Lovely Lady Lumps

Happy Hump Day Everyone!!!  We’re half way there!  I know that the oh, so wise elderly advise you not to wish your life away, but I can’t help but to live for the weekends!  😉

I took yesterday off (as many of you may have noticed) from both working out and blogging.  I was DEAD BEAT.  I was tired the very minute I crawled out of bed, and it never eased up.  Usually when I wake up tired, it simply takes getting up and moving around to make me fell alert and active.  This was not the case yesterday.  Guess that 9 mile run on Monday took more out of me than I thought. 

Today was a pretty usual Wednesday.  I taught the kiddies about producers, consumers, and decomposers.  We also practiced our division.  Did you know that 35 divided by 5 equals 458?!?!?!?  I’ll be re-teaching this lesson tomorrow ;) 

Anywho, I’m back and ready to roll!  This evening,  Larry and I are planning a 5.38 mile run.  Our schedules don’t typically allow us to work out together anymore, so I’m super excited!  I don’t think he’s as eager to run the distance as I am, but it will be nice to spend the time together 😉

I did a little research after my last long run to see what could be causing my knees and hips to ache right around mile seven.  Besides the obvious pounding of joints for nine miles, here’s what I discovered.

• Increasing your mileage too quickly can cause knee pain.  It is easier on the joints if you gradually increase your mileage by 10% each week.  I dropped the ball on that one.  I went from running approximately 10 miles a week to a total of 20 miles last week!!!  That’s a 100% increase!  No wonder my knees are hurting!
• Runner’s Knee is one of the most common overuse running injuries.  It is described a dull, aching pain under and around the front of the kneecap.  It is also often painful to walk down stairs, kneel, squat, or sit with your knees bent for a long period of time.  It can be caused by any of the following variables.
• Malalignment of the kneecap
• Complete or partial dislocation
• Injury
• Excessive training or overuse
• Tightness, imbalance, or weakness of thigh muscles
• Flat feet



• Because women have wider hips, they are more likely to suffer from Runner’s Knee.  Go figure, right!!!  (No pun intended)  Because of these lovely lady lumps, ladies, we have greater angling of the thighbone to the knee, which puts the kneecap under more stress. 
• Strengthening your core and leg muscles can reduce Runner’s Knee and alleviate pain in the hips.

So it is safe to say that for me, I have a case of Runner’s Knee that is caused by: 1) increasing mileage too quickly, 2) excessive training too quickly, 3) tight muscles, 4) weak core and leg muscles, and 5) my child birthin’ hips 😉

To alleviate this pain and prevent future pain, I need to back off the mileage for a while, stretch more frequently, and improve my strength training routine.

Although I’ve always known that having strong core and leg muscles helps build running strength, I’ve never been consistent with strength training.

I am a bit of a cardio junkie.  I feel like if I am not sweating, and I’m not out of breath, then it is not a workout.  I like to feel my heart pumping hard and my lungs expanding rapidly.  I like to feel the sweat drip off my forehead.

Because of this, strength training typically goes to the wayside. 

If I want to become a better runner I must add more strength training to my workouts.  Beginning tomorrow, I will try to follow a workout schedule that balances three to four days of running with two to three days of full body strength training and core work.  From this moment on,  I pledge to be a cardio junkie no more!!! 

How do you balance cardio, strength training, stretching, and core work??? 

 

~Jen

Remember, Be Happy, Be Healthy, Be You!!!