Not Broken, Just a Little Bent

First PT session was today!  Friday's intro session was cancelled due to the snow.  What snow I pondered, we had like an inch at the shore, in land, they had a foot or more, and the doc is inland, so no PT.

I've never had PT and had no idea what to expect, since I had to go to work I threw some yoga pants in my bag figuring my work clothes weren't going to be appropriate.  Good call on the yoga pants.

First up was an initial interview on my problems and where they ranked on a pain scale.  By the time the doc got done explaining the pain scale I had forgotten it.  I wished I had taken notes or he had a laminated card I could refer to. I gave it my best shot as to the pain scale, he asked about specific pain in the last 7 - 10 days, nothing much over a 5, mostly 1's.

Then we got to flexibility testing. I always freeze up for tests!!!  First up was a spine flexibility test.  That was interesting.  Forward, backward, and side to side bending.    I was in the acceptable range, pshew, I passed!  Next up were flexibility tests on my legs and hips.  Just to be sure this was really an SI joint issue.  He said,  in fact this was an issue with my SI joint, he had similar problems.  In my words, the muscles holding the joint in place were tight and needed to be stretched and strengthened to let my pelvis on the left align with my pelvis on the right.  This would allow my left leg and my right let to be more aligned.  Seemed like my left leg was about 1.5 inches longer than my right with the misalignment.

How the body functions fascinates me.  Our bodies are such amazing pieces of machinery, truly amazing.  Through the whole session he told me what muscles were being worked and what each did.  Eventually I'll get all the details.   I think what really sold me was the discussion on how with women the hormonal cycles impact a woman's flexibility and how child birth can mess with the pelvic alignment.  We are meant to be more flexible in the pelvis.  I think this really surprised me as the gals at TRX discussed the whole female cycle (sorry guys) and besides the crazies there is a general lack of flexibility and how most of our primary care physicians didn't account for this fluctuation in hormones as having an impact on our physical being.

Tomorrow hubb is up and out early to go biking with some buddies; leaving me with dog duty and my first at home therapy.  Should be an interesting morning.  Hopefully the boyz won't be too interested in what I am doing, famous last words...

Sincerely,
Beth, on to a new adventure in healing!

This and That

Today I logged 4 miles!  4 PAIN FREE miles!  I do believe I am on the off cycle for injuries, touch wood it stays that way.  After the Brutal Tough as Nails race it wasn't until the Friday after I felt comfortable running again.  I mustered up the courage and ran on Friday, it felt good to be out.  My left hip was sore and tender and I took it easy.  I iced after my run, ice is my friend.  I have several ice methods in the freezer at work.  A bottle for my foot frozen veggies for my back and a small actual ice pack I can discretely put on my knee.

Small digression, I have the same icing systems at home.  My Brother In Law was over several years ago and was doing a little cooking.  He mentioned that I may want to try another brand of peas as the ones he used in some stir fried rice for his kids didn't taste quite right.  I grimaced and said he used my ice pack.  Well that explained everything.  From that point forward I have kept my ice paks in a plastic bag, to distinguish them from other frozen vegetables.  I probably should write 'Ice Pack Don't Eat' on them, because someone may not realize that these are special?  Um, yeah, I'll put that on the 'to do list'...  so if you are in my freezer or really anyone's and you see frozen veggies in a plastic bag, you may want to ask first.

Ask first, there may be a reason these are in a special bag!!

And back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I went to yoga. It wasn't the usual detox with Heidi, new instructor and a vinyasa class.  I hemmed and hawed about going; Hubb and he said he could offer me no opinion, to do what I wanted.  I went.  Me and one other student and the instructor.  10 minutes in I could tell this was a bad idea.  The thought of leaving did cross my mind.  But it was a new instructor and I hate hurting people's feelings so I muscled through and paid for it dearly.

Hubb was out for the night with his buddies and I was in full pain management mode by the time he got home.  A few Advil, my trusty ice packs on and off every 20 minutes, and an impressive dent in a freshly opened bottle of Jack Daniels.  I wasn't feeling much pain when he arrived home.  The things that man puts up with.

Doubtful anything but the ice and perhaps the Advil helped.  I woke up with a little of the Irish Flu and a hip not so happy with me. Fortunately we didn't have much to do but visit the Hubb's parents and that involved a nice long ride in the car with heated seats and that was lovely.  By Sunday afternoon things had worked themselves out and we took a nice 2 mile walk on the beach with the dogs.

So that gets us back to my 4 mile run today!  Also took the Monday night TRX class and am feeling wonderful.  I know the hip thing has to do with my SI joint and this being the second time I've encountered this I am seeing a Sports Med Physical Therapist on Friday.  I imagine he will help kick me in the butt and I'll get religion on stretching and foam rolling...

