Chug-along-chica!

GREAT JOB AT PAINTERS EVERYONE!

It's was really fun reading everyone's race report.  Although, I really should say that there was an extreme lack of picture-taking. Somebody better post some pictures, or there's gonna be another smackdown!

Speaking of smackdowns, the most important fitness related event that happened to me while resting my knee and getting over my cold was a phone call to Sasha. I had to tell him that I wasn't able to do Painters, and thus was in violation of our little agreement, wherein he was supposed to try to play a hymn on the piano without making any mistakes within 48 hours (which he did) and in return I would run the Painter's Half Marathon.  Geez! I really didn't think he was ready to do that! One thing you must all never doubt is Sasha's tenacity. Anyhow, I asked him if he could please think of some other way I could fulfill my side of the bargain. I gave him some lovely options, such as running a half down here in AZ, going up to St. George even though I wouldn't be running, hosting a pasta party for the Del Sol Relay team when they come down, etc. etc. But his choice was for me to simply to adhere to the "good conscience" diet (meaning don't eat anything that I believe to be unhealthy) until I break 2:00 in the half marathon.

And thus we see the extreme futility of trying to argue a point with Sasha. That guy will NEVER give up, and eventually he will win. I can't keep up the whole fire-breathing-debate thing forever, eventually apathy takes over. So tonight when my family was at Souper Salad, and they all went back and got some brownies, I went back and got a bowl of diced beets...It's okay, I like beets...a little. Almost like a brownie...

About my run tonight--it was fine, it was great! I've really missed running. No pain whatever. I did 2 miles outside at "injury pace," which is 1.5 min. slower than "easy pace." I think that I've figured out what the heck was going on with my knee, but it is convoluted, so you may want to tune out now--just leave me a comment like "Good job!" and move on. I think that my piriformis muscle is the main culprit. It attaches to the tailbone and controls how far out you hold your leg sideways (I think). So my chiropractor said my tailbone was was "out" and I know my piriformis was all bunched up like a rock in there. Someone recommended massage, and I'll tell you, I could NOT stand for that thing to be touched without yelping. So I think it was pulling my leg in a little too much and THAT is what was causing the pain in my knee and down my leg. I think that it altered my gait in such a way that my right leg was landing harder than usual. I don't think I actually had a real injury in my knee, but I do think that if I had continued to run on it like this I could've ended up with an injury in my knee or with shin splints. So I've been adjusted by the chiro, and I've had some massage--now I am going to make sure I do my 3 lower back exercises (which my chiro has been begging me to do for a long time, but I've been to lazy to do it) in order to hopefully keep my lower back in the right place, and I'm going to do my piriformis stretch before and after every run. Tomorrow I will hopefully run 3, 4 on Wed, 4 on Thurs. 5 on Friday, 6 on Saturday. Next week I'll try to do 5-6 miles most days unless something starts hurting again. Maybe a 10 miler that Saturday...

Look at this picture I just found. Who is that booking it back from the finish of the race? He he he.

3 miles outside at injury pace.  No problems to speak of.   I did my lower back exercises and my piriformis stretch before heading out.   

I'm exhausted, I hear the siren call of my pillow drawing me in.   Time to surrender.  ZZZZzzz.
 

4 miles with Christine outside in the freezing coldness.  Only 59 degrees.  (Sorry, that was low.)

I did my lower back exercises and my piriformis stretch.  Pace was about 1 min. a mile slower than easy pace.  No pain to speak of other than my shingles pain. 

Doh!  I have shingles.  I had this little tiny rash the size of a quarter, but it stings/burns over a rather big area.  So I finally went to the Dr. to see what the heck was up.  Anyone ever have this before?  How long does it last?  It is rather annoying.  Am I supposed to try and stay away from everyone?  I've been walking around with it for several days--hope nobody gets it from me.   I'm thinking of all this stuff I should have asked my Dr., but I had no presence of mind at the time.  I'm on an antiviral Rx now.  So hopefully it will help. 

PS I take back all that stuff about the evils of painkillers. 

I am starting to get pretty excited because my knee and hip are not causing problems. 4 at injury pace tonight, No issues to speak of...

Tomorrow 5, Sat. 6, I'm on my way out of the woods!

And I think the shingles are slightly, maybe, a little bit improved. The rash is bigger, but I think the pain is down a little bit, which is the real issue.

I had planned on running this evening, but when the time came, I could hardly keep my eyes open. I took it as a strong message that my body needed the sleep more than the run. I felt just a little bad about missing my run, but my shingles feel so much better today (Sat.) that I think it was the right thing to do.

*Groan* I had a significant bad, rotten thing happen today. Remember my sweet, psychotic dog Sparky? He attacked a little boy today and bit him! (Fortunately it did not break skin because of the boys jeans.) Sparky is very sweet to everyone in our family, but he is so protective that it is a problem. Whenever he meets a new person, he goes absolutely ballistic with barking like crazy and threatening to bite. I've been trying to introduce him to one new person every day to get him over this and taking him to PetsMart to get used to strangers. I really thought he was doing better... then today sweet little 7 year-old Ryan came over to play with Sam. He saw that we had a trampoline and ran and threw the door open. I was just starting to say "wait, I need to put the dog away..." when Sparky dashed in through the open door and started barking at the boy. Ryan got scared and ran away, and to my absolute shock and horror, Sparky pursued and bit his rear.  He's never done that before! So today one of my jobs is to get rid of Sparky. I will try to find someplace where he will be safe. There are so many little kids that come to my house between all the play mates and piano students. I just can not have a dog that bites! Ug. I feel guilty and sad, though. Could I have done something differently to prevent this?

Delicious night of sleep last night--feeling MUCH better.

4 miles outside at injury pace.