…And she’ll take a mile. But actually.
So after I saw the doctor on Monday, she gave me the go-ahead to start
jogging. Tuesday at practice, I
just ran around in circles at the gym—pretty much because I could. Then Tuesday night, I cranked it up a
notch.
My roommate, Christy, convinced me to do Insanity with
her. So after moving the dinning
room table, I went for it! Don’t
worry, I’m not completely stupid.
I didn’t do the jumps or anything; I just did squats, etc. Nevertheless, I don’t think I’ve ever
sweat so much before in my life.
What do they say about that?
I think it’s something like, Sweat
is your fat crying.
Then at practice yesterday, I decided to run around the
field behind the gym. Five minutes
running, two and a half walking—four times. Haha it was so slow, but considering it was my first time
really running, I won’t judge myself too harshly.
Notice: I did not do these jumps in my workouts.
Now I wake up this morning, with every intention to go to
rehab. However… my legs are so
sore, I can’t really walk normally.
Mostly it’s a good kind of sore.
My calves, etc. A little
pit of pain in my knee, but that’s to be expected. Maybe today will be my day of rest.
So this blog post is seriously overdue. But oh well! Lately, my sister, Samantha, has tried out this new thing
called, “working out.” For her
opinion on the situation, check this out.
A couple weekends ago, when I went to go see my sister, she
was telling me how sore she was from working out. She told me this multiple times, and she believed that she
was never going to stop being sore.
It was just going to last forever.
Me being the encouraging sister that I am, I just kind of rolled my eyes
and kept saying that eventually it’ll go away.
Little did I know what I was going to be experiencing the
following week. When I got back to
Davis, I started my new rehab program for my knee. I was breaking a pretty gross sweat doing these exercises
and could barely make it through all of my exercises in less than two
hours. Then for the next four or
five days, my whole body from the
waist down was so sore. I didn’t
want to move in the morning, and I couldn’t even stand flat footed because it
hurt my calves too much. I knew
how Samantha must’ve felt. But
sure enough, I eventually stopped being so sore. At the time, I believed I was just going to be sore for the
rest of my life—but it did go away.
So Samantha, if you’re still sore, I’m sorry it’s lasting so long. But I still believe that eventually you
will stop feeling sore!
Also, in terms of my knee’s recovery, I have officially
passed the three month mark. And I
finally see my doctor tomorrow for a check-up! Fingers crossed, I may be able to up my activity soon.
So I have plenty of blog ideas pending in my mind at the moment... including one for you, Samantha! Get excited. However midterm season is coming up, and I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed!
In the meantime, I have a favor to ask of my blog readers.
I'm applying for an internship this summer back in Charlotte, and I've made it to the final cut. However the company, Boone Oakley, has decided to put all of us applicants against each other... Hunger Games status. Not actually. But anyways, there is a contest now. And the winner of the contest gets the internship. So here’s where I need your help.
Just call me Katniss.
The winning applicant is the person with the most amount of combined facebook friends and twitter followers! Pretty shallow, but I don’t really want to lose this internship because I’m too lazy to make some new friends. So if you aren’t already, become my facebook friend and follow me on twitter (@ernmariesays)! On April 30th, the winner will be announced, so if you don’t want to be my friend anymore, feel free to unfriend me in May! And tell all your friends to do the same! I would greatly appreciate it.
Last weekend was the first weekend of Spring quarter. But it was also Easter weekend! And because I had a job interview in San Jose on Thursday night, I figured I might as well spend the night Thursday, skip my class Friday, hang out with Samantha… and then play it by ear. Especially because I was desperate for some (of my own) family time, and I figured, “What better time than Easter?” I told Kailyn when I left Thursday afternoon, that I had no idea when I’d be back. Maybe Friday, maybe Saturday, maybe Sunday… it would be a surprise!
Starting with the group interview on Thursday night, I was about an hour early because traffic was non-existent. Better safe than sorry. I was applying for a Teaching Assistant for the GalileoSummer program in the Bay Area, and the interview was a fairly relaxed group environment. Personally, I thought I did pretty well, but I found out this past week that they’re no longer considering me for any position. I’m bummed. I was really looking forward to the job and potentially living with Samantha this summer. But back to last weekend.
Post-interview, Thursday night was spent catching up with my sister and watching Law and Order: SVU. And going to bed before 11 o’clock for probably the first time in weeks. Because S had to work Friday, I spent the majority of my day reading my Economics book, watching Hunger Games interviews (etc.), attempting to rehab my knee, and doing laundry.
Dinner: On the Border, courtesy of Samantha via Mom and Dad! Thanks, it was delicious, and I actually tried something new!
After dinner, I showed Samantha the two “Call Me Maybe” music videos: the official one, and the Justin Bieber/ Selena Gomez one. We decided that we would reenact it, and make our own. It was so much fun. But know that Peeps are disgusting. I cut out the parts of the video where Samantha and I made that very clear. Enjoy J. It’s pretty entertaining—maybe one day it’ll be a viral hit. I’m kind of hoping not…
Saturday:
-U-Jam Fitness: where I learned that I’m super uncoordinated. But eventually, I kind of figured it out.
