So, I want to tell you that the hip is great. I am sure it is! After all, once the bills from the MRI and cortisone shot roll in, my hip better feel great. (I am seriously dreading the bills. Why? Why? Why do these things have to cost such an incredible amount of money?)
But, I can't give you much news on the hip because I haven't run. The flu decided to visit me, and while it has moved on to other families, it left mine completely sick and with bronchitis as a nice parting gift. And boom- just like that- another week or more of training out of the window.
I have been mad, grumpy, sad, and everything else under the sun. I finally felt a bit of peace just writing it out tonight. There are those times when you realize you just have no control, and this is one of those times. I guess there could be a worse time to get the flu, like the week of the marathon. So maybe this is not ideal, but it could be worse. I do have control of my attitude, but I was so negative this week it was embarrassing. I have a goal for the rest of this week to just share gratitude with others and stop whining about what I can't do.
(I have had to constantly remind myself that this upcoming marathon is just one race, at one point in time, in what will be many more years of running. It will seem so insignificant in time, so I need to peacefully let this be what it will be and let the good races/and years come to me when it is time.)
But no running, probably for the rest of the week. I am really kicked down right now physically. My chest hurts so much, and the coughing is incessant. Fortunately, Isla is sleeping right now for the first time in a week without tons of coughing, so hopefully she is right side up now. As a family, we just all need to get healthy again and get this virus out of here!
The focus of this week is vegetables, fruit, and herbal teas. Anyone with some good witches' brew and secret potions for wellness, send them my way! I really need to get back to running.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Aggravated Hip
Hip update- no fracture. YAY!!!! I finally got in to the doctor today and we looked at the MRI. There is no obvious fracture, which is great. There is a lot of edema in my hip that is more diffuse than a typical greater trochanteric bursitis, but there are no obvious tears on the MRI. So, basically, I have a edema from my posterior hip and lateral hip that covers a much larger section than is typical. He sent my MRI to a conference this weekend to have a sports specialist in radiology review it, but they ran out of time. We can't really figure out the mechanics of it, and the area is pretty large, so something else is going on but it is just not clear from the imaging. I don't present with typical bursitis (although I would say this is more bursitis than anything per MRI)- you can push on my bursa and there is not specific pain. He doesn't think I have piriformis syndrome or injury because we can mash on that, and I am okay. My SI joints and spine look okay on MRI (although they don't feel great- thanks to my new mom body). So, whatever I did in that November race was just some sort of nice injury to my hip that has caused unresolved pain and swelling. I am really not too worried about it in a big picture sense. (knock on wood) As long as we haven't missed a tear or fracture, then this is repetitive, not backing off immediately, training load error stuff. (The blame 100% goes to me for poor race planing, probably). Interestingly I took a several weeks off back when it happened, which I would have thought would have knocked this out. It's all good- I love solving problems. Worse case scenario is in 3 months I am having more serious issues and then we have to consider that we did miss something, and that is just how it goes when trying to get to the underlying cause of large areas like the "hip," which really also includes the femur, pelvis, scrum, lunar spine, and lots of muscle attachment.
Treatment: I definitely would be taking some time off if I didn't have Boston in 5 weeks. I didn't really budge on going, since we didn't see a tear, even though I am fine with revising goals. I am willing to work with this and back off even more, and the doc was willing to work with me. We went ahead and decided together to do a cortisone shot to two areas in the hip today. And I love it when I can be a collaborator. He and a few others suggested it, I mulled on it, I pulled the trigger. I know people get weird about cortisone, but in this case, I didn't hesitate for long. (I am not a huge steroid fan and see the results of chronic steroid use in my PT practice. I think I have only had maybe 2 oral steroid packs in my life. The only other time I have gotten a cortisone shot was years ago for my knee I had a strong feeling it wouldn't work because it was bone and cartilage damage. But, I was really grasping for straws. And it didn't work- I got surgery shortly after, and all was well.) With this, though, I felt good about our decision to put some anti-inflammatory assistance in the area. It has been going on 5 months, so it is angry and needs to calm down. So, that is that. And then I will probably start taking just your normal ibuprofen for a little time, which I haven't been taking, along with ice, rehab, rest, etc.
