Kendra Babbles

I started half marathon training in mid-July.  I haven’t posted too much about it because about 3 weeks in I hurt my leg - enough that I thought I wouldn’t be running for awhile.  After a couple of days with some ice and Advil, I decided it was serious enough that I should see someone.  I opted for a soft-tissue chiropractor that is in the running club.  He got me in the next day and when I described the problem, he instantly knew what I needed.  He said its a common injury for runners.  He said something about TFL.  I still don’t really know what muscle is jacked up, but I do have some idea of what caused it.  Basically my right leg is a lot shorter than my left.  This causes my hip to tilt at a funny angle, and shorten a muscle that runs down the front and side of my leg.  When I run for long periods of time, that muscle starts rubbing on something else and causing pain in my knee and in my hip.  My new favorite chiropractor worked out all the funk and showed me several stretches that I should do daily to lengthen this muscle and eventually eliminate the problem.  He said I could go back to running right away.

So I did.  And I’ve been steadily increasing my mileage.  But I have to say, until about 2 weeks ago I was feeling pretty crappy about the whole thing.  Each run was painful for about the last mile.  Several days I just plain felt miserable.  On one run, it took me about 3 miles to warm up.  Which sucks when you are only going 4 miles.  Finally with last week’s 7 mile run I really felt like things were improving.  Sure the knee was acting up about 6 miles in, but that is an improvement over it happening on mile 4 or 5. 

Then came Saturday.  We were scheduled to do our first complete lap of White Rock Lake, which is just over 9 miles.  I woke up feeling icky.  About a mile in I gave up and headed for home.  I was not very happy with myself.  So Sunday I got up at 6:00 a.m. and went to the lake to run that loop on my own.  After a false start (forgot my Garmin, had to go home and get it) I was on the trail by 7:15.  I discovered a half marathon started at 7 a.m. and I was running the opposite direction.  After a half mile obstacle course of people the path cleared up and I was on my way, solo. 

The first couple of miles were pretty easy.  I stopped once to stretch my calves and get some water.  I kept going.  I took my first trip up the steep hill to run on top of the spillway - amazing views.  Those views kept me occupied for a solid half mile.  Around 3.5 miles I took a bathroom and stretching break and refilled my water bottle.  Then I kept going - this is the first time I had ever been to this part of the lake path and it was kind of exciting!  Something new to see, different buildings to check out and some awesome houses.  Around mile 5.5 I realized I was already past my halfway point and I was feeling pretty good!  At 6.5 miles I stopped for more water and some Gu.  Gu is a necessary evil and luckily this time I did not feel as disgusting after I ate it.  Thumbs up to the vanilla bean flavor.  At this point I was back on parts of the trail that I had been on before and that felt pretty reassuring.  Around mile 8 I realized my body was out of energy.  In my head I knew there was only a mile left, but my legs were so tired and my knee was screaming at me.  I stopped long enough for more water and a long stretch.  I ran that last 1.2 miles and was so thankful to see my original starting point around the curve.  I finished.  All 9.2 miles - on my own, on a Sunday morning.

And now I feel like a real runner.  The proof is below, in the form of a Garmin Google Map. 

*Eric Clapton

As noted by Lou in my last post, I’ve strayed from my plan to use song names as blog titles.  So here you go Lou, here’s a song.  It doesn’t quite fit the blog post, but its the song I picked and I decided it was good enough. 

Yesterday I ran 7 miles.  Actually 7.21, but we will get to that later.  Below is my internal thought process during the route.

Mile 1 - Okay, just warming up.  Weather is really nice.  I don’t feel like a giant puddle of sweat already, that is super!

Mile 2 - I hate the freaking bikes.  Every 20 seconds I hear “On your left!” or “MOVE!”.  I want to string clothesline across the path and stop them in their tracks.

Mile 3 - Wow!  I’ve never seen this part of the lake before!  It’s pretty over here too!  Wait, is that a GIANT HILL?

