Risky Business

I feel like I should be in a confession booth writing this post and I'm not even Catholic. I have a confession to make...here goes: I ran today. I wasn't going to run for a week and I ran today.

But this is the deal: my hip was feeling good (no searing pain) and well, the weather was really nice and it was the time of day when I usually run and my body was just craving a good run.

So I made a deal with myself. I said I could run IF I went very slow and IF I would stop at the first twinge of pain and IF I stayed on soft surfaces. I decided to take Daisy since she usually stops a lot and that would force me to stop a lot too.

It worked quite well. I ran about 3 miles very slowly and for the most part, stayed on soft surfaces. I stopped multiple times with Daisy. I paid attention to my form and made sure I didn't twist or turn in any way that was not necessary. It felt so good to be outside!

Although I felt a slight twinge of pain with each footstrike, it was nowhere near what it was last week. After the run I took Advil and two extra strength Tylenols and iced the entire hip area for 20 mins. No pain!

But now, 8 hrs later, I feel it again. Its not any worse than its ever been but its still there. I didn't really expect it to go away and I'm glad its not worse.

I told Kurt and he thought that was ok. He can't get me in until Friday so he said a short run on soft surface was ok. I want him to assess it and then refer me to Proactive Physical Therapy, with either Darrell Martin or Todd Smith. They are the BEST physical therapists in town!

And, I got a good swim in today too. Made it to the pool slightly earlier this morning and warmed up for 200 yards, then did 6 x 125 and then 8 x 75's. Not a bad workout. My arms were really tired so I know I did something.

And one more thing re the hip situation. Its not really my hip...and its hard to explain where it is...but its the point of the bone to the left of the abdomen. Kurt says its the muscle that inserts into that bone there. It is obviously inflamed because it hurts so bad and I'm just curious to know what I did to it. Hopefully Darrell or Todd will know.

Until then, its rest, ice, and good ol' Celebrex!

Grin and Bear It

The good news is that it was damn near 80 degrees today and I managed to sneak in a quick 20-mile bike ride. I could've easily blown it off because I had a million things to do but I stuck to my plan and made it happen. Yes!

I have a system that works well. Since I pick up my kids at 3:30 and their school is out west where I like to ride, I put my bike in the back of the van and drive to their school and leave from there. Today I was slipping into the I-don't-have-time-to-ride mode and I threw all my gear into the car and took off.

And there's a lot to do before riding (why running is so handy). I have to get my bike down from the hook on the ceiling, pump up the tires, and check the brakes. I have to put on the right clothes: bike shorts, top, jacket and sleeves when its cold, socks, and special bike shoes. Then, grabe my cell phone, water bottle with home-made Gatorade in it, sports bar, and bike gloves and put bike in the car (until Kurt puts our bike rack on the back).

It may not sound like a lot but it is a LOT more than what you do to go for a run. I'm proud to say that today I did it all within 5 mins and got out the door.

I rode to Windsor and had a fabulous ride!  The only problem was that I had eaten such a big lunch that it was kind of uncomfortable to ride hard with a full stomach. And belching up black beans and salsa when you're int he aero position is not so fun.

I'm glad I got the ride in but I'm bummin' about my hip. I've decided to not run all week and see what happenes. It didn't hurt very much today so that's promising but when I would move certain ways, I could feel significant pain. I wish I knew how I pulled that muscle!

I am worried about how I will train for an Ironman with this injury. Everyone keeps telling me that its ok to take time off now and they're right, it IS best to take the time off now. But I haven't stopped running in 25 years (seriously) and I'm honestly wondering how I'm going to do it.

What I miss most is the Saturday morning long run. I've been doing that for 25 yrs now. I think I have missed only a handful of Saturdays in all those years. I don't how know to function without that long run. It kind of "sets" me for the week. I feel a little panicky when i think of not running long on Saturday or Sunday morning. I find myself thinking about sneaking out to do the run...what an endurance junkie I am!

So, we'll see how it goes this week. Hope to swim tomorrow and Friday, bike on Thursday and maybe Friday with a friend, and I guess bike again on Saturday. I really want to run!!!

ARRGGGHHH!!!!

