Running in the Rockies

Well, I finally bought real running shoes yesterday and I also went to the chiropractor. He actually gasped a little and said, "No wonder you've been in pain." When laying on my stomach, my feet were a full inch different in length. I also tried something this morning that a friend told me about; it's called Ceragem and it's a therapeutic massage table that utilizes jade rolling stones that emit far infrared heat. So, you go to the store and they have 20 of these tables that people can just try for 40 minutes for FREE! You can come back as often as you want - in fact they encourage you to. I guess after using it, people love it so much, they're willing to spend the thousands to buy it. I know two people in my ward that have one (one has it for her Fibromyalsia). The salesperson said it might hurt the first time if my back is not doing great - and it did. But, afterwards, I felt more relaxed than a massage therapist - and I felt . . . elongated. Does that make sense. I felt like I was standing taller. Anyway, it was very interesting. I think I'll try it 2 more times next week and if I don't notice a difference, at least I won't be out any money!!

My walk/jog/run felt good. It was nice to have better shoes that didn't clomp. I tried jogging at a walking pace like Lybi recommends and I was able to do that for about half the time (not all together). I even tried hard to continue jogging UP the hills thanks to Brent's Rools. Thanks for the push, Brent! Hopefully my hip won't be hurting me tomorrow. We'll see . . .

2.46 miles in 37:52. Whoosh. Slow, but still - I'm improving. My hip hurt with a dull ache during the whole walk/run, and my left knee started hurting the last mile; but my spirits started feeling better after the 2nd mile. If my joints had been feeling better, I think I might've enjoyed going a little longer.

After my run on Monday I could hardly even walk around the house that day and the next, and yesterday wasn't much better. On Wednesday, my daughter's physical therapist said it is probably bursitis. She said it could be from the pregnancy and the readjusting of my joints, or my low back being so far out of alignment while exercising. She recommended anti-inflammatory meds (if approved by the dr.) and the SuperFeet insoles. I think I'll try the insoles and ibuprofen.

I'm going to readjust my training even more - like Lybi had wanted me to from the very beginning (don't you hate it when little sisters are right!?! grrr) So, I'm going to walk/run a mile and keep any running VERY slow 3 days a week. Once I can do this without pain in my hip or knees, then I will keep it at one mile a day for 6 days a week. Then I will slowly increase after that. Considering this schedule, I'm going to shoot for a later 5K race. Instead of Sept 22, I found another one on October 20 and hopefully my body will be ready by then.

I went to the chiropractor again yesterday and this morning when I ran, my hip and knees didn't bother me. My low back complained a little, but hopefully that will go away if I ice it. I was very happy with today's mile. I walked to warm up and then jogged slowly for more than half a mile with no pain in my hip or knees. I was very surprised and it felt good! I stretched afterwards including the back stretching that Kristina recommended.

Quite a cold morning - 50 degrees at 9:30. Whoosh! Hello, autumn! The first half was a little sluggish. My feet had a hard time getting off the ground. The last half was much better. The only bummer about having to go so short a distance while I'm getting my body used to exercise is that by the time I'm finally warmed up, I'm almost done. Ha!

I ran in the evening today because of other appointments in the morning. I usually try to go around 9:00 when both my babies are asleep and while my husband is working downstairs; but Wednesdays will have to be PM runs since Cami has her therapies starting at 8:00 and getting all 3 girls ready and out the door by 7:30 is impressively busy, even with Mike's help. Mike's been getting up at 4:30 to go cycling lately (poor tired man!) and it's been in the 40's lately at that hour!

I went a little longer than my one mile per Sasha's suggestion. It was good. Still no pain in my hip or knees, so maybe I'm finally starting to warm up to being active again. I'll keep it slow and steady, though, and look forward to my 5K on October 20th. I asked the 2 marathoners in my book club if they wanted to run it with me, but one will have just run the Long Beach marathon the week before, and the other - St. George. Oh well. I think my husband is going to run it with me, if we can get someone to stay with our girls.

