Denouement

Met MacK, she ran, I rode.  Rode the Pachev bike for 5.7 miles, it went flat gradually, even though I put in a new tire with slime in it. Then I walked 1.5 miles to my car.  So I left it at MacK's house for her husband to fix :) 

Dr appt. Things are improving, my mood was happy until he put me in a geeky harness and made me run on the treadmill, staring at myself in the stupid form harness.  Then he told me to buy one and USE it.  Dang.  He also said only treadmill running this week, starting no earlier than Thursday.  Except the thing is I am planning on running outside on Saturday.  it will be my first act of defiance.  Four miles outside Saturday! (maybe three)

Three on the treadmill.  A staff accountant called me at 1.5, so I had to get off the treadmill, catch my breath, and answer his questions, then hopped back on.  Ran with the harness the first mile, after walking .25 warm up (in harness).  That thing is irritating.  And I think its hard to run on a treadmill coming off an injury because you have nothing else to focus on except, "am I injured still?"  "does this hurt?"  "Am I really healed?" Endless psychosis and no answers.  My injury did have some soreness the first mile or so, and my right leg was tightening, but not enough to stop, but after I hopped back on the treadmill it felt much better.  Before the run I thought I would be able to blog, "Legs felt great!"  But they didn't.  Slowly worked into 8:13 pace, so nothing exciting or impressive there.

Legs feeling good, just a tiny bit of soreness on sitting bone.

Planned on running 4 then a bike ride.  Ericka and Josse joined in SF.  We ran with the SF group.  Josse and Ericka turned around at 1.5 miles, but I wanted 4 and they had to replace Erika's flat tire, so I kept running with Merri, then with MacK and Merri.  Then I was on my own and wandered through a neighborhood, stopped at a laundromat for their toilet, then met up with Josse and Ericka.  Ericka's tire was being a pill and they broke a tool trying to replace it, so she hung out in the car while Josse and I biked, which is so dull and I am so sorry Ericka!

I was riding the Pachev's 10 year old mountain bike and Josse's got her expensive, nice road bike, so you know who was struggling during the ride. Crotch way sore.  Several times I asked Josse, "Is my back tire flat?  It feels flat."  And she's like, "It's fine"  Later:  "Is my back tire flat now?" "It's still fine."  I am such a wuss.  Legs were way tired by the end.  I can tell I am getting out of shape.  I am turning into a marshmallow.  Hopefully things are turning around again.

I don't have pace for any of it. 

I mapped both on the course tool and my run was 4.75 (oops), and the bike ride was 15 miles, I'll count 3 bike miles = 1 running mile, though I think I should get a 2:1 ratio for that bike (I appreciate the Pachev's letting me borrow it, and its way better than what I have which is a big fat nothing, but it is not the most efficient machine).

Afternoon - rode another three miles or so with my son (he rode about 2, I kept going ahead and circling back for him).  The hills in WH are killer (example, we had to walk up a 15% grade Loafer Road segment).  We vowed to do it again next week and get better at conquering the hills. I'll count as a mile.  Nice to get my metabolism up a little in the afternoon. Some stretching this evening, but felt a sharp pain in my problem glute (radiated down leg). That wasn't good.  After that stretching hurt so I stopped. Bogus.  Going to watch a Cary Grant movie I don't think I have seen yet (His Girl Friday).  He is so dreamy.  I bet it will turn out that I have seen it, but we'll see. 

Got cleared to run today by Dr. Brady!  Gradual increase and using the form harness one mile a day are the dues.  So I will be out tomorrow (ok, maybe I'll be in, since there's so much snow).  Had about 8 needles in me today, good times.

Treadmill since there was a blanket of snow outside.  My glute and calf were sore (and calf bruised, probably from acupuncture) from being worked on yesterday, but they held up.

Walked .25 with harness on, then ran one mile with it, then .25 without it, then stopped and stretched.  At that point I could feel soreness in glute and in calf, mostly tightness in calf, but not extreme, kind of medium.  Stretching helped alot.   Got back on the treadmill and ran 3.75 more, for my first 5 mile run in weeks.  It seems so long when you are out of shape!

I hate the treadmill, but am glad I have it for snowy mornings, and even more glad that I am able to run, even if on the treadmill.

