I was supposed to run 16 miles this morning. I made it 4 and every single step my knee hurt. I’m trying really hard not to panic. I’ve been icing and rolling and ibuprofen-ing. I may or may not try to make up the rest of the miles. Part of me thinks it might be better to rest it for a couple of days and see what happens.
REALLY trying not to panic.
That does not, unfortunately, mean that I’m not injured. Ish. Maybe. Yesterday I did speed intervals for the first time in a long time. It felt awesome, but I figured I’d feel it today. My hips/hamstring/awkward under-butt muscles have been really tight lately, so I made sure to ice them after my workout. I went to bed feeling ok and thinking maybe, just maybe, I’d be fine.
Fast forward to this morning [when I woke up way late, but that’s a different story]. As I scrambled to get out the door I realized that my legs felt totally fine. A little heavy, but not sore at all. Then it happened. I reached up to grab something in my closet and I felt a weird pain in my lower back. A couple of years ago, I was hit by a car [long story, not fun] and I had some lower back issues for a while after that, but I haven’t had any real back pain in a long time. This pain didn’t feel quite the same, but it’s located in about the same spot. It feels a little bit like a pulled muscle. It only hurts when I stretch or move in certain directions. I don’t think it’s because of my running – it didn’t bother me at all last night. If I had to guess, I’d say I twisted funny in my sleep.
I threw a Salonpas patch on it and it felt a little better, but it was still kind of twingey. I decided I’d test out running and if it hurt at all I would stop. 3 miles later and it didn’t hurt at all, but I was very aware of the way I was twisting my torso. I tried to keep my upper body as straight forward as possible. So, really, my quasi-ish injury is totally helping my form. Score! I’m a little annoyed that I was trying so hard to NOT get a running injury that I ended up with a non-running injury. At least it doesn’t seem to be hampering my running.
Have you ever had a non-running injury slow down your training? I don’t even like it when colds get in the way!
1 day down, 39 to go! I can already tell what my main issue with the challenge is going to be – socks. Even though I’m super prone to blisters, I’m cheap and I’m poor so I only have a couple of pairs of awesome running, seamless socks. I usually save them for my longer runs and wear whatever cheap socks I can find at Le Targe for my shorter midweek runs. But if I’m going to be running every day, I’m going to need better socks. At around mile 2 I stopped to stretch my hamstring that felt a little tight [and figure out how to get to the next episode of the West Wing on my iPad] and somehow in the process I managed to work the seam of my sock right onto the little nub of a toe where my dearly departed toenail used to live. I kept trying to wiggle it better, I stopped and took off my shoe and tried to fix it. Nothing. Ouch.
And I know what you’re thinking – why not just wash your socks more often. Because I’m lazy, that’s why.
Anyone know where I can get some cheap but awesome socks? What are your favorite?
My parents came in to town on Wednesday night, the same day I finished exams. I’ve been pretty much going non-stop ever since. My grandma, aunt, uncle and 3 small children are getting in today and my sister and her husband come in tomorrow morning. My apartment is a mess, my car hasn’t been cleaned in months and my sanity is hanging on by a thread.
I was so excited when I went to bed on Wednesday night because I didn’t have to set an alarm. I fell asleep around 1 am … and woke up at 5:30. I could not for the life of me fall back to sleep. I laid in bed watching some super awesome early morning television (did you know that Boy Meets World is still on television?!?! Now you do. You’re welcome). After a few hours of laying in bed feeling annoyed that I couldn’t sleep, I decided to go for a run, since I knew my parents would be jetlagged and I’d have some time to kill. I figured I’d just do a quick 2 miles around my neighborhood. Bad plan. During my 2 shorter runs last week, I noticed a lot of stiffness in my right hamstring. On Saturday, I ran 4 measly miles on the treadmill. During my run I felt great, but about an hour later (as I met my friend at a dog park to chase puppies) my right hip was killing me. Like, limping ow it hurts don’t make me walk the two blocks back to my car, killing me). I went home (well, I went to the library. Then I went home …) iced, rolled, stretched and the pain was completely gone by Monday. I didn’t have a chance to run again until yesterday. My run itself was fine, but after the run, my hip was killing me again! It didn’t help that my dad decided he really wanted to see Venice Beach, so could we please walk from the Venice Pier to the Santa Monica Pier (6 miles round trip) and oh, we actually have to be somewhere this afternoon, so we have to walk really quickly on the way back and wait, you weren’t wearing the right shoes for that? Also, in case anyone was wondering, it’s kind of mortifying walking the Venice boardwalk with your parents.
