My five mile route. During the last two years it was the five mile loop. I used it for my long runs. I'd run it twice if it was a 10 miler or 3 times if it was a 15. And even 4 times for those 20 mile runs. It was close to home if I needed anything and it was a good gauge as to where I was in the run. A 1/2 or a 1/3 of the way done. I know where every mile marker is and where the uphill ends and I look forward to the downhill part that's on the way home. I love the creek that I run by that always shady and the school that means I'm less than a mile from home. It's familiar and comfortable and last year I couldn't stand it. I was sick of it. I hated running any part of it. I needed something new to look at. Something where I didn't know what was around the corner. Somewhere that I wasn't sure how many miles I'd gone.
But Saturday it was like an old friend. I ran my 5 mile route and loved every minute of it. I've run it in every type of weather and memories flooded over me. I could see my oldest riding his bike beside me, my best friend running along side me and then biking the next lap. I could remember running in terrible wind, in snow, and in the heat where I'd detour slightly for the drinking fountains on Main Street. I remembered the dog that tore after me and then looking for it the next time around. It was familiar and wonderful and it felt like normalcy. I'll take some normalcy. Saturday it was raining. Well more like pouring and I couldn't have been happier. I think running in the rain is my favorite weather. It was really coming down and was cold and foggy, but still really great. I was wringing out my gloves on the way home and was soaked clear through. My shoes were soaked and the squishing was pretty bad, but to run again.... wow. It was incredible.
The rest of the week consisted of 45 minutes on the stepper and then running 3 miles two other times on the treadmill. I also was able to lift twice. Good week.
This last week seemed to be really good. My knees are feeling better and stronger and my bum is pretty loose and feeling good. Tuesday I ran 2 1/2 miles doing intervals. I kept it the same speed as last week and it felt slightly better. I'm still struggling for breath at the last interval, but I figure that's good for my heart as long as my body can keep up. Wednesday I did yoga after feeling a little tight in my hamstrings and was amazed at how much better I felt afterwards. I need to remember that. Thursday I ran 3 miles doing 8 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. Saturday I went 4 1/2 miles very slow but ran the whole time. My IT bands started to get tight towards the end so I just slowed down even more and they did well. I had an ice bath afterwards and though my quads were still slightly sore the next day, I think I did surprisingly well. I'm still working on a base and won't be increasing my miles too much. But I'm excited to be back running, even if it's slower than molasses. I'll take it.
So I took all of my bloggy friends' advice and took 5 whole weeks off from running and any other sort of cardio exercise. I must say that it was good timing, if anything, being so close to Christmas. I also went in to see my chiropractor about my piraformis. After two visits I was almost 75% better. It kind of made me mad I waited so long to get in there. And after being diligent with the heating pad and stretching I'm about 97% better. I can sit in the car without hurting. I am no longer waking up in the middle of the night with a throbbing butt. This is good news.
I started running last week. It feels like I'm starting all over again. The out of breath phase is bad. The sore legs. It's all there. But hopefully it will come back fast. I guess it had been more than 5 weeks off. I really haven't been normal since August. So the first day was a shock to me about where I am now. I was kind of depressed. But I'm o.k. with it now. My knees are not 100 % better either. But I'm just taking it easy, walking when they hurt, and not pushing it. I'm just happy to be able to run again that I think I'll just take what I can get. I did 25 minutes the first day. I'm going to stick to the treadmill for a while so that I don't have to deal with ice or hills or the curve of the road. I rested the second day and then went for 45 minutes on Wed. I ran for 6 minutes and then walked for 1 1/2 minutes. I rested the next day and then I did my stepper thing for an hour on Friday. Saturday I ran for 45 minutes and did 10 minutes followed by 2 minutes of walking. I guess I'm back to working on a base. And that's o.k.
My plans for the next year include running the Wasatch Back in June with a team called Mommies got Back and then hopefully staying healthy enough to run the Top of Utah Marathon in September. I hope those are reasonable goals for me. I guess only time will tell and I'll take it as it comes.
Thanks to all my bloggy friends who give me such good advice and support. It is so appreciated!
It's been a while, I know. But to tell the truth, it's just not very much fun to write about nothing. I ran 2 weeks ago and was still in pain. So I decided that I'd try to be smart and not run for the rest of the week and just see if my rear pain would ease up. Every day it seemed to get better. So the next Monday I did my stepper thing for an hour and started up my weight routine again. I also jumped rope and hit the punching bag. Then Thanksgiving hit. Not that I overdid it on the food or anything but the 6 hour car ride did nothing good for my knees or butt. I could feel them both again just doing normal stuff. So I jumped rope yesterday and worked out a little frustration on the punching bag and stretched. Today I ran 2 miles and was in pain for the last few blocks. I don't really know what to do. I want to be able to run again for longer than 20 minutes. So maybe it's time to give it a rest for more than a couple of weeks. It just kills me to think that I was running 25 miles a week or more 6 months ago and now I can't even run 2 miles. I don't even have a game plan. I know I need to stretch more and use my roller more. What else can I do?