Bike ride from hades

9.94 mile bike ride in 45 minutes.  Very hilly.  Stopped just once as I went up Elk Ridge drive at the steepest part.  I will do better next time.  It was so hilly, on the uphill parts I was breathing in a ragged, about to pass out manner, so I am counting part of this hard, but staying true to the 3:1 ratio.   Nasty, nasty though, much harder than any 3.31 mile run I have ever done.  Fastest mile was 2:39 (fastest pace 2:09), slowest was 5:54, geez I could run it at that pace, same effort too.  More than one gear on the bike would have helped :)

1pm run.  Sunshine, shorts, 7:53 pace!  Sweet.  Felt good throughout the run.  Kept pace easy by singing to my music.  I sounded so good!  I forgot the harness, so I focused on the form tips Dr. Brady gave me throughout the run, but especially the first mile.  Stretched after 1.25, but even before stretching legs felt fine.  Only some mild soreness at SI joint and sitting bone.  

Rode bikes with Ben, attacked the hills better, went longer than last time, but Ben got uncooperative and sad by the end.  I need to make sure i don't push him too hard.

Legs felt great at work, the best they've felt for a long time.

Ran 1 mile with harness, met up with Doug and Jill at about .8 miles, embarrassed to have that thing on, but took it off as soon as my watch beeped one mile.  My legs felt not so great from the start.  Had mild soreness at SI joint for the first 5 miles, which gradually increased.  Stopped to stretch at 1.7 miles and that's where Josse joined me.  At about 5.5 miles, a more major pain shot down my leg and then my SI joint, whole right leg didn't feel right.  We got to our cars a 6.15 miles.  I wanted to run 7 but that wasn't wise, so I stretched some, and we hopped on our bikes.   Problem was, it was cold.  My hands were painfully cold by 2 miles into the bike ride, and I asked if we could turn just after 4.5.  Problem was, it was even colder going the other direction.  I curled my fingers into my gloves, and tried not to think about frostbite.  Josse humored me and let me talk taxes for a bit.   She humors me in general, I appreciate her!  I was in pain driving home, fingertips so, so cold.  I found I wasn't breathing because of the pain so I started taking deep breaths.  Well that led to what seemed like a panic attack (hyperventillating, senses dulling), which I have only had once before.  No pain in the chest though.  Got home somewhat dazed and confused, but I took a hot bath and am now feeling better/normal (for me :) normal's relative).

Ave pace for run 8:47.  Did that include some rest?  Not sure.

Walked a mile with Benji.  Busy day.

Does sleep during FHE count as a nap?

Biked 6.61 in 28:41, then stretched, and ran with McK for 5.31.  Legs felt pretty good.  The plan was to bike first to warm the legs up and hopefully have a better run than Saturday.

Hit the back of my right calf pretty hard while biking, and my whole right side is my problem side right now, but thankfully it was in the first half of the bike ride.  

I felt like I couldn't run fast, like my legs didn't want to transition to running, but no serious soreness like Saturday.  Right side felt somewhat tight, though, from upper hamstring down, no real SI soreness or pain.   Wore harness for the first mile.

Ave pace for run 8:25

Dr Brady visit.  He says my injury is schizo and I agree.  Well, I ran 1 mile with harness outside, waited 20 minutes, (ran kids to piano and picked up JJ) then ran two on the treadmill.  Mile outside felt great, after .5 on the treadmill I started feeling sore, and it gradually increased, never got as bad as Saturday, but was not comfortable.  I am planning on running tomorrow mid morning.  I don't thing its a good idea to run at 4am when the condition of my legs is so tenuous, so I am trying to arrange for runs later in the day.  I hope I feel better tomorrow. 

waiting until there was sunshine, and Paul watched JJ.  Right before I started some work I was completing gave me a neck cramp, probably from tightening up from stress.  But it felt fine.

 Biked 3.08 to warm up, then a good stretching session, then ran 5.02 miles (first mile in harness).  I practiced keeping my right leg engaged, a full participant in the running process.  I think alot of my pain is from my right leg being lazy and/or stiff (bracing itself for potential pain), so I tried to imagine gripping the road with my foot as I strike and push off.  I felt some tightness in my mid hamstring, but it was minor.  So happy my legs felt good!

