2013 - Goals for the Year

What do I want to see in 2013? Well the biggest and most important goal is to get 'off the injured list'. But big goals are nothing without breaking it down into bite sized chunks. And in a nod to my 'too much too soon' injury, this year is all about keeping it simple and not trying to accomplish stuff my body is not ready for.

Big Goals:

• Progress in my rehab so that I am able to 'run' again. I cannot wait until I am able to run a full 3 miles without having to do walking intervals. Likewise, I can't wait to do a long run again. It's been 5 looonnnggg month since I've gone on a long run. 

• Build strength and flexibility. My PT exercises and work focus on strengthening my core, pelvic floor, hips and glutes. I do a series of exercises every day and do my run/walk 3-4 times a week. Once I 'graduate' from regular PT visits, I'll be focusing on a regimen that will include yoga, more strength training and hopefully a lot of cross training amidst all the running I hope to be doing again this year.

• Focus on building a solid base. I really neglected that last year and have a pretty awful injury to prove it. I will not make that mistake again. That means I will be extremely cautious in increasing my mileage when I am back to running full time. It also means I will be a total zealout when it comes to stretching, recovery methods and fueling my body. I will be a smart runner who doesn't take chances. I love it too much to allow this sort of injury to occur again.

• Keep the racing to a minimum - no matter how much I am tempted to do other fun races. That means that my first 6 months of the year will be focused on training for Rock and Roll in June and Ragnar in July. Past that, if all goes well, I'd like to do the full Seattle Marathon in November. If a full is too much for this year, I have no problem doing the half instead. But I am not planning on any more and think that keeping the focus on these will be better for my body.

• Not suck at blogging. This was a mirco goal last year....Not sure how well I am doing in this regard but since I now have a full year of blogging under my belt, I'd like to get better, more consistent and savvier. 

And that is it. No crazy big goals this year.....and no specific tiny goals either. Just going to be realistic, listen to my body and go with the flow. We'll see how that approach works in the coming months!

2012 Goals: How'd I do?

My hardware for 2012

I had grand plans for 2012. I started the year off totally high from my first half marathon that ended up propelling me to over-ambitiously over-commit. To recap - my goals for last year were doable but a tad bit ambitious. I actually knocked out the big ones, with only a couple exceptions.

Train year round - for the entirety of the 2012: 
~ I was very consistent with my training right up until I was forced to deal with my injury....so half credit on this one.
Run 1 race per month- 12 races for 12 months:
 ~ Ditto for this one. I did a race a month until August, when I started treatment for my injury. The only months I did not race were August, September, November and December. Not bad for a gimp.
 
Run at least 3 half marathons: 
 ~ Done! I ran 4 half marathons in 2012
 
Run my first full marathon:
 ~Done! At least in as far as walking across the finish line goes. I walked it so it only half counts in my mind.....so there will be a 'rematch' on the 'first marathon' in 2013 I hope.
 
Become more social with my running- join a running club, go to Fleet Feet group runs, connect with other runners to train and race with:
 ~I made some really awesome running friends this year....I couldn't have survived this injury without their encouragement and support. 

My micro goals were hit and miss....I did knock about 17 minutes off my half marathon time in that span of time. But post injury, the pacing and speedwork took a backseat....I also wanted to learn to take better care of myself by eating better and getting in significant cross training. While I did do a better job of taking care of myself while training, I have learned a big lesson with this injury - taking care of yourself while injured is also extremely important. To that end, I am proud of how hard I've been working to get off of the 'injured list'.

Goals for 2013 to come....January has been pretty busy in my house and I just haven't had time for the kind of self reflection that has been necessary to write these 'Goal' posts. So forgive the fact that I've posted exactly twice this month. I'm getting back into the swing of things again...and now that I'm getting close to doing more running than walking, I'll be tracking and writing about my training again. March is right around the corner and that is the goal month to be back up and 'running' so to speak. 

 

6 Months and Counting: Injury Recap & Update

I can't believe it's been that long already. Beginning of July, I started to notice the pain. I had been averaging about 100 miles a month since March, but cut way back to 60 miles in July due to the pain I was feeling. I hoped that rest would help that month and that I'd be good to go in a jiffy. Not so much. By August, it was clear that the pain wasn't going away and it was time to see someone. I started in Physical Therapy the first week of August.

