How do people do this?

I am officially about 4 weeks into my PT for this hamstring/pelvis issue. August has been a total wash....as in I've run a total of about 20 miles. I really thought that once I started PT and got the pelvis shifted back that I would be able to start running again and just build back up from there. Well, I was allowed to start running again last week but have only gotten 3 in so far. I am still doing a combo of 3 mins walking and 3 mins running. And doing 2 runs in 3 days really shifted the pelvis. It had been holding steady in place, for the most part, for several days, requiring only minor adjustments at my appointments. But after those 2 runs, it shifted a lot more and required much more correction. I could actually feel the difference before and afterward.

It's really hard not to be discouraged by this. Every time I look at the calendar and see the number of weeks getting smaller between now and October 7th, I get all panicky. How do people do this? Really, a half marathon would be painful now; I have no idea how I am going to complete a full. It's hard to know if I should even try. My PT hasn't put her foot down and when I used SmartCoach to majorly scale down my training plan, I half expected an error message to come up saying "Don't do it- there is no way you'll be ready for this and/or be able to prepare in this short amount of time"....It totally didn't. And that plan is decidedly less ambitious than the modified one I created.

My biggest concession so far, beside not actually running, is to switch my legs for my Ragnar Ultra. I will no longer be doing one of the toughest set of legs -- I'll be doing one of the easier ones. Relatively speaking, of course, since it's still two 7 milers and a 12 miler (as opposed to two 12's and a 10).....I did reach out to the Portland Marathon organizers just to make sure they wouldn't allow me to switch to the half. I got a nicely worded 'No way, Jose' email back....something about how over the 40 year history of the event, they've never offered this. And there were at least two pages on the website detailing how against the rules it is to just decide to run the half instead, resulting in disqualifications, being banned from future events, etc, etc. They basically said I should just run as much of the full as I can. Which is what I am going to end up having to do.

I guess adjusting those expectations now is better. Hopefully, a DNF won't scar the ego too much and I'll be able to pull it together and move on. There's always next year. I keep telling myself that there is a learning curve for this....and better to learn the "don't be stubborn, see someone when you are injured" and "moderation" lessons now. Overtraining = bad. Listening to your body and being smart = good.

So how do people do this? I guess that is a rhetorical question...but my best attempt at an answer is "One Day at a Time"....just like anything else, right? So that is what I'll do.....take it one day and one run at a time.

If anyone of my 3 (ha!) readers has any advice - please share.....How do you get through your injuries and stay sane?

Make Yourself Monday

Unstoppable....that's me.

Running to Remember

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Three years ago today - August 25, 2009, CPT John Hallett was killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb, along with CPT Cory Jenkins, SFC Ronald Sawyer, and PFC Dennis Williams. CPT Hallett's wife Lisa had just given birth to their third child, a daughter, three weeks before. In the aftermath of that devastation, she began running as a way to cope with her grief. Within months, she started wear blue: run to remember as a way to connect with others going through the same thing and to honor her husbands memory. Over the last few years, it's grown and the sea of blue is spreading. It's a way to remember those that were lost, honor those still fighting and support the families of all of them. It's also a way for people like me to recognize and connect with the military as a community member, to support their sacrifice and really see what these families go through and give up in service to our country.

Honor Guard bringing CPT Hallett's body to his funeral. Source.

Yesterday, August 24th, would have been the 15th wedding anniversary of another military widow, Kryste, that I met through friends and WB. She lost her husband CW3 Frank Buoniconti last December and I've gotten to know her a bit since then and her courage in moving through her grief has been inspiring and brutally honest. She is raw and completely open with her day to day thoughts on Facebook and her blog. She wrote a beautiful post that I know she wouldn't mind me sharing....Kryste's extraordinary strength is inspiring. 

CW3 Frank Buoniconti, was killed in a training exercise on December 12, 2011.  CPT John Hallett was killed by an IED in Afghanistan on August 25, 2009. Both are survived by their wives and children.

I will be running my (unfortunately short) run today in honor of both of these men and their sacrifice. The legacies of these men can also be honored monetarily for those interested. Kryste has started a foundation in Frank's name LiveYourLoveLoud. This foundation, in her own words:

"I am starting a nonprofit in Frank's honor and to continue the work and passion that made us who we were as a team. LiveYourLoveLoud will be for orphan care AND prevention,funding water projects,HIV/AIDS prevention & treatment in Africa, helping widows/single mothers,adoption grants for military families and other projects to help serve the people of the world who deserve clean water, food, health care, education and a chance to grow up and be world changers in their own villages & countries."

