Physical and Emotional Rollercoaster

Last week was a rollercoaster - both physically and emotionally. Which made it a rough week for those around me and for that I apologize. For the last 6 months I have used running as an escape from stress (and sometimes reality). Going out on a run clears my mind, and by clears my mind I really mean it clears my mind -  sometimes I get home from a run and realize that I did not have one thought. Running has been my therapy. Runners high is a real thing and it does make all things better.

Physically

Monday and Tuesday of last week my knee felt awesome! I was walking pretty much pain free (the pain it was giving me I was able to tolerate) and stairs weren’t giving me any trouble. My limp had almost gone away! I felt so well in fact that I thought about participating in GTS on Tuesday night with my TNT team, but then decided against it figuring that one more night of rest couldn’t hurt and that it could only help. So I convinced myself that I would get up early on Wednesday morning, lace up my running shoes and hit the 2.5 mile loop right by my house. And to be honest I could not wait, my body was begging to get out and run.

Wednesday morning my alarm went off at 5am and for once I did not hit the snooze button! I was definitely ready to get outside and stretch my legs. I hastily threw off the covers, but when I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and took my first step out of bed I nearly collapsed from the pain. hmmmmm... did I sleep on it funny or is it just a little stiff? Let’s try another step. Again I nearly collapsed. GRRRRRRRRR... Why? Why? Why???? Yesterday was such a good day. I decided that since it was so stiff/painful that I would skip my morning run, try icing and massaging it a little more, and try again on Thursday. I opted to wear tennis shoes instead of flats to work hoping that the extra stability would help. But by the time I got to work a few hours later that pain had not subsided at all. In fact it was worse. My limp was worse than ever. I looked like an 80 year old woman walking hobbling around my office. So opted for another trip to the doctor, (which unfortunately came with another $20 co-pay #biggirlproblems).

Diagnosis?

Diagnosis A - Runner’s Knee (90% sure)

Diagnosis B - torn meniscus (10% sure) - um excuse me?!?!

Treatment?

600mg ibuprofen 3 times day for 7 - 10 days

Super Feet inserts

Physical therapy 2 times/week for the next 4 weeks

REST, REST, REST (a new word to my vocabulary)

Thursday evening I made the trip to the physical therapist. I was poked, prodded, massaged, put on a recumbent bike, and then finally taped up with fancy kinesio tape.

What is Kinesio tape? The philosophy of Kinesio Taping has been around for 25 years and was developed in response to other athletic tapes in the market in the market. Instead of being rigid and restrictive, Kinesio tape mimics the texture and elasticity of human skin. So instead of immobilizing joints like most athletic tapes are designed to, Kinesio tape is applied around the area of pain on the muscle to aid in joint correction. And because of its flexible design, range of motion is not compromised. 

They used nude colored tape,
 but I promptly went home and
 purchased pink, blue, and black.
I am hoping to make a fashion
statement at the office!

Benefits of Kinesio tape? Kinesio tape is used to re-educate the neuromuscular system, reduce pain, optimize performance, prevent injury, and/or promote improved circulation and healing. For example - the tape (somehow) lifts the skin microscopically allowing for increased circulation around the muscle and in turn the toxins to escape the muscle easier, which can considerably reduce swelling.

By Friday I was feeling better. Walking was easier, as the swelling and gone down considerably - I could now see my kneecap. My limp was still present, but not as bad as the previous two days. And my mood was brighter! All hail the Kinesio gods! Saturday was an improvement from Friday and consequently Sunday was an improvement from Saturday. In fact my limp was pretty much nonexistent. Stairs still give me a little trouble, but I the fact that I don’t have to use the wall or railing as a support system any more is promising!

Emotionally

Words cannot describe how I was actually feeling this week. So instead of boring you with some long rambling post here are some pictures that described my mood during the week:

I think the root cause of all of my emotions this past week was due to fear. Fear of not being able to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Fear that my training is falling behind and I will not be able to catch back up to everybody else. Fear of it being a torn meniscus (and surgery). Fear of this injury being a constant battle for the rest of my life. The list could go on and on. But with the help of my physical therapist and a little self control to take recovery slow and not push my body too hard I am confident I can get ahead of this injury and prevent it from happening again (fingers crossed)!

