Bad Ankle! Bad!

Subluxation of the Peroneal Tendon:
A snapping feeling of the tendon around the ankle bone.
Sporadic pain behind the outside ankle bone.
Angle instability or weekness.

Hey look, they're describing me right now.

Yeup, chalk another one up on the injury list. I went to the doctor this morning, and this is the conclusion. X-rays showed nothing wrong, and I have all of the symptoms. Good news is that I can keep running on it AND get to be a cyborg (my dream come true!) and wear something cool like this when I do it. Yeup.

Keep on treckin.

It was the best of times...

Really bad news this time...I went back to my doctor yesterday because the pain in my leg is not subsiding. He determined that I have a stress fracture in my tibia. I have an appointment to meet with the physical therapist, but basically I cannot perform any type of impact exercise for 4-6 weeks. I was talking to my physiology professor, who happens to be an M.D. specializing in exercise physiology and he said that the injury was just an unfortunate result of everything going wrong all at the same time. It took me 3 months into the training to discover how horribly my feet overpronate; I had no base mileage built up before beginning training, and I basically didn't listen to anything that my body was telling me!
Despite the fact that I will be unable to run in this race, I am in no way discouraged! I learned more about myself and what I am capable of in the last few months that I have my entire life. I am also really excited about trying out new forms of exercise during my recovery!
That great thing is that I don't plan to die any time soon, and there are only about 78 gajillion races every year. So, I will have ample opportunity to catch another race in the future.
Chris is continuing the training; he fell a little behind but is quickly catching up. I will also continue to train with him just in a different way. I will be riding my bike during the runs, a la Dave during Lauren's marathon training! That's right; I have resorted to being the water-bottle biatch for the next month!!
Anyway, I just wanted to send out the update!
Talk to you all soon!

A Valentine's love affair

Valentine's Day, as you know, is tomorrow.

Has the romance gone out of your relationship? Ever feel as though you're just going through the motions? Need a way to rekindle the flame?

Well, look no further. Runner's World has a great article about falling in love with running all over again. Maybe it'll bring back some of the magic to your love affair.

Bump in the Road

Well I have a little bad news. It turns out that my leg was more than 'just sore' from the 8-mile run. I actually have a severe strain in the anterior muscles of my leg, and I have been pretty much unable to bear weight on my right leg for over the past week. I rested last week hoping that would be enough, but it still hasn’t improved. This week I have come up with an exercise plan to keep me moving and keep my cardiovascular fitness up while I let this heal. I will be swimming everyday and hope to add some elliptical work in by the end of the week. This is extremely frustrating, but I am refusing to give up! The worst part of the whole situation is that I had no warning! I never had any problems before: no soreness, no pain and then all of the sudden this happened. I am really hoping to be back on the track next week. I will keep you updated on the progress.
Sincerely,
Frustrated and Gimpy in College Station

6 under 60

We did it! David and I managed to run 6 miles in under 60 minutes, something that neither of us has ever done before. We averaged less than a 10 minute mile throughout, including two short walks. Overall, it was a great run for both speed and endurance. It also made both of us feel very good about ourselves.

Of course, we'll be slowing it down A LOT this weekend. This should be a much more challenging week, with a 5 mile run on Thursday and two 3 mile runs before the 9 miles on Sunday, but I feel ready for it.

David and I have finally gotten past a big hurdle in our weight loss: David is now below 200, putting him only about 9 pounds from his goal; I am down to 147, putting me about 7 pounds (maybe more) from my goal.

Imagine running with a 35-or-so pound sack of potatoes on your back.

Now imagine how much easier it would be to run without that sack of potatoes.

That's one reason why David and I are so excited about our weight loss.

The other, of course, is the fact that we look FREAKIN HOT.

Not to be conceited or anything...