After my first few visits, it was clear that I had some structural deficiencies, as it were. Pelvis was misaligned and my body was totally out of balance. The left side was working way too hard and over compensating for some major weakness on the right. I saw my PT for several visits over the month of August. I had done some full resting, then transitioned to some test runs that had walking intervals. By the beginning of September, it was clear that I was not only not improving, but that it was time to see the Dr. for some testing to rule out some other potential injuries. We paused PT for the majority of September while I had an X-ray and then an MRI.

By the end of September, the results were in. From my post:

And it's not pretty. I actually got the results over the phone late last week and have been mourning processing ever since. I have a "superior lateral and posterior acetabular labral tear", which is a fancy medical way of saying that the labrum (the thing that goes around your hip socket that keeps your thigh or femur in place) is torn. But that's not all! Oh no, there is more fun to be had here. I also have "significant tendinopathy at the hamstring attachment"....which is fairly self explanatory. The tendons attach your hamstring to your pelvis, and when they get angry and inflamed, it's called tendonitis or tendinopathy (essentially the same thing)....

I spent all of September and October (with the exception of that one day I walked a few miles) on full rest. I had been in pain just at rest and it was really hard to sit all day long. By the beginning of November, the full rest led to some progress. I was in a lot less pain and could tolerate walking again without increased tightness or discomfort. I started PT again the first week of November and have been going twice a week since then. Our new plan focused on strength training - I have a set of exercises I do daily and I got to start walking again. We also started doing ultrasound on the tendon and massage on the hamstring. And I am happy to report that there has been some real progress!

The walking was a slow build over the month of December. I started walking three times a week and after a couple weeks of tolerating that well, I've gotten to increase to walking every other day, with one minute running intervals. After a couple weeks of tolerating that well, I'll get to alter those intervals...increasing the running and decreasing the walking. Realistically, following that plan, I'll be back to running 3-4 times a week solidly by March. If all goes to according to plan.

This injury and my fight to get back to running is taking forever it feels like. The hamstring is so big and this tendinopathy is so stubborn. I will always have to baby it and pay close attention to it though. So in effort to make sure that when I am back, I am actually stronger than before and have a lower risk of re-injury, I plan to spend use 2013 as a 'Building my Base' year.

My focus this year is on strength, flexibility and balance. I want to continue running as long as I am able so I plan to take it easy this year on the racing and focus on all the other things I need to do for my body that will ultimately benefit my running. Things like strength training, cross training and yoga. I plan to focus on three races only - my goal is to be back to running regularly by March so I can begin training for Rock and Roll in June. Half marathon only - baby steps. July will be Ragnar - NW Passages again with my Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies. If those two races go well and I am physically ready to build after that, I am hoping to complete my second full marathon in 2013. Again, keeping it low-key, I would like the Seattle Marathon in November to be my "first" full that I run. And that's it. Depending on how things go, I won't rule out doing a 5/10K or two....we'll see how it goes. This injury has taught me that being flexible and listening to my body is key to being a successful runner.

Also a big lesson to my runner friends - if you have a niggling injury - DO NOT ignore it. See your Dr. or a physical therapist. You might have a structural issue that needs fixing. Don't just deal with it - do something about it. Figure out what the problem is and what you can do to fix it so it doesn't sideline you. I learned that the hard way.

I will be a runner again. I am determined to make it so. It's just taking much longer than I thought it would to get there.

December: In Which I Celebrate My Blogiversary

It's been a quiet month, relatively speaking of course. The holidays always make December just fly by in a blink. My least favorite holiday but I try to make the most of it and not be too grinchy for my daughter's sake. In fact, just a few weeks ago, she nudges me while we are sitting on the couch and says, "Mom, this is totally going to be your tree when I move out."

My future Christmas Tree

Or maybe this one....

In any case, it's been pretty quiet around here this month. I celebrated my birthday, my blogiversary, Christmas and now we've said goodbye to 2012.

My daughter did end up getting the one thing she really really wanted for Christmas....

Only about an inch...but it made her so happy!

I am looking forward to 2013....I will run again this year and it's going to be good.