But in the meantime if I am a little moody you know why and I apologize in advance :P

On Saturday there was also a Rocky Mountain TNT fundraising event at Water to Wine in Centennial. I was really excited to go, but unfortunately I was unable to attend because of my leg. Call me a wuss, but I want to avoid anything I can at the moment that will Standing for more than an hour or sitting for more than an hour tends to make my knee ‘fussy’. So instead I decided to send myself in spirit - I made cupcakes for the event (duh!). I wish I would have been able to go to the event and get some feedback from people on which ones they liked their best, but I can tell you the chocolate raspberry ones were a hit in my house! Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle w/ Vanilla Cinnamon Buttercream	Chocolate Raspberry w/ Raspberry Glaze and Quick Chocolate Mousse	Limoncello Cupcake w/ Limoncello Buttercream
Cupcake: 1 pkg Pamela’s white cake mix 4 eggs 2/3 C water ½ C vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla 2 tsp cinnamon Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the wet ingredients until combined. Slowing add in the dry ingredients until mixture combined. Don not over mix. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill ⅔ of the way full. Bake 18-20 minutes (or 8-9 minutes for mini cupcakes).	Cupcake: 1 cup milk 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process) 1 pkg Pamela's white cake mix 2 large eggs 2/3 cup sour cream Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bring 1 cup milk and 1 cup butter to a simmer in a heavy, large saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. In a large bowl beat the eggs and sour cream. Add the milk-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture (make sure to do this slowly so you do not cook the eggs) and beat just to combine. Add the baking mix and beat briefly on low speed. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill ⅔ of the way full. Bake 18-20 minutes (or 8-9 minutes for mini cupcakes).	Cupcake: 1 pkg Pamela’s white cake mix 4 eggs 2/3 C water ½ C vegetable oil 1 TBSP limoncello 1 TBSP lemon juice zest of 1 lemon Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the wet ingredients until combined. Slowing add in the dry ingredients until mixture combined. Don not over mix. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill ⅔ of the way full. Bake 18-20 minutes (or 8-9 minutes for mini cupcakes).
	Raspberry Glaze: 32 oz frozen raspberries 3 TBSP sugar juice of one lemon 3 TBSP cornstarch pinch of salt Place raspberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar, let thaw. Drain the raspberries (reserving the liquid) and squish the raspberries through a sieve to remove the seeds. Add enough water to the liquid to make 1 cup. In a saucepan combine all the ingredients. Heat and whisk until the mixture boils and just begin the ticken. Remove from the heat and cool completely. Poke holes (via a fork) in the top of your cupcakes. Dip the top of the cupcake into the liquid and let the cupcake absorb some of the liquid.
Frosting: 2 sticks softened unsalted butter 5-6 C powdered sugar 2 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon 1 TBSP milk Whip softened butter in bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and cinnamon ( ½ C - ¾ C at a time) until stiff. Add milk and vanilla slowly to thin out the frosting until it is the consistency that you want. If you add too much and frosting becomes too thin add some more milk and/or vanilla until the frosting is the desired consistency. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.	Quick Chocolate Mousse: 3 C heavy cream 1 ½ C sifted powdered sugar ¾ C cocoa powder pinch of salt In a chilled bowl blend ingredients, then whip the mixture until it holds a stiff peak. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes. And refrigerate.	Frosting: 2 sticks softened unsalted butter 5-6 C powdered sugar 1 - 2 TBSP limoncello zest of one lemon 2 tsp lemon juice Whip softened butter in bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly add in powdered sugar ( ½ C - ¾ C at a time) until stiff. Add limoncello and lemon juice slowly to thin out the frosting until it is the consistency that you want. If you add too much and frosting becomes too thin add some more limoncello and/or lemon juice until the frosting is the desired consistency. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
Garnish with a sprinkle of dusting of cinnamon.	Garnish with a fresh raspberry.	Garnish with lemon zest or lemon wedge.

Season's First Injury

*WARNING: this post may be slightly dramatized *

This past week was the first week that a track workout was added to my training schedule. I have not been on a track since middle school and the last time I had done any form of speed work/ sprinting was during club soccer. Needless to say I was a little rusty.