And I keep saying I am going to be 100% in on this, and work/life/big changes keep dominating my day. (And insomnia my night, which is why I am blogging at 1:30am). There are so many great things to do for inflammation and I have not been doing them. So, there is room for improvement in these next 5 weeks.
And I keep saying I am going to be 100% in on this, and work/life/big changes keep dominating my day. (And insomnia my night, which is why I am blogging at 1:30am). There are so many great things to do for inflammation and I have not been doing them. So, there is room for improvement in these next 5 weeks.
So going forward. Boston is still on the table. Of course I will continue to modify as needed and try to get there as healthy and pain free as possible. Seriously I am not even stressed about it. I hated racing in so much pain last race. It zapped the joy out of it for sure. But, I think I can make some adjustments and go have a positive day in Boston.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
LR Half Marathon- and the Hip
Little Rock Half Marathon
This is kind of my annual race. I would have to check and see how many of these I have done, but it is a good handful. I love the course. Well, mostly. It is not flat by any means, and somehow this year they found a way to add another hill or two. I have never had a PR on this course, but that is kind of refreshing. It is one of those races that I just like to do because I like to do it! The crowd support is really good for a half marathon in this region, and I always have some family members come out to cheer me on. Good stuff, and I will keep coming back to this event over the years.
This year I used the race as a workout/ let's just see where I am before Boston. No sandbagging here....seriously not 1 single mile under 8 minutes on these legs since October 2015. I was NOT looking forward to the rush of lactate that I knew would really hurt when I picked up the pace.
But the real issue for me is my hip. It has hurt since November. I have whined on the blog a bit. I continue to run on it because I have really thought it was a soft tissue injury such as a bursitis or tendonosis in my external rotators. Early February I suspected it may be a bit more than that- talked to my PT who agreed- and got an x-ray. The x-ray was negative for stress fractures, so I kept running, even though the doctor suggested an MRI. So, running hasn't been great. BUT, it has been tolerable. And sometimes I become indecisive in this area. How much pain is too much pain? I played through pain for most of my soccer life, so it is just hard to know when to step back and when to push through. And the thing is, sometimes it hurts a lot when I run, and sometimes just a little. Sometimes it starts at mile 1, and sometimes at mile 5.
My warm up was....uh oh. Why is it hurting already? I wasn't even a couple of miles in.
And then the race started and I had two different issues. 1. My hip was hurting immediately- really hurting with every step. And 2. I was not prepared to run half marathon pace.
I put a cap on my pace before the start of the race with a 7:45 first mile. It was an arbitrary number, but I thought it would serve me well to make sure I didn't go out too quickly and just let the race come to me. But, no cap needed. I couldn't even go faster than 7:45. When your mile 1 sucks, you know you are in trouble.
So, at the end of the day, I ran a 1:39, and I didn't care one bit about my time or pace. I just wanted to be done for the entirety of the race. I basically just struggled the whole day through hip pain and the discomfort of not being fit enough to run quicker than marathon pace. I did somehow put some faster miles down, and I didn't fall too far behind on the hills, but I was just miserable. I made every bargain with my hip that I would get help if I could just finish. The race served its purpose. My hip really hurts- no hiding in a race.
And why finish? Maybe this sounds completely unreasonable, but in my head I said this: if this is a fracture, I am out after this race. Just finish. If it is not a fracture, I am still doing Boston, and I really need these harder miles and fitness. Just finish.
Well, it is what it is. I talked to Gina after the race we revised my/our Boston plan. I will be happy to walk/run. I also called my PT, who said the MRI had to happen immediately. It did- got it done yesterday. So, fingers crossed for happy results. I would be totally 100% fine if they said they didn't see a thing on the image. Great! I'll suck up the pain and move forward. Just so long as I don't have a stress fracture. Hopefully I get an answer today.
