Cadence

I thought I would try and get one last blog post in before heading off to Disney! I still need to finish packing so I will try and make this brief. I had my 3rd PT session with Shane today. I can officially say I am totally comfortable with my new PT. I guess it takes 3 sessions of being forced to do very silly looking exercises in front of another human to be comfortable. So my cadence is 160 (twice it was 158). I didn't know until today what number was good. Shane did not want to bias me before I figured mine out. I think he thought I would cheat or lie...... My goal cadence should actually be 180. Ouch...I am little off. So what does this mean? It means I need to shorten my stride. This all goes back to the tweaking I was talking about after my last PT visit. We also did another running analysis today. I still only slightly pronate but do so too fast and too long on left. Neutral shoes are still the right shoe for me. I still have a significant heel strike first stride. Bummer b/c it should be more a forefoot strike. Shortening my stride should help with this.  Shane tells me that while I try and change my cadence it is going to feel weird and more difficult from a cardio standpoint. He is allowing me to play around with it a little but not a ton. He doesn't want me going crazy with this since I am in the middle of training for my one and only main goal for the year (the full in May). His fear is that if I change too much now I might throw other things off. I would agree with that. Still, since I will be running the Disney princess about 2 min per mile slower than what I am used to doing (bc Cathy and I are running together and not for time) I think it might be a good time to play with my cadence (just a little).  I also learned 2 new exercises. One focusing on the core. Not to hard if I can just remember to breathe and not rock hips while doing it. The other is involves me bringing my legs over a chair (over and over). Also not too hard but supposed to be done a lot faster than I was going in the clinic today. This is the one where I looked completely ridiculous. I will say I think it is nice having a PT who enjoys running. I don't think he quite has the obsession with running that I do.... but darn close. He might argue his is worse since he and Keith (another PT and just a friend to me) run outside in any condition (heat, rain, snow, etc). Finally the very best part of therapy today was..........getting to see Jenny! She and I hardly ever seem to be at the Y at the same time but today we were. Talking to Jenny for 5 minutes just brightens your whole day!

After PT I went and got a quickie haircut. By quick I mean in and out in less than 15 min and all for under 15 dollars (including a wash and tip). Here is where I am very different from any girl I know. Basically there is NOTHING you can do with my curly hair. So I just go to Great Clips and get a trim and move on. Nothing special. No layers. No color. No nothing. It is what it is and it is never going to get any better.

Finally I do feel a bit on the mend with the cold and even nausea stuff (pregnancy test was negative)but the toothache is getting worse. My impacted and now infected wisdom tooth really needs to come out. Just something I keep putting off for some unknown reason. I had Clark call me in some Augmentin so I am hoping it kicks in and I can actually attempt to chew on that side of my mouth during my trip. If not then I guess it will help prevent me from gaining too much weight over the next couple of days. I am using this weekend to relax and rejuvenate. When I get back I am getting back on track with healthy eating. I am getting all my runs in. I am going to start going to the gym again (I think). Also it will be just about time for Clark and I's financial experiment to start (maybe I should make one last gymboree kids clothing purchase before I go...hahaha).

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I can assure you Cathy and I will be having a great time!!! Check back in a few days to hear how everything went.