A Happy Knee

Probably the biggest problem I've had with running has been my right knee.  It aches off-and-on while I'm running and the day after a long run it hurts most of the day.  I've been reading about ice this, ice that...it seems icing is the solution to everything so I finally broke down and did it.  I iced my knee on Friday night in preparation for the run (absolutely no idea if pre-icing helps, just wanted to do it) and then I iced it again soon after I got home on Saturday.  Miguel has this velcro ice pack that you can wrap tight around the knee so I could still walk around (which is almost required with kids).  Wow!  My knee hardly hurts at all today!  I can't believe the difference the icing made.  I am a true believer now.  I may even start doing this after shorter runs if possible.

So I did end up riding my bike to the gym today, which was nice.  Outdoors is so much more fun than the stationary bike.  I finally got to ride on the new bike path that was built on the way to the gym.  Previously you had 3 choices - 1, ride on the shoulder of the freeway (really!), 2, ride over a big hill or 3, ride over a giant hill (Yes Alison, you're hill).  I used to take option #2 but now with the new path you avoid those and ride over a nice, medium incline and avoid the hills (and freeway shoulder) altogether. 

I arrived at the gym feeling fresh and alive (how lovely is that?!) and did my back/biceps/core routine.  Then I hopped on my bike and started toward home.  Given that I felt I had it easy on the new bike path I decided to ride over a big hill to get home (Yes, Alison, you're hill, but it's slightly easier going north than south!).  It was a challenge but I was happy to know I can still get over it despite focusing so much on running.  I am a triathlete after all, can't let my other sports go altogether [wink].  I arrived home feeling relaxed and happy. 

So I've noticed something lately.  The fat roll around my stomach, what some people call their "spare tire" - or maybe it's the same as a "muffin top"? - anyway, it seems more pronounced lately.  And I think I remember this happening when I lost weight pre-pregnancies.  It's like the overall size of my stomach goes down and the fat roll becomes more obvious.  Despite my devil-may-care attitude these days I do find myself feeling a little self-conscious about it, more-so if I have a shirt that doesn't hide it well.  The good thing is it seems to be almost exclusively a workout clothes issue and so far isn't happening with my regular clothes.  Oh well, I need to just let it go.  It's not like people can't tell I'm on the chubby side. 

Ack!  I can't end my blog with "chubby side" so I'll tell you about my super-healthy lunch after the gym.  Basically it was a huge bowl of roasted veggies (squash, onion, bell peppers, mushroom) tossed with black beans and topped with a couple of healthy dollops of latino cream (sort of a salty sour cream).  Yummy!