Running Is Hard...Recovery Is Harder...

Even though my poor body is completely and totally trashed, all I really have wanted to do for the past two days is get back to training. Physically, I absolutely cannot run and I cannot lift. Mentally, I am ready to get back to work. This is one of the most frustrating parts for me. I know I have to wait and give my body enough time to fully recover from the torture I just put it through, but I also know that I have lots more work to do.

Yesterday, I had a strategy meeting with Tripp to discuss what my next steps will be. I will be honest, I knew exactly what he was going to say about a lot of things before we had lunch. But I needed to hear him say those things to me. He has a way of reminding me of things that I know without making me feel stupid for needing to hear them again. One thing he likes to remind me is that I already know everything I need to do...I am not new to this. I have been doing this for awhile now. Even so, it is always good to have him give me the mental kick in the butt that I need!

So, I have a plan of attack. I know what I need to do. And now I am ready to get to work. Unfortunately, until my body is a bit more mended, I cannot start working. My hope is that by tomorrow my upper body will feel well enough for me to hit the gym...we shall see. I already know that the lower body is going to need an additional day, so I am prepared for that. I plan to do some stretching tonight which should help everything quite a bit. Depending on how badly the legs feel, I may hit the foam roller tonight...definitely will be doing it tomorrow.

I am thankful to have a good friend who will help me to refocus when I need it. He has always been great about getting my head back in the game. And even when I screw up or don't do what we both know I need to, he continues to encourage and support me. I am thankful for that!!

Philadelphia Half Marathon 9-18-2011

Here it is...finally, my race report. Wasn't sure it was going to get done until later in the week, but here you go....

So, before I give you my race report, I will give you an update on life for me lately. It's been an interesting year. It's hard to believe that I only have 2 more half marathons to complete before I can stick my tongue out at the naysayers who said I was crazy for doing 6 in one year. Yeah, I won't lie, it is part of my motivation :) As usual before I do any race, I somehow manage to injure myself or have some kind of crazy issue...I think that is normal for me. So, right now, I am under the care of the orthopedic surgeon again....Dr. Ekman is taking care of my left wrist. It has been bothering me for about 5-6 weeks and I was finally able to get in to see him yesterday. He believes that it has been injured in the past, though I am unaware of any injuries and so is my mother. In addition to it being completely abnormal (so were my hips! LOL!), arthritis has set in and made lifting and little tasks like opening bottles, driving, etc. painful. So, I am now in a wrist support brace for the next 30 days to try and get it back to normal and I am on anti-inflammatories!! I had gone to see a chiropractor that I could get in to see earlier than Dr. Ekman and found out that they couldn't do anything for my wrist but my back and neck are way out of alignment. So, now I am on the chiropractic route and in a wait and see pattern about the wrist.

So, that is what's going on with me prior to flying out to Philly on Friday. We got into Philly and were able to get our rental car and get to the Expo. And I shopped...found lots of fun stuff...like the perfect shirt for me that says "I Run So I Don't Kill People" and it has the chalk outline. Yeah, I couldn't resist :) The expo was fun. We headed to what Food Network says is the best place for philly cheesesteaks only to find out that no one agrees who makes the best. It was a pretty fabulous philly though! The day before race day, poor hubby forgot that a walking tour would be a bad plan and walked me to death which agitated my hip and legs and back. So, on race morning after standing in the forever long port-a-potty line (and I forgot to stuff my bra! Bad morning). I headed over to join in my corral.

