Running

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Results – Running soon!

I got great overall news yesterday when I went an orthopedic sports medicine doctor.

My concerns were my hip, which hasn’t recovered since my marathon and my achilles which we really bad a couple weeks ago when I tried running.

He took X-rays and I told him about my desire need to run.  I told him how I weighed 100 lbs more that I do now just 2 years ago and running was the major reason I am where I am physically.  He seemed impressed and wanted to help.

For my hip, he said I had bursitis.  He said he wanted to inject it and then have me put heat on it and an anti-infamitory cream.  He also wants to send me to a physical therapist to get some help. So he came in with a needle and went to inject me.  At the point I thought he was numbing it, he was done.  No pain from the needle!  By the time I got into my car, I was in less pain.  For the first time in a long time, driving my stick shift didn’t bother my hip.  My walk yesterday afternoon felt great and, though I wanted to “try it out” running, I didn’t.

My achilles does have a spur on it.  He said he could operate on it but that could end my running completely.  He said it looked fine and I think the PT will help me with that some also.  He just said to stretch well use ice.

Before I left, I asked him if there was any reason I couldn’t run immediately and he said no, I can run as soon as I want.  He did say not to run hard for a bit, so no workouts – darn! 🙂

Everything checks out.  I figure I’ll keep walking through the weekend and maybe start running slowly starting next week.

Enjoy your running weekend.  I’ll be right there with you soon!!!

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Good running news

Seems I’m fine after seeing the doctor today. X-rays showed nothing major and I can run without hurting myself.

I’m still going to go slowly and not run for a bit.

Details tomorrow.

Thanks for all the concern!!!

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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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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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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!

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My impromptu run

Yesterday’s walk with the dog turned out “different” than I had planned.

I hadn’t run for several days because of my SI joint.  So I decided to walk with the dog to have something to do while walking.  I’m sorry, but walking is boring.  I hate it.  But I have to keep the habit going of getting outside and exercising and when I can’t run, I walk.

After about a quarter mile I noticed I had forgotten my phone so I went back home and then decided to leave the dog home and head out by myself.  I was wearing an old pair of running shoes that I don’t use much anymore, but doesn’t have many miles on it.

I headed out the door and did an impromptu jog.  I slowly jogged up the road and on to my walking route.  I’m talking a jog about 2.5 minutes per mile slower than my normal pace.  I walked some and jogged some.  I thought to myself that this was like my mile 20 in my marathon pace wise.

I really didn’t hurt at all.  I had some stiffness in my SI joint, but it went away fairly quickly.

I ended up running/walking (mostly running) 3 miles.  Once again, it was slow.  Barely faster than a fast walk, but at least I RAN.

So I think I will try to run again today.  Not fast, but just a good easy run.  If I feel pain returning, I’ll stop and walk, but hopefully this pain is working its way out and I can begin my running again.

My plan is to take things slowly right now.  I do have a 10K in two weeks, but I may have to run it as a fun run, even though it is my first 10K race I’ve run.

Congratulations to all the marathoners from this weekend.  I’ve been really busy, but I will catch up on everyones blogs this week.

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Don’t mess with SI joint

No running again today.

Hopefully tomorrow. 🙂

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PureFlow running

I took the plunge.

Brooks PureFlow 2 - My new shoes

Brooks PureFlow 2 – My new shoes

These are the first pair of non-Saucony shoes I’ve owned.

Brooks PureFlow 2

TJ, RS and I went to the TrakShak in Birmingham yesterday evening to hear about training runs and events for the Mercedes Marathon in February 2014.  We’ve never really participated in group runs and training runs, so this is new.

While waiting for the event to start, I began trying on shoes.  TJ was a huge help as I have been one sided with Saucony and he has branched out a bit.  I really liked the Brooks PureFlow 2 as soon as I tried it on.  My foot is a little on the wider side and it had plenty of room.  It’s weight isn’t much more than the Saucony Fastwitch shoes I’ve been wearing for some time now and it definitely seems to have more support.

Hopefully this weekend I’ll be wearing them on at least one run.  I walked again yesterday because of my hip.  It is about 90% better, but I really want to give it the time it needs to heal so that I don’t have to interrupt my training for the Vulcan 10K coming up November 2.

The other great thing about the meeting last night was that there was a guy there who has run over 136 marathon and above races and has been running since the 70’s.  Here is his blog.  He is also a physical therapist, so I was able to ask him about my SI joint issues.  He was very helpful and recommended some easy stretches to loosen it up for running.  As with my Chiropractor, he said never stretch right before running.  He did say to stretch as much as I can throughout the day – thus I will.

I hope that things will start to settle down for me.  I really like to run and I am not one who likes to do many other physical activities.  I know that I should probably cross train and do other forms of workouts, but I am not an athlete.  I just want to run.  I don’t mind (but don’t really enjoy) running workouts.  They helped me get my first half done in 1:44 which I thought was great.  But for me running is simple.  Running is fun.  Running is what I want to do.  So that is what I do.

I’ll write about how I like the Brooks.  It really is about time for me to move beyond one brand of shoe.

Thanks for everyone’s ideas and support on my posts over the past few days.

I couldn’t do this without you all!!!

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Running maturity – UGH

Sometimes the hardest run is the one that never happens.

I decided not to run yesterday as my hip is not good at all.  I made it to the Chiropractor and that was helpful.  I’d say my pain went down by half after he adjusted me.  So I went home and decided to walk with a thought in the back of my mind that if I warmed up and felt well after a mile or two that I might go ahead and run a little.

That didn’t happen.

I was still in pain.  Someone at work said that it sounds like my SI joint.  It probably is now that I think about it. About 12 years ago I was in so much pain in that same joint that I couldn’t even walk.  So I guess I’ve aggravated it all over again.

Last night I put heat on it and took Ibuprofen.  That seemed to help.  I must say that today it still hurts, but not nearly as bad.  I just have to do the mature thing and not run until it is better.  Sometimes I hate maturity. 🙂

Tonight TJ and I are going to a meeting at a local running store to prepare for our half marathon in February.  This is the same race we ran last year, but we are interested in preparing with a running group.  We live about 35 minutes away, so it is hard sometimes to get out with people, but it is time to do what we have to in order to be able to run with a group.

That is it for today.  I am hoping to run this afternoon, but it is looking doubtful (that whole maturity thing again).  Either way I’ll write about it tomorrow.

I can’t wait for the weekend.  I hope I can run!

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39 years later, he will be a runner

I got this picture from an old friend of me at 11 years old.

Tom at 11

Tom at 11

As I looked at it, I stared into my own eyes and wonder what I was thinking at that moment.  Of course I was eating cake, so I must have been happy.  🙂

Anyway, if you had asked this boy what his life would be like in 39 years, I wonder what he would have said.  I know he would not have had any idea of the ups and downs he was about to encounter.  He probably would just laugh if you told him he would one day weigh 278 lbs.

2011

Tom at 278 lbs

How would that be possible?  Then tell him that less than 2 years later he would weigh 180 lbs and run his first marathon and I’m sure he would call you crazy.

Running my first marathon

Running my first marathon

There have been so many good things that have happened in my life.  I have wonderful kids and a Lovely Wife.  I have a great job.  I am thankful for everything I have and everything I can do at 50 years old.

39 years ago, I only hoped to have the life I have now.  Things aren’t perfect.  There are good times and bad.  There are ups and downs.

But if you took that 11 year old into a time machine and forwarded him to today, I think he would be pretty excited to have seen all he would see with those 11 year old eyes.

This make me thankful.