This is kind of my annual race. I would have to check and see how many of these I have done, but it is a good handful. I love the course. Well, mostly. It is not flat by any means, and somehow this year they found a way to add another hill or two. I have never had a PR on this course, but that is kind of refreshing. It is one of those races that I just like to do because I like to do it! The crowd support is really good for a half marathon in this region, and I always have some family members come out to cheer me on. Good stuff, and I will keep coming back to this event over the years.
This year I used the race as a workout/ let's just see where I am before Boston. No sandbagging here....seriously not 1 single mile under 8 minutes on these legs since October 2015. I was NOT looking forward to the rush of lactate that I knew would really hurt when I picked up the pace.
But the real issue for me is my hip. It has hurt since November. I have whined on the blog a bit. I continue to run on it because I have really thought it was a soft tissue injury such as a bursitis or tendonosis in my external rotators. Early February I suspected it may be a bit more than that- talked to my PT who agreed- and got an x-ray. The x-ray was negative for stress fractures, so I kept running, even though the doctor suggested an MRI. So, running hasn't been great. BUT, it has been tolerable. And sometimes I become indecisive in this area. How much pain is too much pain? I played through pain for most of my soccer life, so it is just hard to know when to step back and when to push through. And the thing is, sometimes it hurts a lot when I run, and sometimes just a little. Sometimes it starts at mile 1, and sometimes at mile 5.
My warm up was....uh oh. Why is it hurting already? I wasn't even a couple of miles in.
And then the race started and I had two different issues. 1. My hip was hurting immediately- really hurting with every step. And 2. I was not prepared to run half marathon pace.
I put a cap on my pace before the start of the race with a 7:45 first mile. It was an arbitrary number, but I thought it would serve me well to make sure I didn't go out too quickly and just let the race come to me. But, no cap needed. I couldn't even go faster than 7:45. When your mile 1 sucks, you know you are in trouble.
So, at the end of the day, I ran a 1:39, and I didn't care one bit about my time or pace. I just wanted to be done for the entirety of the race. I basically just struggled the whole day through hip pain and the discomfort of not being fit enough to run quicker than marathon pace. I did somehow put some faster miles down, and I didn't fall too far behind on the hills, but I was just miserable. I made every bargain with my hip that I would get help if I could just finish. The race served its purpose. My hip really hurts- no hiding in a race.
This is a picture my aunt took when she had her phone on an odd setting . It kind of cracks me up! And really, if I could've left my hips and legs behind, I would've!
And why finish? Maybe this sounds completely unreasonable, but in my head I said this: if this is a fracture, I am out after this race. Just finish. If it is not a fracture, I am still doing Boston, and I really need these harder miles and fitness. Just finish.
Well, it is what it is. I talked to Gina after the race we revised my/our Boston plan. I will be happy to walk/run. I also called my PT, who said the MRI had to happen immediately. It did- got it done yesterday. So, fingers crossed for happy results. I would be totally 100% fine if they said they didn't see a thing on the image. Great! I'll suck up the pain and move forward. Just so long as I don't have a stress fracture. Hopefully I get an answer today.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Shared Post
There is a nice group of us that have been blogging for the past decade. We have learned from each other, shared in successes, cheered each other on, encouraged each other, silently stalked, and developed friendships. Over the past couple of years, a majority of us are writing less. And less. And less.
I have had so many thoughts on this, and how it applies to me. I have now been in the sport for a decade. But you know, (almost) 38 is different from 28. So much has changed, but then again, I am still the same person and a lot of my goals are the same. So, many things have not changed as well.
But, I could never really put into a blog post what has been going on. What is different? What does racing mean or not mean to me? Where to go from here?
And this post - of course by Jen Harrison- just nailed it on the head for me. She always has a good way of putting into words the way that I feel about so many things.
I relate to so much on this post, and I definitely struggle to find where triathlon and sport in general fits into my life now. It is not a loss of goals or loss of love from the sport, but it is a realization that there are many things going on in my life that deserve my attention.
