So remember yesterday when I mentioned the crazy runner inside of me who rears her ugly head in the face of injury and forces me to keep running? Well, she was back with a vengeance last night (probably in response to me bad mouthing her on my blog), and I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into exactly what I'm dealing with here.
Last night after work, I went to the gym with the intention of doing an easy workout on the arc trainer- something to just get my legs moving but hopefully not aggravate my hip further. I went and got changed and came back upstairs to the workout area to find complete and total mayhem all around me (I hate New Year's resolutions for this very reason). Every single machine, even the lone arc trainer, which no one but me ever uses, was occupied. With the exception, of course, of one treadmill. I told myself that I could get on the treadmill, which was conveniently located right next to the arc trainer, and do a gentle jog until the arc trainer freed up. It seemed harmless enough, so I hopped on and started to jog. For the first 20 or so strides, I was in a lot of pain, but as my hip loosened up, I started to feel really good. About half a mile into my jog, I noticed the girl starting to get off of the arc trainer... and that's when it happened. The crazy runner inside of me (we'll call her, Krzyrunner- clever, I know) came out.
Krzyrunner: You can't get off the treadmill now, you've only run half a mile. You should at least finish a full mile to make it worth it.
Me: I don't know. I mean, I just wrote a blog all about taking care of yourself and not running through pain. I should probably stop running...
Krzyrunner: Don't be a baby! Do you feel any pain?? I certainly don't, and we share a body. Come on... one mile never hurt anyone...
Me: Ok, just ONE MILE. I'll just run this mile and then hop on the arc trainer.
So, I kept running. And, of course, someone else got on the arc trainer with about one tenth of a mile to go.
Krzyrunner: (evil cackle) Well, now that you're stuck on the treadmill why don't you at least make a workout of it. No sense in just jogging the whole time.
Me: I don't know, I don't want to mess up my hip anymore than I already have.
Krzyrunner: I don't feel anything wrong with our hip! It feels fine- let's do some mile repeats!
She was right, my hip was feeling remarkably good.
Me: Ok, I'll just do a couple of miles at a faster pace- it won't hurt anything.
So, I did. I ran a second mile, and a third... and a fourth and a fifth. And I felt good, and I felt strong the whole time. But as the mile counter crept up towards 5.5 miles, my arm serendipitously knocked my ipod off the treadmill and it went flying off the belt behind me. I paused the treadmill and jumped off to grab it, only to feel a surge of pain in my hip flexor. Crap.
I grabbed my ipod, and at the urging of Krzyrunner ("only a mile and a half to go and you can consider this a worthwhile workout- don't wimp out now!") I hopped back on the treadmill. After a few painful and creaky steps, I felt my hip warm back up again and the pain melted away. But then, suddenly it occurred to me that this was just not normal (no, not the conversation with a non-existant person in my mind part... the hurting part) and I hit the STOP button. Krzyrunner was screaming at me in my head, but I knew that it would be better for me to just get on the arc trainer (which was finally unoccupied) and finish up my workout there. And I did. And I felt pretty good once I was done.
So, that's what goes on in my head when I'm fighting the urge to run even when I know I'm not supposed to (it's pretty frightening, right?) Obviously, Krzyrunner doesn't have to be all that persuasive to get me to run, because, as much as I hate to admit it, I want to be running. But, I have to keep reminding myself (and Krzyrunner) that I really want to be running in APRIL. And at the rate I'm going, I may not make it that long. So here's hoping Krzy cooperates from now on and I can get this injury cleared up. There's a long road of training ahead, and if I can take care of this now, then there will be plenty of miles that she and I can run together in the future.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Learning the hard way...
I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I was blessed with a relatively easy and painless marathon training season last year. Maybe it was because my body was in complete shock at what I was doing the whole time, or maybe it was shear luck (probably some combination of the two) but either way, training went about as smoothly as one could possibly hope for it to go. This year, on the other hand... well, it's only January and it's already been rough. That being said, what doesn't kill you will make you stronger, right? Well, I'm still kicking (so far anyways) so by the time all is said and done, I'm hoping I'll be approaching superman status.
But, in all seriousness, since I started having issues with my hip (first my adductor, now my hip flexor) I've been bombarded with advice and ideas of how to help get myself better. Some of it I listened to, most of it I didn't... you see, I like to learn things the hard way. But, luckily for you, because I have a tendency to be extremely difficult about following advice I don't like, you can learn from my mistakes. Some of this may seem like common sense to a normal person (probably most of it), I know that. But there's this crazy, stubborn person deep inside of me that takes over in the face of injury and sends me on a path to self-destruction (does this really only happen to just me??). That crazy person tells me to ignore common sense and JUST KEEP RUNNING, it doesn't hurt that bad. And next thing you know, I can barely walk. So anyways,... here are some of the things I've learned the hard way in the past couple of months:
- There is no glory in "playing through the pain"- I mean, it would be one thing if I hurt myself in game 7 of the NBA finals and played through my broken wrist to finish the game with a triple-double and the game winning free throw- but, let's be honest, I: 1) don't play in the NBA, 2) would probably be too much of a baby to play with a broken anything, and 3) am still only in training to run a marathon, not running the actual thing. There's a difference beween running through pain in a race, and running through pain in training- one is finite and geared towards accomplishing a specific goal, the other is just stupid. I've been accused of doing the stupid one... training through pain certainly isn't going to win me any races, all it's going to do (has done) is make me hurt more... which leads me to my next lesson...
