Report

Last week was one of those weeks that I pushed it when I shouldn't have and then paid for it the rest of the week.  I might learn someday.  I had croupy kids and an anniversary so it wasn't the most productive of weeks either.

Tuesday:  Ran 4 miles with slight knee pain.  It wasn't too bad and I didn't have to do that much walking.  I also was feeling so good because I ran up a nice big hill twice on my 2 mile loop.  I was so excited because I made it all the way up the second time and I don't know if I've ever been able to do that hill all the way to the top, not even in my marathon training days.  However, later that night and since then, I've been paying for it.  My piraformis has flared up again and it's back to the heating pad and stretching 5 times a day.  What a pain in the rear end...literally.

Thursday:  Jumped rope for 25 minutes and then did the punching bag.  Felt really good.  I'm lasting longer and longer on the punching bag.  I need to come up with more combinations although I'm finding more music that "fits" with the workout.

Friday:  I got a mini stepper that is like a normal one in the gym, just smaller and portable.  I worked on it for 50 minutes and had a great time.  I brought it out in front of the TV and was able to do it while Logan watched Clifford and Dora.  I could have picked better shows, I think that was a good buy, something different that I don't have to leave the house for and something that's non impact.  I did feel my rear while doing it, which is probably normal, I just don't want to aggravate it anymore than necessary.

Saturday:  I ran 3.5 miles.  My knees did good, my rear did not.  I avoided all the big hills that I normally take.  I got home and worked the punching bag again.  Felt like I might have overdone it but truthfully, that punching bag feels good.

Weekly Report

I know I seem like a big whiner a lot of the time, but I'm really o.k. with the progress my knees are making.  It never seems quick enough, but I also know that it could be worse and I am still able to run even if it isn't as much or as far or as fast as I want to.  They are getting better and if I keep being patient, they'll fully recover.

Monday:  yoga (I am loving yoga more and more.  I'm also getting more out of it the more I do it.)

Tuesday:  ran 2 miles slowly with minimal pain in the knees and rear.

Wed:  jumped rope for 25 minutes then worked the punching bag.

Thursday:  ran 3 miles with walking mixed in to break it up.  My cold must have really affected me because I just couldn't breathe properly.  It took all I had to make it to the top of the hill at the end of my run and when I got there and stopped to walk, I had that wave of nausea come over me that ended in me puking what little water I drank before the run in the gutter.  I can only hope none of my neighbors were looking out their windows.  

Friday:  yoga again (this doesn't work as well with all the kids home.  Logan kept trying to drive his cars on me during the poses.)

Saturday:  I woke up feeling terrible due to a lack of sleep (sick kids) so I wasn't going to do anything.  Husband convinced me to go out about 6:30.  (o.k., so he pushed me out the door)  After the first 5 minutes of running, I knew it was going to be a good day.  I barely had to walk at all and I forgot all about my rear pain because it wasn't even there until a block away from home.  My knees held up pretty well too.  I stopped to stretch them when I could feel them getting tight.  I even ran up that big hill at the end and just cruised right up it.  Now it was only 3 1/2 miles.  I didn't want to push it, but what a difference a day or two makes.  It was the best run I've been on in a long time.  It was the strongest I've felt in a long time.  I worked the punching bag when I got home.  I felt better than I had the whole rest of the day.  It made me wish I'd done it a whole lot earlier in the day.

It's a Conspiracy

I've decided that my body is conspiring against me.  It doesn't want me to run or at least have fun doing it.  If it's not my knees, then it's my rear.  If not that, then I can't breathe.  My toes have spoken up over the years and my feet have even tripped me.  Sweat runs into my eyes and my contacts blur up so that I can't focus.  I've even ripped one out during a run because it was so bad.  My side starts to ache for no apparent reason.  Even my shoulders have hurt after some really long runs.  So why then, oh why do I continue to run?  Today it was my lungs, so don't ask.  I guess it wasn't everything all at once.  Can you imagine that scene?  Limping, breathing heavy, crouched over in pain, sweat running in eyes, blisters on toes and the grand finale of tripping on asphalt.  Yeah, it wouldn't be pretty!

Last week:

Monday:  I don't think this day really existed because I can't remember one detail of this day.

Tuesday:  Ran 2 miles, watched a beautiful sunrise and crunched fall leaves.  Have you ever noticed the sagebrush in bloom?  Beautiful!

Wednesday:  Ran 3 miles, was in pain for the rest of the week.  Guess I can't run two days in a row yet.

Thursday:  Jumped rope for 25 minutes and then worked the punching bag.

Friday and Saturday:  both really busy days and I was in pain so I did nothing.  Had really good intentions of fitting yoga into the schedule, but didn't.  Oh, and it snowed.  I'm not ready for that.

Get off your Piraformis and get busy!

So the anatomical name for my rear pain is the piraformis.  It's a rotator muscle deep in the butt that I've somehow managed to tighten up to the point that it's resting on my siatic nerve.  Sounds fun, huh.  Now if you think that appointment wasn't great, well...let me tell you.  

doc:  So how's the knees doing?  

jen:  Actually, they're doing pretty good.  I think they're getting better.  I have a new pain.

doc:  Oh, where is it?

jen:  Well... it's in my butt.  (here's where I'm starting to get worried about some sort of physical examination of one of the biggest, flabbiest parts of my anatomy.)

doc does some tests by bending my leg into contortions and then telling me that I have a very common runner's injury to the piraformis.  He tells me that he will show me some stretches and will work on it.  (Panic again ensues.)  He pulls out an electronic device to work on the tight old muscle.  I'm laying on my stomach as the rotating balls (?) are working on my rear.  I can feel every giggle and wave of fat going across the table.  I'm sure that if I had a video tape of this I'd never eat another bad thing again.  I'm wondering how he stands to do this to people day in and day out.  I'm having trouble relaxing.  He shows me the stretches.  Tells me to do them 8 or 9 times a day along with warming it up with a heating pad first.  Is he serious?  8 or 9 times a day?  He also told me "no running" for a few days and to use my roller in the meantime.  So I've been getting about 5 sessions a day in and I've been rolling it out.  It's getting better.  I'm not walking around like an old woman at the end of the day anymore. 

So to recap my week:

Monday:  yoga

Tuesday:  ran 2 miles in complete pain

Thursday:  got out my punching bag that I got for Christmas a few years ago and worked out my frustrations on it after a 20 minute session of jump roping.  (note to self, find a better surface than the concrete to jump rope on.)

Friday:  yoga

Saturday:  ran 3.5 miles with NO knee pain and only slight rear pain.  It was one of the best runs I've been on.  It rained the whole time and I had a new song on my i pod.  I also tried to incorporate some of the yoga style breathing into my run.  Came home and worked on the punching bag again.  I can always count on that workout to make my back and shoulders sore!  Plus it's a good alternative to lifting weights!

Congrats to my friend Sherry, who ran the St. George Marathon this weekend and qualified for Boston!  And to Barb, Sherry S., and Lindsey who all ran the same marathon.  And congrats to Mike who ran the Twin City Marathon this weekend!  Great job everyone!

Here's my new favorite running song, by Rascall Flatts if you're interested!  

"Cause when push comes to shove, you taste what you're made of.

You might bend till you break, cause it's all you can take

On your knees you look up, decide you've had enough

You get mad, you get strong, wipe your hands, shake it off, 

Then you stand."