Sincerely,
Beth, a little less injured than this time last week!

Self Doubt

All high on an endorphin buzz from Marine Corps and three new Marathon girlfriends I signed up willingly for the Rock n' Roll marathon in Phoenix AZ, January 20, 2013.  I am off my training plan, not FAR off my training plan, but off enough to freak me out that this marathon is a month and a half away and I haven't been on longer than a 16 mile run.   What I NEED To do is take sometime and review my MCM training plan and what actually happened against where I am right now in the AZ Rn'R training plan.  I bet if I look at the data I am not so far off.  Have I done this? No, not yet.  Will I? Of course.

Yesterdays 5.8 was good.  I figured I could run 14 today and be good for 20 for the weekend.  I managed 11.5 and walked the remaining 0.5 home.  My right knee, and the IT band.  Wonder if it was running back to back or my shoes?  I ran in the Asics Kayano 19 yesterday and the 18 today.  They both have nearly the same amount of mileage on them and the Green Feet inserts, so hmm..  I'll pack the 19s for tomorrows at work short run and see?  Or maybe it is the short run?  Have to see if I've worn the 19s on a longer run.

My loop around the park I spied a father and son.  The son was having a blast playing in the leaves, so sweet. He kicked them up into a big pile for the little guy and the little guy was having a blast running up to and jumping in the leaves.  Ah childhood, the innocence, the freedom.  Youth is really wasted on the young, isn't it?

Father and Son playing in the leaves. 

I continued on with my route, I was a little later in the a.m. than usual so I didn't see the usual suspects, sort of sucked, but hey that it what you get when you have other things to do first thing in the a.m.  It was time to get rid of the gray and tame the wild mane, sometimes, vanity takes a front seat.  

I was sort of feeling like a long run and sort of not.  Still a bit in my funk from Friday that carried over from Saturday?  Or maybe it is like Frank Sinatra says "I feel sorry for people who don't drink.  When they wake up in the morning that's the best they are going to feel all day."  Or it is just the crummy Michigan gray weather we are having here in Southern Rhode Island were the sun USUALLY shines!

Along the way I took in the sights, ran my out and backs with traffic instead of against traffic (there is no traffic, so not really with or against traffic, but you get my meaning.  I was just trying to give my left leg a break from the camber of the road) this enabled me to see different sights.  Which was really cool, a whole different perspective and new things around every corner!

Couple things that caught my eye, other than the blue jays who wouldn't hold still for a picture!

This fence post just struck me as interesting.

The stairs to no where.  Wonder what they once went to?

By about 11.5 miles my right knee was really bugging me so I slowed to a walk (as you can see in my splits in the stats below).  Maybe it was the camber on the road.  Maybe it was that I didn't start running until nearly 11 a.m. Maybe it just was.

Yeah, really apathetic aren't I?  I should be happy I CAN run while there are a couple people out there facing challenges and pain when they run.  So why am I having self doubt?  Or am I?  Is this normal? Buller? Anyone?  

Stats:

Consistency once again!!!  

Sincerely,

Beth who better freaking snap out of it!

PR = Personal Record

Some call it a PR some call it a PB (Personal Best).  I like PR because that is what I heard first.  PB is what my English running friend calls it and well, I like to disagree with him, so there you have it, PR it is.

I PRd in the Mew's Tavern Gear n' Beers 5K this afternoon! 27:27 was my net time per the chip in the bib, and the Garmin is close enough!!  It was a hilly 5K and while I was a little limpy in the beginning I did manage to finish strong!  I need to take care of my right IT Band and the resulting right Knee pain, and I have no idea what is up with the left Hamstring,  Rolling rolling rolling and stretching stretching stretching should help!  Oh yeah and some ice and rest mixed in for good measure.

From Detroit Runner's post http://www.detroitrunner.com/2012/11/athlinks-try-it.html I found this site Athlinks.  Very cool  It crawls the web finding your race results.  There are a couple missing but hey, this is totally cool!

 

Shows my first road race to the latest, not including todays stellar performance, I'm sure that will show up eventually.  Also there is a section for my trail races.  I'm tickled.  I've been meaning to catalog all of this.  I'll review bib numbers against the list and see if this list of 21 road and trail races contains all the races I've run since I started racing in 2010.  Woot...  

Sincerely,

Beth with a new PR

Marathon Recap - Quick Post

I don't know where to start....

