Friend of Julie: Commitment to Exercise Continues

I've stayed committed to my couch to 5K exercise routine and I'm quite pleased with myself. It helps that my friend Aime meets me at the gym and we do our routine together every other day and once over the weekend.

After our workout yesterday, I was complaining about being out of breathe and in a bit of foot pain and it suddenly I realized -- this is the way I used to feel all the time. Every day when I used to get into my car, my legs would feel stiff and my knees hurt. I was out of breathe just walking a short distance across campus. Now, I only feel this way for a short time after I exercise, It's a good kind of out-of-breathe and pain, both are temporary and are followed by an increase in energy that lasts the rest of the day and into the next. How quickly one forgets daily pain when it's gone. My knee and foot pain, once a 24 hour issue, is now minimal.

When I've mentioned the hot chocolate run to others, I often hear them say their knees won't allow them to run. I'm instantly grateful, that my knees seem to be happy with my running, as I have less knee pain than I did earlier this summer. I don't feel knee pain from jogging on the treadmill. I still feel knee pain when I walk downhill or down steps, but I'm not doing the strectching exercises the doctor suggested would resolve that. This is a good reminder to me that it's time to get back on those 5 minute stretches again.

Last night I bought 3 pairs of SmartWool Women's Outdoor Sport Lightweight Micro Socks at Dick's Sporting Goods. I first bought SmartWool socks while on vacation in California last March, because my regular socks were burning my feet in my sneakers. Now that walking and jogging are a part of my life, I needed to buy a few more pairs. I never would have believed I'd pay $14.99 for a pair of socks, but here we are. Comfort is priceless in my book.  That said, I will be looking online for more options.

I like grey or black, as they match my sneakers better, but they always seem to have these colors on the bottom and a different color on top. On site I found is Socks Addict, which I'll look around for less costly but same quality socks.