Trip home to Vermont

Tough Mudder went well, I survived at least. I went into it with tight hamstrings (apparently I lifted to heavy on legs the Tuesday before) but didn't start cramping up until about mile 9. For someone who has run a total of 5 miles at the very most in one time, I think the 11.5 miles went pretty well. Obstacles were easy, it was the stopping and going during the obstacles that made the running part difficult, many many people were wilted over the side of the course with cramping muscles. I believe the toughest part of the day was the .5 mile walk back to the car, everything was sore! I ended up with lots of large bruises, but for someone who bruises easily it wasn't surprising. It is definitely something I will do again, but may build up more of the running aspect for next time.

So I returned earlier this week from my weekend trip home to Vermont. I did a decent job sticking to my diet, I carried a cooler with me everywhere I went! I had my one higher carb, higher calorie "cheat day" while I was there. I have decided that it is a lot more difficult to recover from the "cheat day" (blood sugar gets to high and I have a hard time balancing it out afterwards) then it is worth. So I have decided to try and have one treat a few days per week that is included in my calories for the day. If I can do this then I might not feel the need for a "cheat day". As I've said before, I'm figuring out how to do this as I go so I can be successful!

I also did a good job keeping up with my workouts. It is convenient that I have a father, brother and grandmother who also enjoy working out on a regular basis. I was able to go to the Malone YMCA and spend several hours there with my father lifting weights, working on the heavy bag and doing some HIIT. I also went to a gym with my brother, not a fan of the particular gym but was thrilled just the same to workout beside him and show him a couple new things. Then maybe the greatest thing was going to the Racquets Edge with my grandmother, who takes her water aerobics class 3x a week and when I am visiting her I go into the weight room while she's in the water. However, last week she decided she wanted me to show her how to use some of the machines in the weight room! She is determined to stay strong and knows that there is benefit to using weights outside of the water as well! The only downfall was the one day I wasn't able to get into a gym to do my cardio I decided to run outside. Now for those of you familiar with Vermont, they do not pave the roads very well, they tend to slant down the sides. I ran on them anyway and developed a knee strain :( Between the uneven pavement and tight hamstrings (from running the tough mudder and not doing a great job stretching after my leg workout the day before) my knee did not like me and is now out of commission. This means leg days is discontinued for the time being, along with most cardio. I'm trying not to let this set me back at all, keeping my upper body lifts either high volume or high weight to keep my metabolism up. I don't want to push myself to making this injury any worse so I am being smart about it and staying off of it until it is ready to move again. I think once I have recovered from this I will incorporate more yoga and prehab type exercises into my routine to avoid any other injuries.