I don’t know if my whole family is going to make it through this weekend alive. Oh well. Gidget’s Rule #5 – Roll with the punches.
>
I finished and I didn’t die. Let’s just leave it at that for now.
Off to ice, bandage my feet (because there is definitely blood on my sneakers … excellent) and head to the library. Because I’m in the middle of finals. Yeah. I don’t know who thought this would be a good idea.
Race report to come!
>
>
>
There was no workout today, hence no workout recap. I spent the morning being truly lazy, convincing Moondoggie to rub my knees and icing. I spent the afternoon learning about determinate sentencing schemes (don’t be jealous about how exciting my life is). I’ve been trying not to be too down about my knee – I’ve left a message with my doctor to get a referral for a PT and I’ve been doing an unbelievable amount of research on the internetz re: stretching/rolling/icing/generally fixing my IT Band. Hopefully I can get this taken care of sooner rather than later and be quasi-back on my (running shoe clad) feet. Until then, I’m looking at lots of short slow runs in my future.
One good thing to come out of this weekend was a pretty lovely (and surprising) weight loss. I’m down about 4 pounds since this post. I had suspected said weight loss for a while now, but wanted to see the lower number a few days in a row before making it “official.” I’ve only got about 5-10 pounds to go now, so that’s something. Hopefully my decreased mileage won’t adversely affect my weight loss. Time for more weights/elliptical/dance classes. It’ll be fun to switch things up a little bit, but I’m not convinced anything is quite as effective as running.
Another thing that may or may not have affected my weight loss was my deliciously glorious apple walnut french toast that I inhaled ate at brunch. I’m ok with that, though. Gidget’s #1 Rule: Never skimp on brunch.
How do you deal with injuries? Anyone have any awesome weight loss secrets?
>So I’ve gained 10 pounds in 6 months.
Now, in fairness, part of this is due to the fact that I lost 20 pounds in a super unhealthy, bad-breakup induced no good very bad diet. So I was bound to gain at least some of it back (and if I were at all optimistic, I’d say, ‘Hey, at least I’m still down 10!’ But I’m obviously not optimistic). The other part is due in large part to my stupid running. I ran the Rock n’ Roll Los Angeles 1/2 Marathon in October and badly irritated my IT Band in the process. It basically forced me on a 3 month physical activity hiatus. Problem was, I was still eating like I was running long runs every weekend …
But I’m BACK now. I’ve made it through 4 weeks of successful running and up to 4 whole miles (I know, it’s not far, and it’s not fast, but it’s something!). In an effort to speed up the weight loss process I’ve been trying to eat super healthy. It’s almost been working and I’m definitely feeling better. But Moondoggie has planned an adorable V-Day/Fake Anniversary trip to Newport Beach and there’s a heated pool and a sauna and a potential bathing suit. In February. Aka 3 months from regular bathing suit season. That’s just cruel. I’ve been trying to put in extra hours at the gym but that’s just leading to me being more stressed out which leads to binge eating which leads to no change on the scale or my waistline.
Cue Well Intentioned Saboteur [aka Roommate]. She knew I was having a rough day (Moondoggie issues I’m not quite ready to verbalize yet) and that even though I was attempting to sweat out my problems at the gym, it probs wasn’t going to work. So she planned a night of Real Housewives, wine and ice cream. My Holy Trinity. Two glasses of Muscato and some ice cream later and I’m that much further from being bathing suit ready … maybe we should switch to a ski trip? Except, as Moondoggie so kindly pointed out, I don’t ski. But I do look cute in chunky sweaters. Ok, let’s not kid ourselves, I just look chunky in chunky sweaters.
Oh well. At least I’m a professional marvel. Or the best in a crappy group of interns. Whatever. I found out today I’m responsible for a deposition in a fairly high profile civil rights case that I can’t talk about. Needless to say, as a law student, that’s definitely a big deal. My boss marveled today at my productivity. I spent 90% of my day texting with Moondoggie and tracking my new compression socks on amazon.com. I must be doing something right!
Gidget Goes Running 