Mile 3.6 and turn around point - Potty stop.  Bathroom stalls do not have doors.  What is that?  Getting to know my running group a little better than I think I need to.

Mile 4 - What?  I don’t remember this hill from before.  Ooo wait!  I get to go down that giant hill now.  AHH

Mile 5 - This bridge moves.  A lot.  Difficult to run when you feel like the concrete under you is going to jump up and take you out.

Mile 6 - Knee pain really slows down  your pace.  Ouch.  Ouch.  Stretch.  Okay, better now. 

Mile 7 - Ouch.  Almost there.  Ouch.

And so I finished 7 miles for the first time in my life.  We took one major water break and 2 shorter stops.  I also took an extra stop in mile 6 to stretch my right quad and IT band.  It took 1 hour and 28 minutes.  Not exactly speedy, but I’m so happy to have finished!

Now how did I know we went 7.21 miles?  Well, if you remember my post in July about gear, you will know I was really interested in buying a Garmin Forerunner.  Well, thanks to the State of Texas, I came into some extra unexpected cash and was able to buy the Garmin Forerunner 405 last week.  I took it out for a test drive the same day and I freaking love it.  The level of detail is crazy!  Not only can I better track my pace (and aim for some sort of consistency), but it tracks elevation, distance, etc.  And when I upload the data to the Garmin web tools, it breaks all the info down by lap and graphs everything.  Tells me about calories burned and maps my route on Google maps.  It’s INSANE!  Below is the graph from my first run.  The parts where it plummets to 0.00 miles per hour are when I stopped because I couldn’t figure out how to work the thing.  Luckily I’ve got that all straightened out now.

I have to say I think between the Garmin and the sudden ”cold” front we got this week, I had a great running week.  I was really struggling since I hurt my knee about a month ago and was getting very cranky about it.  The cooler temps make it easier to get out and want to run, and the Garmin helps me stay on track and pace myself for the longer runs.    I’m a happy runner!

*Lou Reed 

How many of you never thought you would see that blog title around here?  SURPRISE!  I do cook!  I can’t say I’m fantastic.  I also can’t say I always enjoy it either.  But lately I’ve been trying a few new things so now I’m gonna blog about it.

Last night I made Parmesan Chicken and Rice from the Cooking Light catalog of recipes.  I’ve made this one before, and it is actually the very first thing I tried from Cooking Light.  It’s also the first thing I ever made for my husband, Blake.  And he didn’t die, so you don’t have to worry.  Right honey?  Anyway, this time around I added some veggies to the mix because we all need more veggies in our lives.   Below is the recipe and some hints!

Parmesan Chicken and Rice - from Cooking Light

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp bottled minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (I just used the thyme spice in a jar, no idea if that is the right thing)
• 8 oz of sliced mushrooms (buy these presliced, save yourself some time)
• 1/2 cup chopped summer squash
• 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
• 3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I use cooking wine)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup uncooked instant rice
• 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion (the original recipe uses parsley instead.  I like onions more)

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet (one that you have a matching lid for) over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, garlic, thyme, mushrooms, squash and zucchini; saute 5 minutes or until onion is tender.

Now add the chicken and saute 4 minutes or until the chicken is lightly browned.  Okay, I never wait until its browned.  By then the chicken is all dried out and nasty.  Add wine, salt, and pepper; cook 3 minutes. 

Stir in rice and broth.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.  I don’t know about Cooking Light, but in my kitchen the liquid really never completely disappears.  I go about 5-7 minutes.  Then stir in cheese and green onions.  Serve ASAP because veggies are way better hot than lukewarm.

Makes 4 servings (or 3 if you are hungry).  This recipe is 7 Weight Watchers points.  If you take the chicken out, its probably around 5 or 5.5 points.  I usually keep the chicken in because Blake likes meat, but the parmesan cheese is great in this dish and I think it would be just as yummy without poultry.