Month: October 2013

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Out sick

Yesterday was a sick day for me.  I felt it coming on Tuesday, and when I woke up Wednesday for work at 3:30, I felt miserable.  Seemingly just a bad cold, but I was achy, tired, sore throat and stuffed sinuses.  It has been a rough patch for me lately, but this too shall pass.  As I tell my kids, if you are having a good day, know that a bad day will come and if you are having a bad day, know that a good day will come.  Life works in cycles.  Be prepared.

So no walking yesterday, though I did 3 miles on Tuesday faster than my previous best.  I guess I PRed my 5K walk on Tuesday, 🙂

This afternoon I have my orthopedic sports doctor appointment.  I will mention my hip and achilles to him and see what he thinks.

Updates tomorrow.

Tom

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5K walk on a nice day

Thank you all so much for your support of me and this blog.  It has been very difficult now, going on 2 weeks walking as I try to get my hip and achilles better so I can run again.  I cannot thank you all enough for the encouragement and hope you have given me that I will be back running one day.

Not much is new today.  I do feel somewhat better, but am still going to just walk while I wait to see the doctor on Thursday.

My walk yesterday was uneventful. 🙂  I walked 3.1 miles at about a 15 minute pace.  It took an 45 minutes to walk what I have run in under 22. Anyway, I am thankful that at least I can walk!

The weather is cool and the days are nice and I am thankful to be a healthy 50 year old male considering 2 years ago I was anything but healthy.

Have an awesome day.

Tom

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Long walk Sunday

You know, it is hard to write a walking blog.  I know it’s probably harder reading a walking blog.

I haven’t tracked a run for 2 weeks now.  Hopefully things are healing and I’ll be back soon.  My post last week about going to the doctor was not written well.  I made an appointment for this coming Thursday, not last Thursday.  Sorry for the confusion.

I did walk yesterday.  It was a 6 mile walk on a beautiful morning.  Not much to report about it.  It was good to get out.

You all have a good week and thanks for keeping up with me.

Tom

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The Injured Runner Award

The Injured Runner Award

I was thinking last night, boy I know several runners who are down and out at the moment.  Some can’t run at all (like me) and some can run, but it is painful.

The roughest part of running is not running.  When you get injured, your daily routine gets disturbed.  Your daily endorphin fix is no longer available.  Your stress had no outlet.

It is tough.

For me, I am putting up my running shoes.  I made an appointment with a orthopedic sports medicine doctor and will see what he thinks.  I know time will probably fix my problems, but better safe than sorry.

So, although this isn’t a real award or nomination, I thought I’d list a few of the recent blogs entries of people who are dealing with injuries or recovering from injuries.  Take a moment and go to their blogs and write a comment.  It is something we all have to deal with.  Also, if you know of other injured runners, feel free to post a link to their blog in the comments.

Life is tough without running and encouragement from other runners is like a life line.

Here is my list:

BigBigGeek

Running to Her Dreams

Jane Likes to Run

The Quinquagenarian Runner

Thanks again for the help and advice with my injuries.  I will probably take the next 4 weeks off which is tough as I’ve already taken about 5 weeks off (not consecutive) since my marathon. I’ve been thinking of changing my blog name to WalkingToBoston.  Maybe not!

Have an awesome weekend.

Tom

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Not running makes me appreciate running all the more

I’m still walking.  Ugh.  I did get to jog a little the other day.  Not a run, but a jog.  Very slow.  My hip was feeling stiff, but not hurting.  Suddenly I felt a tug in my achilles and… I had to limp home.

This is crazy.  Right now I am chalking it up to my marathon.  Looking back, I ran my first marathon less than 18 months after I started running.  At 50 years old, maybe that was too much.  Not that anyone could have told me that at the time.

Now it has been one thing after another keeping me from running.  That is probably best for me right now.  I did try my Brooks PureFlow 2 shoes yesterday and they felt awesome.  Of course I was only walking in them.  When I started my walk, I was limping with my achilles.  About a half mile into it, the limp went away and I felt pretty good (other than the blister I got on both heals toward the end).

So the saga continues.  I hope to one day look back and think, “wow, you really did push through a lot to get back to running”.

I think I will appreciate running more after I get over all of this.