A few weeks ago I ran with my good and wise friend Billy, and he asked me if the tail was wagging the dog. I thought...no, I am in control of this. But really, he sensed that I was not, and he mentioned it several times to me throughout the course of our run. He asked me how long I have been doing this, and I said 10 years. But really, he said, I have been doing this for 30 years. 30 years of sports, with about 23 or so being pretty dern competitive and mentally and physically dogging myself out to be the best athlete I could be.
So, I have lately been asking myself. Is the tail wagging the dog?
And to give you an example of how triathlon has fit into my life since becoming a mom, I have been riding on a broken aero bar pad for 2 years. 2. 2! Never got it fixed. Never bothered to deal with the discomfort. Wednesday I located an extra pad (which was rusted through...another sign of my neglect) and switched it out. It took 10 minutes. 10 minutes in the span of 2 years. Now, THAT said something to me. (but really, isn't the aero pad just a different version of the broken rear brake that I raced on? Or the nerve issues in my foot that I never addressed? Different symptom of the same issue.)
With that, I am signing off. Read Jen's post. It is good stuff.
I have had so many thoughts on this, and how it applies to me. I have now been in the sport for a decade. But you know, (almost) 38 is different from 28. So much has changed, but then again, I am still the same person and a lot of my goals are the same. So, many things have not changed as well.
But, I could never really put into a blog post what has been going on. What is different? What does racing mean or not mean to me? Where to go from here?
And this post - of course by Jen Harrison- just nailed it on the head for me. She always has a good way of putting into words the way that I feel about so many things.
I relate to so much on this post, and I definitely struggle to find where triathlon and sport in general fits into my life now. It is not a loss of goals or loss of love from the sport, but it is a realization that there are many things going on in my life that deserve my attention.
A few weeks ago I ran with my good and wise friend Billy, and he asked me if the tail was wagging the dog. I thought...no, I am in control of this. But really, he sensed that I was not, and he mentioned it several times to me throughout the course of our run. He asked me how long I have been doing this, and I said 10 years. But really, he said, I have been doing this for 30 years. 30 years of sports, with about 23 or so being pretty dern competitive and mentally and physically dogging myself out to be the best athlete I could be.
So, I have lately been asking myself. Is the tail wagging the dog?
And to give you an example of how triathlon has fit into my life since becoming a mom, I have been riding on a broken aero bar pad for 2 years. 2. 2! Never got it fixed. Never bothered to deal with the discomfort. Wednesday I located an extra pad (which was rusted through...another sign of my neglect) and switched it out. It took 10 minutes. 10 minutes in the span of 2 years. Now, THAT said something to me. (but really, isn't the aero pad just a different version of the broken rear brake that I raced on? Or the nerve issues in my foot that I never addressed? Different symptom of the same issue.)
With that, I am signing off. Read Jen's post. It is good stuff.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
20 Miler and Growing Pains
I had my first 20 miler of 2016 last weekend. I NEVER take for granted my gratitude in being able to complete these. I very clearly remember my first marathon training long run back in 2002/2003. It was such a struggle and such an accomplishment. Never did I ever imagine I would be able to just wake up and run 20 miles as if it were just part of my day.
And now, I am at that point. I have done several ironman races. I have run several marathons. I have run a bunch of 20 milers. I can now go and run a 20 miler without too much stress. I actually stress less about the run now and more about how I am going to fit it in without interrupting my family weekend.
After a long layoff from the long run, I am happy to say that I was fine. I did my normal aerobic long run, which is where I wear my HR monitor, stay true to Z2/MAF running, and just complete the distance without concern for pace. I think this is a nice approach in a build up to a marathon. Sure, there is a time and a place for marathon miles, fast finish long runs, etc. But, when you are doing your first 20 miler in a long time, just go run it easy. (because 20 miles is not really easy on the body, so why double the stress? Just let time on your feet be the only stressor for that day).
