A Place of Rest.

Hello from the far away land of non-running! I am officially on week 3 of no running and am actually feeling pretty good. Once I accepted the fact that I wasn’t running Broad Street, I was able to embrace taking some necessary time off. I have been enjoying Gossip Girl the Elliptical machine (lies!), incline walking, and even went back to Bikram last week. However, the studio I go to doesn’t have the most sophisticated of HVAC systems, and I think it was approximately 150 degrees in there. During about 50% of the standing poses, I just stood there staring at the floor in front of me thinking “Don’t pass out. Ohhhh I’m gonna barf. Oh no. Just try to make it to the floor poses.” It was terrible and my body was messed up the entire next day. I’ve heard that it is “normal” to feel dizzy now and then during Bikram, but probably not for the first 30 minutes of class. I definitely have to remember to have a small snack before Bikram to keep my blood sugar up. Yikes.

This continues to be The Strangest Injury of All Time Ever. The shooting pelvic pain has subsided (thank goodness for that), and my groin no longer feels like it’s pulled. This week, however, the pain has graciously decided to switch it up, and moved onto my hip flexor. It’s now better described as a “prominent twinge” rather than “pain”. Really, the best way to describe The Injury as a whole is that it feels like my leg isn’t connected properly to my hip. (Did you ever remove Barbie’s leg and try to reattach it?) Regardless, I am convinced that it’s some sort of hip-alignment issue.

BUT, actually, as we speak (speak?) I am feeling pretty good, and am going to “attempt” running tonight. I am definitely not going push it; more like a “walk/run”. I just like to try and assess the situation every 5 days or so. Plus, I’m registered for a 5K on Saturday for a charity, and need to decide whether I should back out entirely, which would be fine with me. If tonight’s “run” doesn’t go well, I’m officially going to make a doctor’s appointment. Keep ya posted!

Since I can’t really talk about running, I’ll talk about food! In our household, we try to participate in the whole “Meatless Monday” movement. Why? Mostly just to get creative and switch up the protein routine. Plus, usually after weekends of over-indulgence, it’s nice to give the digestive system a break from heavier meats. I’ve been experimenting with Indian spices lately, and also like to make a batch of quinoa early in the week to pack for lunches. So I decided to combine the two! I guess you could call this Indian-Mexican-Fusion?

Ingredients: Quinoa, organic black beans, green pepper, onion, green beans, peanuts, curry powder, chili powder, avocado, Greek yogurt:

The Indian flavor was a welcome change, since I seem to cook with teriyaki and/or soy sauce way too much.

Spicy!

Plus, Meatless Mondays make way for… Red Meat Wednesday!! (…and Friday, and Saturday, and Sunday, these days!)

Another item of note, have you ever had a Minneola?

I tried one for the first time yesterday! They look like oranges, but have a little bump on the top. (They’re also called Honeybells because of this). They’re a vibrant orange color, and much easier to peel than regular oranges. I loved the taste, less tart than a regular orange but bursting with flavor.

Have a great week!

Qs:  Have feel dizzy during Bikram? Also, do you participate in Meatless Monday? (Recipe suggestions always welcome!)

 PS: NaturaStride thinkSport bottles are 30% off this week! Enter code HYDRATE2012 at checkout!! 

On Spectating, XTraining, Restina, etc.

Thanks for everyone’s encouraging comments from my last post! Blogging is funny, after I was finished writing that post, I had completely “worked through” my injury anger and had come to terms with it. It is what it is. In the grand scheme of running injuries, it’s not a big deal (hopefully). The timing is actually perfect, considering I was planning on taking a 2-3 month break before NYC training begins. So I am officially nestled into my cozy little injured circumstance, and am embracing a relaxed couple of months. I’ll still be cross training, and will hopefully fit in some mileage once I can do so pain-free. But it will be nice to not try and meet a weekly mileage number or try and push through something when my body is screaming at me telling me not to.

We woke up early on Sunday to be the best spectators we could be:

No, still am not sure what the injury is. The pain is now centralized on a specific area (groin – TMI?) which I guess is good so I can isolate it now.  I might try running this weekend to assess the pain, and decide whether I should see a doctor.

Cross Training

The primary goal through May & June is to give my body the break from as much impact as I can. I foresee a typical week looking something like this:

2 Days Rest

2 Days Elliptical or Incline Walking

1 Day Bikram

2 Days Running 5 miles max, “Naked” (no Garmin)

And, yes, I’m writing it on here to stay accountable. Hopefully come mid-July I’ll be ready for 16 weeks of marathon training.

I have previously mentioned that I despise the elliptical machine with a passion. I simply assume that everyone else on other elliptical machines must also be injured, as there is no other justifiable reason why one would choose this piece of equipment. However, I have a trick for you. Purchase a season(s) of a guilty pleasure TV show for your iPhone (that your husband probably doesn’t want to watch). The rule is, you can ONLY watch it while on the elliptical machine. This way, it will give you something to look forward to! Smart, yes? Friends, I officially downloaded the entire first season of:  

I’m sorry I’m not sorry.

Anyways – since there was no racing last weekend, there was lots of good eating. Saturday evening, Joe and I went to my absolute favorite restaurant (yes, in the world), D’mitri’s.

Greek salad with Greens and Grilled Octopus! We also ordered lamb meatballs.  Accompanied by Greek white wine (aka Ρεστίνα, pronounced “restina”, a little Greek lesson for you.) This is my favorite meal in the world.

Sunday morning, our spectating efforts were fueled by Spread Bagelry:

I ordered the Egg White bagel on whole wheat, with swiss, spinach, mushrooms, and smoked turkey bacon.

And you may or may not know by now that my post-race meal is always (always!) a burger and a beer. Since I trained to race, I figured it was still deserved, no?

Twenty Manning’s TMG burger, with avocado & side sald.

Classic.

Q1: How do you keep yourself occupied on the elliptical, treadmill, bike, etc?

Q2: What is your most favorite restaurant and/or meal in the world?