Weigh-in Wednesday

Oh. It's Wednesday again - already?

Probably just as well it's a weigh-in day, otherwise I would have nothing to post about and the blog comes dangerously close to being the most boring "get fit" blog ever, because no getting fit has been happening. I feel like I need to go to confession: "Father, it has been two weeks since my last run..." That's the old Catholic guilt trip coming out.

I don't know why I'm in a running funk. I just haven't been motivated or something. Part of it is my hip, which is still tight and is in desperate need of another massage. Part of it is I haven't done much of the hamstring strengthening I'm supposed to be doing to counteract the hip thing. Part of it is I've finished C25K and need something else now - City to Surf is too far away to be real. Part of it is...I can't put my finger on it...laziness???

I'm so lazy at the moment I couldn't even be bothered to take a photo of the scales. But trust me when I say it said 74.8kg (164.9 lbs) - I'll put it up on the table to the left. Well - what do you expect if you eat whatever you feel like, drink whatever you feel like and do no exercise? But this blog is about being accountable and so up it goes.

On the plus side, overall my pants are too big for me and I need those waist tie things to hold them up!

Still need to work on the double chin though...

Stay tuned loyal readers and see if anything actually happens this week!

Hurts so good!

"Hey baby, it's you,Come on girl, now it's you, Sink your teeth right through my bones, baby, Let's see what we can do, come on and make it up..."


I went to see the local massage therapist today. She specialises in sports remedial massage, myofascial trigger points and dry needling. I expected some serious pain!

First we talked about the pain I was experiencing in the front of my hip and the tightness in my butt (where else can you talk about such things??). Then she had a feel of my hips, standing and sitting (first talking dirty, then feeling me up! Lucky she's a professional...). At first she thought one of legs was longer than the other, as one hip was higher than the other. As I bent down, my left hip was not moving well.

But the funny thing ("mmm, that's interesting"....can never be a good comment), when I was laying down, my legs were the same length - so that meant it was muscular, rather than structural! Making progress!

Then she tested my hamstring strength. Or lack of - both are pathetic, but my left leg is virtually non-existent!! This is the leg they took hamstring tendon from for my Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction! And, I have to sheepishly admit, I never really did those hamstring strengthening exercises 3 months after the operation 8 years ago....and I'm paying for it now!

She did lots of trigger point massage and also dry needling which apparently works quicker and is less painful than manual massage. So bizzare - at times it even felt a little electric current through my muscles as they twitched and carried on.

My hips were more level after that and had better motion. And I am free to run - listening to my body, walking when needed. Lots of hamstring strengthening. Keep on stretching my hamstrings, hip flexors, quads and glutes, so the muscles don't shorten up. She recommended using stairs (lucky we live near the beach and there are some doozy sets of stairs) focussing on using the hamstrings to push me up.

She was SOOOO good! I felt real confidence she knew of what she was speaking and she was very confident we can 'fix' this and get me running!! "Everyone should be able to run", "Running makes the rest of your life better", "How good do you feel after a run" - she won me over!

So, a little pain, a lot of gain! See you out on the footpath, baby!!!

"Hurt so good, come on baby, make it hurt so good, sometimes love doesn't feel like should, make it hurt so good"

A Pain in the Butt

This running thing is a pain in the ass. Literally!

Again. It's back again. I get to 30 minutes, run a couple of times a week and it's back! I was doing so well - building up slowly and I haven't suddenly increased mileage or pace. So frustrating. Stupid 42 year old body.

I seem to have a very tight piriformis muscle. It has been hurting since Thursday and the pain radiates through to my hip flexor region. This injury stopped me from running for 3 months last year. And on Thursday, the dreaded pain returned.

So, I didn't run on Friday like I planned. I didn't run yesterday and I didn't run today. I might take the dog for a walk later this afternoon. All I was trying to do was run consistently. Not fast. Not far (less than 5km!). Just run.

Maybe running isn't for me? Maybe my body just isn't cut out for it. It peeves me no end to read stuff like Run Fat Bitch Run - which espouses just getting out there and running. I get all enthused and motivated and then this. Again. I'm not just having a whinge at little aches and pains. It hurts. All the time. I obviously have some weirdo biomechanical imbalance which I haven't addressed properly because it keeps coming back.

I'm not the only one - Beth at Shut Up and Run has it. Her answer is to drink margaritas in Mexico - sounds like a good plan to me! Mollie at Eat Run Read has it.

