Sweet Saturday

Seriously this weekend has been fantastic and is only getting better.



We started the weekend off with a trip to The Grilled Cheese Truck. We went with some friends and ate deliciousness. So good. Of course we had to eat on the ground in the dark so pictures did not happen. I really need a camera that can handle low-light.



This morning I woke up with my legs looking super puffy and swollen. Especially my knees. Andy went on a run at a local park and I decided to walk on the treadmill. But not without taping my knees first!



My PT suggested tape only. He explained to me that knee braces or sleeves can't move the kneecap in the way I need to. I highly suggest talking to a physical therapist before taping your knees! (Everyone is different and there are tons of different ways to tape.)



I start with the cover roll. The leukotape will rip your skin off. You don't want that. The cover roll serves as a barrier.



You want to get a tight fit so your legs look really awkward.



You want knee puckering. You seriously do. That's how you know the leukotape is tight enough. (Again, this was a suggestion from my physical therapist.)



Weird knee puckering.



Then I foam rolled my calves, IT bands and hamstrings. Tight muscles can actually make knee pain worse. Foam rolling helps stretch them out.



I bought my foam roller on Amazon for super cheap. It's short but does the trick. Afterwards I walked 2 miles on the treadmill at an incline with wrist weights. Biz gave me the idea. I ran .6 of a mile and lifted weights for 30 minutes.



After my walk/run we went to pick up our CSA and go shopping. I was so excited to find PUMPKIN ice cream!



And I made a pizza with figs and arugula from our CSA. I also used pancetta, mozzarella, roasted garlic and parmesan.



It was amazing! I sauteed the arugula with the pancetta which was a great idea. The arugula had a wonderful flavor to it.



The figs caramelized nicely and added a welcome sweetness.



The crust was wheaty and buttery due to the garlic butter I brushed it with. YUM!

I weighed in today and my weight is the exact same. I haven't been eating as clean as possible and need to work on that. I went out for dinner for my sister's 21st birthday, for my friend's birthday and I ate delicious grilled cheese. I also cut back on weight lifting. Bad idea. I know next week will be better!

Can't wait to post about where we're going for dinner tonight!

How's your weekend going?

When knees are no good.

Yesterday, I decided to run as far as I could in 30 minutes. I'm still working on regaining some of my speed. I ran 2.4 miles in 30 minutes which I was pretty happy about. Ideally, I'd love to be able to run 3 miles in 10 minutes but I'm grateful just to run.

I decided not to tape my knees. BAD, terrible, HORRIBLE idea. My knees are in major pain right now. I am doing what my physical therapist suggests for when this happens. Resting, Ice, Compression and Elevation. I can't take anti-inflammatory drugs (counteracts with my birth control) so I took some Tylenol. (Boo!)

See what I mean about being grateful? Running is privilege. I need to work on treating my knees better so I'm able to run. I won't forget to tape again.



Sad face after running. Knees=no bueno. Yes, that is a bottle of tequila on top of my fridge.



Instead of birthday cake, Sarah and I had pumpkin whoopie pies from Corner Bakery. These are so heavenly. I gave Andy a bite because I'm an awesome wife.



I am also an awesome wife because I make delicious dinners. I made us a spaghetti squash stew. First, I sauteed 2 cups spinach, 1 diced red onion and one diced zucchini.



Hacked a huge spaghetti squash in half.



Scooped out the seeds and rubbed with olive oil.



Then I mixed the spaghetti squash innards with the sauteed veggies and a jar of sauce. I added diced tomatoes in the sauce. It was too soupy to be pasta so Andy decided to call it a stew. It was really good!





I am also a good/bad wife for buying these. They are delicious but dangerous. Just a warning.

I am icing my knee for 45 minutes a day (Three intervals of 15 minutes each) and praying that I can run tomorrow. We'll see.

Have you purchased any dangerous snacks recently? What did you get?

*I say dangerous because these cookies are tempting. I have no problem with chocolate, peanut butter or cookies. I limit myself to a serving size per day. I am trying to lose weight without restricting my food intake or putting certain foods off-limits. I believe in a healthy balance. I eat dessert EVERY night (within 150-300 calories) because I'd go crazy otherwise.

Knee taping and recovery smoothie

Most likely, I'll be graduating physical therapy tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about this as physical therapy is incredibly time-consuming and painful. I do feel like my knee is slowly healing and my lower body is getting tons stronger.

Yesterday I ran with my knees taped for the first time.



I plan on posting a how-to video on this soon but please see a professional before you start knee-taping. It looks weird but the tightness of the tape nudges my kneecap into the correct place. My quads are nudging my patella out of place when I run. (Gross!)



Here's the tape that I bought. Not a ton but I don't plan on running with my knees taped forever. Eventually my body will be stronger and I will be able to prevent injury better. I might look into knee sleeves at some point, not sure yet.

I ran 2 miles in 27 minutes which I know it's breaking any records but it's the fastest I've got since my injury. I was STOKED! I would be happier than a fangirl at a Justin Bieber concert if I could finish the 5k in October running a 13 minute/mile pace. No shame in my slower-paced game.

The fastest mile I've ever ran is a 10 min/mile but that was before I injured my knee and developed plantar fasciitis. (The PF has disappeared! Knock on wood.)



Jay Robb's protein powder is amazing. I tried a scoop of pina colada in a green recovery smoothie today and it was magnificant.



And it was GREEN!



(ignore my dirty dishes, gah.) I mixed in one frozen banana, 2 frozen strawberries, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 huge handful spinach, 1/2 cup almond milk and 1/2 cup P.O.G. juice. (Passion, Orange, Guava)

So good!

Have you tried knee taping before? How did you like it?