Does anyone else hate 1st grade!?!?! My sweet little 6 year old is struggling with her new Special Ed teacher. I'm going to look into other options because I hate seeing her disliking school more and more; and I'm getting phone calls from the teacher saying, "We're having a power struggle over doing math." Come on! This is special ed! Give her a break and try again in half an hour; don't make life miserable! Ugh.

I took the heart rate monitor today to figure out my max heart rate. Right before my steepest hill, I started running and had to convince my legs to keep trudging up the hill. I maxed out at about 194 and my running pace before the hill was 5:24. It's amazing that so many of the bloggers can maintain that pace! At the same time, there is something so liberating about a sprint like that - it's so different from a slow, bumpy jog. I'd love to be able to maintain a sprint for longer than 10 yards. ha, ha!!

That's awesome, Sarah and Sasha, that you homeschool!! What curriculum do you use? My sister-in-law uses Thomas Jefferson Education and has me almost convinced that I need to homeschool my children. I'm not sure that I can homeschool my oldest one with special needs because the school is able to offer so many extra services - therapies and specialists. But yesterday I did schedule her therapies (the ones outside of school) to be in the mornings so she can miss more of 1st grade. I don't know if that's much of a solution, but it gives her more time away from a teacher who doesn't seem to work well with her personality.

One quick question: my hip doesn't hurt while I run or even right after my run. But the first time I sit down for a long time after my run and then stand up, my hip feels AWFUL! I stretch after my run, but are there hip stretches that I should do? or ice it? or ibuprofen? or . . . I don't know! It's aggravating that my hip never seems to totally feel better. Even when I sleep at night, when I lay on my right hip it hurts a little. Any thoughts?

I should've gone on Saturday. Lazy bones - no better excuse. Today felt good though. I kept it slow and took walking breaks when my breath was really labored. I also took Mike's iPod, which was a fun distraction with upbeat music. It's funny what a little music can do. Those commercials that say "Life needs a soundtrack" are right on!

I went to the chiro again and he took x-rays of my low back. We didn't get a chance to go over them; but as I was leaving, he said from a quick look at my x-ray, it's obvious my pelvis is off and it looks like the hip joint is wearing down a little. Ugh. Not what I wanted to hear.

6.62 miles on a mountain bike on a hill-y trail. My husband took our two youngest girls in the bike trailer, but he still kicked my trash! My legs (and behind) were good and tired when I got home. It was a really good workout for me, much prettier scenery than being on the elliptical, fun to exercise with my husband, and easier on my hip. Yea!!!!

I've been a little scared to run since I saw my chiro on Monday, but I think this morning I've decided to get a second opinion on my hip - from a real doctor instead of a chiro.

I meant to take my heart rate monitor this morning so I could answer Sasha's question about what activity causes my heart rate to be at 140, 150 and 160 -- but I forgot. So, I just tried to walk more to keep my heart rate down and more aerobic. My hip hasn't hurt hardly at all today.

By the way, that conversation about the oatmeal was very interesting!! This morning I had a hard boiled egg with my oatmeal (I can't remember who mentioned it) and I wasn't hungry for 6 hours!! I couldn't believe it; having just one of those, I would've been hungry within 3 hours, but put them together and it was amazingly satisfying! Amazing the things I'm learning on this blog!

Not a great workout today. I felt tired the whole time and my hip and knee both hurt! I'm starting to come down with a cold too. But . . . at least I got out today! I thought I might take a nap, but decided to run instead. My daughter's starting to feel a little better - she's no longer throwing up, but she's still not eating normally and is overly emotional.

I'm still feeling sick, but I wanted to get out today. I might pay for it later, but it was nice to be out in the autumn air. I could tell my lungs were tired from all the coughing spells I've been having lately. I keep thinking about my 5k coming up and I'm struck with panic and uncertainty: "maybe I'm not ready", "I might make a fool of myself coming in last", "next Springs is a great time to race". On task, Laura! Last place is better than no place at all!!!!!