Find what's broke and fix it...

Hello everyone!!!

I hope that you're all enjoying your Merry Merry Christmas and other assorted holidays! Oh, and I also hope that you're enjoying running in the COLD. That's the one good thing I'll take away from the fact that I'm in physical therapy and am not allowed to run - I don't have to go outside in the dark and cold at 6am to train.

I've been hitting the strengthening exercises that the PT has recommended with great consistency and care. I've never *really* paid this much attention to my form before, so seeing how my body actually works has both perplexed and amazed me. I'm amazed at the strength I have in places I never bothered to consider (I can do split squats like a BOSS!) as well as the lack of control in every day types of movements that I'll need to improve in order to fix my gait. Have you ever jumped forward and landed on one foot? Try not to lose your balance, land squarely, don't tip over in any direction, don't drop your hip, don't let your knee tip inwards, don't rotate your hips, engage your "glute med" (apparently this muscle is my weak spot). Then do it over and over and over. I've been practicing one foot landings now more times a day than I can count. I am worried that I won't be able to "retrain" my brain out of its old kinetic patterns and into new, more running friendly, ones. My worries drive me to try that much harder.


My husband gave me my Christmas presents today (because he can never wait until Christmas, haha). It was a gift box from P3R that included a long sleeve Pittsburgh Marathon "In Training" shirt as well as some other assorted running goodies. He also got me a silver bracelet engraved with "She believed she could so she did" - he knows I'm starting to doubt myself.

I got to run on the treadmill briefly last week for the physical therapists to video tape me for analysis. Here's some of my issues in picture form:

Over-striding:

Excessive hip drop, cross over, and general large buttock-ness (I had to!)

She said I may be running with a metronome or even running while watching video of myself in real-time to correct mechanical issues. Sign me up! Like now...

The scale is creeping up. It's been almost two whole months since I went for a run. With my PT exercises, I don't have time to do my Beachbody so I constantly feel under-exercised. I'm starting to wonder why I'm doing this. However at the same time, I realize that I'm too far into it to quit now!

PITTSBURGH HALF - I'M STILL COMING FOR YOU!!!

(and then maybe Buffalo Creek....)

A light at the end of the PT tunnel

I got on a treadmill today!

I walked 4 mintues and ran one minute. Repeat once. Then more Graston. The bruising is almost gone, but I think he gave me some more today. Haven't looked yet, haha.

My PT routine has lengthened itself into a full fledged work out. I don't have time for Beachbody stuff on most days anymore. Bridges and clamshells with a resistance band, side stepping with a resistance band, ankle inversions with resistance, gastroc stretching, front step downs, side step downs, squats, single leg squats, roman dead lifts, jump and hold, Y-balance... I probably forgot something. I made them write me a list, haha. I add a couple sets of pull ups, various push ups, chin ups, and a couple rounds of ab work and I'm finishing up a 40 minute work out session. Unfortunately it's low intensity so I feel like I'm losing conditioning because I can't get to the gym as often as I'd like to cycle/swim or even do something like Core de Force or T25 at home.

But despite all that - I got on a treadmill today and I RAN :) so I can go to bed happy!

Turkey Trot Flop

So if my first 5k was a raving success, my second was a complete and utter loss.

We had been planning to run one of the local 5k options on Thanksgiving morning, hopefully with friends. As my medical issues became more well-defined, it became clear that I would not be running. So I chose a small race close to home that had a lower registration cost. Initially I wasn't going to register at all but the swag bag for the price was difficult to pass up. We decided to take the kids, since they were allowed to run for free with us. We also brought one of our "kids" from our church family, Brianna, who had never run a race before. She was running to win, so when the gun went off, so did she. Our first plan was for Joe to handle Cami and I brought the stroller to walk Brady once he got tuckered. Brady made it an astounding block and a half before he requested access to his wheeled ride. Cami made it a bit farther - maybe 3 blocks before she blew a tire (her shoe flew off) and she toppled to the ground. Funny enough, Brady and I were right behind her. In his best "Hey Duggie" bunny voice, Brady shouted, "OH MAAAAAN!" as Cami hit the ground. Once it was confirmed that Cami was not injured, everyone around us laughed at B's little comment.

It was pretty much all downhill from there. Joe took off to get a good time, and I continued strolling along with the kids. In the beginning they were fine, but at around 3/4 of a mile, Cami started to complain. Her legs hurt, her feet hurt, she was cold. Brady complained continuously that he was cold and I didn't doubt him. I wrapped him up in blankets and even my own coat! We fell farther back in the pack as we slowed down. Then I got cold because I had given up my coat and my son was still crying (literally - crying) because he was "freezing". At the one mile mark, we were the last people. The good folks working the race asked me if I was "in the race" or just "out for a walk". I laughed and said, "Well I started out as the first but I'm definitely finishing as the latter." At the 1.5 mile mark, we were at the middle of the race course, which was circular. This meant that the finish line was one block to my right. Frustrated and defeated, and feeling kind of dumb for even trying to go 3 miles with two children so small, I admitted defeat and turned right. We walked up the little hill to the finish line just in time to see Joe sprinting for home with Brianna coaching him on. She had finished and came back for him. Joe walked Cami across the finish line and I went to start my car's heater because we really were quite cold, despite all of our layers. Walking 3 miles in the cold is a far different reality than running it. I suppose sitting in a stroller is even worse, because Brady was absolutely freezing.

We stopped at Sheetz for a victory breakfast and then went about the rest of our Thanksgiving day as per usual. We were home by 10:30am and the kids even got to see a bit of the big parade on TV.

In hindsight, I'm not surprised that I couldn't get the kids all the way through the race. I, myself, was feeling quite fine physically. It's probably good that the kids were there to shorten my walk, as the urge to run was intense. My shins no longer hurt (at this point I hadn't run a step in almost 3 weeks), but I'm still not medically cleared to run yet. I probably would have done more damage to myself if I had run. What fun is a post without pictures???

Brady in the blue coat and yellow Pikachu hat at the starting line. I'm following behind with his stroller:

Cami and Daddy on the far left at the starting line:

After we gave up - now we are just out for a stroll. Brady decided he HAD TO HAVE A PILE OF LEAVES. So Sissy gave him one ❤

I've started physical therapy and things are going well. The physical therapist's plan for me sounds fun and challenging. He identified some mechanical issues and weaknesses that he says are predisposing me to the shin splints. The shin pain is caused by my poor running mechanics. I'm doing exercises to address these issues. You see, no one has ever "taught" me how to run - or do anything athletic besides Kung Fu for that matter. The exercises have progressed from something I could do in 5 minutes up to a full 30 minute work out session. This morning I added a few sets of pull ups, push ups, and some ab work and called it a complete work out for the day. The Graston treatments are kind of like torture, but with each passing visit they are less painful. The bruising, however, is EPIC:

I'm looking forward to what the future brings - we can only improve upon my Thanksgiving 5k Flop 😁