You can support Kryste and her efforts here.

You can honor the legacy of CPT John Hallett by donating to wear blue: run to remember. You can read more about this amazing organization (that I proud to be a part of) here.

To John and Frank - today I will run in honor of you and the wonderful families you have left behind, who carry on and remember you in every way they can. You will not be forgotten.

First Run in 14 days

I was allowed to run again a couple days ago. And of course, one 30 minute run/walk was enough to shift that pelvis back again. I've been to PT 5 times now and each time, the amount of shifting from one visit to the next has diminished almost completely. The correction techniques she is using and the strengthening exercises I've been doing every day have made things more stable and able to withstand normal movements, but the run jarred everything back again...

I had been going on some test walks to see how the leg felt.....and there was no more of the sharp pain that I've grown accustomed to. So I asked if I could ease back into running and my PT agreed I was ready. But it has to be slow and easy and I have to stop immediately if I start feeling that sharp pain again. My last appointment this week was yesterday and I won't see her again till Tuesday. Between those two, I will be able to run 3 times, increasing the running and decreasing the walking if I feel good. Right now I'm alternating between 3 minutes walking and 3 minutes running....I'll run again tonight and see how I feel.

My PT is great....I really like her. She's a runner too, so she gets it. And from here on out, it's likely that I'll need to be constantly adjusting and strengthening and evaluating as I get back into shape. But the easing back into things is taking longer than I was hoping it would....the whole month of August has been pretty much a wash. I will be readjusting my training schedule for PDX and submitting it to my PT for evaluation next week. I certainly don't want to jump back into things too quickly and re-injure myself. So we will see what she says.....trying not to think too much about how painful it's going to be to get back into the shape I was in. I already feel like my clothes are way tighter. Boo hiss.

Make Yourself Monday

Better....Almost back in action!

Make Yourself Monday

In honor of Allyson Felix's 3 (!!) gold medals in London....Proud indeed.

Olympics Hilarity...

So, you may have seen it but....I find this absolutely hilarious - Like snort-laughing every time I check it for new additions. A few of my favorites:

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 Source

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There is also a bit of Ryan Lochte love which is so funny b/c he is such a total d-bag. But I happened upon this last week....

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I have to say, social media has greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the Olympics this year. Funny stuff on top of the all the spectacle of watching amazing athletes accomplish extraordinary things. Loved watching Kerri and Misty take their third straight gold, and the USA women's soccer team get their vindication against Japan. Loved watching Kara and Shalane run their hearts out last weekend and plan to get up early to cheer on Meb, Abdi and Ryan tomorrow in the men's marathon. Go USA!!

Shifted pelvis. Or something.

Started the day with my new physical therapist. First visit so there was a lot of talking and diagnosing and such. It turns out that my pelvis on the left side has sort of shifted back and is out of alignment. That in turn is straining the muscles, with a lot of extra pulling there shouldn't be. She said it's hard to say whether the shift happened first and cause the pulled muscle or if the muscles were strained and the subsequent stress (not to mention the continued training) caused the shift. I'm definitely leaning towards the latter.

 Ha-this is exactly the model she showed me-

 left side shifted back....Source.

So the pink stuff in there is muscle. The greater pelvic floor muscles are mostly what you see but at the very bottom, right above the bottom of the pelvis on either side, there is a muscle called the obturator internis. And that is one of the very painful tender spots, along with the greater upper hamstrings that are very aggravated muscles. 

The plan includes rest at first, then I can start up again as I continue to work with her. So hopefully I won't lose too much fitness. I am allowed to walk...but I hate walking! It just doesn't feel efficient to me. But back to the appointment...we did a little bit of treatment...she had me do a couple exercises that I have to do a few times a day, one to strengthen and one to promote blood flow to aid in healing...and then she got out the coolest thing ever. It's this sleeve thing that combines an ice treatment with compression. You put this sleeve around the afflicted part and hook it to this machine. It fills up with ice water (totally lasted 10 minutes on the coldest setting-thank you ice baths!) and air and there's mild pressure like a blood pressure cuff, but not that hard. It.Was.Awesome. I loved it. She said she can do it every time! Yay! It felt that good.