What is funny to me is how I had friends that wanted to know what my pace was for my 20 miler, thinking it was indicative of my upcoming marathon pace. Um, I don't operate like that. My training, at the end of my marathon training cycle, will dictate my marathon pace. It will be where it is. I don't force some arbitrary pace onto my long runs without reason or prior training to suggest that I should be holding xyz pace. I have found that this philosophy is just foreign to people that like to run fast/short and/or very numbers oriented. But really, if I start off yapping and warming up at a 9:45 pace, but then run 8:15s at the end, and my average is 9 min pace, was that really my long run average pace? Does it matter? I mean, I just don't even look at average pace or tie it into my training, except simply to say that I don't run the entirety of my long runs at my hopeful marathon pace. That doesn't make sense. Elites don't do it. Why do age groupers?
So, 7 more weeks to go. I am feeling "meh" about my training for Boston. It is not bad, but it is not special. I have done zero speedwork and zero tempo runs. I just don't feel like I am crossing all of the Ts on this preparation, but you know, I asked for a different view and a different plan, and I am going to stick with it. This weekend is a half marathon. And, as usual, I will get to the line having ZERO clue what pace I should try to hold. Since I haven't run a single mile under 8 minute pace since October, I guess I shouldn't really have any expectations short of just getting out there and dealing with the lactate in my blood and calling it a good training day.
And growing pains. This is all part of the growing pains that come when you start over with a new plan. I don't want to start over. I shouldn't start over. I have been doing this for a long time. I just ran a marathon 6 months ago. But, you know, when you ask for something new, you are also asking to clean the slate and start over. That sometimes means you take steps backwards, for seemingly no reason. But, it also means that you are fully committing to something new and good, and hoping that the return on the end is worth the payout on the front.
And now, I am at that point. I have done several ironman races. I have run several marathons. I have run a bunch of 20 milers. I can now go and run a 20 miler without too much stress. I actually stress less about the run now and more about how I am going to fit it in without interrupting my family weekend.
After a long layoff from the long run, I am happy to say that I was fine. I did my normal aerobic long run, which is where I wear my HR monitor, stay true to Z2/MAF running, and just complete the distance without concern for pace. I think this is a nice approach in a build up to a marathon. Sure, there is a time and a place for marathon miles, fast finish long runs, etc. But, when you are doing your first 20 miler in a long time, just go run it easy. (because 20 miles is not really easy on the body, so why double the stress? Just let time on your feet be the only stressor for that day).
What is funny to me is how I had friends that wanted to know what my pace was for my 20 miler, thinking it was indicative of my upcoming marathon pace. Um, I don't operate like that. My training, at the end of my marathon training cycle, will dictate my marathon pace. It will be where it is. I don't force some arbitrary pace onto my long runs without reason or prior training to suggest that I should be holding xyz pace. I have found that this philosophy is just foreign to people that like to run fast/short and/or very numbers oriented. But really, if I start off yapping and warming up at a 9:45 pace, but then run 8:15s at the end, and my average is 9 min pace, was that really my long run average pace? Does it matter? I mean, I just don't even look at average pace or tie it into my training, except simply to say that I don't run the entirety of my long runs at my hopeful marathon pace. That doesn't make sense. Elites don't do it. Why do age groupers?
So, 7 more weeks to go. I am feeling "meh" about my training for Boston. It is not bad, but it is not special. I have done zero speedwork and zero tempo runs. I just don't feel like I am crossing all of the Ts on this preparation, but you know, I asked for a different view and a different plan, and I am going to stick with it. This weekend is a half marathon. And, as usual, I will get to the line having ZERO clue what pace I should try to hold. Since I haven't run a single mile under 8 minute pace since October, I guess I shouldn't really have any expectations short of just getting out there and dealing with the lactate in my blood and calling it a good training day.
And growing pains. This is all part of the growing pains that come when you start over with a new plan. I don't want to start over. I shouldn't start over. I have been doing this for a long time. I just ran a marathon 6 months ago. But, you know, when you ask for something new, you are also asking to clean the slate and start over. That sometimes means you take steps backwards, for seemingly no reason. But, it also means that you are fully committing to something new and good, and hoping that the return on the end is worth the payout on the front.
The view from the top!
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