I started off with a pretty good run pace. And then I spotted my kindred spirit. Deanna is a runner who also does the run/walk program and she was injured. She was doing this half marathon with a broken foot. She was only 6 weeks out from the break and was determined to finish. Luckily, she did not require surgery. So, I made Deanna my best friend and decided to do the smart thing and stick with her as she walked it since she was doing about the pace that I wanted at that point. I figured that my neck and back would be helped greatly if I took it a bit easier this early in to therapy. Deanna was a rockstar...we talked the entire time distracting each other from any possible pain. And yes, we finished and finished strong. I had fun. And I remembered my dear friend and ironman, Taz, telling me that I needed to stop pressuring myself and have fun. I never even thought about the time for a second. It was great. Beautiful course. It ended near the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art where Rocky ran the steps :)

All in all it was a great race. My post race recovery though was not up to standard. I did not factor in a recovery day, so we rushed back to the hotel, got me a shower and packed up and then had lunch and headed to the airport. We managed to fly out standby and got back in earlier than expected. I did not get much sleep Sunday night due to a neighbor whose car decided to have the alarm go off for 4 hours...yes, 4 hours. It was insane and kept me up most of the night. Then, I had to get up early and head out to see Dr. Ekman and then off to the chiropractor. Stop for a quick lunch where I forgot to eat a sufficient amount of carbs and then off to work for 6 hours. Work was fun...I have half marathon brain :) Then I headed to grab dinner quickly and got a post race massage. When I got off the massage table, my body started shaking uncontrollably. I went in to shock. I was able to get the shaking to stop and then headed home where my hubby and my friend helped me in. I got a shower, warmed up and my body began the uncontrollable shaking. I was also fighting a headache all day that wouldn't go away. After trying to go to sleep, I gave up and decided since I was now unbelievably hot to check my temperature and had a nice temp of 101.9. The fever finally broke around 2:30. And of course, after very little sleep, I was up early to get in to work today. It's going to be a really fun week of recovery!! I fully intend to listen to my body and go to bed when I get off work tonight...promise.

But next week, I am gearing up for Myrtle Beach in October. Then a nice recovery run in Savannah. Clearly even though I thought my body could handle what I was putting it through, it let me know otherwise which means I will plan for a much easier day after the race to recover better and much more sleep.

I loved the course in Philly and could absolutely see myself doing it again :)

Running Away...

Literally, today I ran for the first time in 2 months. I cannot even describe how it felt, except to say amazing. I felt so free! Now, I know some of you are thinking...you're supposed to ease back into it. And I did. Here's how me running came about today.

This morning I had my first leg workout with Tye since before my surgery. He was taking it a little easier on me since we have to be careful and slowly build back into my former weights and routines. We did not do anything too crazy during strength training and in fact, we split legs with a little bit of chest and shoulders added in. Towards the end of our workout when we were doing some super-sets, he was telling me what we would be super-setting. He showed me the weights and machines that we would be using and then said...and then you will jog a lap.

I am pretty certain that my jaw dropped about then and to be quite honest, fear gripped me too! I was afraid to jog a lap around the gym...what if I fell? what if I looked stupid jogging? what if I simply couldn't do it? I was really scared!! And he looked at me and said, "Yep, you're going to jog a lap." I told him I was uncertain and scared...and he told me truthfully that part of his job is to push me past my fears and therefore I was going to jog a lap. I ended up telling him that I would really appreciate it if he would jog with me...it would make me feel more comfortable. So, he agreed.

He let me set the pace and it started off at a slow jog...but at some point I passed him and my competitive edge set in and I knew I had to maintain the lead or at least stay equal with him. The feeling of jogging in the open overwhelmed me and I ended up running the rest of the lap. Tye said I looked good...a little shaky, but he was impressed that I managed to maintain the whole lap without having to stop. The second lap, I let him set the pace because I knew that I would try to run too fast and end up hurting myself. We stayed pretty even the whole time. And the last lap, he also set the pace, but at one point, he got hung up with a sales tour that was going on, I slipped through it and took off ahead of him. He caught up to me and at that point, I went into the next gear! We both laughed because we knew if we continued that, I would eventually end up hurting myself. But we both knew it was the last lap for the day, so I was safe!

Jogging on the treadmill was great last Thursday. But running those laps in the gym this morning gave me that total sense of freedom. It was a great feeling of accomplishment. It was aawesome to know that I can still run, but even more than that, that I still love it!! I never would have believed that running would be something that I would enjoy, let alone, crave.