Saturday a.m. Hubb dumped me off at the train station for my trip to DC.  The train was on time and the next 6.5 hours were mine to nap, read, hydrate, Facebook, WWF, listen to a book.  I listened to a book and started a second. That was good to calm my nerves.  Nerves for a lot of reasons:

• would the train get in on time (2:30ish) so I could get to the expo and pick up my bib
• would my back seize up during the race
• am I hydrated enough
• why the hell did I buy trail mix with raisins, didn't a friend tell me to not poop my pants at the finish
• oh crap I have no idea how to get to the hotel (I did get THAT figured out) DC has a wonderful Metro system
• have I gotten enough sleep
• and so on...

Eventually I just settled into watching the scenery go by and listening to my book.  The train ride was nice, I really enjoyed it. Much much nicer than the commuter rail in to NYC on a weekly basis.

I did get to the expo in time to pick up my bib!  Thanks random guy for taking my picture!!

Had a lovely dinner with Team Lung Love, Julia made a wonderful video of the runners and who we run for.  We all told our stories of how we are connected to Lung Cancer and why we run.  It was wonderful.

I slept fitfully.  Glad I had slept well in the previous week. 

It was chilly, I had a rain poncho and a long sleeved t-shirt to pitch once the race started. There were a few sprinkles, no real rain. PSHEW!!  Hurricane Sandy was delayed in making landfall and the only thing we felt were the winds.

Race gun was 7:55. We were in 'Runner's Village' with enough time for a team mate to meet up with her running club and use the porta potty and get to our starting corral.  We lined up in the 5 hour corral with the 30,000 other runners I didn't need the long sleeves or the rain poncho to keep in the body warmth, pitched those.  There were prayers and God Bless America and a fly over by the Osprey (I hope I get that right - stuck in the hotel for the foreseeable future and have limited access to the Internet to blog and fact check)

The race was awesome.  I've been having problems with my SI Joint all week, and it was tight when I started and it hurt for the first 4 miles.  Eventually I managed to let go of the tension and worry and get into stride.  That was key, just letting it go and running. I trained for this, I wanted this, I was going to do this.  I was even enjoying running WITH people around.  I had no idea how inspiring it could be or how helpful.  My pace stayed pretty steady!  Once I stopped thinking about my back and worrying I'd wake up paralyzed the next morning all was good.  I thought about what the Lung Cancer patient goes through, the chemo, the radiation, the surgery, and how painful that was and it wasn't TEMPORARY, my pain was TEMPORARY.

I don't even know what to say about running 26.2 miles around our nations capital.  Awe inspiring?  A cloudy, 60 degree day are actually perfect running conditions. 

I crossed the timing mat listening to "Open Road" by The Gibson Brothers.  Marc MacGlasshan plays the hell out of that Smith Creek Mandolin and I just love listening to Leigh and Eric too!  It took nearly 20 minutes to cross the timing start mat from the 7:55 gun time.  The music kept me going.  A little George Thorogood reminded me of my work peep and made me smile.  Some Sargent Vines cadences kept me in line.  Songs that remind me of friends and songs friends recommended came on at THE right time.  I finished to Flo-Rida "Wild One" too perfect.

There were points I thought, what are YOU doing Beth, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  and I would dig into the tips and tricks to get through it, and just get through it!  I thought about who I am running for.  Held my hand over my mother's picture for strength.  Touched the names on the back of my shirt for strength. I run for Lung Cancer, To End The Stigma. 

At mile 23 Team Lung Love was there cheering us on.  I felt like a million bucks and had 3 miles to go.  I wanted it to end but didn't want it to end.  I mean a freaking Marathon, I was running and about to finish a Marathon!!!  Julia snapped a pic...  A friend said "Look at that shit eating smile."  Love it!!

At about mile 24 there were Dunkin Donuts munchkins.  I've never had a better munchkin!!

I finished 5:09:55 with a smile on my face and nearly in tears, I DID IT!  I wanted to be sub 5. Then I thought about it.  A year ago my longest race was 4 miles, and that was November 13, 2011... so yeah, I'm pretty proud of what I have accomplished in less than a year!!!

After the race I re-hydrated and ate and laughed with three new friends!

Sincerely,

Beth, the marathon runner, OMG

PS  I slept well, and feel great the day after.  Wonder what tomorrow will bring? Stuck in DC, till Wed...

Four Days!

Is the Marine Corps Marathon really only four days away?   My shirt is done, my dress picked out for the dinner the night before, my back is tight ricking frickin fracking, my PF is non-existent, still noodling over what to pack to wear over or under my jersey for the a.m. of the race, all that is left is packing and double checking on train tickets and credentials before boarding the train to DC on Saturday morning.

