First run in 6 weeks

Well...I did it!  I got to actually hit the pavement for the first time in 6 weeks, since my fall.  I was so nervous, anxious and excited.  I woke up to a beautiful Minnesota morning: 65 degrees, zero humidity and sunny.  I was thrilled with the weather.  So, I set off.

My goal was to try to run (w/o walking) the first mile.  Then I wanted to run/walk to 4 miles.  I thought the first mile was do-able, but was a little hesitant about going 4.  I didn't know how my knee would hold up and knew if I was having pain I had to stop.  Well...I made it that first mile pain free...well at least my knee was pain free.  The rest of my body felt like a ton of bricks.  My legs felt like they were 100lbs each.  My breathing was out of control.  I felt like an obese woman who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.  But I pushed and made the 1 mile...woohoo!  Pathetic that 9 weeks out from when I'm supposed to run 26.2 miles, I'm excited about running 1.  But, I continued to run till 1.5 and was having a little pain.  It wasn't sharp pains or anything really concerning.  It kind of felt like it was just getting used to the movement again.  I walked and ran off and on from then on till 4 miles.  I reached my goal!

I'm happy I was able to push myself to 4 miles regardless of having to switch between running and walking.  I think that will possibly be the case for a while while I'm trying to get back into it.  My breathing got better as I got into it but my legs were pretty heavy the whole run.  It was also pretty windy and the wind kept picking up throughout the run.  My Nike+ wristband was being really strange yesterday (because I haven't used it in so long: sad) so I am not sure what my pace was.  Before my fall I was usually between a 9:10-9:50 minute mile.  I think the first mile I did mostly in that pace but then I definitely slowed down a little.  I need to calibrate the wristband today so it can be accurate again.  Afterwards I felt pretty good.  My knee hurt a little bit, but not horribly.  I took an extremely cold ice bath after which I think helped with my soreness today!  I also iced 3 more times throughout the day to curb any swelling.

As I said, today I am going to calibrate my wristband so I'll just run an easy 1 mile and then possibly just walk for a little bit.  I want to let my legs rest a little bit.  I am sore today...I mean, my calves, quads, even my back and abs!  It's so sad how hard it is to get in shape and how easy it is to fall out of shape. But the good news is my knee feels pretty good!  So all in all the first attempt was a success! I am planning on doing 4 miles again tomorrow if my body feels ok and my knee seems like it can handle it.

I received my first donation from the family letters I sent out yesterday!  Thank you to Terry McDonough!  I really appreciate your thoughtfulness!  Hopefully this is just the beginning of donations from the family!  Thank you to everyone for your donations, thoughts, prayers, calls & texts!  Your support is so much more helpful than you think! 

http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough

Dogs in the Courtroom??

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/nyregion/dog-helps-rape-victim-15-testify.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

I love this idea.  Here is just another example of how animals can help humans in such an awesome way.  The comfort that a dog can bring a person is amazing to me.  I know that personally, my little Emma can always cheer me up and is definitely comforting to me.  After a long, stressful day, the only thing I want to do is come home and snuggle up with her.

I do understand the possibility of the presence of a dog in the courtroom being unfair.  I recognize that this could be a problem, but overall, I think I believe that dogs who are trained therapy animals who can bring comfort to a victim who is testifying should be allowed in the court room.  If it allows a victim, especially a child victim to speak out, by all means, it should be allowed.  If jurors are instructed correctly on the presence of the dog I do not believe that the dogs presence would not cause that much of a problem.

What are your thoughts??

GOOD NEWS!!!--Woohoo!

I had my 3rd visit with my physical therapist last Wednesday.  My knee was feeling much better.  My range of motion had improved, my pain was extremely low, and I was able to water jog for 40 minutes pain free!  And so my physical therapist gave me the go ahead to try to run this week!  YES!!! I was thrilled when he told me that.  He said if I have any pain I have to stop immediately and I can't push myself too far and overdo it.  I also need to keep up with the exercises he gave me and icing.

I was hoping to go for a run today but I am pretty sore from some strength exercises and am having some pain in my knee so I decided to wait until tomorrow.  Today I am preparing by icing, taking anti-inflammatories and drinking tons of water so I'm hydrated tomorrow.  I am extremely excited, nervous, and anxious.  I'm really scared for 2 main reasons: 1) How is my knee going to hold up?  I'm terrified that I'm going to be in a lot of pain right away.  But, trying to think positive and praying that won't be the case.  2) I'm going to feel extremely out of shape.  Endurance wise and strength wise, I've lost a lot of both.  I seriously think that I'll be happy to make it 2 miles without dying.  If my knee is holding up, I'm hoping that I'll at least be able to run/walk for 4 miles.  But again, I don't want to push too hard too fast, so we'll see!

We're 9 weeks out from the marathon and I haven't run in 5 1/2 weeks.  That's a LONG LONG time in training.  So, I have to be really committed to this now to be able to be ready by October.  I am going to keep water jogging in my training for sure as it will allow me to log more miles without the stress on my knee.

Fundraising update:  Last week I wrote a letter to clients at my mom's clinic for her to post and hand out.  I'm hoping to get donations from that.  I've gotten one donation from an employee of hers so far.  I also mailed out 40 letters to our family and am hoping to get a substantial number of donations through the family.  Next step is sending letters/emails to our family friends and some of my parent's friends.  I am also going to post a flyer at school once classes start up again and have written letters to a few professors that I feel comfortable reaching out to.  I am also looking into hosting a happy hour at a bar that us law students frequent quite often! I received an extremely generous donation from a classmate, Brittany Lawon who has 2 cats, both of whom she rescued.  So thank you Brittany.  As always, I would appreciate any donations you are able to give: http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough.  Thanks for your continued support!  I will update ya'll tomorrow after my run and let you know how it turns out!  Please think positive thoughts for me! :)