I promise to be good and not overdo it! I did cardio after our workout and only did 30 minutes on the elliptical to balance out the running and intensity in the leg workout. Bottom line is that I think I am back...and my form is better than ever!! I will continue to ease into running. What I did today was such a small amount and for a short time, so I will continue my jogging on the treadmill for now and slowly increase my time and speed and see how it goes!!

When I got home, I spent some time stretching my muscles and helping them to recover. And right now, I am icing the hip so that I continue to keep down any inflammation.

And in more fun workout news...the Insanity workout has arrived!! I probably won't start it until next week since Jason is having his foot surgery this week and there is much to do beforehand. But I am very excited about it!! I will keep you all posted on it!! I cannot tell you all how great it feels to be back in the game!! I am so very blessed!!!

A Return to Normalcy??

So, my surgeon's appointment this morning went really well! I have full range of motion and he said that my labrum didn't slip or pull when he was maneuvering it. He said that he felt really confident that I am healing extremely well. He actually told me that I should keep making him look good! LOL..he's a very good-looking doctor, so he really doesn't need me for that...but I will keep listening to him and my physical therapists so that I can have a full and complete recovery! I also got released to move to the next level. He said that I was walking now, then I could start jogging. If I was jogging already, then I could start running. He said that for the next month, I can return to some of my more normal activities but I should start off slowly and build back up to where I was pre-injury! I am very excited!!! Tomorrow, I will see the physical therapist and I will see what they have planned.



The original physical therapy plan was that starting week 10, I would start jumping and starting week 12, I would start running. It sounds to me like Dr. Ekman thinks I am ready to start jumping already. Tomorrow will mark 9 weeks since my surgery. But, I will wait to hear what they have to say about that.



Today, I enjoyed lunch with my dear friend, Betsy. I love her! She is so amazing and I so enjoy her perspective on things and her encouragement! She reminds of all the important things I tend to forget. For example, today, she told me that all of this frustration is preparation for the mental toughness that I need to continue to develop to complete a full marathon. I admit it has been very difficult for me to listen to the doctor and the therapists and simply take things slow. I want to get back to work...I want to see what this hip can do. But I have been compliant, not patient, but compliant with the doctor's orders. I have spent a couple months of severe frustration and waited out my time so that I can return to my sport, healthy and ready for action! It was so awesome to spend time with Betsy though. She is a good friend and I enjoy our time together!!

And this afternoon, I got my first real cardio session in!! I cannot tell you how excited I was to finally put a little bit of intensity into my cardio! I will admit that I did jog for the first time in 2 months and it was awesome!!! I played it smart and warmed up on the treadmill for 10 minutes and stuck with a slow jog for 2minutes and walking for 1 minute for 15 minutes (10 jogging, 5 walking). And then I followed it up with 30 minutes on the elliptical. The exciting part was that it was intense...I kept my heart rate up and didn't overdo it!! I won't be jogging everyday...Dr. Ekman did tell me to take things slowly. I will likely intersperse my interval jogging for awhile with elliptical and arc trainer cardio. I will talk to my physical therapist and make sure I am following the right path to recovery. And I played it smart, I came home and iced the hip.

And to top off a pretty great day, I finished it with my first 1 1/2 hour massage in 2 months! It was awesome!! My muscles feel so relaxed and so amazing! It was a great massage...of course, my upper body had some really tight areas that needed work. And I forgot to stretch after my cardio this afternoon. I admit that I did get a quad stretch in but I did not take enough time to stretch the rest of my lower body. I promised Jeremy tonight that I would make it a habit to not forget my stretching from now on. We joked that I should get a tattoo on me that says "Stretch or die!" and he said that it should be "Stretch or Jeremy Will Hurt You!" LOL!!

So, is this a return to normalcy?? Possibly. I am starting to feel a little more like myself. I am happier than I have been in awhile. I feel like things are starting to fall back into place. It's not perfect but it's close enough for me right now. Maybe there is no normal for me...maybe this is my time to get used to just how much and how often things change. I have never been a huge fan of change and maybe this might be time for my opinion to change. I guess we will just have to wait and see!!