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Running reply

I got this comment from Bernie at GetGoingGetRunning this morning and I thought it would be good to just make my answer into a post:

Hi Tom, I was wondering where you had got to!
Don’t be hard on yourself. You’ve got an injury. Every runner gets injured at some point. It’s just part of the trials and tribulations of the sport.
So you’re not running? Tell us what you’re doing instead! What weird nasty exercise has the chiropractor got you doing now? How much do you want to meet the inventor of the foam roller so you can tell them what you really think of that little tube of pain delivered in such a calming pastel colour?
I’m sure I’m speaking for everyone here when I say we’re rooting for you to get back on the running train, and that we all understand from our previous experience what you’re going through and we are just as interested to see how you’re dealing with not doing what you’ve come to love.
See you back on the running train soon!

First of all, thank you Bernie and everyone for your support, advice and encouragement.  I do appreciate it and it has been a huge help.

Okay, I think I am back to normal.  I say that because I have no pain and feel pretty well.  I started taking Turmeric as a natural anti-inflammatory and it seems to be really helping.  I also have spent more time with my heating pad at night than my Lovely Wife. 🙂

As everyone who has ever read this blog knows, I am not a huge cross training type of guy.  It honestly isn’t that I am against it.  I did get out my late sister’s bike the other day and was going to ride it, but I need a helmet and stores are proud of their biking helmets.  They can be expensive. It’s hard to spend as much money on a helmet as I did on my new shoes that sit in a box by the couch.

So I walk.  Yes it is boring, but here is my thought…  With rest (as Joey and others have encouraged me) I know I’ll get better.  My Chiropractor benefits are used up for the year.  My main “fear” is that I will lose the habit of running.  So I figure if I keep going out each day at the same time and walk for 45 minutes, I will keep the habit of doing an activity that is similar to running, just slower and more boring.

I may try a slow run today.  I’ll see how I feel after work.  The weather is awesome and I’m feeling great, so I should be good to go.  Worst case scenario, if for some reason I can’t run for an extended period of time, I’ll take up biking.  Maybe there will be a triathlon in my future.

Thanks again Bernie and everyone!!!  It would be so much harder without this blog and reading your blogs!

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Quick update

I honestly haven’t been forgetting about my blog.  It is just hard to have a running blog when you aren’t running.

I am feeling better though.  In fact yesterday was the first day I woke up with no hip pain.  That on top of my walk on Saturday where I ran very slowly for about 20% of the walk.  I just wanted to see how I was progressing and I’d say it is going well… I think.

Today may or may not be my first day back running.  I had little sleep last night, and I don’t want to mess up my hip because of bad form from being tired.  I’ll wait until I get home from work and see how I feel.

All in all things are progressing in the right direction.  I hope to get back to running every day soon.

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Running closer

I’m feeling better today.  Yesterday was a pretty rough day and knowing that my hip was not better really made it difficult.

I got home and walked 3 miles.  It was nice out and I had a good walk.

I realize that my SI joint seems to be loosening up and my pain is down about 80% this morning.  I plan on walking for the next few days just to make sure I don’t over do it.

Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement.  In the past 17 months, running has really become a part of my identity.  I don’t think I would have stuck with it if it hadn’t.  The issue with that is when it is taken away for a period of time, it really messes with me.  I know many of you have gone through the same thing.

Have a great day, and run a mile for me. 🙂

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Runner’s mood boost

I ran yesterday.  The first non-stop run since my SI joint acted up last Tuesday.

All in all I’d say it was a good run.  I didn’t push myself as I didn’t want to get hurt again.  At this point, I’d rather run slow then not run at all.  I think my family agrees as I seem to be addicted to endorphins.  When I can’t run, I get just a bit grumpy.  I’ve never been one to get a runner’s high, at least not that I’ve noticed.  I can notice though, that if I don’t run I just seem more moody and angry at the world.  Fortunately I am a pretty laid back person, so I can hold in most of my frustration. It is amazing though how I miss that ability to get my frustrations out while on a run.  I guess I get a runner’s mood boost rather than a runner’s high.  Either way, it really helps.

So my running yesterday was a good thing for everyone.  I ran in my old Saucony Mirage shoes.  I am trying to get away from my Fastwitch shoes because I think they might be some of the reason for my injuries.  I am a heavy runner and they are basically a racing flat.  The Mirage are much more built up and steady.  The Mirage I ran in yesterday also only have about 100 miles on them, so they have plenty of time left on them.  I will be going to my Brooks PureFlow 2 after I get over my SI joint issue.  I don’t want to introduce another variable into my running until I know I am well.

Back to my run.  I got in 3 miles at about a 9:30 pace.  My hip felt a little strange.  It didn’t hurt, but it did feel like it wanted to turn inward as I ran.

Today I am going to walk a mile before my run.  I hope that will loosen me up more and remove any stiffness.

I guess running has become a way of life.  I never thought I’d become so dependent on it, but I’m glad I am!