-Road trip to Sacramento
-Hunger games (again) with C, S, and Ben.
-Burgers and Brew. Bacon cheeseburger!
-More Law and Order. And my sisters falling asleep before 11 o’clock.
I decided to stay in Sacramento that night, so I could spend Easter brunch with my sisters. It was one of the best decisions I made all weekend. I missed them both and hanging out with them was exactly what I needed.
As for the job search, I’m taking an unofficial vote. If you want me in California, and hear of a potential job, let me know! Likewise, if you vote I go back to North Carolina for the summer, and hear of a potential job, let me know as well!
It’s the start of spring quarter. The sun is shining. New classes. More free time. You know what that means? Plenty of time for rehab! Not actually, given my class schedule—but I’ll make it work.
Still slowly making progress. Today marks eleven weeks. And I’m celebrating by playing hooky from class and hanging out with Samantha in San Jose. (Technically the “hooky” is a reward for my interview last night.) A weekend away from school and at least hanging out with family—it’s exactly what I need. Spending my spring break at my roommate’s house in Long Beach was really nice, but at the same time it made me just home and my own family. Hence, my weekend here in San Jose.
But back to my rehab. Eleven weeks means it’s time for a new program. Thanks, Missy. One with additional exercises, and “cranked up cardio.” Starting next week, I have three days of rehab and three days of 90 minute cardio. (Leaving one day of rest.) My trainer told me that if I try doing my rehab and extra cardio in the same day, I’ll probably end up over training. So my goal is to find a good balance between getting stronger, but not overdoing it. And my scars are already stretching. Gross.
My most immediate goal is full range of motion. I have good extension, but it doesn’t quite bend all the way. Comfortably, at least. But cranking up these exercises is only making me realize that I’m significantly weaker than I thought. I’ve lost muscle in my thighs, my calves, and my butt… but I’ve also lost strength in my arms. I think I’m just faced with the fact that this is a long road back. And unfortunately, it’s going to be longer and even tougher than I originally anticipated. I always figured that since I’ve done this before, I can do it again. No problem. But circumstances are different here, and I know now with 100% certainty that this won’t be easy.
One day at a time. Staying strong, and I’ll just keep hanging in there.
Wow. This is a seriously overdue blog post, but once I got to this point in the season, and waited so long to update, I figured I might as well wait until conference, which was today! The 2012 season had it’s ups and downs, and to say we were plagued with injuries is probably an understatement. We had a fair share of season ending (or pre-season ending) injures, as well as serious “bumps and bruises” that either led to more serious things, or forced people to train and compete through pain. And while it took us awhile to hit our stride, we eventually figured it out. Starting at the meet at Sac State on March 11th, we started on bars, and for the first time all season, we hit all 6 routines. Then we went to beam, and again, for the first time all season, we hit 6 for 6. Before we knew it, we were on floor, hitting all our routines, then finishing on vault, with SIX STICKS. It was incredible. Just thinking about that moment, I got chills because we were on fire. But it wasn’t like we were doing any out of body gymnastics, we were just doing exactly what we were capable of. It was pretty cool.
Then the next week, we went to San Jose State, and had another stellar meet. Hitting 23 of our 24 routines, we hit a season high 194.15. It had been a long season, and a long preparation up to this point, but we were definitely peaking at the right time. With the next meet being MPSF Conference Championships, and all 4 teams (U of Alaska Anchorage, Air Force Academy, Seattle Pacific, UCD) peaking at the right time of the season, the meet was going to be very competitive. Throwing a wrench in the situation, because UC Davis was on the quarter system, we also had a week of finals leading up to the meet today. Most of us finished our tests Friday, but Maddy had her last one this morning. After a week of tests, studying, and as much gymnastics as possible, we were sleep deprived and still pushing through pains and injuries. Nevertheless, I witnessed firsthand (again) that I am on a team of the toughest people in the world. I was so proud of them and what they accomplished! They are fighters, they are strong, they are committed, and they did not and will not give up. And because of all that, they/ we are the 2012 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference Champions! You guys are the best and congratulations!
Today in rehab, one of the head trainers asked me how far out of surgery I was… “Two and a half months?” she asked. To be honest, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. I wish. Haha two more days, and I’ll be seven weeks! Wow, I really thought I was only six. Look at that. Time’s flying. Not really. Still, it was encouraging to know that even to the ATCs, I’m looking like I’m doing well.
Anyways last week, I asked my trainer a question, even though I knew she was going to get mad at me for even bringing up. (But technically, I gave her a warning, saying she wasn’t allowed to be mad.) I flat out asked her when I could starting swinging bars. She kind of rolled her eyes, but I really wasn’t expecting the answer she gave me. Four months (from January 20th, not from now). I’m pretty sure I’ll be running before I can do a giant on the bar. I guess I just keep forgetting that this is a twelve month process. And while I’m on the “fast track,” the idea of this comeback taking the full twelve months scares me just a little more than I’m comfortable admitting.
