Back from the doctor

Well...that was interesting. Besides a few slightly embarrassing moments with a young 3rd year student who did the initial exam (before the doctor came in), the visit was as expected. Since I was "asymptomatic" today, it was hard to get a definitive diagnosis, but the doctor things I have a mild case of sciatica (basically what I determined...but I think it's an inflamed piriformis pinching my sciatica...whatever). He told me to lay-off the running (ummm, yeah) and if the pain returns, take an anti-inflammatory, call him and he'll schedule some PT.

They both looked at my back and hips, but the "real" doctor said if it was the result of a structural imbalance, I should have noticed it much earlier than now...like "several years ago". But, I don't agree...I wasn't running then and only recently have I upped the distance/intensity of my runs. So, I'm planning to go ahead on my own and schedule a biomechanical analysis (anybody have a ballpark guess for how much it will cost??).

Update

Well, the doctor's office phoned Monday around 9am, canceling my 2pm appointment. It's rescheduled for today around 1pm. I'm feeling a little unsure if I should even go...the hip/leg feel pretty decent (I still notice the tightness if I think about it), but like my husband says "it will probably flare-up again." So, off to the doc I go!

My frame of mind seems to be a bit better than my last post...I'm just finding myself pushing everything too hard. I took yesterday off from running and felt guilty all night...yet, I need to find a better balance. The last few weeks, I've been neglecting a lot of things in my life (housework, husband, etc.). Hopefully a few days away from CT (a trip back home to Montana) will re-charge and re-center my mind :-)

I did a slow 3+ mile run on Monday that went well. Tonight I have yoga and tomorrow looks like a 5.5 mile run (according to schedule). The weather is expected to cool-off tonight...thank goodness :-) And thanks again for all the kind words and encouragement.

Tomorrow is the *big* day (visit to doc)...and as expected, my hip/leg feels a bit better (I guess it's a little shy). It may have something to do with the things I've been trying to ease the tightness:

-I went for a 5mile run on Thursday and as I started my post-run stretches, I realized that I've been really, really pushing the streches. This time, I slowly eased into the stretch, allowing my muscles to relax. I've also been a little less aggressive with rolling out the hip with a tennis ball.

-My whole body has been really tight...getting out of bed has been very ungraceful. I decided a HOT bath would help loosen me up. Afterwards, I spent about 10minutes doing some gentle stretching of my legs/back...that really helped and I no longer hoble when I walk.

-Yesterday, I did a 10miler followed by stretching. Back home, I decided to take a COLD bath (crap that's not easy), hoping to relieve the beginnings of knee pain. Seemed to help, because I feel pretty good today. Though, walking around the mall for 4 HOURS, (unsuccessfully) trying to find something to wear to a friend's wedding, started to cause some discomfort.

During the long run yesterday, I dealt with A LOT of negative self-talk. I'm starting to lose focus of my running "goals" (to take my mind off the fact my job is unfulfilling, that my family is so far away, that I feel really isolated here). I have so much I want to say about the things that were going through my mind, but...they seem to personal to mention here. Maybe in time, I'll find the courage and comfort to ask for your input.

I hope you all had a very nice weekend...was anybody racing besides Doug?

After a lot of consideration (and procrastination), I finally went ahead and made an appointment with my doctor. I'll see him Monday afternoon and he'll hopefully get me in for physical therapy. I tried calling a group of Sports Medicine doctors yesterday, and after I explained that I was having hip "pain" from running, the receptionist explained that they "don't do hips"...huh? She gave me another number to call, but I didn't...I don't know why.

Last night I rode the recumbent bike for about 30 minutes...no problems. I lifted (light weights!)hamstrings, then quads and did a bit of stretching to finish out the night. The tightness creeped back during the evening and I went to bed feeling uncomfortable. This morning, I awoke feeling the same (it often clears-up overnight) and tried a few yoga postures that sometimes help. When I got to work, I was feeling so tight and uncomfortable...and pretty dejected. I sat in the ladies room crying for a bit, mostly out of frustration. At my desk, the tears started again, and a co-worker kindly asked if I was okay...I explained the problem and he mentioned his wife has had a lot of injuries from working-out. She simply started with her doctor and then went in for physical therapy. So, I picked-up the phone and called for an appointment.

Yesterday, I sent an email to a place that offers computerized biomechanical analysis. I know that I really should do this...I have scoliosis and my hips are different heights (dummy...of course you're going to end up in pain!). I guess I'll visit the doctor first, see what he recommends and then go from there.

