Back With a Capital Vengence!

Happy 2014! Can you believe it?

I have about 100 resolutions, but the two I would like to share are 1) to write more and be less shy about sharing and 2) use a reusable coffee mug at all times, no more paper cups.

Granted 2013 was sandwiched on both sides with hip surgeries and crap, the meat (and by meat on mean cheese) was pretty good. Considering I was on crutches for OVER 3 MONTHS of 2013, I think I did alright :)

Just a few of my 2013 highlights...

AM: Morning hip.

PM: Evening hip plus 30 minutes bike and 10 minutes arm bike.

That's like 2 plus hours of exercise without breaking a sweat!

7 weeks down, 5 more to go! Hip is feeling fab, SI is feeling bad.

I just looked back on my posts and well I am having way less pain at this point than my previous 2 surgeries and I am walking a whole week earlier than last time. I have none of the horrible hip flexor cramping pain I remember from the other surgeries, only tightness which I know will resolve once I am allowed to stretch more agressively. I have been holding off on saying this... but the pre-surgical pain I had in the front of my hip is GONE. Let's hope it stays that way!!!

AM: Lots of passive range of motion and SI beating at PT then clamshells, ADULT bridges with band, and SQUATS like real SQUATS and they have never felt so goooood! My hips feel even and normal and weird!

PM: 25 minutes bike and evening PT. Why do people lifting weights at the gym make me feel so uncomfortable?

AM: Morning hip.

PM: Evening hip and 30 minutes stationary bike (2 minutes on Level 6 - wowza!) and 10 minutes arm bike (not getting any easier).

Then some crazy idea making...

Just walked through Temple Square with my CHEESEHEAD on, not really but that would have been cool! Instead it stayed in my backpack while my head froze and I walked POINT SIX miles to the Starbucks down the street. That was pretty much my first WALK hence the POINT SIX exclamation. Yesterday I was thinking, I am going to be running in like 2 weeks and now I am thinking I just want to lay down.

AM: Morning hip & POINT SIX mile walk

PM: :(

AM: Hip Stuff.

PM: Hip Stuff. 30 minutes bike.

AM: Hip Stuff.

PM: Hip Stuff. 30 minutes bike.

AM: 10 minutes bike and 20 minutes walking on PT's new zillion dollar treadmill. I didn't need a zillion dollar treadmill to tell me I am walking like a weird-o, but it is super cool to see the force plate results and vectors and stuff - I can't wait to run on that thing. Oh and I'M SUPER FAMOUS!!!

PM: 30 more minutes bike. Evening PT, which now consists of adult sized squats, clambshells with band, bridges, and serious hip flexor/quad stretching routine and some other random things.

8 weeks down! 4 weeks until cross-country skiing!!!

AM: New morning hip stretching routine. I am starting to get a little relief with the SI joint.

PM: 35 minutes bike w/ 8 minutes above level 7 and evening hip. First SWEATS :) Think I am almost ready for SPIN! Recovery is going to be exponential from here on out!

AM: Slept in.

PM: 45 minutes bike.

I know my blog is super boring right now (bike, bike, bike, vomit) and I wonder if people read it and think, why dosen't this girl just take up knitting and give up?

The long-awaited before and after shot. The shot on the left was taken several years ago so apparently the cam lesion was quite a bit thicker from all that bone banging the last few years. I had 5.5 mms of bone removed, which I guess is a lot in a joint. The difference is quite dramatic as I can already tell on the bike. The OTHER SIDE looked a little more dramatic.

Trying to make my blog un-boring... Those screws used to poke through my skin before I had them removed. It is fun having access too all my medical info :)

AM: 1 mile in 26:37 on the Pipeline Trail with my ski poles! Equally motivating as depressing - just nice to be outside and in the mountains if only for a moment :)

PM: 30 minutes bike

AM: I woke up this morning and DID NOT want to go ride the bike in the gym so I pumped up my road bike tires and got all bundled up and found some semi-flat and dry road and went for it! I made it about seven minutes and then just got too nervous (and cold!) with the slush and turned around. It felt super awkward and funny, but it is a start!

PM: 60 minutes gym bike while listening to an entire episode of This American Life where they investigate the possibility that pig rectum is being passed of as calamari in restuarants across America. Made me hungry for calamari :)

PM2: Squats, bridges, clamshells, band things, lots o' hip stretching, HOT bath, and Tiger Balm!

BIG WEEKEND: 1 hiking mile, 2 outside biking miles, 2+ hours stationary biking, over 30 minutes holding clam shells - pretty exciting for someone that just started walking 2 weeks ago!!!

AM: 10 minutes bike at PT and 15 minutes supervised walking. I am having a lot of funky low back crap. PT thinks my pelvis is being pulled off kilter by my wicked tight hip flexors. Aoki said he was very agressive with the capsular repair (tightening of hip stabalizers after dislocating my hip during surgery), but I am starting to think he went a little too tight! So so tight!

PM: Skipped the evening bike and did a restorative yoga sesh instead then evening PT, scalding hot bath, and more tiger balm.