Swimming is Good

OK, so I'm not going to run for 5 - 7 days. But I can obviously swim and bike and thank GOD the weather looks fabulous this week!  I just have to plan ahead since biking takes so much more time.

Today's swim felt really good but I got there later than I should have. I was in the water at 6:25 and I'd like to be there by 6:20. I will have to get up earlier or spend less time drinking coffee (I drink 1.5 cups before going to the pool - its my meditation time and you can't take it away from me).

Next week is spring break for my kids so I can stay longer since I won't have to get them to school. Hopefully, I can run short distances next week.

At the pool today, we did 12 100's and since I swam 200 before we started, I got in 1400 yards. Not great but better than nothing. Richard said I'm getting better. I've been working on "pushing through" to the end of my stroke (still). He says that I pull my arm out too soon. I might go down there tomorrow and work on this since I can't be there Weds morning (spending the night at our church to help a program for homeless families).

Hoping to have good news later this week!

The "I" Word

Yes, that means "injury". And I've definitely got one.  Ran with the group today, which really wasn't a good idea since it has been hurting quite a bit. But I thought that taking 2 days off would help and it kind of did.  I was able to run 9.5 miles today but it hurt so bad afterwards that I literally could hardly walk. Ugh.

So I really might have to take some time off from running. I'm too tired now to think clearly but wanted to jot down my thoughts. And I think it sucks, plain and simple.

I have pain every which way I move. Not good.

Tomorrow is Master's swim so need to get to bed early so I can get up early (5:20 AM). Will swim and lift tomorrow, bike Tuesday and see how things are on Weds. If I can run 2-3 days/week that would be great. Then again, it might be best to not run at all for a week or so. But I'm afraid it will just come back again and what good did that do?

Kurt is finally taking me seriously and says he will either do a formal exam on me or refer me to someone he knows. I also want to see the guys at Proactive - the best physical therapy in town!

I'll keep you posted. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer, if you are so inclined. I need to start IM training soon!

Uh Oh

I've been running some 25 years and I've never had an injury. Lucky, I guess. I've had my share of aches and pains and there's been many times that I've cut back on my mileage because I felt a twinge here or there but I've never had a full-on injury.

So, I should feel lucky, right?

I am lucky but darn it, why do I get one now?  The year I am REALLY going for it....really going all out for the best possible finish time in my 2nd (and probably last) Ironman. And at a time when I'm REALLY enjoying my long runs!

I guess its fate. 

Whatever it is, it stinks. And it hurts.

So, what is the injury?  Its the sharp pain in my upper left hip bone - maybe pelvic bone, I'm not sure - that has been bothering me for months now. It has been especially painful when I get out of a car, for some weird reason. It hurts like heck when I step out of my Honda mini-van and I hobble for the first few steps.

The good news (until now) was that it did not hurt when I ran. This made it easy for me to rationalize running. I mean, why stop running if you don't have pain during the run?  Ask any runner what they would do and they'd look at you strange and say "I'd keep running, of course". And so I did.

And it actually got better for awhile. It was hurting before the Florida Ironman but then it subsided and I was able to do the Ironman (although I walked most of the marathon, but that's another story).

I didn't feel it for weeks after the Ironman but then it slowly came back. But still, it never hurt during the run, only after (and it hurt like heck).

And its back with a vengeance. Yesterday, during a typical 5 mile run, it started hurting with each foot strike. Then it radiated down and around the entire hip area. Crap!  I came home and could hardly walk. It was really, really painful. I took a Celebrex and iced it for 30 mins but it still kept hurting.

Today when I woke up, it hurt like heck. I made it to the pool and swam for 30 mins. Fortunately, for my psyche, I had a great swim!  I wanted to swim longer but in order to get kids to school, I have to leave the pool by 7:00. Plus, Kurt had a 7:00 AM meeting and he needed a ride to the office. More on the swim later.

So, what to do. I should probably stay off it and keep taking Celebrex and icing it. But since I'm not running today or tomrrow, it might settle down long enough for me to run 90 mins on Sunday (can't believe I'm saying that). Cross your fingers - I really want to run on Sunday!

