Bursitis

No wonder my hip hurts so badly when the PT rolls it! I have bursitis in my hip and got a cortisone shot at my checkup on Tuesday. I have been told these shots really hurt, so I totally dreaded it when the dr suggested we try it. She sprayed my hip with some "freezy cream" then gave me a numbing shot and then the cortisone shot. It only pinched a little - not bad at all. It really, really, really hurt more on Thursday than it did when I got the shot. I am happy to report that today my hip is feeling much better :) I took my last 800mg Advil this afternoon, so I am looking forward to seeing how my knee and thigh feel without any anti inflammatory meds. I got a flyer in the mail for a race in October. I aked my pt if that was a realistic goal. She said she thought that was reasonable. Four more weeks to heal and four weeks to train. Oh, I get to start training in 1/2 mile increments. I'm looking forward to it!

Still Not Well

Just to update . . . I have been in physical therapy for Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome for 7 weeks. My IT Band is so inflamed that an MRI even showed the inflammation (I was told if it showed up on the MRI that it is severe). The first couple of weeks of physical therapy were extremely painful. The physical therapist used a plastic rod and rolled up and down my thigh along the ITB tract. I have knots in the muscles from my knee to my hip that she was trying to work out. I also used ice massage, strength training exercises, and stretching. After several excruciating visits, and a bruised thigh, we saw no positive results. She decided to go a different route (thank goodness) - no physical activity, even limit walking, continue stretching and icing, add electrical stimulation and ultrasound of those sore muscles and the IT band. I also tried several different kinds of anti inflammatory medications until I found one that worked! I am taking by prescription 800mg of Ibuprofen (Advil) 3 times a day along with a steroid dose pack. FINALLY . . . I am feeling some relief. It is not well by any means, but much, much better. Hopefully a few more weeks of this will have me up and running (hehehe forgive me).

Injured - Udpated

I have a knee injury (which leads to back pain) and am sadly taking a break from running - starting Saturday afternoon. I might regret it, but I will be running Saturday in a 10k that I have already registered for. I will be keeping up my cardio by training on the elliptical. Hopefully it will be a quick recovery.
Update: My friend Sharon pointed out to me how crazy I sounded. . . I will NOT be running the 10K on Saturday. I will be trying to recover from this injury so I can get back to running sooner.

I DID IT!

I ran a half-marathon. Did you hear that? I ran a half-marathon. . . well most of it anyway! Here are my stats:

Time: 2hours, 26 minutes, 51 seconds
Place: 12,298th of 24,674 finishers



I was lucky to be able to share a room with ladies from my church who were also running the race. This is a view of West End Ave. looking towards the start line.


This is looking straight out towards Centennial Park. Please note the white line in the middle of the picture . . . those are port-a-potties. Look closely and you can see the lines and lines and lines of people waiting to use them. Thank goodness I could use the restroom in my hotel room before heading down to the start!


This picture is looking towards the left out of our room. People were lined up in their corrals to start the race. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. Around 34,000 people ran the race.




My friend warned me several months ago to do some hill training before the half. She neglected to tell me the whole marathon was uphill (or at least it seemed that way). I joined the 2:15 pace team at the health expo before the race.

I had been able to finish my training runs in 2:30 including water and restroom breaks. I thought with the added adrenaline, I would be able to run at that pace, but I didn't take the hills into consideration. I kept up with the pace team until mile 7. What that means is that I maintained a 10 minute mile pace - up and up hills - for 7 miles. At mile 7 I was huffing and puffing and got a side stitch. I knew if I slowed down it would go away. So, as much as I hated to lose them, I slowed down, got some water, and watched my pace team go on without me. My side stitch went away and I picked up my pace and continued on. The crowd support was great! There were people holding signs. My favorite was by far said, "Your feet are hurting only because you are kicking so much @$$" I also smiled when I read, "Run like a tornado is chasing you." By the way, the weather was beautiful. It was about 60 degrees and overcast and a little windy. The forecast had been for severe weather. The marathoners were actually diverted if they did not get to a certain point in the race by a certain time. The rain did come, but luckily I had made it back onto the shuttle by then. Ok . . . back to the race. There were kids along the course just waiting to give me a high 5. There were several places to stop and have a banana or orange slices, as well as water and Cytomax (yuck - a sports drink like Gatorade - I did not like it). The longer the race went on, the steeper the hills got. I saw mile 11 and knew I was almost finished. I also had heard about the hill at 11.5. It's the one in front of the Capitol Building, it kept going and going and going. I kept pushing on walking and jogging. I turned a corner and saw LP Field. It was still a mile or so away, but I saw it and got a little choked up. I almost cried. I knew if I cried I wouldn't be able to breathe, so I took a couple of deep breaths and got control. The closer I got to the end, the larger the crowd got cheering me on to finish. I could see the finish line! I crossed the finish line in 2:26. Besides getting married and having a child, running a half-marathon is the most meaningful, amazing thing I have ever done!

13.1

I am cooling down, still on the treadmill...just finished 13.1 miles! FEELS GREAT!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Fantastic Four

Today Sharon and I ran the "Fantastic Four" 4 mile race. It was in Paris and started at the track at HCHS. It was a great race and we were very pleased with our times. We finished in 36:35ish. That is faster than our first 5K in which we crossed the finish line in 36:56! Sharon was the first female in the 40 and above age group to cross the finish line! She won a trophy! I placed third in my age division. I will never catch KL! She has superhuman running powers :) Maybe someday!

Grrrrr

I have been wondering what happens when you get past 99 minutes on the treadmill. I found out today! I have run that length of time before, but I usually stop for a bathroom break and loose all of my stats on the treadmill. I didn't stop today. I was "in the zone" today for my long run. For me what that really means is zoning out :) My body is running but my mind is elsewhere. I had the strangest sensation - as if I was falling, or losing my balance. I thought for a split second that my legs were giving out. Wrong . . . the treadmill STOPS after 99 minutes. I couldn't believe it. I had another 2.66 miles to go for my long run of 11.5 today. I had to start all over - ALL numbers back at zero. Luckily, a friend came to the gym and we talked for a few minutes. My 2.66 miles went by pretty quickly. And if you were wondering - that number on the far right - 1089 - that's the number of calories I burned in 99 minutes. Don't get too excited . . . that might just cover the amount of Reeses Pieces I've eaten this week.
Two tips for this week: 1)My friend who I saw at the gym told me she and her friends ate gummy fruit snacks while they were training on their long run days for quick carbs. She said the packages fit perfectly in your pocket. AND they taste much better than those energy gels. 2)Body Glide anti-chafe balm is my best friend on long runs