injury

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It gets complicated when I can’t run

Relax!

That is what I kept telling myself yesterday as I ran.  Relax and run easy.

I hadn’t run since before the snow last week.  After getting home and realizing I injured my back by my antics at work (sleeping on the floor, walking in the ice, falling on the ice, etc), I had to hold off running.  That is not a good thing for me.

I think because I run  5 – 6 days a week, if I go a few days without running my emotions take a dive.  I don’t know if it is the lack of endorphins or just lack of sleeping well, but I become a monster emotionally.  Just angry with the world and everything in the world.

Sunday was another one of “those” days.  I just had to leave.  I went for a 2 hour walk and ended up in a park and sat for an hour.  Actually that seemed to help get me back a little.  It was a rough day and I could feel it from the moment I woke up.  One week without running makes one weak, if you ask me.

Monday I just didn’t feel like running.  My hip was bothering me.  I decided to take “the dog” out for a walk.  That was nice, but it bothered me that I didn’t want to run.  It isn’t like I love my runs, but I love the aftereffect.  The peace.  The satisfaction of finishing a run.

Finally, yesterday I ran.  I got in 4.25 miles under a 9:00 pace.  I feel better.  I like that feeling after I run of my lungs breathing in full and easy.  I like the peace I feel and the fact that after two years, a run still finishes my day.

So I guess I am back again to my running days.  This crazy weather has been playing havoc with my hip, but I just relax and run easy and that helps (going back to how I started this post).

Relax.  Enjoy.  Run.  Be happy.

Sometimes I make life too complicated.

Tom

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Running Back

Well my back is better, thank God for that!  The last time I had the same issue it took months to get over.

I haven’t tried to run yet, but did walk 5 miles yesterday and had no problems sleeping last night (which is when my back is at its worse).

So I plan on running today, Lord willing.

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers.  It was a rough week last week.  This is a new day, week, month.

I am thankful.

Tom

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My pain in the back (literally)

I finally got into my bed Friday night after two days on the floor in the office due to the snow. It felt great!!!

However…

I awoke with an old familiar pain. As I rolled over in the middle if the night, I had such a sharp pain in my back that I woke myself with a moan. Okay, maybe between a moan and a small scream. This happened throughout the night.

3 years ago when I weighed almost 300lbs, I injured my back while taking bags out if a hotel. It mimicked heart pain, so I spent a day in the hospital while they cleared me of a heart attack. Later this pain got so bad I had to live in a recliner for weeks and move as little as possible.

It is muscular and in my right middle back. It isn’t nearly as bad as it was 3 years ago, but I also weigh 100lbs less.

I went to the doctor yesterday and got Meds for pain and muscle relaxers. I can walk okay with just a small jab here and there, but rolling over in bed wakes me up.

So sadly I have an injury that isn’t from running, but will prevent me from running. I hope taking off a few days and not doing too much will get me out of this.

Last time this happened I was in so much pain I had to get an MRI. It found that I have 3 disks bulging in my neck (this was from a childhood accident), but nothing wrong with my back. I asked a good friend to ask people to pray for me and the day after the MRI I woke up fine.

Anyway I have a lot to do but don’t want to overdue it.

I still wouldn’t have changed a thing about all that I did during the storm. I just hope this clears up soon. I just signed TJ and myself up for a half marathon in April!!!

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One year of writing a running blog

Today is my 1 year anniversary of writing this blog.

Okay, that deserves a picture!

Happy Anniversary To Me

Happy Anniversary To Me

It has been a crazy year.  When I started this blog, I had only run 5Ks and was preparing for my first half marathon.  I also had lost about 85 lbs and would loose another 15 (10 of which I gained back over Christmas.)

Since then, I ran my half marathon in 1:44, my marathon in 4:15 and PRed a 5K in 21:48.

I got hurt.  I thought I hurt my achilles, but actually it ended up being a heel spur.  I also jammed my hip during my marathon training and am still getting past it all.

I trained for my marathon in the hot Alabama Summer.  Nothing like getting up at 4:00 AM, working until 2:00, going to the Chiropractor till 4:00 and then trying to run in 100+ degree heat.

I missed qualifying for Boston by 45 minutes.  Still not a bad first marathon.  I had wonderful participation on my blog during my marathon as I ran and my brother kept people up on my progress.  TJ missed qualifying for Boston my 3 minutes – I was very proud of him.

Also a year of my Lovely Wife supporting me and putting up with me being out running 1-3 hours a day!!!  Thank you Lovely Wife! I honestly couldn’t do this without you!

So here I am.  One year to the day of starting my blog.  This is my 322nd entry.