I'm getting pretty tired of these silly little runs. I'm ready for some hardcore training. Too bad my body seems to think otherwise. It will come, it is coming. I definitely need patience.
So... last week. Monday: 25 minutes jump roping followed by the punching bag routine followed by 3 hours of steam cleaning my carpets due to a really fun flood.
Wednesday: 3.5 miles. The pain in my knees and rear was not good this day. I went home pretty discouraged. Stretched like crazy over the next few days.
Saturday: Ran 2.5 miles with my knee straps (I haven't been using them at all), had 0 knee pain and only slight rear pain. Then raked 6 houses worth of leaves for 2 hours.
Oh and if cleaning and vacuuming all during the week counts for anything, throw that in there too! What a week.
So this week was pretty much a bust. I used my stepper on Monday for 45 minutes and then hit the punching bag, literally I guess. By the end of the day my rear (piraformis) was back to being miserable and I was pretty much limping around. I decided to take off Tuesday and see how I was doing. It wasn't doing any better by Wed. so I just decided to take the week off and see if I could get it better. At least I know not to do any big hills for a while even after it quits hurting. I did a lot of stretching this week with my heating pad beforehand. I am finally doing a bit better. I did upper body weights one other time during the week but that was about it.
I did want to mention an exhibit that we went to a few weeks ago that was so cool. Body Worlds made a stop in Salt Lake for a few months and Janz took me to it for our anniversary. If you haven't heard of it before, it's an exhibit of cadavers without skin, for the most part, posed in a variety of athletic positions. You can read about it and see some pictures here. It was so interesting. I loved it. It was kind of fun picking out the parts of my body that are bugging me. If you get the chance, it was definitely worth it.
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.
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.
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.
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,
Yep, I've got another place that's hurting. I don't understand how I could be injured when I have been doing hardly anything. Can anyone explain that to me? Last week seemed pretty good. I was able to run 3 times (only 2 or 3 miles each time... but still it's something!) and did weights one day and yoga twice.
I've been having these great ideas to help me maintain fitness since I can't run 10 miles at a time. Like yoga, for example. I have never been too limber and with those tight hamstrings, I seem to have this short stride that also contributes to my IT problems. So yoga seems like the perfect cure. I have to admit that I've always thought yoga was a little strange. Not the whole connecting with the earth, relaxation part, but I mean, how could you possibly get a good workout by breathing and holding a pose. Well, you can. I stink at the flexibility poses but doing pretty well on the strength ones. I'm hoping that elusive flexibility will come eventually.
For my next great idea I decided that I'd work as many hills into my 2 or 3 miles that I could. I've been ending with this really long and pretty steep hill that kills my lungs about 3/4 of the way up. I feel so accomplished each time I get to the top of that hill. However, I think this is one of those "great" ideas that isn't working out to be so great because my rear is not happy with me.
My lower back ached last week and I thought it was because I overdid it on my son's Ripstick. I'm getting pretty good at this cross between a skate board/snowboard/ and surfing. It requires a lot of balance, core strength and leg strength to just get on the thing much less trying to move yourself anywhere slightly uphill. I spent over an hour on it one day riding up and down some gentle inclines. It was so fun but I was sore the next couple of days in my whole core. But now the pain from my lower back has moved into my butt and it has not been a fun day. It really flared up on that big hill at the end of my run today. I rolled it good with my foam roller while I did my IT bands, but I don't even know if that's going to help. After sitting for a while, I'm pretty much limping back into a full walk. Frustration doesn't even begin to define what I'm feeling. Guess I better re think my "great" ideas.
So I completely stunk it up last week and didn't do much. I have this little boy who thinks he's my alarm clock only it's set to go off at midnight, then two and then be wide awake at seven. I don't know quite what's happened but things have settled down. What makes it twice as bad was that after a few nights I began to expect it, so I'd lay there awake until the first alarm went off and then still not be able to go back to sleep. I was a walking zombie most of last week. It's amazing how sleep deprivation sucks the life out of you and any desire to do anything other than conserve energy and find time to doze off. So....as for last week, I jumped rope for 25 minutes, ran 2 miles, and then ran 3 miles all without pain. It's a good sign. But I didn't get in any weight training and planned to hike on Saturday but got rained out. So I'd better do better this week or this pie I'm eating for breakfast is going to mold itself to the outside of my thighs.
Monday: 2 1/2 mile run. Only slight pain in the knees. Felt pretty good about the progress being made. Plan to run every other day keeping the mileage about the same until there's no pain and then gently increasing. Lifted weights.
Tuesday: Used as a flexibility day. Rolled the knees and hamstrings and glutes and quads and calves.
Wed: Ran 2 miles. Lots of pain. Walked quite a bit. Was discouraged. Lifted weights.
Thurs./Fri.: Knees still bugging me. Rested from everything except playing with the kids.
Saturday: Sat through a 2 hour meeting and knees didn't hurt. Jump roped for 45 minutes and ran 2 miles in the mountains. Only slight pain on the downhills. Walked until it loosened up, never really hit the sharp pain mark. Lifted weights.
