Slow & Steady Wins the Race :-)

on the beach, with Cooper, he was so happy!  Then ame home and walked more on the beach with my parents.  My knee SUCKS. Sad as it is, I may give up on the 1,000 mile mark, the idea of doing 2.5 more miles sounds awful after how bad my knee hurt today.  I don't understand how it's gotten so much worse despite all of my efforts. I need major professional help.

Went to a new PT today.  He did all kinds of measurements and tests and found out a lot of interesting things that I can't really remember or say.  The jist of it however, seemed to be that my left leg is .75" shorter than my right, which may be putting my running in a perpetual state of a cambered road, so he gave me a heel lift.  He also found some work things with my sciatic nerve (not sure if that is the right terminology) and my hips, and he was confused about what might be going on with all of these things in combination but had ideas.  Also, my ankle flexibility was horrible, like 4 degrees when a healthy foot is 11 degrees, and a runner's should be even higher.  So I'm supposed to work on that and planks for core strength to help my hips for now.  He also used a laser on me, I guess for inflammation.  He was pretty certain that given all I have been doing my problem must be mechanical, not inflammation.  We'll see. 

Did I mention that my wonderful thoughtful husband got me Bikila Vibram Five Fingers for Christmas!!!??  I was ecstatic!  Too bad I can't really use them.... but took them out for a quick .4 mile (probably) walk with Cooper to test them out.  It was cooooolllddddd.  The thermometer this morning said 19!

Not a race report!  Just want to be able to find this easily in the future!  :-)

Nicole's 2011 New Year's Resolutions!

1. Be fit in more ways than just running.  This is especially the case for my first quarter goals (Jan-Mar).  Yoga, stretching, strength training, elliptical, swimming, I clearly need to be fit in many more ways than just running if I want to actually run. 
2. Lose 5-10 pounds by March 18.  This goes hand and hand with #1.  Since the marathon, not running coupled with eating the same amount of food has not been good for me.  I need to work out, not just pout about not being able to run, since I hate working out when its not running.  I'd be happy losing 5, happier losing 10.  We're going to Mexico for a friend's wedding on March 18 so its a perfect swimsuit-wearing timeline, plus its 11 weeks away, which is a doable goal.
3. Do a triathlon!  This has been my new year's resolution for 3 years now, so I'm sucking at completing it.  I WILL do a triathlon (if just a sprint!) in 2011. 
4. Get fewer parking tickets.  It would be really really nice to get fewer parking tickets in 2011.  Maybe I'll aim for 3 or less.  I think I got 6-8 this year.  Its not good for my psyche or my wallet. 
5. Make major progress on the Ph.D.  This is going to be my main focus for 2011.  If I want to graduate in 2012, I need to successfully dominate the R&I presentation (hopefully in Feb.), dominate the written exams (hopefully in September), write my dissertation proposal, and hopefully also finish collecting my dissertation data, all by the end of the year.  GET TO IT! 
6. Running goals.  This is last because right now I have no idea when I'll be able to seriously run again because of this stupid ITB.  But I would like to run 1,000 miles in 2011 (I'm missing it by 2.5 measely unrunnable miles right now!), do a half marathon if not a full (Newport on my birthday seems impossible now), do Hood to Coast, and get a PR in the 5K.  2011 will be the year of the 5K. 

Those all seem attainable!  Now here's to a great 2011, hopefully with major ITB recovery on the horizon.  HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE EVERYONE!