FINALLY

I ran for an hour last night at midnight! it was the perfect run! about 50 degrees with a light wind. Some steps were worse than others as far as my back and IT band, but I mostly just felt soreness. It feels like it's been so long since I ran for that long that my body was just starting to feel pain in general. When I finished my IT band hurt pretty bad.. but I walked it off and stretched a lot and right now it feels 10 times better. Still not completely normal, so I'm going to wait to run again tonight and stretch all day. My life rocks right now. I'm so happy.

Plans for today:
1. Go to the movies with Hales.
2. Make puppy chow with Hales.
3. Try to run with Hales.
4. Possibly Zoo Lights with Hales, Cherilyn, and Austin

sounds like a great day to me!

Progress

So, I thought I finally had a break through the other night because I was able to run 40 minutes. It was incredible. I don't think I've been that elated in a long time. I was hoping to be able to run an hour the next day. Of course I try to run in the morning which was no good and resulted in a 30 minute run which was ok.. just not what I was looking for. I figured that was good because I ran a lot the day before compared to what I've been doing. Well, today I woke up and I just knew my back was not feeling it. I tried anyways and got 20 minutes it. It's a lot more than I could have done a week ago, so I'm thankful, but I want to run for an hour so bad. My back still feels the same way it did when I woke up so I don't think running now will be any better.  This is seriously one of the most frustrating things I've ever dealt with. Not to mention the fact that while I'm not running, I feel like the only things to eat in my house are cookies and all sorts of other desserts that are not helping me stay in shape by any means.
Why is this happening? Why is it taking so long? When it first started I only planned on cross training for like 2 days. Then when I was told to take off I only planned on that lasting like 2 days. This is all just so dumb.

I got to skype 2 of my friends from Starkville last night! It was probably one of the highlights of my break actually! I didn't realize how few friends I have here and how great my college friends are.

Another highlight to this break was the murder mystery party me and Hales went to. I originally really didn't want to go. It was so much fun though. It's really complicated to explain so I guess I won't even try, but I can't wait to go to the next one already.

Hope this next week gets better!

Home Sweet Home

I have been home for 6 days now and haven't gotten to write on here. Horrible. Well, not much has really been happening. I still haven't been able to run or anything for that matter. Yesterday was the first day I've exercised in over a week and it felt so good. 30 minutes on the elliptical. I felt so out of shape. My legs were burning and every rotation I was scared how my back would feel. It started to hurt after 25 minutes so I stopped at 30. All last night and today the muscle that I guess spasmed has been very sore. It's not painful at all so today I went for 45 minutes and a lot faster. I plan on running later because my back doesn't hurt at all. I can run through soreness. I just don't want to over do it and the pain spread to my IT band and then down my leg like it did the last day I ran. It was so painful and set me even further behind. I want to just be normal and run again! I'm so close, I can feel it. Also, I just remembered we're having a time trial when we get back from Christmas and I don't think I will be in too great of shape to run the minimum requirement which means I won't get all the gear. This will be very frustrating. Anyways, Im getting better and that's all that matters.

I'm already ready to go back to Starkville though. I love it so much there. I miss my friends. I miss the freedom. I miss the training. I miss the stupid dorm. I miss not having junk food in front of my face all the time. I miss not working. I miss having a trainer to keep me healthy. I even miss the school work a little. It kept me busy.

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It was so good! I used to love that movie, but I just watched it after reading the book and that was the first time I have ever liked a book more than a movie. I was critiquing every aspect of the movie and it just was not as good as I remembered it. I've started the second book and hopefully after today I'll be half way through it. I'm obsessed.

Being home means I have to work. Well, not have to I guess, but I want to. I hate spending money at school without having any income. However, work is not as much fun as I left it. All the new people suck. They are so annoying and I don't have any good friends to talk to. Even if I did though, what would we talk about? I feel like all I know how to talk about these days is running which is so unhealthy. I really need to venture out. Anyways, hopefully it gets better, or my outlook on things change or something.

My sister just had an interview trying to get into the PT school here in Memphis. She's freaking out about not getting in and it has hit me that I will be in the same position in a very short 3 years or less hopefully. What if my plan for life doesn't work out because I can't get into Dental School. Then what? It's so weird to think about. I'm going to be in the real world. On my own. Paying taxes and bills. This makes me more determined than ever to keep my 4.0. I need everything I can possibly do to be perfect so that when I look back, I can say I did everything in my power to do what was needed to get into Dental School.

My girlfriend is doing just as great as ever! I love her so much and I'm so proud of her for everything she has accomplished. I learn a lot from her whether she knows it or not. 

My sister also told me a new website to download music for free! It's so awesome! and I suppose it's legal. I mean, you don't have to sign up or download any program. You just go to the website - http://www.listentoyoutube.com You take the URL of a youtube video you like and then turn it to an mp3. It goes straight to your Itunes. Check it out. It's super easy and awesome.

I guess I've typed quite a bit. Hopefully it won't take me 6 more days before I get to write again.