- Listen- listen to Jack, listen to Tyler, even listen to your dad when he tells you maybe you should take it easy for a few days. The best way to deal with advice you don't want to hear is not to ignore it- the problem will only get worse. I, of course, figured this out after the problem got worse.
- Go see a doctor, or some sort of professional who can help fix you- you don't win any prizes for self-diagnosis and treatment (or for pretending the problem doesn't exist)- unless you consider pain a prize.
- Have really good friends who will listen to you whine and complain about how badly your body hurts without hating you (at least to your face)- I actually didn't learn this the hard way, I happened to be lucky enough to start out with friends who were willing to listen to me. Whining may not actually fix anything, but it sure does make me feel better.
- If you're hurt, the arc trainer is your friend (and also your arch nemesis)- it's boring, it's hot, it's tedious, oh, and it's boring- but, it helps your body feel like it's running, and stay in running shape, without hurting you more- it's magic.
- When you have a bad/ painful/ frustrating run or workout, shopping usually helps to clear that frustration right on up- unless you go shopping for bathing suits... just trust me on this one.
- Advil = miracle drug.
And finally...
- Eat real food- contrary to what I once thought, this does not mean eat grilled cheese and soup everyday. I've eaten actual real meals most days for the last week or so (like meat, vegetable starch, things I've actually cooked on my own) and what a difference it has made in my energy level... Maybe it's not an injury specific lesson, but a lesson I learned the hard way nonetheless. No wonder doctors and health professionals recommend this...
So there you have it... I'm sure there's more good advice that I've received and completely ignored, but, like I said, I've been bombarded with suggestions, it's hard to keep it all straight. Don't make the same mistake I did and ignore this stuff- a lot of it came straight from Jack and, as you know, In Jack We Trust (unless you're me, then In Jack You Trust after you can barely walk anymore). It may not be fun to take it easy for a couple of weeks when you're injured, but it's even less fun if you pretend everything is fine, keep running, and then you wind up in pain everytime you stand up from your desk... nevermind when you try to run. Trust me, I know... I learned it the hard way.
But, in all seriousness, since I started having issues with my hip (first my adductor, now my hip flexor) I've been bombarded with advice and ideas of how to help get myself better. Some of it I listened to, most of it I didn't... you see, I like to learn things the hard way. But, luckily for you, because I have a tendency to be extremely difficult about following advice I don't like, you can learn from my mistakes. Some of this may seem like common sense to a normal person (probably most of it), I know that. But there's this crazy, stubborn person deep inside of me that takes over in the face of injury and sends me on a path to self-destruction (does this really only happen to just me??). That crazy person tells me to ignore common sense and JUST KEEP RUNNING, it doesn't hurt that bad. And next thing you know, I can barely walk. So anyways,... here are some of the things I've learned the hard way in the past couple of months:
- There is no glory in "playing through the pain"- I mean, it would be one thing if I hurt myself in game 7 of the NBA finals and played through my broken wrist to finish the game with a triple-double and the game winning free throw- but, let's be honest, I: 1) don't play in the NBA, 2) would probably be too much of a baby to play with a broken anything, and 3) am still only in training to run a marathon, not running the actual thing. There's a difference beween running through pain in a race, and running through pain in training- one is finite and geared towards accomplishing a specific goal, the other is just stupid. I've been accused of doing the stupid one... training through pain certainly isn't going to win me any races, all it's going to do (has done) is make me hurt more... which leads me to my next lesson...
- Listen- listen to Jack, listen to Tyler, even listen to your dad when he tells you maybe you should take it easy for a few days. The best way to deal with advice you don't want to hear is not to ignore it- the problem will only get worse. I, of course, figured this out after the problem got worse.
- Go see a doctor, or some sort of professional who can help fix you- you don't win any prizes for self-diagnosis and treatment (or for pretending the problem doesn't exist)- unless you consider pain a prize.
- Have really good friends who will listen to you whine and complain about how badly your body hurts without hating you (at least to your face)- I actually didn't learn this the hard way, I happened to be lucky enough to start out with friends who were willing to listen to me. Whining may not actually fix anything, but it sure does make me feel better.
- If you're hurt, the arc trainer is your friend (and also your arch nemesis)- it's boring, it's hot, it's tedious, oh, and it's boring- but, it helps your body feel like it's running, and stay in running shape, without hurting you more- it's magic.
- When you have a bad/ painful/ frustrating run or workout, shopping usually helps to clear that frustration right on up- unless you go shopping for bathing suits... just trust me on this one.
- Advil = miracle drug.
And finally...
- Eat real food- contrary to what I once thought, this does not mean eat grilled cheese and soup everyday. I've eaten actual real meals most days for the last week or so (like meat, vegetable starch, things I've actually cooked on my own) and what a difference it has made in my energy level... Maybe it's not an injury specific lesson, but a lesson I learned the hard way nonetheless. No wonder doctors and health professionals recommend this...
So there you have it... I'm sure there's more good advice that I've received and completely ignored, but, like I said, I've been bombarded with suggestions, it's hard to keep it all straight. Don't make the same mistake I did and ignore this stuff- a lot of it came straight from Jack and, as you know, In Jack We Trust (unless you're me, then In Jack You Trust after you can barely walk anymore). It may not be fun to take it easy for a couple of weeks when you're injured, but it's even less fun if you pretend everything is fine, keep running, and then you wind up in pain everytime you stand up from your desk... nevermind when you try to run. Trust me, I know... I learned it the hard way.
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