Back on Track

So I saw the PA at my orthopedic surgeon's office today and can now go back to wearing regular shoes. I was told I had to hold off until next Monday to start running again, so just a few more days until I can get back on track fitness-wise. I have to start back slowly, but I am so ready to get back to running my intervals. I plan on starting back with 2-2 intervals(run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) for the first few weeks, and work back up to my 3-1 or 4-1 intervals. My goal for now is to get back to running my 6-mile or 8-mile runs for my longer runs, and get back to my 4-mile runs for a good short distance. Will have to settle for 1-3 miles until I get back into the the shape I was in 4 weeks ago. Not sure I'm ready to start training for a 1/2 marathon at this time, but I might start over my training for another 5K or 10K.

I will also start getting back on track health-wise this week too. My goal is to go back on my low-carb diet until I go home for Christmas. My dad always makes homemade pizza for dinner on Christmas Eve and we have a big family dinner on Christmas night. I don't want to go crazy on those few days at home, but I do want to enjoy those holiday-only foods. Once I head back home, I plan on getting right back to the low-carb diet. I feel healthier when I have fewer carbs in my diet and eat lots of green veggies and lean proteins. I also have fewer stomach issues when I stick to a lower carb diet. I'm also hoping by going back to my lower-carb diet I'll lose some of the weight I've put back on and can hopefully be able to stop taking my blood pressure medicine soon.

I have been very lazy lately with my diet, but I know I can get everything back under control.

Indulgence in Death

Indulgence in Death by JD Robb is the latest book in her popular In Death series. From the inside cover flap. ~

NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas must discover why the playthings of the rich and famous have become the prey.

When a murder disrupts the Irish vacation she is taking with her husband, Roarke, Eve realizes that no place is safe – not an Irish wood or the streets of the manic city she calls home. But nothing prepares her for what she discovers upon her return to the cop shop in New York City…
A driver for a top-of-the-line limousine service is found dead – shot through the neck with a crossbow. The car was booked by an executive at a venerable security company whose identity had been stolen. Days later, a stunning, high-priced escort is found killed at Coney Island, a bayonet stuck in her heart. And again, the trail leads to a CEO whose information has been hijacked.

With a method established, but no motive to be found, Eve begins to fear that she has come across that most dangerous of criminals, a thrill killer, but one with a taste for the finer things in life – and death. Eve does not know where or when the next kill will be, or that her investigation will take her to the rarefied circle that Roarke travels in – and into the perverted heart of madness…

I absolutely loved Indulgence in Death. The In Death series remains one of my most favorite series ever. I think Robb writes some of the best characters and I still love Eve Dallas, Roarke and all the other characters 31 books later. I’ve learned to see things much like Eve does as I read this series and usually have the bad guy figured out before Eve spells it out. I will say I missed Nadine and Mavis, but realize I can’t see every character in each book. Overall, I thought it was a great mystery with some super-sexy scenes between Eve and Roarke. I did figure out the bad guy a little early, but still loved the story.

I’m looking forward to Treachery in Death, which is the next installment in this series, scheduled for release in February 2011.

To run or not to run...

So I finally went to the doctor the first week in November about my foot. I had continued to have trouble with my right foot since running in Percy Warner Park several weeks ago. So I couldn't get in to see my actual orthopedic surgeon, but was able to see his PA, who shares all x-rays with my doctor. I had multiple x-rays done on my right foot and Dana, the PA, told me I had lots of fluid surrounding all the bones in my foot. He said that was a sign of a stress fracture and told me I couldn't run for 4-6 weeks. I do get to see him after only 4 weeks, and I'm hoping I'm released to run again at that point. I haven't stopped exercising, but really miss my weekly runs. I've done the elliptical machine and even gone on a long walk with my brother(took off my surgical boot and wore my running shoes), but neither make me feel as great as running.

Yesterday was supposed to be my first 1/2 marathon ever. I hate that I missed out on this one, but know there is another one out there for me. I also have fallen off the eating healthy wagon I was on through my friend's program. I'm so ready to get back on track with my healthy eating and my exercise. Seems that once I couldn't run, I suddenly fell back into my old bad habits. I know this must stop and I have to get back on track.