Struggle #12: Listening to My Body

I am not happy about writing this post. Not. One. Bit.

I can't compete at the individual competition that I was supposed to do this weekend. I was so freaking excited to compete and show myself how all my hard work is paying off. But, alas, it just wasn't in the cards for me this weekend.

I somehow hurt my knee this past weekend playing soccer with a bunch of CrossFit people. Don't ask me how I did it, because in all honesty I am not really sure what happened. Being the great physical therapy student that I am (haha), I quickly started attempting to rule out everything that it could or couldn't be. I was pretty confident that it wasn't anything structural, but on Monday I still couldn't really bend my knee. I finally decided it was probably just inflammation of patellar tendon, but man it has caused pain this week.

Regionals. The ultimate goal. 

It has gotten a lot better throughout the week, but still it isn't well enough to squat with any weight on it. I have been icing it frequently, taking ibuprofen, and resting it. Goodness this rest thing is going to kill me! I am not good at it and it kills me watching everyone go hard at the gym and I can only do things with my arms. I honestly have been very successful though and I am proud of myself for that. I have done everything in my power to get it better ASAP, but my body just doesn't have it in it this week. I am pretty upset about it but I am trying to think about my future and not causing permanent damage to my knee.

So instead of competing this weekend, I will be headed home! I haven't been there since before I went to Cincinnati, so I am excited to hang out with my family and see my puppy! Since home is only about 40 minutes from the competition, I am going to go watch the CrossFit St. Louis competitors and be the best cheerleader that I can be! Don't worry, I actually was a cheerleader in high school, so I will be pretty darn amazing and loud!

On a positive note, I grilled about 5 pounds of chicken earlier this week... Oops! I did not realize how much that was until I took it out of the package! Dam Costco and their jumbo sizes. But I managed to successfully start the charcoal grill. However, I am still terrified that when I start it, the fire will engulf my hand! There could potentially be lighter fluid on my hand and the flame could just cause me to explode. I over think things... But the chicken is delicious and will continue to be for the next 3 weeks, haha.

One of my favorite things to pair it with are sweet potato fries! They are super easy to make, just cut up a sweet potato, place them in a bag, melt some coconut oil, drizzle it over them, and add some seasonings. Shake it up, lay it flat on a lined pan, and bake in the oven at 350 for 35-45 minutes. I usually flip them half way through just so both sides get a little crispy. The waiting part stinks but if you throw them in the oven before you make your main dish you won't even notice the time.

I also have applied to Lululemon for a holiday position and today I had my second interview with them! It was a yoga class in the middle of a farmer's market... Seemed interesting enough to me but it was a lot of fun and something different for me to do. The only really crappy thing was that the temperature here in St. Louis was about 60 degrees. Having my toes and fingers exposed was not fun and it took me a little time for all the feeling to come back to them! Anyways, I am hoping the contact me soon so I can see what the next step is for me to get hired!

Hurting my knee this week really put a damper on my mood all week. I was constantly thinking about the competition this weekend and if I should do it or not. While I am not really happy with my decision, I know it is the best decision for me and the health of my knee in the long run. I am proud of myself for finally making the decision (although with the help of a few others) not to compete, but this gives me even more fire to get in the gym and constantly improve. Hopefully by next week I will be ready to go and officially at peace with the decision I made.  Who knows, stranger things have happened.