D(iagnosis) Day

I was off to the physio this morning. Not the most comfortable trip in the car. Given where the injury is, sitting can be troublesome.

I was seeing a new physio today. As we’ve not met before the conversation went something like this:

“So what seems to be the problem?”
“I’ve hurt my hamstring. I’m worried I might’ve torn it up high, in the tendon attachment” she says.
“I see you were last here in January?”
“Problems with the hip” she says.
“Uh huh. Have you had other problems with the left hip or hamstring in the past?”
“Torn hip cartilage in 2009 which required surgery” she says.
“Uh huh. Other past problems.”
Omg she thinks – does he want to know everything?
I’ll stick to the biggies, she thinks, otherwise we’re going to be here for hours.
“Partial tear in the right hamstring in 2011 requiring cortisone and a treatment involving ultrasound and a big needle;
Surgery in 2004 to remove inflamed portion of ITB and the bursa;
Plantar fasciitis requiring orthotics…” she says.

“And you still run?!” I’m hoping this was his attempt at humour.

After conducting several tests to determine the extent of the damage, the diagnosis is that of micro-tears in the attachment. Unfortunately, as I know only too well, this is the worst place to have a tear as the area has a poor blood supply and it takes forever for an injury to heal. You need a good blood supply for healthy and speedy healing.

So for the moment, until the swelling and inflammation settles down, I have to rest. Not much I can do anyway, it’s too sore. I do have one exercise to do – knee raises from a sitting or lying position. Thats it. Not quite a Mish workout! Next week I’ll start swimming using a pull buoy and he’ll give me some more exercises. The New York marathon in November is my goal – I have to be ready by then.

Now why is it that I’m so hungry when I’m not doing anything? This afternoon and evening I have been starving. I’m clock watching from meal to meal. I’ve had to employ my secret weapon frequently just to get through the day without raiding inhaling the contents of the pantry. Thank god there is no block of chocolate lurking in there!

Just smile

It was definitely wishful thinking on my part to hope that the hamstring injury was just a bad dream and that everything would be fine this morning. Last night put paid to that misguided theory. I had a terrible night. I didn’t realise an injury could be so bloody painful. It hurt to move, to lie down, sit, walk, bend over, stand up….

And it’s been the same today. Unfortunately I couldn’t get in to see a physio today. Tomorrow morning is the earliest I could get and with a physio I’ve not seen before. I was on the standby list today in case someone cancelled but no such luck.

So today was spent alternating between feeling sorry for myself and trying to be positive. Day 3 of 12WBT and I can’t exercise! Great start! Makes me wonder what else I might achieve over the 12 weeks. But then in my inbox popped up a post from zenhabits that put everything in perspective. There are worse things than a hammy tear. I particularly like the following:

“What do you have to smile about in this moment?

Some ideas:

You have someone in your life who cares about you.
There is beauty all around you, in many forms.
You are generous, compassionate, and good-hearted.
You have someone you can help.
You have eaten today.
You can move.
You can see the sun shining.
You can appreciate the leaves of a tree, rain falling, wind blowing.
You can taste chocolate.
You get to spend time with someone you love.
You have music in your life.
You get to create something.”

So tomorrow I hope to get a plan for dealing with my injury and an idea of what exercise I can and can’t do. So I might not be able to run in the short term but there are other things I can do. And as I’m not exercising at the moment I have to be ultra diligent with my food. As Michelle says, weight loss is 20% exercise and 80% diet, or words to that effect.

It was also weigh in day. I’m 300g lighter

A tale of two posts

Amazing how things can change in a day, in fact in less than 12 hours. So what follows are “before” and “after” posts.

Post 1: Getting my s*** together

6.05am: weights session + abs
Time: 54.28min
AHR: 104; MHR: 221 (HRM is playing up)
Cals: 132

I didn’t need an alarm clock this morning. Around 4am I stretched out my left leg and…*wham*…cramp attack! Holy crap, that’s a horrible way to be woken. It is the most painful thing – the intense cramping pain that just seems to go on and on and on.

However I didn’t get up at that hour – even I draw the line there. That is just way too early. Instead after a fortifying coffee brought in by Mr CJ before he headed off to work, I eventually got up around 5.35am. Plenty of time, she says. The gym doesn’t open until 6am, she says. Except I couldn’t find my weight gloves. No worries, cycle gloves will do. Membership card? I know it’s around here somewhere as I rummage through my gym bag. HRM? I only wore it yesterday so it must be here…or in the bathroom…or spare room…or??!! Shower stuff? I am having a shower at the gym after my session. @#$%^! Why didn’t I pack last night?