Thanks for the suggestions and support....they really, really mean a lot to me :-)

I have a lot on my mind...but, not a lot of interest in writing. I guess I'll just do a list to get it down on paper (screen?):

1. My hip is irritating me (figuratively and literally). It doesn't bother me when I run, only in the few hours/2 days following a long run. It's not painful at all, just uncomfortable. I stretch-out pretty well (I think) after running and I roll around on a tennis ball at night when it gets really tight. I don't know if it's something I should be concerned about or just deal with...and I don't even know where to start looking for answers. A sports medicine doctor? A massage therapist?

2. I had a great time volunteering at the triathlon yesterday! While the weather was kind of gloomy, I was so inspired by the athletes. I worked hard enough to earn that free T-shirt, too! I got all the gear bags organized at T1 (I totally know the lingo now) and was there to hand it off to the competitors when they ran out of the water up a ginormous sandy hill to the transition area. Then, we quickly dismantled the whole area, reloaded the bags in the boat and headed back to the finish line. I jumped in to help pull chips from ankles as they crossed the line (with their bikes...the sequence was swin-run-bike). I chatted with a few volunteers during the event and headed home for a shower about 4 hours later. I mention the shower because it took me at least 20 minutes at the finish line to realize that the athletes weren't wet from the swimming, but were dripping with sweat...which landed on me as I squatted down to pull the timing chips :-)

3. Back to my hip...am I doing myself harm by trying to work through it? 10-15-20 years down the road, will I regret it? It's been like this since after the half in June. It bothers me Sat night, Sun, Mon and then I don't really notice it as much the rest of the week. Ugh...I wish it would just go away so I can quit obsessing about it (looking up stuff on the web, stretching it out, bugging my husband about it...all the time).

4. Humid, gloomy Mondays are not nice. They smell funny.

5. Don't ever drink "cooking wine"...even just a taste because your curious. Why do I even use cooking wine...it's vile stuff.

6. Hip again: I can make it "pop" sometimes; it doesn't hurt when I do it, but it makes it feel better. I worry about that, too.

7. Mileage since last post: Thur 4.7 mi; Sat 10.2mi; Mon 3.2mi

I stole this from Riona...cool idea for a race!

RBF Meeting

Well, I'm finally getting around to writing about the amazing time I had on Tuesday night. I was eagerly anticipating the day and kept watching the clock at work; I left at 3:15pm and was on the road by 3:30pm, giving me plenty of time for the trip down, even if traffic was tight. So far, so good...and then about 15 minutes into the trip, I hit a back-up of cars. I then remembered that there's a stop-light on Rt. 9...totally makes sense to bring cars to a screeching halt on a two-lane highway with a 65MPH speed-limit, right?! Anyways, I made it to Bluff Point about 30 min early. I changed in my car and decided to walk around a bit, feeling a little residual tightness from the race and previous day's run.

When I first saw Dianna get out of her vehicle, I knew it was her...the orange visor gave it away :-) We had a brief chat and then she headed-off to use the facilities. Next up was David and Susan...they pulled up and I gave them my best "Hi, I'm Sarah!" grin. Dianna returned and we chatted a little, but I was so excited to finally be meeting members of the RBF, I can't remember a word of what we talked about...well, except my remark on what type of product to use to remove "skunkiness" from dogs (nice comment, Sarah). We waited a bit longer, and after a few back and forth calls on the cell phone, Jank and his adorable son, Jake, arrived.

We started up the trail...and I kept worrying about how I was doing with the whole group-run-thing. Being my first time ever running with a group, I was concentrating on trying to avoid cutting people off, keeping a good, comfortable pace, chatting with my new buddies. Out the window went my focus on form, time, everything...honestly, I knew we were somewhere near water, but I don't know if I remember really seeing it :-) All in all, it was a wonderful run on a trail that I must visit again!

We finished-up the gathering over BBQ hamburgers/salads/chips. Thanks for sharing the food, guys :-) The night came to a finish much too early; I could have stayed and chatted for hours, but we all needed to get going. I drove back home, thinking about how truly easy the night was...it all seemed so natural, so comfortable to be with these "freshly-made" friends. I can hardly wait to meet up with them again :-) And I think there's more RBFers I'll get to meet in New Haven...yay!

I make my internet photo debut over on Susan's site...click here to see her pictures from the night!