So. What to do? I LOVE running. It's like nothing else. My dog loves running with me. My immediate plan is to keep walking. And get serious about the foam roller and the stretching and strengthening exercises I have for hip flexor problems. I'm going to give it another shot. If I nip this in the bud before it gets too bad maybe I won't have to start again from the beginning. Because I honestly don't know if I can do that. Again.

Sisters are doing it for themselves...

This is how I look when I'm running:

Or not.

It's a pretty hot here now (the weather, not my looks) and I realise I like running in winter more than summer. A bit because it's not really that cold in our winters, but mostly because I don't sweat (as much). I produce a ridiculous amount of fluid from the pores on my face and neck. 

But, I got up early(ish) today to beat the heat and the crowds. Failed on both counts - 25C and I had to negotiate the hugest crowd of pensioners on their walking outing (did you know they travelled in packs?).

So I'm re-starting Couch to 5K (except that they changed the software and it's now called Ease Into 5K - probably more what I need).

Not real fast, but I still had a sweat-fest going on. Not to mention how much of an effort it was pushing old people out of the way (just joking).

I have to say I felt MUCH better than the first outing nine months ago - so I don't think I've totally lost my fitness. Foam rolling and stretching afterwards to get the knots out of my buns of steel.

Max loved it:

All the photos of him look the same!

All jokes aside, I loved being back out there! There really is nothing like running. Even with the sweat.

I'm baaaccckkk!!

Well, kinda, sorta!

So this morning I got up early(ish) for my....walk. It is now 8 weeks since I saw the physio and I should be able to run, but you know, I can still feel that tight hip flexor/glute, so I did some reading . This is what I came up with:

1. Start walking. Apart from walking on our holiday, I haven't been out and about. Did you know that when walking, your body absorbs 2 times your body weight? It is a great stepping stone to get the body ready for the more intensive running. It's how I started running. My physio was adamant that it takes the body a long time to get used to the stresses of running - the muscular-skeletal system, that is, not the cardio-vascular (that is much more adaptable). Some websites recommend building up to 10-15 miles (16-24km) of pain free walking before attempting any running. So I'm approaching my walking the same as my running - three walks a during the week and a long walk (or bushwalk) on the weekend.
2. Re-introduce running by alternating running and walking - most websites suggest run one minute, walk three. I might even re-do Couch to 5K! I reckon it will feel weird just running! And goodness knows I've probably lost most of my aerobic fitness that I built up. But it's OK, I know it can come back. I'll have to make sure there is no pain in my hip when I run - otherwise I'm not sufficiently healed to run again.
3. One website recommended running at 25-50% of your pre-injury pace. Considering I was running at about 8 min/km that means 16-20 min/km. I can walk faster than that - can you imagine what it would look like trying to run that slow? Is it actually possible to run that slow? I'll just take it real easy - concentrate on form and not worry about pace.
4. Don't increase distance, frequency, intensity or pace of running at the same time. My physio said the injury was a classic case of "too much, too soon". So, first I'll just concentrate on building up to 5km. And then slowly (ever so slowly, with walk breaks if needs be) increase the distance. Pace will come (one day, maybe).
5. Use the foam roller after every run and then stretch. Strengthening exercises on the off days. 
6. Try to do some yoga or pilates once a week. I went to a yoga class last week and really, really enjoyed it. The instructor also does pilates and massage. I'm going to go get a really good massage too. My body will thank me later (after the pain subsides).

I am just enjoying getting out in the fresh air again. So is my dog. 

I'm "only" walking, but it's a step in the right direction!!

Hip, hip hooray...not

It's official. I'm injured.

I went to the physio on Monday as the pain in my hip flexors was not really getting any better. And sure enough, I have torn hip flexor muscles. Recommendations? Stretching (every day - so a bit more to do there), exercise bike/swimming when pain dies down (which will be soon, apparently), visit to the podiatrist to make sure I'm wearing the right shoes/orthotics as I pronate (who knew?), no running for....six to eight weeks.

WTF??? That long? Sigh. It's an "overuse" injury, which I find quite hysterical, given my mileage barely makes it to 15km a week!

In a strange twist of fate, my free Runner's World free running socks and training diary were waiting for me in the letterbox when I got home from the physio - just to tease me.

