Since my last post, a few things have happened. First, I took off an entire week of running. 10 days to be exact. Second, I reached my fundraising goal of $1800, and then some! Even those last minute donations help to fight for a cure. And third is the big one: my leg status.
After freaking out a bit, and wearing an ankle brace, tape, and several different types of bandages, I found that the key to me feeling better in the morning was elevating my feet in the evening (against all of my temptations to be up working around the house and shopping for the wedding). I called my doctor early the next day and she was so smug about the whole thing that I just wanted to punch her! But, I am sort of over that now. You can't be angry forever, because you are only hurting yourself.
Anyway, I told her about my pain and she was basically like, oh it's fine. I am NOT going back to her again.
So, for the week of May 25th-29th, I resisted all of my inner demons that said not being productive is bad for you and I rested my leg. I used medical tape around my leg to keep on the ice packs, and stuck like 4 pillows under it while I went about my merry way. Well, I didn't WENT exactly. More like SAT.
The leg hurt on Monday and Tuesday, but it wasn't like a sharp pain. It was more like a tightness that needed to be stretched. So, I kept icing/elevating/resting and wearing braces/tape as much as I could. Eventually, by Thursday, it started feeling more normal during the day. It was only in the evenings that I noticed any tension again. It was particularly bad when I went to bed and laid down. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to sleep comfortably. By Saturday, it felt more like a tight muscle that was just over worked than an injury.
That Saturday morning was the last practice with the Maryland teams for training and everyone was doing 6 miles. Aunt Janet was told by her physical therapist not to run so she decided to try walking some of it. I thought it would be nice to do that with her, so we did a 4 mile speed walk together. It was not as rewarding as getting the good running buzz...but I still felt that my heart rate was elevated, and I was very sweaty at the finish. Afterwards, we went to the Under Armour outlet together (I think we have a problem staying away from that place), and I found some really cheap heat gear shirts and some pants for Alec.
<<Side story: Alec has this pair of UA pants that we found at Marshall's for like $49.99 when we were in Boston last summer. When I walked over to look at the men's rack in the outlet, the first thing that I saw were those pants. You may think that it is silly to have 2 pairs of the same pants...but when your significant other decides to paint the front door in his pants, sometimes it is necessary to have a second pair that are a little more presentable.>>
On Saturday evening, I prepared for our Memorial Day/race/engagement celebration BBQ. We haven't really had any groups of friends over since we moved in two years ago, so it was very overdue. I ended up doing a lot of shopping, cleaning, cooking, and dog stuff (we were watching my parents pup) that day, and when it came time to go to bed, I realized that I definitely overdid it on my feet. I had to lay with my feet up for a long time!! Lesson learned. On Sunday, even though I had church in the a.m. and the BBQ, I made it a point to take breaks and sit down because I had every intention of going for a run on Monday morning. I also realized on Sunday morning that at some point, I broke my third toe. It might have even been part of the cause for all of the tightness in my right leg. It's hard to tell. So that has been taped up for about 4 days now.
Oh yeah...about that Monday run...it was hot...and humid...and I couldn't breath....and it was only 3.5 miles. Up until that run, I figured that taking a week off wouldn't be too long to maintain my breath. On Monday I found out that the real truth is that unless you are going every week, your breath disappears very quickly. I waited until it was about 84 degrees outside, because I didn't want to go out in the bad heat and it ended up being 9pm. I did a warm up run/walk and then stretched for a few minutes. I made sure to drink a ton of water for the heat, but I'm telling you I still needed a lot to replace what I had lost when I got home. I kept an 11.2 min/mile pace, which is about 29 seconds slower than I had been doing before. But, I am trying to focus on the fact that it could have been much worse. During the run, I didn't feel any tightness or pain in my right leg and afterwards I put ice on it immediately. I also taped it up with K tape before and after. I have kept tape on it all week and I can feel a BIG difference in that leg.
When I took the ice off, I started to feel the muscle contracting, so in order to get comfortable before sleep, I had to wrap it up to keep it warm. That was when I realized that my muscle had somehow become the place that I was having issues and not the tendon. So, on Tuesday I used a heating pad before I ran to stretch it out while it was warm, and then I taped. I ended up doing 1.5 miles and then a bunch of weight lifting, because I don't want to push it too much this week. On Tuesday evening, I used the heating pad again and it felt much better.
This morning, I did 2.25 miles on the treadmill (I used to be a treadmill person, but I'm sort of falling out of love with it. I really only like it for speed training now, and intervals) and I felt minimal tightness and a little twitching when I was done. Afterwards, I went to the pool (we have a pool membership at the Hilton outdoor pool through our gym) and did some laps. That felt GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I even wore a bathing suit from high school that turned out to be a bit too big for me now. I think I will go for another swim tomorrow morning.
On Friday, we are heading down to race events in the late morning. My plan right now is to do 1 or 2 miles and some resistance training early in the morning (it has been my routine through all of the training and I don't want to change it), and then head down to VA with Alec and Aunt Janet. I am getting nervous about the big day, and I still feel like it is very up in the air. At this point, I don't think I will know what my plan is until that morning when I am getting ready to run. And it may even be something that changed mid-course. I have said to my self that there are certain guidelines that I will follow in determining what my best route will be. The first and most important is that I CANNOT get injured. So, if I feel any pain whatsoever, I will stop running to walk. Also, I need to be over-hydrating on Friday because dehydration leads to muscle problems and that is the last thing that I want. And last, I will be patient with my body and listen to it with the intention of having many more years of racing to come. Because, even if I can't run this entire half-marathon, there is always tomorrow.
Race day essentials list for Sara:
-Gu/Clif Shot/Shot Block/Stingers -->haven't narrowed this down yet because I like them all!
-Water belt
-Suncreen applied before dressing and just before race
-Reflective running hat
-Either my NB or UA pants depending on the heat/humidity
-Race tank top
-Sports bra
-Body Glide anti-chaf stick
-Deodorant
-Compression Socks
-Shoes with fresh coat of Shoe Goo on them
-SPF lip balm
-Oatmeal
-Egg whites
-Banana
-Lucky running underwear (no explanation needed)
-No slip hair elastic
-Cover-up (This seems to give a little extra shield against sun. I notice a diff in my freckles if I don't have it).
-Phone
-Wrist bands for all events
-Extra clothes/Sunglasses/Camera for post-race
-K Tape/RockTape preferably applied when first waking up.
-Smiling face! :)
The next time you hear from me, it will be post-race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you all for reading.
XO