Not perfect, however way better than past years jerseys with my atrocious handwriting.

My back - holy crap it is tight and tweeked.  Way better than yesterday so I think by Saturday I'll be in fine shape.  I may not get to run prior to leaving for DC, and that has me a little spooked.  But hey, my legs will be good and rested, right?

I've been drinking a cup of water an hour (well not when I'm sleeping) as prescribed by my veteran marathon running BIL.  Eating more carbs in the form of whole grains than I've eaten in months.  Think my glycogen stores will be all set.  I exist on vegetables  fruit, chicken, and cottage cheese.  Oh yeah, and Jack too....  can't forget about my man!!

Sincerely,
Beth, who isn't quite in full raging PMS (Pre Marathon Syndrome) but on the edge

Mud

I peeked outside this afternoon and noticed it was looking damp.  Big Grin!  MUD!  I muttered something about "Woo hoo muddy run and Boy Wonder just smiled and said you really are crazy."  Duh....

Had a few things to pick up the grocery store, we were out of salad.  We go through nearly a pound of mixed greens a day, between Hubbs daily salad snack and dinner, yep that is about right.  Got the groceries (daily W.I.F.E. duties = done)

Off to Bluff Point!  Giddy up Vinnie!


I called Hubb and let him know I was going running on the trail.  He mentioned I hadn't been there as frequently as last summer.  I know, I am miserable, not running it weekly.  All he could say was "Enjoy your four wheeling."

It was a lovely wet run, not as muddy as I had expected, but then I didn't motor through ALL the mud puddles, while I love them, I do have a Marathon coming up in less than 4 weeks.  *bites nails*  Probably should avoid injuiries!!

When I got home, salad greens in tow, I was met with:

"Hon, If your story is that you were out running in the mud your shoes should at least have a little mud on them."

"Love, they do have some mud on them, I'm just so fast they don't have time to gather mud."

*chuckle chuckle*

The trail was wet rather than muddy.  I came home Thanksgiving morning WAY more muddy, and WAY more wet as the trail was flooded.  I think that is what he was expecting?

It was a great run.  Just running, not looking at my Garmin, just running, not even thinking much.  Well except for the long slightly inclining straightaway, my Godsmack Voodoo straight away.  For some reason the dulcet tones of Sully Erna guide me up that section more often than not. While Sully wasn't singing in my ear my mind was taking in the beauty of the fall woods nearing dusk.  Oh yeah, and hoping I didn't trip on a stick or twist my ankle on a rock.  Wouldn't that suck, less that 4 weeks away from MCM and I'm taken out by nature?

Stats:

Not a bad overall pace.

Well I really need to concentrate on NEGATIVE splits
but hey this run was for the love the joy the awesomeness of rain and mud!

Y'all have seen the trail before...

Sincerely,
Beth, who may actually sleep through the night tonight, fingers crossed!

Monday, no Wednesday, Argh?

Back to work for me today.  Wow.  I really tuned out while I was gone.  Good thing because it was crazy when I got in.  I did sneak a peek at the Blackberry last night to see if I had any early meetings or things had gotten jumbled around.  The same 8 a.m. meeting was on my schedule and the rest of the meetings were jumbled around.  I packed my running gear with the thought of running Bluff Point after work.  5:00 rolled around and my new shoes were killing my feet and I wanted to do something outside with less impact.  I'll take the Old Fogies to the park and stroll.  Arrived home to find Hubb had taken the Old Fogies and left the Idiots.  Well that isn't going to work.  Jax is going to take off like a bat out of hell when I let him out of the car, so shit.  Checked to be sure there was a Yoga class.  Yep. Mike, never had a class with him so lets give it a shot.

Hubb got home with the Old Fogies they had a wonderful time getting out.  I skittered off to Yoga, which was a Monday activity once up on a time, and has turned into a Friday activity due to TRX on Mondays.  Confusion abounds, is today my Monday or Wednesday or Friday, see confusing based on the activities. Tomorrow is Thursday, when I usually run hills, but will be in NY.  I'll run the hilly trail on Friday.  Surftown Half Marathon on Sunday so my long run is partially taken care of.  I'll have to sneak in an additional 7 or 10 miles, we shall see what the old legs feel like attempting post race.

Yoga was all about opening up and peace.  Lots of shoulder opening and hip opening.  I needed that.  How is it things conspire to give me what I need when I need it?  Am I truly that lucky? or blessed?  Who knows. I was more prepared for a Heidi class, Mike is more pose oriented than vinyasa oriented.  Nice change of pace.