Hurry Up

It feels like it's been forever since I posted on here. Well, my back started acting up and I wound up not getting to run like I thought I would. I saw the doctor this morning and he said there was definite muscle spasms in my lower back and gave me some medicines and told me to take off until it gets better. I absolutely hate not being able to run. Hopefully this meds will kick in in the next couple days and I'll be good as new.
As for my finals, I got A's on the 3 I took Friday and I'm 98% sure I got an A on the Biology exam I was freaking out about which means I'm 99% sure I have an A in the class! That is the best news I've heard all week! 4.0 GPA first semester in college, can't complain! I just hope I can keep it up because I know it definitely will not be this easy for the rest of college. I have one more exam on Thursday. It's going to be one of the easier ones and I just have to wait around on it. I think I'm going to start reading Harry Potter here soon.
Well I guess I have nothing else to talk about really. I'm so ready to go home though.
Thursday needs to hurry up.

Good News!

Good news!! My back is finally getting better! Just when I thought I was cursed and would never get better, I get better! Coach gave us our schedules for December while we're at home. All the workouts seem great and I can't wait to do them! This morning I was so upset because I was scared I wouldn't be able to.. but it looks like I should be good to go on Monday! Maybe not exactly what's on my schedule. I might come back a little easier to work into it, but still, improvement! I love life right now.
I've had a wonderful day with my amazing girlfriend. We went out to lunch at Umi's. So delicious. A little expensive.. I'm always thinking about money. It's probably really unhealthy. I just hate spending money without having a source of income. Money should never be an issue. And hopefully when I'm older it really never will be because I'll be a rich dentist. Fingers crossed. Anyways, that makes me think, why do people care so much about having money. I'm sure it's great to be able to go out to dinner and not worry about how much the bill is or go on vacation and not think about how much you spent on the hotel room, but I've never really experienced it. Sometimes I don't really think about it an I just enjoy the time I'm spending with her, but then the next time I go to spend money, I think about the last time I spent money. So stupid. I don't go out to eat with the guys because I save my money for when I want to take Haley out. Although this is smart, why do I care? Oh yeah, because she just mentioned I should start saving for her wedding ring. Well, if I do that, then that means we can't go out and spend money at this point in our lives. Why is life so complicated? Why am I even thinking about this stuff? It's so far in the future. This is the point at which I would usually just erase everything I've said because I don't think it's relevant, but I guess I'll leave it since it's what was going on in my head as I was typing.
Anyways, I wanted to focus on the great day I've had instead of complain, but I got distracted with thought provoking questions about money and the future and what not. After lunch we watched a movie. Something along the lines of "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo." It was pretty good! She had read the book and wanted to see the movie version. After the movie, we went back to my dorm and talk to the guys for a while. My friends are so awesome. They always crack me up. Now I'm back at Haley's apartment, supposed to be studying for Biology, but I don't want to and FRIENDS is on and I'd rather just watch that anyways. I guess I have all day tomorrow to study. I want to do so well on this exam it's not even funny. I want to know the material better than I know myself. haha
Well, I'm going to go attempt to study or eat some pretzels, reese's peanut butter, and yogurt with my awesome girlfriend!

Bad News

Bad news. My trainer just told me that I need to take the next two days completely off. I hate this. My lower back still hurts because of my stupid tight hamstrings. I've never been injured like this before. It's horrible. It's been perfect running weather and I hear about everyone else's runs and I'm just really jealous. All I want is to get better. Sometimes I feel like I'm being punished for something. Does God cause pain in my legs, my running to suffer and other things because I haven't been as good of a person lately and I don't have a very close relationship with him? I feel like this a lot. Maybe some of it's mental, but it seriously does seem whenever I do something "morally wrong" everything else in life seems to fall apart too.

Anyways, finals began today. I had 3 and I got a 98 on one and pretty sure I got an A on the other 2. Looks like I'll be finishing this semester with a 4.0 GPA as long as I do pretty well on this stupid Biology final. I want to start studying right now, but I'm going to let my mind rest and relax tonight. I'll start studying tomorrow I guess.

The Dark Horse

I'm having a really rough week. So, my back has been hurting for a couple weeks now. Well once we got back running on Monday after 8 days off, the pain in my back led to pain in my IT Band. I ignored it on Monday and was just getting treatment on my back. The run Tuesday was awful. The pain from my back caused pain in the IT Band which caused pain in my whole right quad and somehow my right shin started hurting, but it feels more like inflamed muscles around my shin than the bone. After the run, I was in so much pain. I got treatment on my back and iced my legs. Towards the end of the night I could not walk it hurt so bad. The next morning was just as bad. Throughout the day, my back loosened up, but my quad and IT Band still hurt. I did a bike workout instead of running, which did not cause nearly as much pain as Tuesday's run. Afterwards I got treatment on my quad and iced my shin. I felt a million times better last night. Then my back started hurting because I didn't get to heat it after the bike ride yesterday. Our trainer Katie says that my back is probably only hurting now because my hamstrings are so tight. I've been stretching all morning. IT Band and quad feel a lot better, shin feels a bit better so now my back and tight hamstrings are the only things bothering me. The plan is to bike for one more day and continue this intense stretching and hopefully I'll be ready to go by Saturday. This is so frustrating though. I want to be the Dark Horse this track season. A stud runner that no one even sees coming. It's going to be a little harder being a week behind and now being scared that at any minute my back or IT Band could start hurting again.

The only thing I'm being positive about is that it happened now instead of in March or April. Being injured takes up so much more time. I go in about 30 minutes early, I stay about 30-40 minutes late.. it's so annoying. I just want to be normal. My friend Mike just came in my room and told me about his 100 minute run this morning. I'm so jealous. I WANT TO RUN.