Two tidbits of exciting news! (and lots of exclamation points)

Okay, I'm posting these in chronological order, not in order of importance! I can't decide which one is "awesomer" (translate: more awesome) than the other :-)

1) First off, today's race: I mentioned in my last post that my goal time was 37:30 (7:30 pace). I thought I could probably run faster, but given that I don't really know my training distances, I don't have a handle on my pace for those runs. So, 7:30 seemed like a good ballpark...plus, I've never raced 5 miles; only 3.1, 6.2, and 13.1.

So, official time?? 36:00. No joke?! That works out to a 7:12 pace! Holy, moly...I've been floating on the clouds since the race ended this morning :-) And, to top it off, I placed 2nd in my age group. The awards were pretty cool: I got a magnet! I'll list my splits below, because I don't want to delay reporting my next piece of information...are you ready?!

2) Tuesday night, I get to run with members of the RBF!! David, Dianna, Jank, and Susan!! I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas everytime I think about it :-) I'm excited (I mean, come on, who wouldn't be), nervous (I've never really run with other people/I'm a little shy/I may have to fight some nasty traffic), and thankful (that there are people out there who have the same passion as I do/that my husband is letting his young wife drive alone to another part of the state to meet 4 "strangers" from the Internet). So, you can look forward to a great post about the encounter :-) And then...it's only a few short weeks (8) until the New Haven Road Race!

Wow...sorry for the excessive use of punctuation in that post.

Approximate splits: I started ~2 feet from the start line, so I think my watch and the official clock were pretty close. I, of course, forgot to stop the watch at the finish line.
M1: 7:29
M2: 7:17
M3: 7:07
M4: 7:09
M5: 6:58!

I can't believe how quickly the week is flying by...it's almost Friday! I'm getting pretty excited for the race on Saturday morning; they changed it from a 5K/10K (last year's races) to a combined 5Miler. It is a completely unfamiliar race distance to me: I've run 2 5Ks, 1 10K and the half. I've given myself a goal time of 37:30 which averages out to a 7:30pace. That might be too much of a reach...I think my pace for the 10K was around 7:39, and I didn't feel so hot after that race. I just need to remember to go out a little slower than I want...that really helped in the half.

The weather has been decent the last few days, but we'll be getting the remnants of Cindy tomorrow night and on into Saturday morning. Hopefully the rain will taper off by 8am :-)

I ran a pretty decent 3 miles early Tuesday morning, went to my weekly yoga class last night, and will take today/tomorrow off as rest days. I think there's a few people racing this weekend (Jeff, Diana, Lara, Jack, etc.) so GOOD LUCK to all of you!

End of the long weekend

Hope everyone had a nice long weekend! And thanks for the responses to my last post...I enjoyed reading your comments, and have decided that I need to purchase more socks to avoid rewearing the TWO (!) pairs I own :-) I've also thought long and hard about a fall marathon...and I think I'll just stick to the half for this year. I have many years of running ahead of me (knock on wood)!

We had perfect weather in New England this weekend, so my run this morning was pretty decent. I had 4 miles for today on my modified schedule (included a small taper week for the 5M race this Saturday) and it went really well. Believe me, after Saturdays long run (75 minutes), I desperately needed a good one under my belt :-)

So, Saturday...it all began with "inadequate preparation" on Friday night. We had a BBQ at my husband's boss's house and I didn't eat nearly enough: only watermelon/pineapple, a small roll, a few bites of pasta salad, and a small cookie. I did drink enough water, so that was at least a plus for the night. Saturday morning I awoke and had my usual breakfast: cup of coffee and English muffin with peanut butter. Headed out about 1.5 hours later and felt okay for the first 20 minutes or so. I was trying a new route that I hadn't ever seen (only on a map) and assumed that certain roads would have sidewalks...wrong. They were busy, winding roads and I tried running up on the curb area, but quickly aborted that idea. I just turned around and went back to more familiar territory. Around 30 minutes into my run, I started to feel completely out of energy. I was frustrated with having to navigate back through some heavy traffic, up a few hills, the stupid side-stich I was fighting and I had a lot of negative things going through my head. At one point, I realized I was starting to cry...and just stopped dead in my tracks. I tried to rationalize with myself: I could just slowly jog back home (at least 30 more minutes) and try again tomorrow, or I could just keep moving and get in the full 75 minutes. Well, I sucked it up and just kept going. It wasn't pretty, but I got it done. Sunday was a rest day and today, well, it was a wonderful 4 miles. I guess I managed to salvage the weekend :-)

This afternoon we braved the potential traffic and headed south to Gillette Castle. It was a quick trip, but we still got out and enjoyed the sunny day. Again, I hope you all had a nice weekend...I'm off to start dinner, but will be checking my bloglines feed later tonight!