Mad dash to the car, throw bags in, start the engine, switch on the wipers. S…c…r…a…p…e. S…c…r…a…p…e. @#$%^! I need to scrape off the ice. Dash back indoors for a jug of warm water to pour over windscreen.

In the gym car park. I’m only a few minutes late. Halfway across the car park to the front doors and I realise I am missing my gym bag. It’s still in the car. Backtrack to collect it.

It’s been around 6 months since I’ve set foot in the gym. But it may as well have been 6 years. I had no routine however I did have my workout session plan. I spotted a few familiar faces. What really surprised me was how quiet it was.

Machines had been moved around so I spent some time searching for both the leg extension and hamstring curl machines. I am starting on the lightest weights as I really do want to be able to move tomorrow. On some machines this was okay – the lat pulldown and chest press weights could probably be increased next time but I had to keep checking the weight on the shoulder press machine. Damn, I was convinced it was heavier than…10kg! Actually even the leg extension and hamstring curl machine weights felt a lot heavier than what they actually were – and they were on the lightest setting. Oh well, can’t go setting the benchmark too high too early!

Nearing the end of the workout my tummy rumbles were becoming rather audible. I was starving! I needed input! However there was still the 5 min final blast, ab exercises and shower before I could even think about having breakfast.

Then before leaving for work I had to pack my running bag for the SG session at Dickson oval. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, it’s a double whammy today – weights in the morning and running after work. Thursday will be the same. Awesome.

Food-wise I have no complaints except I can’t randomly pick at food when bored, tired, stressed, while preparing meals, whenever. This is one of my worst habits and the hardest to break. However so far, so good. Breakfast this morning was Bircher muesli and it was both delicious and filling. Bonus! Lunch was chicken noodle soup, very fitting for this chilly weather.

And I really love the 12WBT app on my phone – it includes a food diary, plus it has my weekly program (food and exercise) if I need to refer to it eg when at the gym trying to figure out how exactly I’m supposed to do a certain exercise without looking a complete dunce.

The take home message for me today? Pack my gear the night before!

Post 2: I cried

5.31pm: SG session at Dickson oval
Distance: 5.2km
Pace: 6.42min/km
Cals: 306

I went to the SG session at Dickson oval after work. It had been a chilly day and certainly hadn’t got any warmer as the day wore on. So it was on with layers, tights and gloves for tonight’s session. I was feeling hungry and tired as my last meal was lunchtime. Work conspired against me to ensure I never got around to having afternoon tea (which I might add is highly unusual for me). I had a nagging headache that just wouldn’t go away.

After a warm up we did 2 x 10min continuous 100m intervals, with half of us up one end and the other half of the group down the other end, with each runner handing over a baton after running the 100m.

It was the final 100m. And then it happened. About 10m before the end of the run I felt that horrible popping sensation at the very top of my L hamstring, similar to what I felt 2 years ago when I tore my R hamstring. #%^*+! I couldn’t run after that as it hurt to put weight on that leg.
It hurts when I sit.
It hurts when I bend over.
It just plain hurts.
And driving home I cried. Tears of frustration because its like, here we go again.
If I’d had a block of chocolate in the house I would’ve devoured it. Not that it would’ve helped nor would it have made me feel better.

#1120 for Canberra #9

Guess what arrived in the mail today!

Now to get to marathon day without injury or other mishap. Canberra #9 has been my hoodoo.

The last time I ran Canberra marathon was in 2009. Then later that year I had surgery to repair torn hip cartilage. This meant I couldn’t run the marathon in 2010. Then in 2011, 3 weeks out from the marathon I tore my right hamstring – no marathon. Followed by a long, slow recovery with the threat of surgery hanging over me which meant that I couldn’t run the marathon in 2012 ie last year.

So can I make it to the start line in 2013? Stay tuned….

Who would’ve thought?

Swimming is going great this week. Amazing what you can do when you’re not tired from the rest of your training In fact, I would go as far to say that I have really enjoyed swimming this week and…..drum roll…..I actually enjoyed swimming with the pull buoy this morning! Omg, did I really say that?! Go figure! But its true – I felt fast (for me) and strong and actually glided through the water rather than doing short choppy strokes, for a change. So it’s not been all bad this week – swimming has been going great guns!