Thank you to all of you who follow and encourage me on my journey.  It has been a heck of a ride so far.  I am not giving up on my goal of Boston.  I am going to do it.  I will continue until I make it and then… maybe start ultras?

One year down, another on the way.

God bless you all.

Tom

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Running miles finally increasing

Another coooold run yesterday.  Not as bad as the day before.  I guess it was about 25 with a wind chill of about 17. The heat wave is coming though.  Saturday will be a high of 62!!!  Maybe the 5K Saturday morning will actually be fun!  I got in almost 4 miles yesterday which brings me up to 26 miles for the month at a 10:00 pace.  It is somewhat sad to me that I can’t run faster, but I am afraid my hip isn’t quite there yet.  Better slow and steady than walking!

I’m about through with my Nike app.  It isn’t recording my mileage correctly.  I have been at 2104 miles total for about 2 weeks. I tried to write support and they sent me to twitter.  I will keep using it because I enjoy my friends that are on it, but it needs some serious help

Have an awesome day and stay warm!

Tom

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I’m happy

2 days left.

2 days until I can run again… hopefully.

What bad timing.  Not running during Christmas where there is food everywhere.  At my work, rather than a Christmas lunch, we decided to have 2 people bring in some type of food each day for 2 weeks.  So there has been real food and dips; doughnuts and candy; just about any type of food every day for 14 days.

Therefore my weight went up more than it has been.  Fortunately (sort of)  I had a nauseous headache yesterday and couldn’t stomach the food that was brought.  I also couldn’t walk after I got home because I just felt awful.  I went to bed, eat some soup and went to sleep early.  I did wake up at 2:30, but still got 8 hours of sleep.

I haven’t been too inspired to write this blog lately.  I guess it is a combination of not running, not wanting to complain about not running and just the time of year.

Finishing the marathon

Finishing the marathon

I was thinking back to my marathon in September today though.  It was so hard and yet so rewarding.  I can’t believe I was able to run 26.2 miles after only running for 19 months.  Now, if I get to 4 miles I’m elated.

Life is good though.  I have good kids, a lovely wife and a great home.

I can’t ask for much more than that.

2 days left.

I’m happy.

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Random thoughts about running, and taking a week off

It has been hard to keep positive about my running lately with all my physical issues.  One way I do is thinking about the feature length movie that will chronicle my journey from obesity to Boston. 🙂  Hmmm, that might be a good name for it to, “From Obesity to Boston – one man’s journey through massive suffering and how he overcame!”

Alright, seriously.  I must confess that as I run and my hip hurts and I just want to be done with this running thing, I do think about what it would feel like to reach my goal.  That keeps me going.

That said, I’m taking a week off of most exercise just to get past this.  I may take longer, but I do feel close to being over this “pain in the hip”.

Maybe while I take this week off I’ll start my screenplay.  Maybe I’ll start my book.  Maybe I’ll just sit and watch reality shows.  Maybe my life is a reality show that I don’t even know is being filmed.  Maybe all life it just the matrix and we are in the middle of a computer simulation.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/universe-hologram-physicists_n_4428359.html.

Ultimately we all try to find significance in life because sometimes the world feels like it just randomly spins.  I’m glad I have my faith and it was given to me in a way that cannot be taken.  Running, walking, doing nothing, I know in whom I believe and if it weren’t for that, I’d be gone long before now.

LIFE is Good.

See you in a week.

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3 mile run – still not fully back yet

I ran yesterday for the first time since December 1.  It was a good run, but sadly not pain free.

I know I probably shouldn’t have run, but I was feeling well all day and so I just went for it.  Really the run wasn’t too bad.  I didn’t run fast and I stopped to walk a little when I needed to.

3 miles in 28:31.  Not bad.

I will probably walk today and see how I am doing tomorrow for a run.

It is killing me to miss running in the winter.  I really enjoy the cool weather and since we have avoided all ice and snow, it has been a good season so far for running.

Life is good and I’m not complaining.  Getting in 3 miles is awesome for me at this point.

Have a great day!

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Run/walk/Boston/Hip/Mercedes post

Well this is the longest pause I’ve taken from my blog since last January.  I guess since the running hasn’t been happening and the holiday weekend was very busy and I only walked once…  I just had little to say.

About running.  I tried yesterday and my hip didn’t cooperate.  I got about 3/4 of a mile in before I had to walk.  As I ran I knew I felt stiff and pushing it wouldn’t be good, especially since it didn’t loosen up as I ran.  I blame myself for this.  I was just too busy to stretch and do the things I needed to do to recover from the 5K I ran a week ago.  I really wasn’t at 100% to run the 5K, but I wouldn’t have done it any different.  It was so much fun to see TJ win and me do well also.  Now I’m still paying for it.  That is fine though.  I am not complaining.  I’m thankful I can do what I can at this point.

