Running Liv's Life

Workout:  4 miles easy I have almost completed my 6 week therapy program for my knee.  Each session I have the same beginning conversation with my therapist. Therapist:  How does your knee feel?  Any pain? Me: Not much.  Very minimal. Therapist:  Oh good! My inner thoughts:  Yes, that is good, but I'm not doing anything, so of course it doesn't hurt!! I'm only running 1 mile every other day, and then last week they cut out all lower body strength training as well.  So, it has been bothering me lately that I don't really know if my knee is improving.  Am I down to minimal pain because I'm not running anymore, or is it because I am actually starting to heal?  How do I know which it is?  Well, in my mind there is only one way to find out.  Do a little test drive!!  This morning I headed out for my first 4 mile run since mid-May.  And this is how I felt afterwards: Yes, that is a Lightning McQueen boo-boo bud...

Workout: 1 mile run, 10 lb Slim down Total Body Workout DVD Seven years ago today I got to marry this hottie: Woohoooooo!!!!!!!!!! And to celebrate seven great years we were able to get a few days to ourselves to relax.  After dropping the kids off at grandma and grandpa's house we drove down to Mammoth Cave National Park to camp, hike, and explore. (We were near Bowling Green, KY.)   If only I could relax like this on a regular basis! And if only Mattie Boy would cook dinner for me on a regular basis!!  Or, if only I could cook dinner sitting down would suffice in this case. And if you haven't been to Mammoth Cave before I HIGHLY recommend it.  It is only about 6 hours from central IL, and it is the perfect national park to visit on a hot summer day.  The cave is a chilly 54 degrees, and it felt wonderful!   The only way to explore the world's largest cave system is through a tour.  We took a 2 hour historic tour and ...

Workout: 1 mile run (pathetic, I know, but the therapist has me basically not running), Jillian Michaels' video It has been 18 months that my knee has been bothering me.  Last year I went and visited  this jerk .  I did exactly what he told me, and the problem never got better.  So when we got back from FL I decided to visit a new doctor.  He had a completely different diagnosis than Dr. Jerkface.  The new doc told me my knee problem is due to weak glutes and my running stride.  The glute thing was surprising to me but can obviously be fixed easily.  The running stride/form thing left me feeling defeated.  How am I suppose to change the way I run after 22 years of running!?!!!  Big. Sigh. So no I am back in therapy learning different exercises and stretches to get a strong butt. Matt tells me it looks like I am not doing anything.  Though it may appear that I am just being lazy, in reality I am squeezing my glutes!  Thi...

Workout:  None.  Okay, I was going to do a Jillian Michaels' video this morning, but my husband told me to skip.  So I said okay....without hesitating. My babies are babies until they are 2.  I don't know why I have it in my head that this is the official toddler age, but I just do.  I don't know if I read it somewhere or I just made it up.  Probably the latter.  Anyway, on July 2 Orlando officially became a toddler.  I have no more babies!!!  (Notice there is no frowny face.)  As some of you saw on facebook it really wasn't much of a birthday.  Poor little thing looked like this most of the day: He looks so sad and pathetic.  But I would too if I had thrown up as much as he did.  I will mention I did NOT like him sitting on that NEW WHITE chair, but he had held his food down for quite some time at this point.  And, he was being sooo good. Here he is looking a little more perky!  He didn't get out of his ...

Workout:  None Last Saturday I woke up at 4:50 to head over to Peoria for a race.  This is not just any race....it is the world's fastest 4 mile course.  The world record is broken time after time here and all your top elite athletes run in this race.  And the best part is it is just a good old fashion everyone start at the same time no corals type of race!  It is such a fun thought knowing that those Kenyans are not too far from me, well, at the start, at least.  Within 10 seconds they are out of sight!:) I didn't really have any expectations for this race.  With my knee, moving 1300 miles across the country, and Matt starting his new job running hasn't been a huge priority.  I was hoping to pull off an 8 minute pace, but I really didn't know if that was possible. Within the first .25 miles I felt fatigued.  Even if you're not a runner you should know that isn't a good sign!  I decided then that my goal would be to run at a comfor...

Workout:  Jillian Michaels video/3 mile run 1 - number of marathons I have run. 2 - number of races I have run with my mom. 3 - number of state medals I have from Track & Field. 4 - number of miles I will be running in my race this Saturday. 5 - farthest distance (in miles) I have run in over a year :( 6 - how many more races I would like to run this year. 7 - average minute per mile for a 5K in 2007. 8 - average minute per mile for a 5K in 2012 :(( 9 - number of races I have run since being a mom. 10 - the age I started running!!!!! Blast to the past!!  Well, not that far past...2007.  My mom and I (Lil' sis is there, too) before the start of the Fox River Trail Half Marathon.  The one and only half I have ever done!  The other race my mom and I ran together was the Chicago Marathon back in '99.  Now that is a blast to the past!!!

Workout: 4 mile run Let me take you back to July 2011.  Remember when we lived here?: Then, we decided to take a HUGE risk and leave the midwest with only this: We sold almost everything we owned.  Then packed this  little pile into the back of a truck and headed here: Southwest Florida!!  Matt's job was in Estero which pretty much is between Ft. Myers and Naples.  A good 7 hour drive waaaaay down into FL.  So first we lived here: This was our townhome down in Bonita Springs.  But we had to leave in December and headed here: My sister's house in Ft. Myers (which I thought I had a picture of but apparently I don't).  After a few months we decided to head over here: We stayed in this nice little condo in Ft. Myers for a while, but decided that we LOVED moving soooo much that we headed down here: Back to Bonita Springs.  And then, after 9 months of beach, sun, Disney, pools, and heat we headed here: Now that is what I...