I havent been to Church in a while so I do not know exactly when Love Orlando started.


Info on Love Orlando
How did we get started?
        First Baptist Orlando wanted to serve the community and show God’s love to others. They began organizing and participating in service projects around town. Other people from around the community joined in wanting to help others, too. And it grew from there

Who are we?
       It’s really simple. We are people that Love Orlando because God loves Orlando. We love the people of this community and we want to make a difference in their lives. No membership required to Love Orlando. All you need is a heart that loves God and wants to show others God’s love through your service to them.


What are we doing?
       We are helping people in Orlando. We are involved in projects like painting a school that needs a fresh look, delivering cookies to nurses in appreciation of their dedication to helping others, feeding the homeless, mentoring children, and much more.



On 60 minutes last week, Orlando was featured in the 'Hard times generation: homeless kids'

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/06/60minutes/main20038927.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

In response to this, our guest speaker today focused on this story and what we as a church could do. His goal was for us to raise $1 million. After 3 services (Saturday night, and the 2 regular Sunday services) my Church family raised $5.6 million for Love Orlando! This will be a huge benefit to the Orlando area/community. It was amazing to see this happen today and I cant wait to watch how lives will be changed and hope other Churches across the country follow suit and start the process of improving their communities.

Run # 59

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it." -Oprah Winfrey

Lake Eola is a great running spot. You can run the walking path around the lake, which can be crowded with people or can be completely empty - it all depends on the day. OR you can run the square (shown above).  Brett and I like to go out and say how much of the cootie shot are we running (aka - 2 squares and 1 circle, a square and a circle, 2 circles - etc etc) - we are silly what can I say.

So over the weekend the weather here was really nice - not to hot, not to cold - but of course we waited until late to go run and it was a tad bit chilly for my taste.  Now ok real quick I'm digressing about my run to talk about the Oprah quote - for once I feel shes right. I went and re-read a lot of my posts and wow I've kinda come a long way since I 'started'. Over time I am going further and getting faster which is amazing. I guess I just had to step back and take a look (which is why this blog is great because I can 'see' my past).  Do I get frustrated about my running and time and distance?? YES! Do I think its become easier? Yes and No - running 1 mile is 'easy' now mentally - 2 is almost easy - 3 is still a work in progress but I'm getting there. So I'm definately getting everything out of it that I'm putting into it and need to stick with my 'ah ha' moment a few weeks ago and put into it 3,4,5+ miles. :)

Ok so the run - run went well - left calf is still sore - its odd, I start running and it is so tight but once I get maybe a 1/2 mile in it doesnt hurt as bad. So I'm still taking it 'easy' foam rolling and compression socks after my runs - I almost think I'm doing the foam roller too much since almost any pressure kills. If this keeps up - a visit to a dr might be in my future.

Results of Run #59
Distance: 2.60
Time: 24:34
Pace: 9:27 / mile
M1 - 9:22
M2 - 9:34
M3 (.6) -  9:22 / mile pace

Run # 58

"There are clubs you can't belong to, neighborhoods you can't live in, schools you can't get into, but the roads are always open."   - Nike

I'm a few days behind but wanted to talk about my adventure. I'm really fortunate to work close to home - I live downtown but dont work downtown but its close - so I drive (or coordinate with the hubby to carpool since his car is a stick and I dont feel I'm good enough to drive stick just yet. )

Ok so anyways - I schemed up a plan to have hubby drop me off at work and then I would walk home. I had to scheme it since the walk could be considered kinda sketch in some spots - but for the most part its a highly traveled road and I carried my pepper spray just in case so I was good to go.

I walked 2.9 miles home from work in 50:xx mins - not too bad for a lot of traffic lights and for lugging probably 20 lbs of crap with me (gym bag with my cpa books, note book, purse, and just crap i didnt take out).  I was fortunate to receive some honks by people driving by - (its not necessary people - just a little FYI). About 1/2 way I was thinking to myself why did I come up with this little stunt?? But once I made it home, I felt really good - granted it took a little while but it was a nice warmup for a run. So once I got settled at home, grabbed the iPod and went back out to the lake.

Once I started running I could tell how tired my legs were from the long luggage hauling walk. (I need to think Backpack next time!!!) I'm kinda a freak when it comes to numbers, so I told myself you have to run 2.1 to make today's mileage an even 5.  So thats what I did, a 2.9 mile walk followed by a 2.1 mile run. Legs felt great during the run which was surprising - Friday though was another story - they werent too happy.  We'll see what they say this weekend.

