I am addicted to O.N.E!

I had read several runners talking about coconut water through their blogs and Twitter. I was curious what the hype was about. The extra potassium and fluid sounded great! I had to try it. I tried our local grocery store and could only find another brand of coconut water. They were infused with juices and lots of sugar. I bought one of each and one O.N.E. Acai Berry juice to try. I blogged about it several weeks back and the wonderful people at O.N.E. offered to send me some samples to try out of their coconut water and juices (and to get me addicted, IMO - smart little juice pushers, they are!)

I am now addicted to this juice!!!

The coconut water is outstanding! I really love the fact that they don't load it down with sugar. This stuff is so refreshing after a run - especially in the summer during my sweat-fest, long runs. My favorite by far is the coffee berry juice, made from coffee fruit (the fruit around that little bean of heaven). I figured anything with the word "coffee" in it had to be a sure hit. It has 950% of your RDA for vitamin C....that's right....950%! Holy smokes - that's some killer anti-oxidants. I really like the cashew fruit drink too. It's a little sweeter, but a great juice to start your day in the morning. It's chock full of vitamin C too - 148%. The Amazon Acai juice is a little different. It's definitely an acquired taste. I didn't care for it too much, but the acai berry has substantially more natural anti-oxidants than a pomegranate or blueberries.

So I highly recommend the O.N.E. juice line - very refreshing, great nutrients, and natural ingredients. I'm sold on it and I'll be a repeat customer for ages. Oh - you can find it easily at any Whole Foods store or buy it by the case on amazon.com.

Running Report

I am happy to report that I have started to ramp up the running mileage with good response from the knees! I ran 6 miles with the girls on Saturday and 9 miles with the Hubs on Sunday last weekend. The knees were sore - but normal running sore - no severe pain. It felt good to go out there for a decent, long run again. Running with my husband has been fun. He's a newbie to these distances and it's interesting to watch his inner battle of running confidence, "I can't go that far. I'll have to walk some it. I'm not sure I can make it." Of course, he makes it. Of course, he runs that far. It's always a bit a chore to get him out the door for the run. He grumbles the whole time. But when we are done, and he completes the mileage, he is so excited and proud of himself. I'm proud of him too. He's really doing great! Napa Half - here we come!

4 miles ran today AND had physical therapy an hour later. Whew - I got my butt kicked! I may try for 6 tomorrow, depending on how I feel. It will probably be good to run out some of the soreness. Another long run planned with the Hubs on Sunday.

Today I LOVE: my O.N.E. juices!!

I have a sore boo-twah!

I had my fourth session of PT yesterday and my therapist (here on out referred to as "Gorgon the Torture Master") has been upping my sets and weights each time. This time we added a bunch of bootay work. I was like, "Pfff - bring it, Meat! I can handle it!"*(see footnote) Umm....Gorgon won this round. Yesterday's torture session consisted of:

• IT band stretch on the roller of death (10x each leg)
  
• Resistance band hip flexors of torment (4 positions, 3 sets of 10 on each leg without holding onto anything. Balance AND resistance - whew!)
  
• Single leg dips with Gorgon pulling on leg with torture resistance band. Had to stabilize and dip at the same time. (3 sets of 15 on each leg)
  
• Bosu ball balance on single leg w/ Gorgon nudging the ball periodically (3 sets of 30 sec each leg)
• Clamshells with higher resistance band of death - it was red - go figure , to remind me of the firey depths of hell maybe? (3 sets of 15 each leg)
• Bent leg 90 degree leg raises w/ diabolical ankle weight resting on knee (3 sets of 15 each leg)
• Straight leg lifts laying on side - no extra weight but to failure at this point anyway (3 sets of 15 each leg)
• Booty bridges with heels on Swiss exercise ball of malevolence. Had to stabilize and lift my booty. (10x, holding at top for 10 seconds)
• Leg Press w/ unholy amount of weight (3 sets of 15)
  

An hour and a half later I am hobbling out of there like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz. My hips and general buttock area were already getting stiff last night. I keep trying to get my husband to rub my butt but he's just not jumping at the offer. Maybe it's the smell of the Ben-Gay or the zombie man walk I'm doing now?

I met my running girls this morning for a nice 6 mile run to hopefully work some of the soreness out. One of the other girls is just coming off of an injury too. So, we're pacing ourselves right now. I love running with these gals though, we're all about the same pace. The humidity was KILLER today. I was seriously soaking, freakin', wet by the time we got back. But we managed to hold a 10:06 pace and push through. Not too bad running with two injured gimps. LOL. Tomorrow is supposed to be an easy, slow 7 with the Hubs. It should be in the 60s, so I'm stoked. MUCH better running weather.

Today I LOVE: Girl talk and dinner with friends.

* Note to self and others going to physical therapy - Do not antagonize or "f" in any way with your therapist before your session. Leave that to after the session - or even better after your LAST session.

PT - also known as legal torture

I am SUCH a bad blogger lately. I'm so sorry guys - life's just getting in the way and work is always crazy this time of year. It's the end of fiscal year so time to spend, spend, spend which means work, work work for poor lil me. (but I have a great job - I ain't complaining).

I had my first week of PT this week. Tuesday I went in for the initial evaluation and I really, really like the head guy. He said a lot of things that really made sense to me. And he says that we can alleviate a lot of the cause oh my issues through PT. He said my main culprit is that I have weak hips. He said it's very, very common in girls and that my injuries and pain are very common. Yeah! - not quite as jacked up as I thought. He even said that we can fix a lot of that leg length difference through stretching and strengthening. Women's hips are flexible (for birthin' babies) and he said it doesn't take much for them to get out of whack, especially if they are weak. We did some stretching and adjustments and man, I'll be damned if the suckers didn't even out! We measured before and after and I was shocked! So our focus over the next few weeks will be hips, IT band and evening out upper legs (quad & hammies - about 2 cm difference).

Today I went for my first full session and boy did we work out my hips! Here's what I had to do:

• Clamshells: 3 sets of 15 on each leg with resistance band.
• Leg raises laying on my side (don't know if there's a nifty name for those): 3 sets of 12 on each side
• Bent knee (@ 90 degree angle) leg raises - kind of a cross between a clamshell and leg raise: 3 sets of 15 on each side
• Reverse clamshells with ankle weight: 3 sets of 12 of each side
• Hip drops (stand on one leg on a stair and drop opposite leg a few inches and back up using only your hips): 3 sets of 15 on each side
• Bent knee quad lifts with ankle weights: 3 sets of 10 on each side, holding in top position for 5 counts each time.
• IT band stretch and massage: THIS SUCKER HURT!!! OMFG!!! Back and forth across the ITB 8 times on each leg.

It was a tough workout, but it really felt good. And I could feel a big difference with the ITB stretching. I was just walking easier afterwards. So, I'm feeling really good about PT and hoping for good things to come out of it. He gave me some exercises to do at home and I'm supposed to concentrate on standing correctly when I'm on my feet. No shifting side to side and re-distributing weight. Both feet firmly planted on the ground and weight evenly distributed. Otherwise it distorts the hips.

I've been running moderately lately. Just 3 miles here and there, nothing too strenuous. The knee is doing much better, but it lets me know if I overdo it. I was on my feet all day these last two days doing building inspections and that was rough on both knees. But I'm just working on short distances and consistency in cardio. Working it back up. I'm a little slower than I like right now, but I know it will come back with just a little work.

Today I LOVE: the after endorphine rush from PT!