Ave pace for biking 3:52

Ave pace for running 8:02

Went to one of Mary Ann's races.  Brought the kiddies and a sitter and ran with Mickie as he raced and won the 200m!  And JJ came in third after one of Sue's kids.  Sweet!  Mickie won $4 which he was so excited about.

I thought this would be a fun family activity, and I could do a tempo (marathon pace, about 7:00 for me right now?  but really not sure of fitness) if my legs felt good, or just jog it if they didn't.  They felt good, and Sue took off at the start.  I settled into third place, 6:30ish pace.  Caught the UVU chick before the mile marker and started running with Ben Cozier. We ran together until about mile 2 marker, then I pulled away some.  Didn't want Sue to win because I was slowing.  She stayed strong throughout the race, I started to close the gap, but my effort was probably 10k - 1/2 marathon pace and I didn't want to push it any more.  I did yell at her to kick it in when we were about 150m from the finish (wanted her to earn the win :) ).  My legs felt good.  I would say really good, but there still was some slight soreness, but nothing sharp or painful, certainly not like last week.  Hesitated to mark this as a race report, but it was a race and I was registered, so here it is.

Splits:

6:31

6:49

6:33

5:54 pace for .15.

The bad thing was that this felt harder than it should have.  Oh well.  Make peace with where you are.

(no driving miles since took kids and made it a family rec activity)

Ran with Sasha and Carolyn, and MaryAnn, and Jeff, and a Matt I don't know.  I got to work at 5am, then realized I had no shoes (but had a running outfit).  Knowing you can't do something makes you want it even more, so I borrowed Sarah's shoes for the run.  She's an 8.5, I am an 8.  I probably shouldn't have done it.  Legs felt fine the first have, kind of sore second, but nothing sharp.

Ever feel like you are writing your own obit?

Well, so met with MacK after a 4 mile bike ride warm up.  Legs felt fine the first half, last half my bum got more and more sore.  I got to 4.75 miles with MacK but she could tell I was sore, so when I tried to tag on the .25 she said to go back to my car and she is right.  So I ran 4.77. 

For a couple of weeks I have been doing 5 milers, but I feel by the end of the run like if I run more than 5 my legs are going to fall apart.  So my question is:

WHAT THE FREAK GOOD IS A FIVE MILE RUN TO A MARATHONER?  It's no good at all, except perhaps for a very minor fitness atrophy rate reduction, and I'm not gaining more weight.  The status quo cannot stand.  I have a Friday doc appt and will insist on a bone scan.  I will likely be out of commission for awhile.  If I just had a diagnosis it would help, but Dr. Brady originally said it was an SI joint issue, then said it was acting more like a pinched nerve.

I have goals.  This doesn't fit into the plan.  I feel like the hulk ready to morph.

PM:  The Hulk's been tamed by a gruelling (ok gruelling for me) afternoon bike ride.  15.07 miles in 1:01:59, ave pace 4:07, I finally figured out how to ride this bike a little faster, by holding the side handle bars-genius!  I got an appointment with Dr B for tomorrow, so that will be nice.  I just need to remember to not take it out on him.  I get way moody and somewhat unstable when I can't run and have no prospect of running.

So I went to the orem rec center to do CROSSTRAINING.

19 minutes on bike (warmed up then kept HR above 150)

26 minutes elliptical (HR in upper 160 most of the time)

then changed and hopped in the pool. 40 minutes pool running. By this time I was tired and thirsty but forgot to get a drink.  Did intervals after I got bored (took like 2 or 3 minutes to get bored), 1 length (well these are all half lengths, but it is an olympic size pool) hard, 1 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy, 3 hard, 1 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy, 1 hard, 1 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy 1 hard, then ran out of time.

Went to Dr. Brady, he agrees to bone scan to rule out stress fracture.  Scheduled for tomorrow, will have results by my Mon appt with him.  Have a Tues appt with another dr, Dr. McLane, I think, and she'll prescribe me some steroids if she follows Dr. B's recommendation.  I'll be on Aleve until then.  No running.  No more ab workouts, at least the kind I have been doing, because they require stability on the ball, which aparently I don't have.  We'll see how it goes.

Went to Josse Gym (Josse's house) to bum off her nice elliptical machine, since it was too snowy to bike outside and I am off running.  