AM: Woke up this morning feeling the best yet! Was it the yoga, the intense PT session yesterday, one of the misc. hip soothing behaviors from the last few days, or the lessening of a certain life stressor (i.e. job). I bet a combo, but I am going to really focus on yoga for the next bit.

PM: 30 minutes easy bike and now off to 90 minute massage to celebrate the healing and the NEW job I just took :)

AM: Yoga, stretch session.

PM: 30 minute bike. Skipped all evening PT except for clam shells and hip flexor stretch. Needed a night off.

AM: Skipped morning PT. Just too busy :(

PM: 45 minutes bike.

9 weeks out on the right hip this week and 1 year out on the left hip today! The right side has taken a beating these last 2 months, but I am pretty sure it is cured :)

AM: 10 minutes bike and lots of stretchies, squats, lunges, and CRAB WALK at PT.

AM: 35 minutes interval workout on the stat bike and FIRST TIME on the ELLIPTICAL - felt weird but good with a little hip flexor tightness at the 4 minute mark so I stopped at 5.  Squats, lungies, and stretchies.
 

“We are faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words ‘Too Late’.” ~MLK

AM: Yoga stretching routine.

AM2: Happy @ss kicking at PT. Lunges, squats, and crab walks with obstacles.

PM: 35 minutes bike. 5 minutes eliptical. More stretchies and clam shells.

I just started reading The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself to balance out all of the young adult fiction books I have been reading (we're talking grade 3-5 fiction :) and I loved this:

The most important thing is your inner energy. If you're always tired and never enthused, then life is no fun. But if you're always inspired and filled with energy, then every minute of every day is an exciting experience. ~Michael A. Singer

PM: Sixty minutes on the bike to make up for my sleeping through Spin class this morning (lack of inner energy, no fun) followed by all sorts of hip exercises...

Loooved this article - The Shrinkage Factor: Aging and Ultramarathoning!

Inspiring words by Megan Arbogast: "I feel like I am setting an example for aging runners, especially for women, and I hope I’m inspiring them to keep moving. I’m glad I can make a mark, but what I really want to be remembered for is being a good, nice, kindhearted person, who happens to be a pretty decent runner. At the end of the day, no one but me really cares or remembers my places, times, and PRs, but they will remember my character, so it had better be good!"

AM: Bike, crab walks with hurdles, lunges, fire hydrants, and lots of manual capsule stretching at PT.

PM: 30 minutes bike and squats and newly added SIDE PLANKS. Now off to yoga...

10 weeks post-op today and I feel like I am back to normal and then some. Back to taking the bus/walking to work, SI joint is feeling better, the hip flexor is loosening up, hip has pretty darn much no pain or achiness, and my PT said I can give FLAT classic style Nordic skiing a whirl this weekend! I get to start my 5 x 5 SECONDS of running in two weeks and am feeling pretty optimistic and STOKED!

AM. Hip flexor and low back stretchies.

PM: 20 minute walk and 35 minute interval bike workout followed by evening PT now consisting of crab walks, squats, lunges, fire hydrants and side plank/clam shell superhero combos plus hip flexor, butterfly, adductor, and quad stretches, and one million cat/cows, hot bath, Tiger Balm, and dark chocolate. Shew!

Zero bike. Zero PT. Drank a coffee at 5pm and immediately fell asleep for an hour until dragged out for pizza and beer :)
 

AM: 45 minute bike at 24 Hour Fitness #1 and then 15 minute bike and 10 minute elliptical at 24 Hour Fitness #2 followed by lots of planks and stretchies.

PM: 45 minute errands walk through the Aves. Supposedly I can run when I can walk 30 minutes painfree and well BOOYAH I am there already!!!

Skiing tomorrow. YES skiing. Yikes!

AM: 30 minute Classic Nordic ski on the free trail by Utah Olympic Park. A lot easier/better than expected. I am TWO WEEKS ahead of schedule!!!

AM: 30 minutes bike, 10 minutes elliptical, and lunges, squats, side plank clams, storks, TA's, and stretchies.

Hip surgeries are sad and take out female short-track superstar speedskater well before her prime!

AM: 60 minute Spin class. Awful in so many ways - getting up two hours earlier than normal, hip flexors so tight and yucky feely, and legs just wouldn't move fast or hard enough to get my heart rate up blaughhhh. Crab walks, lots of stretching after, and eggs from the WF breakfast bar as a reward for getting up! 

11 weeks down. 1 more week until running!?!

AM: 10 minutes bike, lunges, crabbies, and lots of stretchies at PT.

PM: 35 minutes bike. Squats, planks, and more stretchies.

AM: Nada. Legs have been exhausted lately. Grrrrr.

PM: Evening PT.

Drove to Dillon, CO and the ~7 hour drive took me over 10 hours. Was only able to use cruise control from SLC to Spanish Fork so saying my right hip/low back hurts is a huge understatement. The roads were AWFUL and so much snow! I drove in 3rd gear all the way from Glenwood Springs to Vail Pass, boooooo!