Quick Tip For Beginning Runners

So here’s something cool I figured out today that I thought I’d pass along.

When something on your body hurts from your last run 2 days ago, like your shins, and you’re all bummed because it means you probably won’t get in your run today because you have to be nice to your body so that it will be nice to you and blah, blah, blah, here’s something to remember……

If you hurt ANOTHER part of your body (by doing something stupid, say) and it’s throbbing and maybe you want to cry a little bit or throw something because you’re going to go with ANGRY that you’re hurt instead of the PITIFUL direction, something really cool happens.

You forget about your original injury, like your shins, and instead focus only on your NEW injury, like your back.

And then you aren’t so bummed out that you have shins that do not play well with your favorite form of exercise.

But you still do have 2 injuries now instead of one which kinda negates this whole post, doesn’t it?

Yeah. 

Okay.

Nevermind then.

The Most Rambling Post You’ll Read All Week. Guaranteed Or Your Money Back.

Still running although I use that term loosely.

My shins are still bothering me but I can tell that they are improving SLIGHTLY with each run.

Again.  I use that term loosely.

Because, if you remember, I am doing the Podrunner Intervals First Day to 5k program, which is a run/walk program that gets you doing a 5k after nine weeks.

Except that I keep doing the first week over and over.

And over.

Because I’m following the advice of my dad who never ONCE had a shin problem in all his 35 years of running, and am doing the same run over and over and over again until it doesn’t hurt anymore.

And it’s so stinkin’ boring and I’m ready to sign up for a 5k and stop with this mostly-walking-at-this-point program!

Plus, I’d like to be done with it so that I can listen to my own music instead of the euro-funk stuff they use for this program.

Which is kinda like a techno metronome except that, every few minutes, some dude will come on to chant that he likes Kool-Aid or something like that and I’m really wondering about the mental health of this music and if it can rub off on me.

Because we all know how mentally stable I am, what with the nine kids and all, right?

A good development in this running thing is that Yummy Man is now being outwardly supportive  by having my shin ice bath ready for me each night when I get home.

It’s just so yummy that he has started doing this and I love him even more now!

Because, before, he was giving me a hard time about buying the Garmin and the arm sleeves and 2 different pairs of running shoes in the last 6 months and even though I reminded him how much cheaper this obsession is than, say, cycling, he still bugged me about it.

Not because it really bothered him but just because he entertains himself by listening to me whine about him being unsupportive, which he actually wasn’t but wanted me to THINK he was because he got a laugh out of it.

Did you get all that?

But now he’s preparing my 5-gallon bucket with the ice and the water and the heavy-lifting of it and having a towel ready and just being nice about the whole thing.

I think he thought I’d give up on this whole running thing.

Don’t know where HE’S been for the last 20 years, but I NEVER give up!

Unless I can’t scrub away that line in the toilet bowl fairly easily.

I’m not so good with the whole housecleaning thing.

But that’s for another blog.

One that I haven’t started yet.

Don’t hold your breath.

Yipp. Ee. (Tentatively)

I am hesitant to write this because I’m not sure how long it will last.

I’m running again.

VERY gently.

Know how I do it?  Gentle running?

Barely lift my feet off the ground.  Kinda glide along, trying not to bounce.  See my shadow ahead of me and kinda laugh at how stupid I look.

That’s how I’m doing it.

And I’m loving it!

Although, having to start at the beginning again of my training for a 5k is fairly depressing.

My shins are still a little painful but I THINK it is lessening as the days go on.

I finally ditched my gorilla shoes (I’ll sell them on Ebay or save them for swimming at the beach) and got me some Brooks with Superfeet inside. 

Once I did a bunch of research on shin splints and finally realized what was happening with my lower legs, I decided to bite the bullet and be assessed and helped to find some running shoes that were right for my weird legs.

And I think it worked.

Also?  I giving both lower legs an ice bath after every run and that has helped too.

See, I used to rub an ice cube on my shins after my runs in the past but that was just not enough.  So I came up with the idea of taking a tall 5-gallon bucket, dumping the entire container of ice from the ice-maker into it and filling it with cold water.  Then I ease both legs in, while screeching quietly, and let them sit in there until I can’t feel them anymore and you could stick an ice pick all the way through them and I wouldn’t even blink.

It’s strangely and freakishly satisfying.