All in all a good week. I think I had pain Wed. because of rolling aggressively the day before. I think I need to be more consistent rolling and not try to do it all in one day. I need more patience, but I think those knees of mine are getting better.
Here's a shout out to my friend Angi who's running her first marathon this Saturday! I'm so excited for her and I'm so proud of her. She's a very busy mom who's really sacrificed to make this dream come true for herself! Go on over and wish her luck!
Since last week was all about recovery from my "minor" surgery, I didn't do a thing. Maybe it was good I felt like I did because there was NO temptation to push the limits at all. Housework was a challenge.
So after two great days last weekend I ended up with the stomach bug on Monday. Fun stuff. Nothing like a gut ache after your stomach already aches. Tuesday worked into being a good day and I jumped roped at night and played basketball and skateboarded a little with the kids. I was so glad to be feeling good again. I couldn't wait for the next day. Wednesday I jumped rope for 5 minutes in between my sets of upper body. I tried to take it easy but the whole day ended up being one of those non stop days and I knew by the night time that I'd overdone it. My belly ached again that night. Thursday I wanted to try running, just to see how my knee was. But opted for a 6 mile power walk with a friend.
So this morning was the day. I ran for one mile, starting out slow and then pushed it the last 1/2 just to see what would happen. Only a tiny amount of pain in the left knee. I finished with weights and jump rope. I've been rolling it out the last 3 days so I'll just keep going and hopefully it will work it out. I've noticed the pain isn't as bad the last couple of times I've been on it. I think the rest did me good.
Now I've just got to decide how far to run in the meantime. Do I go until it hurts and then stop? Do I rest it completely and just focus on rolling it? How do I work back into a normal routine again? Anyone have any ideas?
Wow, I wish I would have written this right after, but things were kind of crazy and for once, I didn't have any pictures! Jodi shared hers with me, so photos are thanks to Jodi and her husband, Dave.
It was a whirlwind of a decision to run it in the first place. I ran 5 miles the Thursday before to see how my knees would do. Before I hit the two mile mark they started to hurt, but I just ran through it to see if it would get much worse. It really didn't so by Friday I had decided that I'd regret it if I didn't just do it.
Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m. we set off to find an address in the dark that neither one of us had ever been before. Luckily for us, we found it. I was shocked at the number of people there. I guess it makes sense though, it was a great training run for the whole marathon which is in a month and with it being the middle miles, the sweet part of it. The weather was perfect, cool with a slight breeze at our backs. It was only 66 degrees when we drove home.
After our sweet smelling visit to the porta potties we tried to get a place in the line. However, it was like being squeezed in like sardines and there was no moving to the back like we wanted. So the gun went off and we were pretty much mowed over by all the fasties trying to get by us. Hey, there was nothing we could have done different.
I knew I had started out too fast, but just tried to keep it up, knowing I'd have to slow down. I got a side ache and so did Jodi so there wasn't much conversation going on during the first bit. I distracted myself with all the fishing places Janz and I went to while we were dating and I eventually settled into the pace and it wasn't as uncomfortable as when we first began. My left knee started hurting before mile 2 and I just kept on going. About mile 5 the right one kicked in and for some reason, went away after a couple more miles, though the left one just kept on a hurting. We ran the whole time, stopping briefly for drinks and orange slices that were WAY good! Mile 11 we actually stopped to drink and my left knee completely locked up. I wished I had never stopped. Starting again was pure torture and I limped ran for about 10 steps before it started to loosen up. I was really worried about the finish and stopping for good and the ride home. Around mile 10.5 we started the uphill portion until about mile 12 and that was a killer. However, my body didn't ache like it normally does at the end of a race. I can usually feel it in my hip flexors and just general achiness, but not this time. I do think I hydrated really well the day before and maybe that made all the difference for me. Or maybe my knee just hurt so bad that it was blocking out all other pain.
It was great to see where the finish line approximately was and when we pushed it for the last bit, I kept looking for where it was because my lungs were just not going to make it much further. At last I saw the timing marks on the road and missed seeing the clock. I didn't wear my watch, I didn't want to even know my pace or where I was because it was just for fun, so when Jodi said that it was 2:02 I was really shocked! Stopping wasn't as bad as I thought it would be on my knees. Good thing. We got drinks, bread and more oranges and headed for home! What a great run!
When I got home the family was getting ready to leave and wanted me to come along, so I took an ultra quick shower, stretched and then iced my knees on our way to Ogden. The soreness didn't kick in until later that night and the next day and it was pretty much all in my hamstrings. But by Monday morning I was walking normal and felt pretty good and all ready for more pain from my stupid bellybutton hernia surgery. Up and running the next day, my foot!!! I've really gotten good rest though for my knees because I haven't been doing much of anything. Today's the first day I've felt mostly normal. I'm not even going to try running for a week because I can feel my knees just sitting in one position for too long. But I think I'll be up to balancing on the roller next week and back to lifting weights at least. Even if I had to wait for a month, it would have been worth it. I don't know if I'll ever have another race like it! It was a great course, absolutely gorgeous scenery, great weather, I had the best running companion, it was simply the perfect race.