I was excited as I made my way to the track for the workout to workout with the RM TNT team. I was looking forward to adding a new activity to my routine that would not only help me become faster, but also help me focus on my cadence and breathing. After a quick warm up and stretch I was quickly reminded to why I stopped running track - a track looks deceptively short (it doesn’t look that far around but don’t be fooled it is really a quarter mile).

Here is the workout that we did:

400 (repetition pace)

200 (rest pace)

400 (repetition pace)

200 (rest pace)

400 (repetition pace)

400 (rest pace)

800 (repetition pace)

400 (rest pace)

800 (repetition pace)

400 (rest pace)

400 (repetition pace)

200 (rest pace)

400 (repetition pace)

200 (rest pace)

400 (repetition pace)

400 (rest pace)

Seems pretty straight forward, right? It was kind of a no brainer once I wraped my head around the pattern and how many laps in a 200 vs a 400 vs an 800. The work out was simple as fast and by the end of it (including the warm up and cool down) I had run approximately 4.2 miles. Not to shabby for a Tuesday afternoon! I went home, ate dinner, showered, caught up on some TV, and then crashed.

At about 2am the next morning I woke by a searing pain in my knee (I am assuming I attempted to roll over in my sleep and when my knee would not cooperate I woke up). I could not bend my left knee and once I had mustered up enough courage to I was consequently unable to then straighten it. My first thought was that it was that I had slept on it funny and my leg hasfallen asleep, or I bruised my knee on a table or something. Not in much of a mood to deal with it (it was 2am after all and if you know me well you know I love my sleep) I kind of half crawled, half hobbled down the hall in search of some advil (or perhaps something a bit stronger) to subdue the pain and the maneuvered back down the hall and proceeded to flop back into bed. I was hopeful that by the morning the pain would have subsided and I would be back to walking normally again. FALSE!

When my alarm went off around 6am I tried getting out of bed and was promptly reminded by the pain still in my knee that it was going to be a long day. I went through my normal routine in the morning and then went upstairs to make my lunch and leave for the day. Getting up the stairs took twice as long and I had no motivation to make my lunch. I really just wanted to sit and pout.

Once at work I decided to do some research, I should not be in this much pain after a track workout. There were no hills, no rocks/branches/roots to trip on, no uneven surfaces to roll and ankle. It should have been a safe environment to run it. I turned to runners world, active.com and other running websites to beging my research. The common result that came up on all of them:

Runner’s Knee (Chondromalacia of the patella): Pain around and sometimes behind the kneecap. One of the most common injuries among runners. Even after taking a few days off, the pain seems to come right back, sometimes even intensifying, after the first few miles of the next run. The pain often feels worse when running downhill or walking down stairs, and the knee is often stiff and sore after sitting down for long periods. You might hear a crunching or clicking sound when you bend or extend your knee.

Symptoms: tenderness behind or around the patella, usually toward its center. You may feel pain toward the back of the knee, a sense of cracking or that the knee's giving out. Steps, hills, and uneven terrain cause pain.

Cure: RICE (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) and anti inflammatory drugs, reduce mileage, avoid knee bending activities (walking?!), stairs, hills... the list goes on.

I figured the pain would go away in a couple of days, but by Friday I could not find a comfortable position. I emailed my TNT coach and told him what was going on, his diagnosis? Runners knee His advice? REST! Not what I wanted to hear. I was hoping for a quick fix. It is still unknown what could have caused the onset of the pain, but my TNT coach said it could have been from a number of factors: my shoes, the new surface, weak quads (false/not possible), and amongst others the workout being too long and too slow. He informed me that track is something that needs to be eased into and my pace needs to be fast. I need to have a longer discussion with him about what would be appropriate for me.

I hobbled around all weekend and the pain still comes and goes occasionally. As much as I want to go out and run or hit the gym to get a good sweat I am not going to jeopardize my ability to go to Chicago. So if I am grouchy the next couple of days you will know why.

And I apologize for not having a cupcake recipe this week... as I stated above... grouchy. (I’ll get over it eventually... hopefully...)

Murphy's Laws and Motivation

So I a was patrolling Pinterest the other day I came across this gem:

This nifty little diagram pretty much sums up every run I have been on in some way, shape, or form. And lately because of the unfortunate circumstances that have been happening on my runs I have just been giving up mid run and walking home or deciding that I my time would be better spent not hitting the pavement in the first place (the latter is what usually happens). And then tell myself that the next day will be better and I will get all my miles/time on feet in. And the cycle continues.

