Sidelined

I have a friend who has always been a competitive runner. Then she married, had two kids and has just started running distance races two years ago. Last year's Boston was her third marathon (in one year) where she snagged a shiny new PR in the 3:35s.

For the past year, she has been living, breathing and dreaming about the 2011 Boston Marathon. She has been setting PRs in all distances this year, even placing first in several local races. Her goal for 2011 was to finish around 3 hours alongside her college running teammates who are all traveling from around the country to meetup in Boston. Her training was spot on and it looked like her dream would become a reality.

But three weeks ago she felt some pain in her pelvis after a long run. She had it checked out and the doctors told her it's a stress fracture and that Boston is out for this year. You can probably imagine the disappointment. She's been working through all the emotions -- anger, frustration, disappointment, bargaining with herself and the powers that be... She's questioned whether the risk of running it anyway is worth it. Of course, it isn't. She's 30 years old and has years of running and PRs in her future. However, the disappointment she feels right now is very real and it's been a difficult time for her.

Do you have humorous running blogs you turn to when disappointment rears its ugly head? Where do you go to find something to lighten the mood, someone to commisserate with, maybe another mama blogger who has written something that she can relate to...?

The Top Ten Things I Miss About Running

1. I miss my Garmin. I am in love with that sage green little monster.
2. I miss looking for new running music.
3. I miss exploring the outdoors.
4. I miss the beautiful new running shoes.
5. I miss training for something.
6. I miss not having to go to the gym or having to do other forms of exercise.
7. I miss the sound of feet hitting the pavement.
8. I miss peaceful, early mornings.
9. I miss that meditative moment when you clear your mind and can just ‘be’.
10. I miss the accomplishment. 

 Stress fracture is healing well...I should be able to start running again (VERY SLOWLY) in about a month. It has been a very long break. I'm ready to be back in the game. Keep inspiring me, Ladies!!

 

 

I am ready to cry...

...either in pain, or in frustration. Right now it is a toss-up.

I am so close to completing my come-back post-baby race to run the Hands On House Half Marathon in one month, and I did something to my sciatic nerve. I am ready to cut my right leg off from the butt-cheek down. Seriously.

In June I had pulled my piriformis muscle. I know I had overdone it while visiting my parents in Utah. (Free babysitters and miles of mountain trails were much too tempting.) I found some stretches that are supposed to help loosen the piriformis muscle and they worked great. I was running again three weeks later with no problems or pain at all.

Then on Sunday night I was holding my baby in my left arm and I decided to pull the cooler out of the back of the van with my right arm. (Something told me not to do it, but all of us 'mommies' know that we are addicted to multi-tasking, right?) When I pulled the cooler out of the van, I felt something go down my right leg.

For three days I have not been able to sit down. It even hurts to lie down in those common back-injury poses. The crazy thing is, my back doesn't hurt at all, but something is pinching my sciatic nerve. I have tried to do some of the piriformis stretches and they make it hurt worse, so I'm not sure if that is the problem.

I will gladly accept any advice, suggestions, etc.

Not being able to run is killing me!!

Well, Hello It's Been Awhile

I’ve always considered myself an easy-going person. I roll with the punches fairly well…and while I am a worry-wart that worries a ton about change, I still let all the pieces land where they may.

A few weeks ago, I kinda, sorta fell. Oddly enough (or rather, not odd at all because it’s me) I didn’t fall while running. No, I’m only a danger to myself in my other daily activities…like rushing down the stairs. I knew that I landed fairly hard on my left leg, but it didn’t hurt all that bad so I didn’t feel like I did much damage. I switched to the elliptical for the next few days, just in case, and then continued on my training schedule for my long weekend run. I felt fine, the run went awesome. Hooray for everyone! Oh wait, just kidding…no hooray for me. I started to not feel so great with my inside shin/calf area. In fact, it started to get progressively worse…but not too bad, right? I was FINE! Fine enough to do the six mile run on Saturday as part of a relay team for a tri-event. Or at least that’s what I thought heading into the event. The event that turned into six miles of pretty gosh-darn awful. Fast forward to the next day, heading to urgent care because I was in so much pain (and the fact that people started to freak me out saying that I could have a stress-fracture.)

The urgent care doc (bless him) is a runner. He understood my worry and frustration. So when he came back in the room with my x-ray results, the first words out of his mouth were “Nothing is broken.” In the same breath he says “no running for two weeks” due to pulled muscle. He told me that to keep up with my training I could switch to a stationary bike or swimming for the duration of the two weeks. And while I was grateful for the alternatives, on the inside I was completely freaking out.

All of a sudden, I went from a fairly easy-going person to someone who was ticked, disappointed, worried, sad…freaked out and, well, ticked. My usual positive demeanor has been tainted with a touch of Debbie Downer influence. I don’t like it. And obviously, I don’t love being in pain. That really stinks.