My legs feel great after yesterday's run. The PF isn't bothering me so much.  The boot I wear at night and the strap seem to be working.  I wonder if these will be forever things or if I will be able to strengthen enough to not use the props.  For now I just want to get through Marine Corps Marathon, I want to start and I want to finish. After that I'll experiment with what I can and cannot do.  We are 6 weeks away so now is not the time for anything new!

I am truly amazed at how quickly I recover from my long runs.  Once upon a time 8 miles would take me out for two days (the day of the run and the next day I would still hobble a bit).  Now I'm up and at 'em the next day with no residual pain.  Very cool this human body and how it strengthen and adapts.

Sincerely,
Beth who is lacking pictures today but is full of hope and promise for the future.

New Things Hurt

I did it, I freaking did it!  17 miles!!  I am on the verge of sobbing right now.  Is that normal?

Per usual the first 4 miles sucked, man that mind of mine really is a major downer.  I felt a knee tweak just after the 4 mile mark and thought, oh shit.  Then I remembered what a friend's husband commented about aches and pains "If you are changing your gait change it back to your normal gait."  Gary is one smart cookie, that is for sure.  I imagine I am changing my gait in some small way.    The pain is acute and behind the knee cap and only when it tweaks.  My knees are always sore after I run, sore, not in pain.  I suppose this is Runner's Knee?  I'll look into elastic braces and start the appropriate strength training exercises to get things to stay aligned.

During the first four miles I passed the usual folks.  The guys looking a little mystified as to where they are and where is their car.  The ladies who sit on the stoop and smoke and drink coffee. The old man taking his ailing pup out for a morning tinkle.  I imagine him as some bad ass Marine back in his day. Chomping on cigars giving the grunts hell.  He has that broad shoulder build.  He is always so nice and waves and says good morning.  The couple who walk side by side and don't skootch over for anyone, cars, bikers, runners.  They had their dog with them this a.m. the dog like to walk ON the yellow line!  It isn't a hugely traveled road, but still it is windy and hilly and we should all SHARE the road!

I got up and around and down on my first out and back and felt pretty damn good, and then the second out and back was just shortly after that.  Down there I ran in to the Watch Cat.  She watched me run by the first time and was still there on the back part of the out and back.  Didn't move, didn't blink.  Cutie, isn't she?

Watch Cat

My cheerleader in the gray truck wasn't out.  I was bummed.  Still a few people did wave back when I waved.  There were a ton of bicyclists out.  Wonder if it is the season or there is a race or something?  Always nice to give and get a "Good Morning" from a fellow masochist.

Just when I was starting to get a little tired, and where everything went to hell last Sunday, Sargent Vines came on the iPod.  Perfect timing, since the iPod was not on shuffle this would play for the next hour and get me damn close to mile 17.

I love "singing" along. It is nice to just grunt or bark or say something that would make no sense to anyone not hearing what I am hearing in my earphones.   Love Love Love Love

Traffic on US 1 was good, people skootched over when they could.   Drivers paid attention, awesome, thank you drivers!  Until I got closer to civilization.  What is it with New York drivers?  Do they not pay attention.  If I wasn't paying attention he could have run me over.  He was looking left to turn right (which is totes normal) but not right to make sure there were no pedestrians.  So I did what any one would do I smacked the window and then the back quarter panel of his car.  THEN he noticed me.  I continued on my run as he pulled over to the side of the road trying to figure out what the hell had happened.  Tee hee!  THIS is why runners need to pay attention and run defensively.

I spied a tennis ball in the middle of a parking lot.  Awww  Diesel is cheering me on.  Miss ya Big Guy.

Wow, this is getting long.  Well I could take a short cut and just wrap it up with my stats.  But like I did this a.m. I decided to tackle one more hill.  It is a lot steeper than it looks in this picture. Left would have taken me on a more direct route home, and it is down hill.  I went up hill and am happy I did.  What an awesome run!

I walked the last 0.25 miles home and did a check how do I feel.  The inside of my calves hurt, they had never hurt before, better pay special attention to stretching them.  Everything else ached as it normally does.  It wasn't until I got into the shower that I found the chafing.  YOWZA does that hurt when you get water on those spots!  I've been having problems with chafing and my sports bra and I should have used some glide.  What I wasn't expecting was the chafing under my arms from the tank.  Next long run I am wearing my Team Lung Love jersey, just to see if or where that may chafe.  YOWZA that hurt. Better dig out that "Glide" from my gym bag and use it!

My stats:

The route looks how I imagine a "Dementor" looking.

Stayed under a 12 min mile overall pace, woot!

Hilly!

Sincerely,

Beth who is tender in new places and says "17 miles isn't for wimps, when do I get to do it again?"