Ode to the bone scan machine:

I want to feel all the chemicals inside, I want to feel.

I want a stress fracture just to know that I'm alive, to know I'm alive.

(italicized words modified, Ensign style).

(Name that band, winner gets the exclusive rights to Michelle's "We're cooler than everyone else" club).

Got a bone scan today.  Full body, and pelvic areas two ways.  I could see the image as it scanned on a screen but couldn't interpret it.  Must take some schooling or something.  Bet who ever interprets it makes more than a Wal-mart checker :) (or a CPA for that matter).

Squat today. Did get my results of my bone scan:

"There are no areas of abnormal uptake of the neuclide that would suggest metastatic or inflammatory disease (actually the last word was d________e, the word was blurry but that's my guess)."

Translation:  I get to run tomorrow! 

Ha, ha, that was funny.   But it does mean no stress fracture, right?  So steroids here I come!  

Lyrics for today:

"Show me what I'm looking for.  Show me what I'm looking for."

(no cheating)

biked the Salem to Genola there and back, with a detour in a Salem neighborhood going up a side street to chat with Andy G. 

26.54 miles.  I really think on Sasha's 15 year old mountain bike with one gear I should get 2/1 credit for bike miles to run miles conversion, but my miles don't mean much right now anyway.  It took about 2 hours (2:08 with breaks).  I've always wanted to see Genola, but its a small town and there wasn't that much to see.  I rode through downtown Santaquin and saw a mom and pop restaurant I'd like to try out.  I'm stretching for anything interesting to write about.  I guess I best shut up.

Lyrics from my ipod, from a band which was only together for a few years, late 70's to early 80's, one of my favorite all time bands for their lyrics:

"Learn to love me, assemble the ways, now, today, tomorrow and always.  My only weakness is a list of crimes, my only weakness is . . . well, never mind, never mind."

Anyone know it?

Lehi legacy center pool.

90 minutes of pool running.  Hard workout. easy minutes in parentheses 12 warm up, then 1 (1) 2 (1) 3 (2) 4 (3) 5 (4) 4 (3) 2 (1) 1 (1) 2 (1) 1 then 5 easy, exhausted.  Knew I wanted to be in the pool for 90 minutes but wanted hard minutes to truly be hard.  Did 1 hard, 1 easy x 10 after that because I couldn't muster much more.  Then cool down.  Could see the runners on the track and thought it was cruel to place them in view.  Found out that pool running can make you want to upchuck.  But I held it in.  Nice hard workout.

Unfortunately my SI joint is just a tad sore from it.  Theoretically crosstraining shouldn't hurt it, but it was also a little sore after my 2 hour bike ride.  Apparently it wants rest rest, not alternate training.  I'll chew on it, and perhaps keep crosstraining to 60 minutes?  Atrophy!!!

Pain in the butt! 

SI joint in pain this morning.

11am dr appt with a new doctor with IHC sports medicine clinic, dr McLain.  She had a fellow work on me, but she spent a good 45 minutes with me too.  Didn't get out of there until 1:30.  Got xrays, which show pulling on my bone on low pelvic bone, where my hams been hurting, and a bone chip on the bottom of my siatic joint.  They also said my right hip was high, out of alignment, (they both checked it) so they pulled on that sucker ("Relax" YANK!).

Then the glorious steroid injection into the joint, but not before I got to change into some huge disposable shorts. Very unflattering.  The shot stung and hurt, but I breathed through it, telling myself nothings as bad as giving birth, and there's a purpose to the pain.  Really I am just a wuss on the table trying to not hyperventilate.  She also gave me an oral steroid 12 day step down pack prescription and a muscle relaxant.  The shot also had a temporary numbing agent, which helps us know if treating that area is treating the area in pain, and my SI joint felt hurty (as Ruthie says it) after their adjustment, and like gold after the shot, so at least we have the right area.

So I've got meds and an order for no running or crosstraining for a week.  She said standing up on the bike while pedalling (have to do going uphill) is likely the cause of this flare up.  I'm happy I went to her.  I am hopeful I am on the path to recovery.

 I am also starting my detox now, one can of soda today, one tomorrow, then off completely.  I need sleep to heal, and need to consume better stuff.  I guess I can use caffeine as a crutch no more.  (I still get a coke after major races as a treat).  More sleep should help me heal.