I am undeterred!! I have 3 weeks until I go on holidays (cruise to New Zealand). OK, so I won't be running around the Promenade Deck like I imagined, but dang it - I'll be in the gym on the exercise bike. Will my foam roller fit in my bag? Two weeks of cruising (and biking and swimming), then only 1-3 weeks after that I should be able to run. If I actually do keep my fitness up, maybe I won't have to start all the way back at Week 1 of Couch to 5K!!

Anyway, the physio did some ultrasound treatment and massaged my butt so hard I have the bruises to prove it! I have been using the aforementioned foam roller everyday and doing the stretches from the Hip Flexor Solutions book.  Today I got on the exercise bike - 5 minutes warm-up, 20 minutes of UNSW's 8/12 second intervals, 5 minutes cool-down - a total of 30 minutes, 17.75km, 607 calories. Not bad and I'm just as sweaty and unimpressed looking as when I run:

Day In The Life

So, this is a blatant attempt to win a Shut Up and Run visor (the t-shirts on offer would never fit me!). And maybe, just maybe, pick up a few extra visitors to my blog!

Beth, at SUAR, is offering t-shirts or visor to those who blog about a day in their boring life. I might qualify. Although having said that, today was an unusually busy day.

Now, SUAR is not afraid of bodily functions. So, it appropriate that my day started at 7am, with a "fairy circle" of doggy doo doo left on the carpet by a dog not able to hold it in until I got up and let him out. Sigh.

Just how I love to start my day...

The culprit!

So....what's a girl to do, but ignore that and have a cup of tea. It was an early start this morning, so I continued to ignore the funk downstairs and hopped in the shower - how great do I look at 7:30am??

Check out that thyroid!

That grey hair is why I should have used this:

Note the really cute lululemon hair tie!!!

Instead, I applied pain relief for my still-dodgy hip:

Unfortunately, I have no satisfying bowel movement of my own to report - an unfortunately common occurrence (not helped by not having any breakfast this morning).

I never wear my running shoes during the day, but considering I'm not running much with the dodgy hip, I thought "bugger it".

Then off to my 8am maths tutoring gig. Maths at 8am??? Bloody hell. But like all good wives, I left hubby to deal with the dog poo and get the kids up.

When I'd finished there, it was off to pick up my Mum who lives nearby. I apparently promised to drive her to her cataract appointment  45min away. I homeschool my kids, so I swing by home to pick them up so they are not left home alone all day!

Drop Nanna off at the doctors. Head on down to the "mall" (I use that term loosely!!). The kids are growing  so fast, they need some new clothes. I try on a dress - but it makes me look like a elephant. What a pity I forget to take a pic of that one!

Kids are starving, so we stop at Donut King and get my son a White Chocolate Marble donut and my daughter a Raspberry Slushy - all the additives and sugar you can eat in one easy meal! I avoid artificial colourings and flavourings because I figure we'll eat crap for lunch too and I like to limit my crap intake to once a day - yanno, so one day I won't look like an elephant in a dress.

After we got bargains at Target, Kmart, Payless Shoes, Jay Jay's Jeans and the bookshop, Nanna was finally finished at the doctors, and it was time for a quick lunch at McDonalds. I opted for lowest fat seared sweet chilli wrap, but regretted it - obviously no-one ever orders them because the guys took 15 minutes to cook it! There is a pretty nice lactation room in the mall, but it's been many years since I felt the need to use it.

I tried not to break too many speed limits rushing back home. I love living on the NSW south coast - it's beautiful and did you know all those trees have so much wildlife including kangaroos, possums, owls and wombats in them? Seriously - you should move HERE!!

How nice would it be to run down that road?

Running late now for our next appointment at 2:15pm back in town for my son's optometrist. He is getting contact lenses that you wear at night so you can see in the day - pretty cool! But he didn't enjoy getting poked in the eye - it will be something he has to get used to.

Dropped Nanna back to her place, rushed home in time for my 4pm afternoon maths tutoring! Yay! More maths!

It was 6:30pm by the time I'd finished. Time for wine. 

Given the lack of breakfast and crap lunch, I was happy to make a relatively health dinner of chicken burritos:

Hopefully that corn will get me going!

Spent the evening supporting my son in his attempts to shove bits of plastic into his eyes and then reading to him, because his eyes were watering. With any luck though, he will wake up tomorrow morning being able to see more clearly than he has in months.