The training program that I’m using is fantastic but these first few weeks are BORING, BORING, BORING.  And did I say boring?  Because before I had to quit, I was up to week 6 and there was a lot of running and not so much walking and I was totally rockin’ that.  But now it’s back to week 1, wherein I walk about 20 minutes of the 30-minute workout and I’m not liking that.

At.  All.

But I’ll get back up to where I want to be and then surpass that and get to where I REALLY want to be and if I can do it all without any more shin problems, I’ll be a very happy lady!

And that’s always a good thing!

 

So.

In lieu of running, I’m swimming now three times a week.  And even though it’s the best exercise you can do for your body, I’m not really enjoying it.

Really?  Anything that makes me have to show more of my cottage-cheesey legs than absolutely necessary is almost horrifying to me.  And I don’t seem to be able to go during the time that all the retired 90-year-olds are there which would make me feel better about myself.

And I realize how awful that last sentence makes me seem, but I’m just trying to be honest here.

And honestly?  It’s killin’ me to not be running.

My iPod is all lonely and my Garmin is wondering why in the heck I bought him (it’s a very large running watch/computer so it’s GOT to be a him) and my arm sleeves are still all new and crisp and late at night I can hear my running shoes whimpering in the closet and trying to make friends with my NON-running shoes which isn’t happening because my non-running shoes have a major clique thing going on because they all say “Dansko” inside them and my running shoes don’t.  Plus, my running shoes are really stupid-looking, so you can understand the segregation that is happening in my closet as we speak.

I told Yummy Man just last week that I couldn’t stand it anymore and I was going to try running again even though it’s only been 3 weeks since I took this horrid Vow of Not Running-ness.

And he said “No.”

Just like that.

“No.”

And I starting kinda whimpering and trying to tell him that my plan was a really good one and I thought it would really work and I think my shins will be okay and blah, blah, blah and whine, whine, whine, but it didn’t work.

So I’m still swimming and let me tell you this.

I’m not good being wet and cold.  Yes, it’s an indoor pool, but that initial leap into it makes my entire body cringe, even the internal organs.  And then when I have to put my face into it……..oh, the horror.

I also wish that I could get embroidered into my swimsuit top this message……

“I have given birth nine times.  That’s why I look like this.”

I think that would help.

Really.

Okay, Maybe Not.

So I’m actually NOT healed….I just THOUGHT I was and so I went running, very carefully, slowly, and timidly and the pain all came back five steps into it.

So I’ve decided to completely rest my legs for six weeks and let them heal completely so that I can get back to what I enjoy.

Running.

And for those of you who don’t understand this whole thing, please know, if you don’t already, that I am a very stubborn individual.  When I set my mind and determine to do something, I follow through.

Even if it kills me.

Which this 6-week rest thing might actually do.

Sigh.

See you again in six weeks.

 

So Here I Go. I Hope.

I have been healed.

Cleared to run again.

And now I’m scared.

Because I don’t want another injury and I can just feel it comin’.

(I’m optimistic like that.)

Also?  I’m having to start all over again, I’m afraid, which means lots of huffing and puffing and whining.

And that’s even before I leave the driveway.

So wish me luck, and if I come back dead, I leave my new Garmin Forerunner to my dad.

Who never, by the way, had shin issues in all his years and years of running.

(The bitterness is palpable, isn’t it?)

 

This Really IS a Running Blog. Even Though I’m Doing a LOT of Talking About NOT Running.

Went to the therapist again today and was even more wary of the place.  Seems that the receptionist, while seemingly very good at her job, would weigh a few pounds less if she decided to forgo eyeliner tomorrow.  Not a big deal.  Just sayin’.

But we’re not here to talk about therapy.

We’re here to talk about running.

Except that I’m not, so let’s go back to the therapy topic.

Last time I went, they did this ultrasound massage on my shins that seemed, at the time, to be a fake treatment.

Here’s how it went.

I laid down on the table and a big, huge square vinyl-covered pillow was put under my knees and I loved that thing so much I almost asked if my insurance would cover it and, if so, could he please prescribe it to me.

Then, he put goo on my shins and rubbed a stick thingy that was attached to a machine up and down and around one side of my shins on both legs until a timer went off. 

And it just felt fake.

Like I was lacking in leg-goo and maybe, secretly, that was my official diagnosis.

