Walking

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Running blog spam

It was a cold and windy day…

Sounds like the beginning of a novel…

It was cold – for the South.  50 degrees and 20mph winds.  I made the choice to walk rather than run.  My lower back was a bit sore all day and I had to get up at 2:30AM, so I thought being that I haven’t run much lately, I wouldn’t take the chance of hurting myself again.

My walk went well.  3 miles and then home.  Other than being cold, there wasn’t much to it.  No dogs in strollers.  Just a nice walk.

On a totally unrelated note, I’ve been found by the spambots.  My comments have been getting spammed and rather than trying to keep up with marking them as spam, I decided to have to approve all comments.  Rather annoying, but I had no choice.

Have a good day.

Tom

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My life at mile 20

I was pretty sore after my run on Monday.  Actually I had pain shooting down the back of my hip all day Tuesday.  Probably not a good thing.

I went to the PT yesterday all ready for a good word on getting back to running.  My website address, 278toboston.com may need to be changed soon if I can’t move past this problem.  My hip problem actually stems back about 12 years ago.  I had such a bad problem, that I needed a handicap sticker to park my car.  I had to have my kids push me in a wheelchair through Walmart.  Not good.  I still don’t think I’d be this bad off now if I hadn’t run trails a month ago.  I had just run 9 days in a row and chose to run trails with TJ.  I just couldn’t pass up the offer.  I pounded those trails and haven’t been the same since.

Back to my PT appointment.  It never happened.  I got there and as soon as I walked in the door they said that with insurance it would cost me $200.  Okay. I exaggerate.  They said it would cost $187.87.  They were nice and said I didn’t need to pay it right then; I could wait until my next appointment.  I did appreciate that, but I don’t do debt or credit.  If I don’t have the money, I don’t spend the money.  Funny, but if they had called me to tell me the cost a week or so ago, I could have figured something out.  They will call me in a couple of weeks to reschedule.

So I walked out, got into my car and headed home.  I decided to walk my 3 mile route.  It was a nice walk.  My hip hurt through the first half and then felt better.

Where do I go from here.  I don’t know.  I imagine if I just stopped running for a few months or a year I would get back to the place where I could take it up again.  Knowing me though, after a year, I would be laying on the bed and eating my Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and weighing 280 lbs.

So the conundrum.  What should I do?

I guess I’ll keep running and walking and stretching and heating and icing.  Heck, YouTube is cheaper than $187.87 and I can find plenty of good stretches on there.

I guess this will be another chapter in my future book.  Maybe next year during NaNoWriMo.  I think I’ll start out comparing mile 20 of my last marathon to my life at this moment.  Sometimes all you can do is tell yourself to keep putting on foot in front of the other and not look back.

Hmmm. Might be an idea…

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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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Hangin’ and walking with The Dog

Got to sleep in today and got up and spent some time with the dog.

The Dog may go walking with me today.

The Dog may go walking with me today.

I’m about to go on my walk.  My hip still hurts a little.  I think I could run on it, but I am taking advice I received on this blog and taking some time off to let it heal.  The dog doesn’t walk well on a leash, but I may just take her with me for company.

Have a great Sunday!

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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!