Back to the swim today. Tom and Richard were there and being the great guys that they are, they gave more excellent advice on my technique. Richard watched me swim underwater and told me to try the "almost catch up drill" which will hopefully force me to follow through on my stroke and "push" at the end, which is what I'm not doing. I tried it a few times and it did feel different. I really wanted to stay and practice longer (and the water felt so good!) but had to go. Such is the life of an endurance junkie with kids.

I'm looking forward to swimming more. I really think my stroke has improved and I want to start trying more speedwork (did I just say that???).  But as I said in my last post, if I can manage 2 days/week until summer when I can go to 3 days/week, I should be fine. Can't wait to do open water swims again!

As for biking, I did a 30 min Spinerval workout today. Again, no time to do the whole thing. I tried one that Sarah loaned me and I can't remember the name of it but it called for three 6-minute bouts of high intensity cycling, after doing an extensive warm-up. The good news is that I did that and felt like I hadn't done much work - I was ready to do more but had to grade papers and write an exam. Sigh.

So, not a bad week all in all. Tomorrow I'm skiing with the kids and Sunday, I hope to be running with my friends. Prayers for healing and good karma will be accepted and appreciated!

TTFN!

Mental Health Run

I teach at 9:30 on Tuesdays, so I have to run before taking my kids to school, which means getting out the door by 6:30 at the absolute latest. Today it was easy to do that because I had so much on my mind.

What was I thinking about?  Health care reform, of course!  And while I won't go into a political discussion here, I was feeling very frustrated, disappointed, and yes, a bit angry. And I'm FOR the reform bill!

Anyway, I needed to get out and burn off some negative energy running through my body. Sometimes we need to do that and for me, its the only way I can rid myself of the toxic ju-ju that too much news-watching creates in our brains.

I ran from 6:30 to 6:50 with Daisy (she actually did very well) and then another 25 mins by myself. I would've loved to have a LONG run to really work out the kinks but it just couldn't happen today.

Oh well, at least I felt better after the run. Some people turn to alcohol to drown their sorrows in but I go for a run. Its much healthier, they say!

Spring Rides: Heaven on Earth

It must be the long winter that makes the first few rides in the spring feel so wonderful....the warm air, the chirping birds, the endless sun....ahhhhh...there's nothing like a long ride with friends on a Sunday afternoon in early spring.

Its Monday and I still feel a bit "high" from yesterday's ride. We left from Sarah's house at 1:30 and got back around 3:00'ish. It was a bit nippy at the start but we warmed up fast.

We went south to Milliken and then up Mad Russian Hill. I felt great!  We rode 23 miles and I held a fast pace the whole way. I felt a little guilty because Sarah was not feeling great and I was pushing the pace (although Lynne and Marshall were way ahead of me).  This was the first time I've ever done Mad Russian hill feeling strong enough to NOT use my 3rd ring.

I hope I have more days like yesterday!

I actually got a lot of exercise yesterday. I walked to and from church, which is a good 20 minutes if you walk very fast (30 mins at a leisurely pace) and really enjoyed that. I was a bit sore from the 11 mile run on Saturday so walking felt really good. In fact, I thought to myself that if I ever get injured and I cannot run, I would actually enjoy walking. There is a whole other zen to walking that you don't get with running (but the reverse is true too).

Today, I went to Master's swim and got there by 6:20, in the water by 6:25.  I was really motivated to swim this morning and had a good workout. I couldn't keep up with Sarah (although she had on fins and I didn't) but it didn't bother me today. Tom was in the lane next to me and as usual, he kept me laughing.

I warmed up with about 400 yards (maybe more) of freestyle. Then the main set was: 2 x (200 easy, 150 fast, 100 easy, and 50 fast). There was a lot more but this was all I could do before 7:00, when I need to get out and get kids to school. So that would be....400 + 300 + 200 + 100 =1000, plus my warm-up = 1400 yards.

Normally, it would bother me to not do an entire workout but I've decided that until June, if I keep up this amount 3/week, I'll be in good shape to increase my swim mileage this summer and that's when the IM training really starts.  And besides, I was doing this much (or less) this time last year and I managed to eek out a 1:18 IM swimtime!  (I'm so proud of that!!!)

OK, so now I need to find time to lift weights. I always put that at the end of my list of things to do.  I need to move that higher...that's my biggest challenge, in terms of training...well, and getting high mileage in while getting things done at home too!

Off to get kids at school...more later.