Leg-Goo Deficiency.  Twenty therapy visits authorized. 

But a little later that day I noticed that my shins weren’t hurting when I, like, blinked like they had done previously.

And for 2 whole days, the pain was gone which was totally cool.  So cool, in fact, that I almost set down my egg nog and went running.

But I didn’t.  Because I’m a good patient like that.

Plus, it was EGG.  NOG.  And if you don’t understand the significance of that, please go here.

Thank you.

The Verdict

Today I saw a Physical Therapist for my shin issues.  I almost didn’t go into the place.  It was across the street from an establishment that promotes……um……severe immodesty, shall we say, and boasted peeling paint and colors that just weren’t flattering.

I’m picky like that.

And when I went in, it smelled like a veterinary’s office, with industrial “tile” and “rooms” that were closed off with curtains only.

But the Physical Therapist who saw me was very, very nice.

And he didn’t laugh when I told him about my Vibram Five Finger shoes.  In fact, he wanted me to bring them with me next time AND he wrote down the information to research later.

I hope.

The bad news was that he told me that I have injured myself right nicely and I have to stop running until I no longer have pain.

And then I started crying.

Not really.  But I WANTED to.

Because, the other night?  I ran my training run with Podrunner Intervals podcast, and for the first time, I felt like I could run double the distance that I was allotted for that night. Except for the leg pain.

And that made me mad.

So now that I’ve gotten the cardiovascular part down pat, I have to stop.

It had BETTER not take long.

I’m dyin’ here!

AND gaining weight.  I think I’ve already gained 10 pounds since I heard that I had to stop running earlier this morning.

I’m serious.

And So It Begins

So sometime last week, I remembered that we get free medical because we’re military and in exchange for being willing to die for your country, you get to not have normal-people insurance which SOUNDS neat, but usually means that the doctor you see in the base clinic was trained at a strip mall.

Okay.  Not ALL of them.

Just the ones that I’ve gotten in the past when my kids were sick and the doctor felt the need to question how I am able to live with myself for not bringing my kids into her/his office every time they sneeze or scrape their knee.

And don’t even get me STARTED on how they feel about “well-baby check-ups” and the whole homeschooling thing and wouldn’t I like a tubal ligation tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.?

But this is a running blog so let’s get back to the original intent, ‘kay?

So I decided to go into our base clinic and try to get someone there to acknowledge that my painful running is not normal and what could we do to help you, nice lady whose husband’s new rank now makes the doctors and nurses treat me with love and respect.

And my Primary Care Manager actually acknowledged my need to run instead of asking me why I don’t just STOP ALREADY if it hurts so much!

Like, duh!  But you have to remember that pain is relative when you’ve pushed nine human beings from your body in the last 15 years, and they weren’t nine SMALL human beings either.

So running through the “pain” is not a big deal at this point in my life but is abnormal and makes me have to add Ibuprofen to my daily handful of vitamins.

Not good, I’m thinkin’.

So anyway.

I wanted to hug my doctor because she told me that I SHOULD be able to run without pain and she will get me in to see people who can make that happen for me.

But it will entail time which is something I have a problem with.

Because my personality is such that I want a magic pill that not only will make me pain-free when I run for the rest of my life, but will also allow me to run a half-marathon next month.

Just because I want to.

So the both of you who are on the edges of your seats right now, wondering what will happen next in this running saga of mine, be patient.  I will keep you informed and up-to-date.

Because I love you, Mom and Dad.

 

Running and Pain

It’s been awhile since I last posted and I just want to apologize to the both of you still reading.

I’m still running in my gorilla feet.

I did have to slow down on my 5k training in order to break these “shoes” in, but I should still be able to make the 5k I’ve been eyeing in January.

My gorilla feet shoes, otherwise known as Five Fingers, are slowly eliminating my leg pain when running.

My shin splints are 90% gone but now I keep pulling the muscle behind my right knee.

I don’t know what the deal is and I don’t know what to do about it.

It depresses me to have pain when I run and, even though my buddy in Oklahoma thinks I’m weird because I continue to run even when I’m in pain, I can’t help myself.

I just want to be able to run and not hurt.

Is that too much to ask?  I think not.  (At least, I hope so.)

And just in case I wasn’t feeling depressed enough, my 70-year-old dad told me that, in 35 years of running, he never once had pain.

He’s helpful like that.