But when training for a marathon one cannot get in the habit of pushing off training. Every day/ mile counts. Missing a day or two every so often will not prohibit you from reaching your goal. But constantly disregarding the time and miles you are supposed to put in could be detrimental to your ability to cross the finish line.

But I have found a way to keep on track...I have created a calendar of local 5Ks, 10Ks, and 13.1s to participate in during my training. They are strategically placed in my training scheduled based on how long they should take me. For example, I signed up for the Sand Creek Half Marathon.The day this half marathon falls on is a day that I have a 2 hour and 30 min run planned. While I am hoping it will not take me 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete (I am shooting to beat my previous time), I am taking this event as a training run, but this way I know I have to keep training in order to run 13.1 miles. For the next 34 days I HAVE to be diligent in my training. No excuses. Bring it on!!

This past weekend I found a new passion: trail running. For years I thought people who ran trails were CRAZY. Why would you want to run uphill and then proceed to run down. Don’t get me wrong I am all for hill intervals and I would actually prefer to run a course that contains hills, but for the life of me I could not fathom running up a mountain, laden with rocks, fallen trees, and the occasional stream. But those stereotypes all changed this weekend when I participated in the SALOMON Run the Rockies 5K trail race. The trail overlooked Lake Dillon and the town of Frisco and views from the top were gorgeous. The sky was crystal clear without a cloud in sight, definitely a Colorado Bluebird day, letting you see for miles. I wish I would have had my camera with me so that I could share a photo, or have been able to stop and take in the view but I was a little preoccupied with trying not to tumble down the trail and making sure my breathing was steady.

I didn’t run my fastest pace (although it was faster than I was anticipating) and the field was small, but I am taking pride in finishing 18th overall,  8th in my gender and 5th in my AG (I will take small wins where I can get them)!

Mom and me @ the start

Coming across the finish line

About to die or hurl...

Yay Mommy!

Dad and Dale enjoying our post race beers

At least I won in the raffle!

This past week one of my mother's co-workers brought in some strawberries from her garden (thank you!). They were incredibly tiny but they had to be some of the sweetest strawberries I have ever had. They were like heaven in your mouth. Their original intention was to be used to make strawberry-rhubarb jam, but my mother never got around to that (rhubarb was too expensive at the grocery store... anybody have a plant and would be willing to give some away?? we will share the final product!) so I decided to use them to make Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes! The natural sweetness of the strawberries really enhanced the flavor of the cupcake and kept the cupcake moist, not to mention were a nice little surprise when you bit into them. So delicious they may just be a new favorite!

CUPCAKE: 1 package Pamela’s white cake mix 4 eggs 2/3 C water ½ C vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla ¾ C diced strawberries	Preheat oven to 325 degrees Mix together the wet ingredients until combined Slowing add in the dry ingredients until combines Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill slightly less than 2/3 of the way full Place 2-3 pieces of strawberry in each cupcake Bake 18-20 minutes (or 8-9 minutes for mini cupcakes)
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM: 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 5-6 C powdered sugar 1-2 TBSP milk 1-1 ½ tsp vanilla	1.    Beat softened butter in bowl until light and fluffy 2.    Slowly add in powdered sugar ( ½ C - ¾ C at a time) until stiff 3.    Add milk and vanilla slowly to thin out the frosting until it is the consistency that you want. If you add to much and frosting becomes too thin add some more milk and/or vanilla until the frosting is the desired consistency. 4.    Pipe onto cooled cupcakes
GARNISH: Freshly sliced strawberries	1.    Garnish with fresh slices of strawberries

I may not be fast, but I get the job done.

This past week was pretty uneventful. About the only exciting thing that happened as the Bolder Boulder!

The Bolder Boulder probably has to be one of my favorite events to participate in. Maybe it is the camaraderie of the 50,000+ people that descend upon Boulder, maybe it is that it takes place in one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S. at an altitude of 5,430 feet, or maybe it is the atmosphere that surrounds the whole day. It truly is an event. One of those that you stay for the entire day to cheer everyone on as the cross the finish line in Folsom Stadium, including the men and women who fight for our country and run the entire course in formation all while carrying the United States flag. It is truly moving. And then you sit there and watch in awe as the elites take to the course and complete it in half the time it took you to finish it. This year the top male finished in 29:54 and the top female in 33:06. INSANE!

