Update and Fun Date

So, things don't look good. I attempted to run again and the pain returned. I ran on the treadmill to test out my legs for the race on Sunday. For the first 5 minutes I felt fine and had no pain. Then for the second 5 minutes I had about a level 3-4 (out of 10-10 being unbearable) of pain. For minutes 10-15 the pain went to about a 5 and for the the final 5 minutes I was experiencing about a 6 or 7 amount of pain. So by 20 minutes I decided to stop because the pain was getting worse instead of better. I came home and iced my knee.

The good news is that the outside of the knee did not hurt while I was walking back from the gym or sitting. While I was icing my knee I did a little Internet research and found that my symptoms were consistent with the Lateral Collateral ligament strain. I do not think it is pulled or severely injured because the pain is not severe and does not hurt while walking. The information on-line suggests icing, ibuprofen, and raising the leg. In addition, reducing physical activity is also recommended.

So, my plan for the next week (or two) is: I am not going to run the race on Sunday (I might walk it or if someone wants to buy my number from me for 1/2 price PLEASE let me know), I am going to do more yoga (I attended a yoga class at 02 yoga and loved it!), walk more for exercise, continue to weight lift, and maybe do some light non impact cardio (elliptical, stair climber, bike). If it still hurts in 2 weeks I will go see a doctor.

What do you think? Any suggestions? What do you do when you have a running injury?


Well on to some good news......

Tuesday evening my friends and I had our 4th book club meeting on Sarah's Key

Laura hosted the event and did a wonderful job preparing a lovely fondue spread

She melted Swiss and Gruyere cheese

broccoli

Carrots and apples

French baguette and focaccia bread

and (unphotographed) roasted potatoes. Laura also made an amazing spinach salad

For dessert I brought vegan chocolate cupcakes and my friend Vicki brought a fruit salad. YUMMM!!

The book club discussion was interesting and heated at points. Most of the girls did not like the book and thought the plot was lacking; however, they thought it was entertaining. In addition they felt the protagonist was weak and not someone they could relate with. Although they did enjoy the parts about Sarah and learning about a part of French history that is not discussed often.

If you have read Sarah's key, did you enjoy it? What did you think of the maine character?


Overall it was a wonderful evening with great food, wine and discussion!! Off to eat chocolate and relax. Enjoy your night!!

Girls Night Out!

So, I do not know what has gotten into me, but I have been a running machine! All I have wanted to do these past few days is RUN!!! I have run 2 out of the last 3 days (the only reason I didn't run the third day is because I was too busy to work out). Unfortunately, I have done both runs on the treadmill, but  regardless they have been great! I ran 4.5 miles on Monday in 40 minutes and 5 miles today in 45 minutes. I wonder how long this running streak will last.......

In other news, last night was our 2nd book club meeting and the book was "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson.

My friend, Vicki, graciously hosted the event and there were LOTS of delicious food that various members contributed. To start we had:

Marinated Mushrooms

Cheese Platter

Homemade Guac and Chips

Mushroom Flat bread

Mushroom puff things

Veggies and Dip

I had a taste of everything and couldn't stop myself from munching while I made a plate, oops!

And what book club meeting/girls night is complete with out lots of wine:

For dinner, Vicki made Swedish Meatballs and egg noodles. 

I do not care for meatballs, so I just helped myself to another plate of delicious apps!! However, I heard the meatballs were very tasty and Vicky gave me a few to take home for Evan to try! 

Oh and some yummy brownies for dessert made by me and Mr. Trader Joe:

There were lots of discussions throughout the night that were very interesting and themes were brought up that I had not considered while reading the book. For example, how the characters of Harriet and Salander are similar in a way. There were other discussions, but I won't ruin the story if you haven't read it.

As for the book on a whole, I really enjoyed it! I thought (and everyone agreed) it had a VERY, VERY slow start, but picked up and got exciting towards the end. However, be aware it is a very graphic and traumatic story.

If you have read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," what are your thoughts? Also, how are the second and third books in this series??

Next months book is "Water for Elephants."

Has anyone read that book? If so, how was it?

What a GREAT night last night was!! I love book club, it is such a nice excuse to get out on a weeknight and drink, eat and discuss with INCREDIBLE women! Thanks Vicki!!!

Girls Night!

Happy Hump Day, only a few more days till it is FRIDAY! My first week at internship is actually going very well! I am doing a lot of organization type things, but I am having a good time chatting with my colleagues and getting used to being back in high school!

On another GREAT note, my knee is feeling MUCH, MUCH better!!! I haven't gotten new sneakers (hopefully this weekend), but I took yesterday off again from running. Instead of running (I had to hold myself back because my knee was already starting to feel better) I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the stair climber (varying between levels 10,11 and 12), 15 minutes on the bike and a few ab exercises. I then stretched and headed home.

Today, with no knee pain, I gave myself the green light to go running. It was a beautiful day in Boston, so I decided to run outside. As far as my workout, I had a hard time figuring out what to do. I wanted to do a somewhat challenging workout because today was supposed to be my "workout" day, but I did not want to push my knee too hard (especially with my 5k race on Saturday). I decided to run around 5 miles and in the middle incorporate running Beacon Hill 3 times. If you are not familiar with Boston, Beacon Hill is a long gradual hill that is probably around .3 of a mile. Here are my splits from the run.

Distance: 5.2 miles
Time: 45:23
Mile 1: 9:08 (started out easy to confirm there was no knee pain)
Mile 2: 8:49 (Hill running)
Mile 3: 8:42 (Hill running)
Mile 4: 8:27
Mile 5: 8:20
Mile .2: 1:54

Overall, I felt great! No knee pain and my legs/body felt ready to run. I am glad I started out easier and gradually sped up, just to make sure I felt no pain. I definitely think I will be ready to run the race on Saturday! YAYA! Once home I stretched and iced both knees for 10 minutes (while eating a yogurt).

On to girls night....

A few months back some high school friends and I were talking about starting a book club. We all like to read, but most of all we all love to get together and eat and drink wine. So last night was our first meeting and I was the host. Our first book was "The Girls from Ames" by Jeffrey Zaslow. We felt this would be an appropriate book to start with because the central theme is female friendship and the book club is a group of female friends.

The evening started with some red wine and many appetizers that my guests kindly brought over.

While munching on the appetizers we discussed the book and the universal theme of friendship. My friends brought up many good points on the differences between male and female friendships. We also discussed reasons why we liked and disliked the book. We went around the room and labelled characters we most related to and explained why. Our good friend (who lives in DC) was able to chime in via Skype!

After we came to a good stopping point we were ready to dig into dinner. I made a KERF recipe: Chicken Sausage Pasta Bake. I also warmed up some garlic bread from Whole Foods. Everything came out delicious!!

My Portion

After dinner we did more discussing and had more wine, while we tried to make some room for dessert. I had a brownie that my friend Laura made. It was VERY good! I had a wonderful night with delicious food, good conversation and GREAT friends!!!!!!