Results of Run #58
Distance: 2.1 miles
Time: 18:56
Pace: 9:00 / mile
M1 - 9:07
M2 - 9:02
M3 (.1) - 7:36 / mile pace

Run # 57

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second." - William James

Tonight was a good run - I definately had a 2nd wind tonight and it felt great!
The calves are still sore / hurt. Its only my left leg and its the inside of my calf so I'm not 100% sure whats going on. Sunday night I ran on the treadmill 1.6 miles and it felt ok, so tonight I didnt want to over do it so I stayed cautious on the distance. Pace is another story.

So I set out to do my square around the lake and there was a group of people meeting up, so while dodging them, someone wasnt paying attention opening their car door and nearly nailed me. That wouldnt have been fun. Like seriously people pay attention and if youre meeting up with a group, dont hog the sidewalk!

Little did I know it was the Orlando Runners and an old co-worker, Jack, (who got me into Triathlons) was there so I waved but he didnt see me. So I finish the square and decide to double down and go again. Well I was maybe a half mile in and wanted to die when Jack came up behind me. We started chatting / running together and WOW I've never done that before. Running / Chatting is a lot of fun and I totally forgot I was running and where I was until the garmin buzzed.  He also told me meetup.com is how Orlando Runners sets up their meets but they usually meet Tues and Thurs at lake eola (or thats what i'm assuming). So I might give it a try. 

Though when I said goodbye at the 2.5 mile mark for me he kept going and I'm torn on running tonight. When I finished I though I should have kept going and done 3 but at the same time with this calf issue, I want to play it safe and gradually increase so come Thurs the Goal Big is 3 miles.

Results of Run #57
Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 24:13
Pace: 9:40 / mile
M1 - 9:35
M2- 9:51
M3 (.50) - 9:28 / mile 

Run #56

It felt like Christmas in this house yesterday!! My SR shirt came in the mail!! (Sorry folks for the ghetto mirror/iphone photo - the hubby wasnt home to take pics and I neeeeeeeded a pic asap!!)

I LOVE this shirt. I think its hilarious. Today I went running in it. I wish I had 2 because I want to wear it tomorrow too - I might say screw it and wear it again - sweat dries over night and a little stink never killed anyone. hahaha ewww but I dont care - it was really comforable. I secretly was hoping someone would read it and point and laugh or something but none of that happened tonight. I had a few times where I thought I noticed someone trying to read it as I went by, but I couldn't tell. Always another day right?  Ok Ok last few things about this shirt - if you were lucky enough to order one congrats!! SR is all sold out - hopefully soon she'll sell some more because I know I'm interested in a 2nd. I got a size small, I was nervous about the sizing but I think its great, I think the extra small would have been too short for my liking. 

hahahahahha I'm Tough

Yah Ok I'm not that tough - my run killed me tonight. It was windy tonight so running into a head wind sucked, and then we've had some large fires in Daytona Beach so now all the smoke has headed into Orlando so it was smokey out tonight. THEN my calves were angry at me (thanks Kitzzy for the term I <3 it). holy smokes were they so tight/sore - when I finished my run I felt like I needed to crawl home, just so I wouldnt have to walk.  Anyone out there in blog land have any ideas on what causes horrible calf pain?

Results of Run #56

Distance: 2.05 miles

Time: 20:00

Pace: 9:45 / mile

February 2011 Summary

What a month February was. Lots happened in my personal life that disrupted my workout schedule but I am glad I still logged a decent amount of miles and that I'm able to get out there and swim,bike, run!

Coming up March is going to be hard. Have the CPA Exam scheduled for April and May so like I've said before, blogging may be cut down (unless anyone out there knows a way to memorize everything the day before the exam hahah).

31.64 miles in February

Running: 20.17 miles

Biking: 7.25 miles

Walking: 3.08 miles

Swimming: 1.14 miles

Run # 55

"Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage" -George Patton

I needed courage today running. The hubby and I stayed the weekend at his parents (aka our weekend getaway house since we 'live in the city') so we got up, took the Kady Monster for a 1 mile walk then decided to go for a run. I've posted before about this, its a great 1.5 mile loop around the neighborhood BUT there are 'hills' - I do not like Florida hills. ---> Kady after her 2.5 miles - she was really tired

Ok ok maybe they arent hills but thats what us natives call them. If you can look down the road and see the road incline or decline, that equals a hill. hahah. They suck! ugh! As usual, we start running and about .1 mile into the run I'm dreading it - the way we go we have to conquer 3 'hills'.

I'm not sure how but we finished - oooh - Brett also used his Garmin 305 I got him for Valentines day. He really likes it - I have the Garmin 310XT that I love for the whole triathlon thing, that I havent done in a while but thats another story, but what I really like is how it tracks your pace instantly. My 310 is a little slow in that area.  I felt like this run was way slow - to my surprise at the end it wasnt. Still trying to figure out how the 305 works so i'll get the splits up soon.

Results of Run #55
Distance: 1.50
Time: 13:31
Pace: 9:00 / mile