This year was unlike any other: perfect weather, good friends, and most of all I had a plan: pick a pace and stay with it. I have found that whenever I run with mass amounts of people I get caught up in the hype and take off sprinting toward the finish line. Only to crash about a mile and a half into the course. This time I decided that was not going to be the case, and I was (semi) successful (and still a little confused - my the statistics my Garmin captured did not match the ones that the Bolder Boulder captured, but I am going to use theirs. Maybe I didn’t start it soon enough, maybe it is just a little special... who knows.). My plan consisted of running a consistent pace of a 9:30min/mile. And what do you know when it was all said and done that is exactly what I ran! Woot woot! Here are my splits (and thoughts):

Mile 1: 8:52 → “Slow down J, you are only competing against yourself. Don’t get caught up in all the hype (look at my watch)...oops!”

Mile 2: 9:24 → “Find your grove!”

Mile 3: 9:48 → “D@*n hills!! But hey I am half way there!”

Mile 4: 9:33 → “Just keep running, just keep running!”

Mile 5: 9:28 → “Crusin’! Only 1.2 more miles!” (this was the only downhill part of the course)

Mile 6: 9:54 → “Who is  the genius that thought it would be fun to include a hill at the end of the course (cursing at them under my breath).”

Finish: 59:05 → “Thank the Lord for all the people in Folsom cheering me on... now where is my beer (and then promptly reminding myself that I cannot drink beer... grrrrrrrr)!”

Overall I managed to stay within my threshold, and to me that is success! While it was not a super fast pace (I probably could have challenged myself a little more), I got the job done and ran the race that I wanted to. I am not training to be the fastest, I am not training to be the best. I am training to accomplish a goal that far fewer than 1% of the population will ever do. And to me that is all I need to know! 

About the only other note worthy event is that I officially purchased my tickets to Chicago for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon! For some reason it has made me so much more jazzed about this whole experience. Maybe it is the fact that there is no backing out now... no way am I going to let a plane ticket go to waste! 

In addition to to purchasing my ticket I for the marathon I also booked my ticket to a good friends wedding in Chicago in July (yay MC (and Emily!)!). While I am there I will have the ability to run part of the course (hope I won’t get lost!). It will be a bummer to have to run for 2 hours and 50 minutes before the wedding ceremony, but there is nothing like a little experience on a course before the big day to give you an edge. A serious nap and a does of caffiene should do the trick to perk me right back up though. 

Like I said not much exciting happened to me this week... so here is this weeks cupcake:

I am not going to lie to you... this week I was not the baker in the house. My mother kind of stole my thunder, but I cannot be mad because she made some incredible Rum and Coke Cupcakes! Can you tell that I prefer the spiked cupcakes?!?!

CUPCAKE: 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cups Coke 1/2 cup Captain Morgan’s 4 eggs	1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees 2. Combine dry ingredients 3. Add wet ingredients, beat on low for 30 seconds 4. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes 5. Bake for 20-25 minutes (9-10 min for minis) or until a toothpick comes out clean.
FILLING: 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 lb powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 tablespoons Captain Morgan	1. Cream butter 2. Add half powdered sugar, and beat 3. Add vanilla and half of Captain Morgan rum, beat until combined 4. Alternate adding powdered sugar, and Captain Morgan, until filling is desired consistency & taste
FROSTING: 1-1/4 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup water 5 eggs whites 1 lb (4 sticks) butter, unsalted and softened 1 tsp vanilla 2 tbsp dark rum*	1. In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar and water and bring to a boil. Boil until sugar 235º-240ºF. 2. (While sugar is boiling) place egg whites and whip on low speed until foamy. Raise the speed to medium high and whip until stiff. 3. With the mixer running, add your brown sugar syrup slowly into the beaten egg whites in a steady stream. Continue beating on high speed until the mixture has cooled down, about 3 minutes. 4. Keep the mixer running and add butter 1 tbsp at a time. Add vanilla and rum. (Don’t worry if the butter cream starts to look curdled. Just keep beating until buttercream is smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.)

Let the cupcakes cool before you fill and frost them. For added color and texture zest lime over the frosting.