She also did this weird thing to try to shift my pelvic bone back. She also warned me that it really engaged that obturator muscle and that I'd likely feel some pain later on. Totally did. And still do.....very sore. I was also supposed to make sure that I sat and stood completed symmetrical all day- weight evenly on both feet or 'sit bones'. Very hard to do...

We are going to be working on major strengthening of the hip muscles, which are very weak, and my core so that the pelvis is supported and doesn't shift back. Going to be doing this 1-2 times a week for 6-8 weeks. I'll be able to start back up on my training soon....so we'll just take it as we go and see what I can accomplish. Still got 59 days till PDX. Gulp.

Injury Update

Still hurting...stupid pulled muscles. Finally figured out my insurance stuff, found a great PT near my office and made an appointment for Friday morning, the soonest they had. I am glad I'm going. This stupid pain won't go away and I have a feeling I'm just making it worse by being stubborn.

Plus, I really need to start treatment NOW. Honestly, I've waited way longer than I should have and at this point, I am putting myself at risk of not being able to do my full marathon in October. If rest is required for my treatment (holding my breath that it won't be too long), better now than later, that is for sure.

I am feeling a bit better about all this though. Like I said, I was in denial. But my running buddy Mike is just coming off Quadracep Tendonitis, during which he was on full rest for a bit AND crutches for a week....he thought he wouldn't be able to do PDX because of it, but is healing quicker than he thought so if all goes according to plan, he's still doing it. We decided that we are just going to work through the injuries as best we can, do our best to train through it and just hope that we don't die trying to finish the damn thing.

I had such plans for this first marathon....one of the reasons I waited nearly a full year between my first half and my first full was that I wanted to conquer it. I wanted to successfully tackle several runs in the 20 mile range, including a full 26 before the race. That is probably unlikely now. I have to stop being so stubborn and accept it. So we'll get as high as we can beforehand, stick together during the race and finish the damn thing if we have to walk/crawl.

Jess and D had a mantra at RnR--Beat Oprah. Didn't happen for them....and won't for us likely. But we'll finish. And as Mike pointed out, it only makes for an awesome PR for our second one.

Will update Friday after I see the PT. Crossing my fingers for good/not terrible news.

Make Yourself Monday

Totally hear Christina singing in my head....

Is it too late for me.....

.....to be Kara Goucher when I grow up? I love that girl. And she and Shalane ran their hearts out today. So disappointing for them. They worked so hard and ran so well.....but a 10/11th place finish isn't bad at all. And then there was this...

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These girls train together and have become really good friends. And when Kara helped Shalane up at the end....I got a little choked up. Sisters. Teammates. And all around champions. Great runs ladies. See you in 4.

One Year Runniversary

My year in races....

A couple weeks late....but just about a year ago, I decided to run my first half marathon. I'd started and stopped running regularly many times over the years and always wanted to do a half marathon. 13.1 seemed like so many miles...and I thought that I would never be able to do that. So I finally decided to give it a shot. And not be scared of failing. Or of working really hard for something. And then failing. That self doubt always stopped me from getting very far....

Now I was ready to just go for it. I started going on short runs...about 2 miles or so around the neighborhood. Looking back over my training for the last year is kind of cool. I ran between 2-3 miles 4 days a week for a full month and a half...then I started pushing that up. Slowly but surely, I was ticking off all these firsts. First time I ran 5 miles, then 7 miles, then my first run in the double digits. Then I tackled a full 13 a couple weeks before that first race. It felt so incredibly good to accomplish that and to cross the finish line of my first half marathon. I wanted to keep feeling that. To keep pushing farther.

So I kept training, kept working on my pace and endurance, and getting a few more races under my belt. One year later and I've run a lot of miles-nearly 1000. I've run 4 5K's, 2 10K's, 5 Half Marathons and one 200 mile running relay with a team of 12. That's more than I planned to accomplish. So I'm proud of that. And it's only going to get more intense...first full marathon in October and then another 200 mile relay-with 6 people this time. Kind of makes me want to throw up. Just a little bit.

But I think I'm ready. After all, a year ago, 13.1 miles sounded insurmountable. But I conquered it. And I will conquer this too.

July: In Which I Run My First Ragnar and Nurse an Injury

Sad. Just Sad.....

