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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Three Things Thursday

1.                                                Got this in the mail today....

It's official.... I'm in!

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2.  Ran 4 miles yesterday with two coworkers during our lunch break. It was a slow 10min mile run, but they were a pain free 4 miles. And that's all that matters. I know I was told 2-3 miles only for now, But it was 60 degrees out!! Couldn't help myself!

No run today, but running again tomorrow!!.. 

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3.  Sunday I will be volunteering at The Worcester - Super Sunday 5K Run .

It will be fun. Just something to do before the big game :)


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That's it for now. Will post again this weekend. Have a good one!!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

IT Band Woes.....

Just a recap on my running pains. Wanted to post during the week but been too busy at work, home and just life in general. Thanks to all who commented. I appreciate  the support!!



Doctor's visit on Tuesday was to go over the CT scans from last week. The good news: cartilage in the knees are good and there are no tears in the muscles or tendons. All looks good. The bad news: left IT band is tight as all hell and is the cause of my knee pains. The doc shot my knee up with a cortisone and sent me off to get some PT. The next day my knee was feeling GREAT!! I wanted to test it out,.... but unfortunately I've been benched for at least 3 more weeks.

I went to PT on Friday. I'll be working with a lady that really knows her stuff. She showed me a whole bunch of stretches I should be doing and gave me a deep massage from hell on the IT band. But it felt great.... afterwards. I explained to her my dilemma of my upcoming marathon. Which her reply was "we'll see how you do the next couple weeks"... I wanted to hear something more like "Don't worry, I'll get you fixed and guarantee you a PR at Boston!" and we would of high fived and life would have been awesome!!
I'm scheduled to go to PT Tuesdays and Thursdays for at least the next 3 weeks.


But then reality sank in. Even if I get things back in somewhat pain free order. A whole month of training (if lucky) has gone out the window. What can I do? How can I do it? My head spins with all these thoughts. I'm trying not to worry myself about this, but I can't help it. I'll deal with it, when\if the time comes. I welcome any advise.

I like this idea
Will look into it!!


A friend also recommended Craston treatment. I've been doing some reading on it and watching videos on Youtube. I heard it hurts like hell, but I think this is what I need. Any one have experience with this? Please fill me in!!

For now, the PT lady said I can run, BUT to keep it 2-3 miles with walks in between miles or as soon as I feel discomfort and only 2-3 times a week with NO consecutive days of running. I plan on doing a couple miles this week to try it out.

That's it for now. Enjoy your runs everyone! Do some for me!!






Sunday, January 20, 2013

All Aboard!!! Pity Party Express is boarding.....

So I have been riding the front seat on the pity party express. I have been down in the dumps for the last two weeks. It's not been a fun ride. I tend to always post my good runs or experiences and hardly my bad ones. So this is a rare post from me.....



Here I am, signed up to do the mother of all marathons, .... but I am hurt.... I am injured. I haven't been able to run past a mile without having my left knee or left calf muscle tighten up in pain. Running has been real hard for me lately. So much so, that I haven't really wanted to talk about it. It's been really an emotional two weeks for me and I'm not embarrassed to say that. Running is my passion. I eat, breath and sleep running. Ask anyone that knows me,.... running means everything to me. So yes,... these past two weeks have been very hard on me. If you are a runner, I'm sure you understand.

Last week I went to see a specialist, a podiatrist and got some x-rays done. According to him, my joints look good. Normal wear, but nothing that's stands out as an issue. That's good news. He scheduled an MRI to get a better look. This was done this past Thursday. I go back to see him on Tuesday for the results.


I haven't run since last Sunday's 11 miler which was really tough to do. It was a painful run.

Via Daily Mile

I might have shed a tear or two during this run. It just sucked.... I could barely walk the next day. That was what pushed me to see the doctors.

I hope Tuesday brings some positive news. I'm praying for some miracle news, but I'm expecting the worst.

I'll keep you guys posted.








Sunday, January 6, 2013

Runner's High

I've been running for only 3-4 yrs. I have heard about this runner's high thing forever. But I can honestly say that I have never really felt it. Sure I love running and I have enjoyed most of my runs. I have had some great runs, even some great races. But I can truly say that I have never experienced that runner's high......

...... that is, until today.

Truth be told that for the past couple weeks, I have been having some real crappy runs. For example:

From Dailymile


My knees have been achy and I haven't been able to get back in the grove. For every mile run, I have been stopping to walk a couple of minutes. A simple 4 mile run had become a pain in the ass..... I have been hating my runs lately. I have been hating running, period!!

Training schedule called for an 11 miler today. It's been on my mind all week. If I can't run a simple 4 miler, how was I going to pull out 11 today? I was dreading it. So this morning I woke up, got dressed, had a sip of coffee, and headed out the door before I could even think about it.....

Similar to my last couple runs, after mile one I had to stop to walk for a bit. I did some stretches and continued on. My knees ached but I had to talk myself threw the pain to continue on. I had to remind myself that Boston was around the corner and that the dream of finishing was the goal. I charged on.

I was running an out and back. At the half way point I was feeling pretty good. I had only stopped once so I was pretty happy. Somewhere at about mile 6 or 7 something weird happened. I was no longer running.....  I mean physically I was, but I was lost deep in my head somewhere. I was sitting at my kitchen table having dinner with the family. I was sitting in my parlor watching TV. I was at the softball field pitching fastballs to my daughter. I was everywhere else but on the streets running. I was in a state of bliss,.... or euphoria, if you will. My body was on auto pilot and my brain had checked out.

It wasn't 'til about mile 10, when I was approaching Main St (and traffic), that I came to my senses. It was weird. I didn't remember the last couple miles. I remember thinking to myself "what just happened?"... It was a similar feeling like waking up from a good dream and then trying to fall asleep again so you can continue with that dream. But as we all know, that just doesn't happen. I spent the last mile trying to get back in to that bliss. I wanted that feeling back. I wanted that "high" back.

I must of had some lingering effects of the high when I walk into my house because even my wife asked if I was OK. She thought that I was hurt or something. Far from it. I haven't felt this good in a long time. I have been doubting myself these past couple weeks. I really struggled with my runs. But after today's run those doubts have been washed away. I feel reborn. I'm ready to give it my all.

I needed a run like today's!!!

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Now here I sit. Icing both my knees. Achy, but feeling really good about tomorrow.
April 15th can't come soon enough!!