This morning it was a 2.6km session including a total of 1.5km using the pull buoy in a lane with really lovely, courteous people. In fact at times it did get quite ridiculous – “you go…”, ”no, you go..”, “no, it’s okay, you go….”, “no, really, after you….”, “are you sure….?”, “definitely, please, you go…”, and so on! Still I much prefer that to snarl, snap, growl, thwack (as an arm hits you on the way past), mutterings under the breath, etc.

After work I did an hour bike session, with easy/moderate intervals, as opposed to what I originally had to do ie hard intervals. I then followed this up with stretching. Cycling didn’t aggravate anything so fingers crossed this is as bad as it gets, and that I am on the road to improvement. I am focussing on the next 24 hours!

Then I proceeded to make Claudia Roden’s orange cake from the Cook’s Companion. I had promised my work colleagues earlier in the week that I would bring in a cake so given tomorrow is the last day of the working week, I thought I should produce the goods. The trouble is, I had to boil the orange for 2 hours before I could even start the recipe proper. Now I’m waiting for it to cool so I can ice it before going to bed. It’s not a complicated cake to make by any means and it has only 5 ingredients – an orange, eggs, almond meal, sugar and baking powder. It smells delicious so hopefully it will taste just as good.

Tomorrow: its a rest day….again! And I have breakfast with the lovely Liz and Ruth at Cream. I’m then meeting another friend for lunch at Two Before Ten cafe. In between I have work to do;)

“Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.” – Doug Firebaugh

Flexibility…

….is what my body needs physically; what my training program has to incorporate; and what my mindset needs to embrace. As that line is John Lennon’s song Beautiful Boy so eloquently puts it, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

I have been to the physio and have been poked, prodded, stretched, with legs pulled this way and that, told to bend over and touch toes, do one-legged squats and so forth. The verdict? He thinks the niggly nagging pain is most likely muscular (hallelujah to that) with maybe some hip involvement. Hmm, seems like there’s been some stress to the area!

Now for the tricky bit – what I can and can’t do for the next couple of weeks. I don’t have to stop training (double hallelujah) but I do have to modify it. How? And here is where I start mentally freaking out as I add up all the sessions I’m missing (it’s 5 weeks this Sunday to the event) and the effect this will have on my overall training and the actual event – but let’s not go there. I will act responsibly and maturely like the adult that I am (and I so want to stamp my feet and pout) and resign myself to the restrictions that have been placed upon me *sigh*.

No running for another week – this will be reviewed next week.

Only easy spinning sessions on the bike – maximum of one hour at a time and easy intervals. Can do three sessions a week and can be done outdoors or on the wind trainer. This is the biggie for me and is causing the most stress because I consider any lost time on the bike is detrimental to my training – I really suck at cycling and need all the time on my bike.

Swimming is ok but no breaststroke, which is a no-brainer for me given my utter dislike for this stroke.

I also have to do stretches /release work for my lower back, glutes and hip flexors on my right side.

I have another appointment next week.

Postscript: received some very wise and very welcome words this afternoon: “No. 1 rule right now is – don’t panic! I want you to think only about the next 24 hours. Stop counting down to race day. Only think about the next 24 hours, and what you can do in that time, so that this time tomorrow you are in a better position than you are today. You’ve got *stacks* of time before race day and 5 months of training under your belt. Remember – the next 24 hours only!”

“I think exercise tests us in so many ways, our skills, our hearts, our ability to bounce back after setbacks. This is the inner beauty of sports and competition, and it can serve us all well as adult athletes.” – Peggy Fleming, 1968 Olympic champion figure skater and three-time World champion

 

Steady as she goes

That nagging niggly groin pain? Yep, it’s still there – it didn’t go away overnight. Lucky I was swimming this morning – at least that’s not a problem. It was a lovely morning – no frost, and the sun was shining in through the large glass windows at the pool. It was a good swim too – so at least something is working! I did the shorter of the two sessions this morning (1.7km) as it is still a busier day than Thursday, when I’ll do my longer session with the pull buoy. I was really happy with the way I swam this morning – my stroke felt strong and coordinated, and I had a better feel for the water. On my harder laps I would race whoever was in the lane next to me (without them knowing obviously) – it gave me an incentive to swim faster. Me competitive? Whatever gave you that idea?!

Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with my physio and hopefully he can shed some light on what the problem might be and how best to manage it. Damn, I thought I could get through this training without having to pay him a visit. Oh well, it wasn’t meant to be! Fingers crossed it’s not a serious problem and a little rest and the appropriate exercises may be all I need.

I was going to do a cycle session on the wind trainer tonight but in the end decided against it. Better to wait and see what the physio says. I really don’t want to aggravate things any more than they already are. So instead I’ve been doing my stretches

The clouds rolled in later today followed by the ominous rumblings of thunder and the flash of lightning. Rain followed. However it all seems to have abated now and I think the forecast for tomorrow is for partly cloudy weather. That was one short and sweet thunderstorm, or at least it was in Civic.

“Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.” – Dr. Robert Anthony

Unscheduled rest day

That nagging, niggly pain in the region of my right hip flexor? Yep, it’s still there – dammit, it hasn’t gone away.

So I made the decision to have a (unscheduled) rest day. I have been doing some stretches during the day and did some more when I got home tonight. If need be, I will lay off running and lower body weights for the rest of this week and just focus on my swimming and cycling. I won’t let this sideline me or get me down. I’ll work around the nagging, niggly pain and hopefully it will go away with some rest.

Sheesh, and just when I think all’s going well with my training……

Tomorrow: the plan is to swim before work and then do a bike intervals session on the wind trainer after work.

“Every great story on the planet happened when someone decided not to give up, but kept going no matter what.” – Spryte Loriano

Variety is the spice of life

We were talking about cross training at breakfast this morning, and the benefits it has for the body such as variety, injury prevention, maintaining overall fitness, and active recovery, to name just a few. And I have to say, speaking from my own experience, that this is true. Since May, when I began training for the Port Mac 70.3 triathlon I’ve not been plagued with any niggles or aches and pains. In my opinion, this has been because I have been mixing up my training – running, swimming, cycling and weights sessions in the gym, with some core strength exercises thrown into the mix. It means that I am not doing the same thing every day – my running has reduced from 6-7 days a week to an intervals session on the treadmill (approx 5km in total), one mid-week run (about 8-10km), one longer run on the weekend (10+km), plus a short run off the bike on Saturdays. Swimming happens twice a week, there are 3 bike sessions (2 on the wind trainer and a longer ride out on the road), plus 2 weights sessions. Of course it doesn’t always happen to plan because life does have a habit of getting in the way but on the whole I do try to maintain consistency in my training. Given my history of injuries and the fact that this time last year I was seeing a sports doctor for my torn hamstring and therefore wasn’t running, I think I’m doing pretty well *touch wood*

The other thing I do, which I think is very important, is that I take a rest day on Fridays to recover and recuperate and get ready for my longer sessions on the weekend.

This morning it was a balmy 9 degrees when I went for my 8km run at 5.40am – so no gloves or headband was required. Yay! It is also getting lighter earlier. I wouldn’t say I was a light on my feet as I was yesterday but it got done. Then it was time to get ready before combining 2 of may favourite activities – friends and food! Brekkie with Liz and Ruth at Cream is a great way to start the day.

Completed the intervals session on the bike tonight – my legs are tired.

Tomorrow: is a rest day, yay!

“Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the spectre of self doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.” – Hal Higdon

 

Gently, gently……..

Ooooooh, ooooooow, ouch……..That was what I sounded like getting out of bed this morning. I felt like I imagined a 90 year old would as I hobbled to the bathroom. I was feeling the after effects from yesterday’s kiss the dirt episode and I was not liking it very much at all. It felt as though all my ribs were bruised and certainly I have the faint purplish discolouration in the area to indicate that, as well as grazes all up my right side (which usually cops the brunt of my falls). But I had a run to do so slowly I changed into my running gear and headed out the door. It seems like everything I was going to do today would be in slow motion! And it was cold! About 1 degree if that and I didn’t really warm up this morning - probably because I was running too slowly to generate any heat. And for some strange inexplicable reason, only one of my fingers on my right hand lost all feeling from the cold, the rest were fine.

The run was a bit of a plod to start with but I did eventually ease into something resembling a jog, and managed to do 4km before heading home. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully I won’t be feeling as fragile!

Only 3 sleeps to go before I’m WA bound – going home (sort of)