three things and another PT appointment

Okay here’s a random post with a splattering of three things I’ve been up to these past few weeks outside of school.  I just hit the halfway point of the fall semester, and it’s been a little crazy around here.

1. Quick trip to Cleveland and some family time.  My dad, sister, and I drove to Cleveland Friday night for a quick weekend trip.  We popped over to our favorite Great Lake (well, not true, but I do have a life-long loyalty to Lake Erie), toured the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, ate lunch, and peaced out.Sista pic

Do Laura and I look insanely tall???  We chose Grumpy’s for lunch…definitely unrelated to the fact that it’s my family’s nickname for me when I am hungry.  I got a black bean burger, and it was super good….but kind of weird with the coffee I got to drink.  I should have gone all in for lunch or all in for breakfast.

2. #ExploringIndy
Ryan and I kind of cheated the deal this week because we didn’t try a new restaurant, but instead, we (he) tried a new recipe!  I didn’t arrive in Indy until late Monday evening, so Ryan awesomely suprised me with a homemade dinner the moment I walked in the door (see above re: Grumpy. Thanks, Ryan!).  His veggie chili was restaurant quality.

But last week, our new place was the Whole Foods hot bar.  It was actually the first time I’d ever been to WF (I’m a Kroger fan), but I will say that everything I tried (which was almost everything at the hot bar) was tasty.  Now that I look at how much food Ryan and I consumed in one sitting, I understand why I was so, so full.  Worth it for the mac ‘n cheese.

3. Running.
This is the not so fun part.  I’ve been busy with things that are more important than running right now for me, so I’ve decreased my weekly mileage…by A LOT… but I’ve been surprisingly okay with it.  However, I still get knee pain 12-14 miles into Saturday’s long runs, so I went to the PT on Sunday morning to see what my deal is.

After some walking and squatting and bending and twisting and pushing and pulling every which-way, he thinks that I’m just really tight–like everywhere–and it’s throwing off my gait.  This makes sense to me because I’ve been sitting/not moving more this past year than what I normally do, and I don’t stretch very often, if ever.  Even before the appointment, I noticed that my torso is all twisted up and basically facing the wrong way.  For example, if both feet are facing forward, the top half of my body is facing diagonally to the right.  I think (and hope) this is a recent thing because it weirds me out when I’m brushing my teeth, shoulders parallel to the mirror, and look down to see my feet both pointing left…  He gave me a bunch of thoracic mobilization stretches/exercises to do, which mostly involve laying on my back on a foam roller and stretching.  I am happy that these stretches do not involve glute strengthening because that is the story of my life.

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Last new restaurant you tried?
Veggie chili, meat chili, or white chicken chili? Or Skyline chili??
When do you stretch?