"Miss Congeniality" is on telly now. I might watch the end before I hop into bed. Nothing planned for tomorrow - but I will have to get up and get on the exercise bike (in lieu of run) and inflict pain on myself with my foam roller - joy! I have news on the hip front...but you can wait until tomorrow for that, because Sandra Bullock and I have a hot date :-)

The thing with every day stuff, is it just has to be done. Fit in appointments, get dinner on the table, try not to eat crap, squeeze in some exercise. What is the point? Cuddles with my son, watching my daughter draw turtles at the optometrist, sitting on the couch with my hubby at the end of a long day, safe in the knowledge he will clean up dog poo for me. Life's good :-)

Woe is me!

This hip injury/strain/hurt/pain is a doozy!

Yeah right - as if my arms are that cut and my legs that slim!
 But the look on her face is me!

It's been a week since my last run and it feels like forever. While the very worst of the pain is over, it is still very sore and bruised feeling. I'm thinking I will have to get myself to the physio (if they ever answer their phone).

The physical pain is settling down into an annoying buzz, just enough to constantly niggle at me. Just enough to remind me that I should not run on this injury. I know if I do try to continue, it's only going to get worse and possibly keep me out of my Asics for a lot longer than a week. I'll admit to tears - pathetic, I know!

I got myself one of those foam rollers (except mine is white):

and I've found some new and exciting ways to inflict pain on myself:

and I've downloaded an e-book:

And meanwhile, I'm trying not succumb to so much self-pity that I eat potato-chips and chocolate to make myself feel better (because putting the weight back on that I've worked so hard to get off is NOT going to make me feel better).

And then I will look forward to being able to use my exercise bike and swim and then eventually, run. Who know that this couch-potato would miss her exercise so much??

oww...again

Just when things are looking up, my body lets me down. Again.

My right hip agony from a few months ago has migrated to my left hip. A bit of niggle at first. Able to run, particularly once I've warmed up, the pain virtually disappears into a little whisper. Until after the run, and then it ROARS!

Ice, heat, massage, nurofen. And no running tomorrow. I've done what every good person with an injury does - Googled it, stretched and strengthened and even done the appropriate sheets from the Anatomy Colouring Book to learn about muscles/tendons/ligaments in the hip/glute area. The pain is so bad, I'm contemplating giving my newly acquired health fund policy a good workout at the physio's.

I'm frustrated - I've done everything right. Good shoes. Been slowly increasing the distance. Trying to run with good form (landing on my midfoot, keeping tall, relaxing upper body and calves). And I'm not fast! It's so annoying. It's not like I'm smoking and eating crap. I'm trying (really, really trying) to look after myself, get healthy and fit and live a longer, more energised life. It pisses me off.

But obviously my 42 year old, overweight body has different ideas. I'm finding that running is so intense, that it finds any/all weaknesses you may have in your body. So (grumble, moan, sulk), I'm going to listen to my body. And maybe I'll be a better runner in the process. I can hope.

What's your worst injury and what did you do to overcome it?

Sidelined...

Grrr. Just getting into the swing of things and my stoopid body lets me down! 

Yesterday I felt every day of my 42 years old - my hip(s) were that sore. So, I (begrudgingly) need to listen to my body and not run this morning (and it's a beautiful morning - no wind, sunny, and I bet there would be dolphins!).

Very frustrating!

But, I know if I don't give it a bit of rest, I'll be sidelined for even longer. So I will stretch, ice and maybe do alternative activities for the next few days - stationary bike, swimming, walking (although even that hurts at the moment).

Anyone else had hip trouble?

Ease Into 10K - Week 3 Day 2

I did this run yesterday...

What I did:

5 minute walking warmup, 5 minutes running/1 minute walking x5, 5 minute walking cooldown.  It has been very windy here, so I skipped Tuesday and ran Wednesday instead - a nice lull in the wind and a very pleasant morning!

How I felt:

Sore! My right hip is sore. It wasn't too bad when I was running, but sure is sore now. Lots of stretching (and maybe some icing if I get a chance). But the run itself felt good - building up my endurance.

Playlist highlights:

Let's Get Loud - Jennifer Lopez

Never - Moving Pictures

How far I went:

4.77km - just a tiny bit less than last run, but I'll take it! Getting closer to the magical 5km mark.

Inspiration:

Dolphins and whales (yes - whales!!!) off the beach! Difficult to capture on the iPhone, but how lucky am I to have such a great place to run?