Go Green, Get Fit: Week #2 Recap

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Week two is coming to a close for the Go Green, Get Fit (GGGF) challenge. What is GGGF? Check out this post to find out.

I am starting to get frustrated. My knees are just giving me all kinds of trouble and it’s driving me nuts! I only ran twice this week instead of three times because I wanted to rest my knees. Before, it was just my right knee that had pain, but now it’s both! In between days, I did lots of stretches…and at the gym I’ve been focusing my time on the strength training machines that target all of the leg muscles (but I’m throwing some upper body stuff in there, too!) Side note – Monkey is getting SO much better! After that first visit to the gym’s child watch where he cried, cried, and cried some more…he’s been doing GREAT. The last two times, they reported that he was perfect (sigh..) and even laughed! I’m so proud of my little Monkey.

Anyway, this week I changed up my plan a bit from what the original plan was. I realized that incorporating short walks into my runs would be more beneficial than doing such long runs/long walks. I really feel like this helped me to keep up my endurance, and I do feel like it will be better on my leg muscles, including my knee. I ended up doing about 3-4 minute runs, followed by a minute of walking…listening to my body the whole time. Here’s my progress for the week:

WEEK TWO:

Monday: Stretch and Strengthen (Complete)

Tuesday: Run/Walk 30 minutes (Complete…2.67 Miles in 35 minutes)

Wednesday: Rest (Complete)

Thursday: Run/Walk 30 minutes – Skipped to allow for my knee to rest

Friday: Stretch and Strengthen (Complete)

Saturday: Run/Walk 45 minutes - Only did 30 minutes 2.38 miles in 30 minutes

Sunday: Rest (Complete)

Old shoes...meet New shoes

So, while I didn’t complete it exactly, I still feel like I did pretty well. I really want this knee pain to go away. I’ve been icing them at least once a day, and that seems to be helping. BUT…I decided to hit a local running store this weekend to see what they thought was going on. Turns out, they felt like I needed a new pair of shoes. The guy I talked to thought the fact that my shoes were old, coupled with me jumping into running again so fast (after a 2 year hiatus), was just too much for these knees. The good news is that he thought the shoes I had were perfect for me and the way I run, I just needed a new pair as they were worn down. In addition, I had to buy 1/2 size larger because…well apparently pregnancy can make your feet grow (what?) He even said that he’s seen women gain 1/2 size per kid!

So here’s hoping that this week I’m able to get at least one run in and that the new shoes help. For now it’s lots of rest and ice, but I’m hoping my knee is strong enough to let me hit up a kickboxing class at the gym this week! Wish me luck!

How are you doing with your fitness goals?