The silver lining of all this is that it doesn’t appear to be anything major. Nothing is broken. The injury is kinda like a reverse shin-splint, in a way. I’ve been swimming twice and I don’t hate it. (I don’t love it, but hey.) I know that this is my body’s way of telling me to chill out and take a breather. But boy is it tough when you’re freaking out about marathon training…or lack thereof. I guess, if nothing else, this is helping me see how important this is to me. If I ever doubt why in the world I do this to myself, I need to remind myself how I feel right now when all my plans are put on hold. I need to remember what a big-freaking-baby I’m being right now. (For reals!)

I know I’ll snap out of the bad mood. But I guess that I hope I never snap out of understanding the love of the run.

How Sick is Too Sick?

As I'm enduring day six of this horrible sinus infection and day seven of not running, I began wondering, "What would a Marathon Mommy do?"

When I woke up Wednesday feeling completely horrible, I knew running was out of the question that day.  But the pressure in my head hasn't gone away, and I continue to be exhausted.  Also, my lungs feel weakened.  However,  I just started the antibiotics yesterday so hopefully I'm on the up-and-up.

But really, how sick is too sick for you guys to not run?  Part of me is enjoying the rest, especially since it's been nothing but rain here in DC.  But of course, the bigger part is sad that I haven't been running in a week.  I feel like I'm losing muscle mass, gaining fat mass, and just becoming more and more blob-ish.  At what point during an illness (if there is one) do you not run?  Does that decision change if you run at a gym?  If the weather is wet and cold?  I'm currently not training for anything specific, so I don't have to run, it's just that I really want to.

Not Ready to Give Up the Fight

So this past week I tried running on tuesday in complete pain. I managed to endure 4 long SLOW miles before calling it quits. Thanks Smith for sticking with me. I didn't run the rest of the week. I tried to run 15 on Saturday and managed to go 1/2 mile. These past two months I've had such an emotional rollercoaster of "I will make it to Boston" to "There is always next year." I want this so bad! Last week I was talking to a triathlon/running coach and on Saturday I got an email from him. We coresponded thru email and I explained my dilema with the injuries. He called me yesterday and he is working on a new training plan for me that I hope will work. This is my last option. At least for the next week I will be doing all my training in a pool swimming laps and water running.
This is becoming the most expensive marathon I have ever done and probably ever will do. I'm just crazy in the head. I feel optomistic this week. Wish me luck. I miss my running buddies and look forward to running with you guys after this injury gets better.

I have an -itis

Just got back from the doctors. The MRI looked good there was nothing wrong whatsoever. All he could determine is that I have some sort of -itis. He said the prescription is rest but he knew that wasn't an option. So I continue to take anti-inflammatory, go to physical therapy, and deal with the pain from now until April 21. The thing is I feel great during the run when I'm warmed up and the endorphins kick in. It is the pain that I feel when I am not running that is causing me the problems. So at this point and time I'm just trying to get to Boston and not worry about any pr. I pray that I might get some relief from the PT soon.
As a side note if you ever get an MRI done and you carry the pics don't look at them. It grossed me out to see how much fat I have on my body.

Questions for the Mommies

Hi all - I'm new to the group and have a couple of questions I wonder if you might offer some advice on. First, I have been doing all of my running in the morning - immediately after I wake up. I love running in the morning but I realize I definitely don't do as well as when I run later in the day. I'm just starting out but it doesn't seem to be getting much easier. I don't eat anything before I go and I'm wondering if that might have something to do with it. I don't want to eat a full breakfast either...so, what do you do to fuel yourself or even warm up your muscles for those early morning runs? I've also thought about walking for 10 or 15 minutes first too, just to loosen up the legs a little.

Second, I just started training about 6 weeks ago and I've had two separate bouts with severe calf pain. They are not cramps just extreme muscle tightness/soreness/pain. Tonight it was so bad I couldn't run at all, could hardly walk. Am I just going through the motions of a novice runner or could it be my shoes or something? Anyway, thought I'd just throw it out there. Thanks for any feedback/experiences! You are all amazing!

What Did You Do Today?

I spent my morning at the hospital getting an MRI of my pelvis and legs. You see my training isn't going so well. Right at the start of my marathon training I started getting pain in my upper left leg. At the end of January I went to see a sports med doctor to see what I could do about the problem. I have been going to physical therapy for 4 weeks now and I'm not seeing any results. The fact is the pain is now also in my right leg. I go back to see the doctor this thursday and I'll be taking the results from this MRI today. So far everyone is baffled and it really hurts to run. So with seven weeks until the Boston marathon I'm waiting with crossed fingers that there are no stress fractures. I had two nightmares last night that I had multiple stress fractures. Hate to leave you all on the edge of your seats but you'll have to tune in on Thursday for the results. Wish me luck!