It seems the Boston dream drifts further and further away.  I guess that is why I put that in my blog’s title, so that I would keep that as a goal.  I have to keep reminding myself that I have only been running for 20 months and have come a long way.  It is amazing what the human body can do when it is pushed.

Anyway, sorry to ramble.  I have started taking my meds for my hip again and doing my exercises.  Hopefully I’ll be back running my 3 -4 mile route soon.  I really want to run the Mercedes 1/2 marathon in February.  I ran it with TJ and RS last year and it was my favorite race of any I have run.  Lots of fun and finishing at 1:44 was a thrill.  I want to get better soon so that I can make it again this year.

I do know I’ll get better in time.  I learned a lot from my last time out for injury.  I just need to be patient and not push myself and hurt myself more.  That is hard, but easier this time than last.  I guess we learn wisdom with our experiences sometimes!

Today will more than likely be another walk as my hip hurts even as I write this.  Hopefully I’ll be better by the end of the week.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving / weekend / life!

Tom

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Post 5K scare

So after our extremely successful 5K on Sunday, I had a bit of a scare.

My hip was doing fine and my SI joint was a little sore as expected after running as hard as I did.

In the afternoon during the football game I went outside to give to dog some exercise.  I really didn’t run, but trotted along to get him going.  After a couple of steps my left leg collapsed beneath me.  Literally I fell to the ground as if my leg wasn’t there.  Hmm… that can’t be a good sign.

Since then my leg has improved greatly.  I used the heating pad all day Monday and took anti-inflamitories.  I also rested and haven’t run or walked (for exersise) since Sunday’s race.  Yesterday I almost couldn’t drive to work because I use a stick shift and pushing in the clutch was painful.  Also at work as I got up from sitting, I would be in a lot of pain for about 15 seconds and then it went away slowly.

Today I feel about 80% better.  No problem using the clutch and getting up doesn’t hurt.  So, I think for the most part running that race didn’t set me back too much which is good.  I am still doing my stretches and using anti-inflamatoires to keep things settled down.

Don’t worry.  I am not running.  I will not run today and I’ll see how I do over the holiday weekend.

One thing I learned from my last 6 week pause from running because of my hip is… Doing too much too soon, is not a good idea.

To be brutally honest, as I was in the middle of my 5K, I thought to myself…  I am running this race to the best of my ability.  I am not going to be stupid, but as long as my body cooperates, I will finish the race and run as hard as I can!!!

Once I get back to normal, I will begin building a base for our half in February.

It is cold in the South today (37 as a high) and very windy.  Today might be a good day to take off and rest… I’m glad it isn’t 70 and sunny!

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My first post injury run

I ran yesterday.

My first run since the first week of October.

First of all, it was a good run.  I ran my 5K route I created while walking for the past few weeks.  The thing I like about this route is that there are no sharp turn arounds or Cul-de-sacs to run around.

The run went well overall – I ran in my Brooks PureFlow’s for the first time.  I like them.  They seem to be the right weight and good support.  I think these might become my go-to shoes.

On to my run.

First I had little twinges of hip pain throughout.  I didn’t try to push myself.  I just ran.  I did take my phone so I could see how I did after I finished.  My achilles/heel spur didn’t act up.  It was a little sore in the beginning, but that went away and I really had no more problems.

I ran my 5K route in 26:53 which is pretty good for an old man who has only run 30 miles in the past couple of months.  I was pleased when I looked at my time.  I wondered if I should have gone slower, but I just ran what felt comfortable and sometimes when I go too slow, I actually end up in more pain.

So all in all it was a good inaugural run… until this morning that is.  I woke up and my hip was hurting.  The good thing is it wasn’t where I got the injection, but I think it is still in my SI joint area.  I stretched before and after, but I did have things to do yesterday after my run, so I may not have stretched enough and I forgot to heat and ice… Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Today I am supposed to go to my first PT appt, but I am probably going to have to cancel.  My Lovely Wife woke up with a raging migraine and I will probably need to take her to the doctor this morning which means I’ll need to work late.  Oh well, maybe I’ll be able to reschedule for later in the week.

This roller coaster I am on needs to seriously stop.  I enjoyed my run and that was my goal.  I just need to find my rhythm in running again.  Not overthink it and not push it.  Just run.

I’m sure Ibuprofen will help with my pains and I’ll continue to stretch during the day.  Obviously there will be no running today, even if I felt better.  There just won’t be enough time.

Until next time (whenever that is).

Tom