Craptastic amount of miles this month. After averaging nearly 100 a month since March, this was a very low mileage month. Injuries suck. Big time. 

July started on a great post Rock and Roll Half high. I had such a great experience, it took me a little longer than it should have to realize my sore ass was not going to be getting better on it's own. I even ran a 5k before deciding I needed to take it easy if I still wanted to be capable of running my legs in Ragnar.

 Firecracker 5000 5K - 1st Midnight Race!

The rest of July was spent nursing the sore bum and planning and plotting for Ragnar. I had about 2 full weeks where I didn't run at all....I missed it but to be truthful, the anxiety about the injury and the mad planning for Ragnar kept my focus so the time sort of flew by. It's so easy for that fitness to go...take a couple weeks off and it's really hard to get back into the swing of things and not feel like you are starting all over again. Maintaining is SO much easier than building.

The remainder of the month was all Ragnar.....finished all my supply buying and packing lists...and got really good practice organizing a team. I wasn't the captain, but ended up being the self appointed 'secretary' since I like to do lists and spreadsheets so much. There was a lot of banter, ideas and plans shooting back and forth on our group FB page and I'm proud to say that it went off without a hitch. The slight snafu with the van rentals turned out ok and we all had an amazing time.

Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies!

I ran my legs in honor of Army SPC Nathan Wyrick, CW3 Frank Buoniconti, and Army SPC Aaron Aamot. And felt pretty good doing it. The last part of July was filled with recaps of all sorts....you can read all about my Ragnar experiences here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and finally, The Finish and Odd, Ends and Awesome Stuff.....

The month concluded with the decision, totally fueled by endorphins, to run Ragnar Las Vegas on an Ultra team....Gulp. Starting August with the focus on my full marathon training....and hopefully the injury will heal and the mileage will be back up to normal. Fingers are crossed.....

Training. New Plan. It's On.

Alrighty. It's time. Focus is officially switching to full marathon training. Which, truthfully, has sort of gotten lost in all this Ragnar relay madness. In exactly 9 1/2 weeks (ha!), I'll be running my first 26.2 in Portland. And I'm behind. Officially, but not irretrievably.

Ragnar wasn't the only thing that threw me and my training off this month. I was averaging about 100 miles/month since March but only did 60 in July due to my pulled butt muscle. There was a couple weeks of self-imposed total rest and a lot of the runs were cut short. Which means that I have quite a bit of ground to make up. I've been back to somewhat normal this week so far. I've run three days in a row, just my short 3.5 mile loop and I'm feeling ok. Received the Stick I ordered this week and have been putting it to good use. Seems to be helping a bit. It's hard to tell if the ohmygodimgonnadie feeling is mostly coming from the injury or the fact that I am having to do some serious make-up fitness. Probably both.

I've revamped the training schedule yet again....it still feels a bit ambitious for how I'm feeling...but I'm going to slog through for the next couple of weeks and see how it goes, while I simultaneously go through the rig-a-marole for finding a PT and navigating through my insurance requirements. Fun times. I had lofty goals for this cycle. I was going to go all out and really up my weekly mileage...and not just for the weekend long runs. Pre-injury plan had me running a full 26 a few weeks before PDX and was fairly aggressive in the weekly increase. I've dialed it back a bit.....still planning on trying for a full 26 during training but it meant getting to that point in less time than anticipated.

And going from an average of 25 miles a week to peaking around 45 will be a challenge. But it's time. Over the course of this year, I've built up to a good weekly plan that keeps me in 'half shape'....which to me means that I could do a half tomorrow if I wanted to, without doing anything different to prepare. Training like that got me through a very fun series of half marathons this spring and my regular Ragnar Relay. But now it's time to raise the level of both the training and my game.

I've never run more than 13.1 miles before. Next weekend, I'm tackling 15 for the first time. And it only goes up from there.....It will be fun to come up with some new routes, and add on to some of my existing favorites to make them longer. Maybe when I get up to the high teens, low 20's, I can do a crazy loop incorporating my two favorite long run routes - the Seattle waterfront to the Magnolia Bridge and the Madison to Lake Washington loop.

Also, take a look at the plan for Ragnar in November! Totally makes me want to vomit. But I'm ready. It's time to work on the mental game, b/c this is about to get 'real'....