And the bass keeps runnin', runnin', so why can't I?

Sorry for the late update this week. Last week some family issues arose and I wasn't able to find the time to write a new post, so this week I'll write two. :)

So things don't seem to be getting any better, and now it's just frustrating. I want to run!!!! I'm sick and tired of going to rehab and doing the same monotonous exercises that don't seem to be helping at all. And I know that it takes a long time to get better from an injury like tendinitis, but frankly I'm over it. I can go for a run and push through the pain, but I'm not "supposed to." This sounds very heinous of me, but maybe I should lie to the trainers and just start to say that it feels better so that I'll be able to return to play.

I feel like I'm getting desperate with this whole fiasco. How did it end up this bad? When I look back on how it all began, it just doesn't make any sense. Okay, so it's an overuse injury. But, this began after three weeks of no activity at all!! Plus, I was running 40+ miles a week before my break, so it's not like it's more intensity than I'm used to.

I'd like to think that I'm over the whole mental aspect of being at a different school, with a different team, etc. But maybe I'm not. Maybe it is, in fact, a mental road block keeping me from healing fully. Maybe because I feel like I've lost my home team, Triton, it's taking away the thing that I associate so closely with Triton: running. This is making sense in my head, however much I'd like to not believe it. I don't know if it's coming out the way I want it to sound, though. I wonder if sports therapy would do anything...

I just want to run!!

This week I decided to just go for it. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I ran with the team on the trails. On Tuesday, Thursday, and today, my knee hasn't been feeling that great. I've been trying to run for 25-30 minutes when I do run. I may have mentioned this before, but my knee feels better the faster I run. But it always starts to hurt after I finish. Tendonitis is so temperamental. :(

I started doing some new things in rehab this week, also. Instead of icing before I do the exercises, they give my five minutes of ultrasound on my knee. Then I do the exercises and end with ice and e-stim. E-stim is one of the best feelings. Once you get adjusted to the feeling and become numb, it makes you want to fall asleep. 

Today, we didn't have a meet or anything, so Rich (my boyfriend) and I went up to Holmdel Park to watch the Shore Coaches Invitational meet. My high school team was running. It was great to see everyone, but I felt bad. They only had four girls in the race because everyone else is injured. You need at least five people to score, seven ideally. They four who did run performed well, so good for them. I also got to meet Rich's parents today for lunch before the meet, who were so nice! I was so nervous about meeting them, but everything ended up going great. :)

So, I'm still unsure if I'm going to red shirt the season or not. I think there's only 4 more meets left, so it seems kinda pointless. I have to talk to Coach about is some more. We'll see...

Progress is being made!! Finally!!

Good news! On Monday I ran for 20 minutes. It hurt a little but the faster I went, the less it hurt. Tuesday, I did the bike. Wednesday, ran again. This time there was no pain at all!! Yesterday, bike again. Today? We'll soon find out...


I'm really happy that I was able to do another 20 minutes on Wednesday. I really thought it was going to be bugging me, but it didn't at all. It's odd, though. Coach Preston told me on Tuesday that if I wasn't able to practice fully with the team by Monday (Sept. 27th), then I should probably do a medical red-shirt. But things seem to be looking up finally! Well, it all really depends on how I feel today, this weekend, and Monday. I think that when Coach actually said what we both knew, it kinda jump started my brain to get my body into gear.


No more word on the clinic. If things keep going the way they are, then I won't need to go. It would be fantastic if I didn't, because then my parents could actually get me a gift for my birthday, ha ha. My aunt asked me what I wanted. What does any college kid want? Money, of course. The money I made from my summer job at a car dealership is long gone, especially because I bought a used car that has a V8 engine. Probably not the best idea considering I commute about 46 miles to school each way. (My dad's idea - ugh.)


Aside from that, everything seems to be looking up! I've met a lot of great people at Stockton already, so I'm glad I chose to come here. Let's hope the rest of the semester/year stays this way! :)

Clinic?

So, as my rehab continues here at Stockton, I feel like my knee isn't getting any better. The athletic trainer told me to only try running every other day now, instead of every day. So far, it hasn't been helping. Wednesday I tried, and it hurt from start to finish. So, yesterday I did the bike - almost no pain! Today I have to try running again. If my knee doesn't start to feel better soon, I might have to red-shirt the season. At least that way I'll be able to do cross country, and possibly indoor track, in my fifth year at stockton. 

My dad offered to take me to a clinic in Delaware that he saw an article for in Runner's World magazine. It's quite a bit of money, but he said that if running really meant that much to me, he'd take me as a birthday gift. Whatever I end up doing, I hope my knee gets better! I think it’s hysterical that my father, even though he’s not a runner, nor is he that healthy, takes interest in the Runner’s World issues that I get. He probably reads them more than I do now, what with homework for class and whatnot.

My mother, on the other hand, thinks that my injury is completely mental. I’ll admit, I think that part of it is. Pressure from school and leaving most of my friends might have something to do with it, but I feel adjusted enough to college life that if it were all mental, m injury should have been healed by now. Plus, there’s no reason for me to actually make up an injury: running is something I love, so why would I purposely try to hurt myself so that I couldn’t run?

Anyways, we’ll see how things progress, and I’ll keep updating. Thanks for reading! :)

Welcome!

Hello and thanks so much for reading my blog! I've never had a blog before, and the idea of having one is kind of exciting. The main purpose of this blog is for Professor Guarracino's Rhetoric and Composition class, but after designing it and playing around with some of the stuff, I think I might actually try and keep this up! Yay!


This might come as a shocker, but... I'm a runner! As if you couldn't guess by the gigantic title and about me description of myself, haha. But honestly, running is my one passion. I guess this would be a fantastic post to explain the basics of why I'm a runner. I'll give more details in later posts.


I used to play soccer. Pretty much my entire childhood was spent playing soccer. I remember when I was about 7 or 8, my coach used to call me "Crazy Legs," because I'd always run around the soccer field and tried to play everyone's position for them. I'd never actually considered running as something more than what it was. I mean sure, it was fun beating a lot of the boys in gym class during small time trials, or relay races, but the actual thought of running hard and long never even occurred to me until high school. 


I went to Triton Regional High School in Runnemede, NJ. As a freshman, I played soccer -of course- in the fall. My parents asked what I'd be doing in the winter and spring seasons. For a while, I considered swimming, or basketball. But something told me to do winter track, so I did, not knowing that it would lead to the very thing that I love to do today. Originally as a sprinter, I was awful. I didn't transfer into long distance running until the end of the season, when my parents suggested I run the mile race - just to try it. I cried after the race. I don't know why, but as soon as I saw my parents after I'd finished, this overwhelming feeling got me and held me by the lungs - or was that just me in oxygen debt? 


Anyways, I decided to stick with it, after hearing so much praise. My time wasn't even that great (6:08), but I progressively got better. In the spring I did track. The next fall I did soccer again; it was my last ever season of soccer. I'd decided that the next year, I'd do cross country, mainly because I didn't like the soccer coaches, but also because running was becoming more and more appealing. Next thing I know, I'm a senior, and I'm the number one distance runner on Triton's cross country and track team! (Many more details to follow in later posts... so much to talk about!)


Anyways, here I am now in college, but stuck with an injury. Patello femoral chondrosis, patello femoral pain syndrome, patella tendonitis... call it what you will but basically, my knee hurts when I run. It getting better though.. I'll keep you posted about how it's progressing and other things.


I hope you enjoy my blog! :)