Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Its been quite some time since I started and deserted this blog, and in that time I managed to get myself a horrible INJURY. On July 11th I did my Monday speed work and towards the end something didn't feel quite right in my right leg. I didn't think much of it and went about my day. The next day I rode the spin bike and ran a few easy miles and my leg kind of hurt. On Wednesday I went on a 8ish mile run with best running friend Steph and it was quite uncomfortable, we finished and jumped in the car to head home from the gym. By the time I got out of the car my leg and hip HURT! The next few days I tried running and it hurt and I didn't listen to my body, which was my first big mistake. 1st lesson learned- Listen to your body, if you're running and something hurts badly STOP! And don't try to keep running for days in horrible pain. By Monday morning I called the amazing Steve Orrick, Physical Therapist. I got right in for an appointment and he got to work helping me. He found that my SI joint in my lower back was messed up causing all of the muscles in my right hip and leg to strain. Off and on for that week I was able to run but it still hurt and I was getting quite discouraged, it got to the point that I couldn't run at all. They finally suggested I stop trying to run for a bit to let it heal, novel idea! Lesson #2- when paying $60 3 times a week for physical therapy and spending 2 1/2 hrs there each time, stop running so your body can work on healing. A month later i am easing back into running. I am getting to run/walk every day, I have worked my way up to 20 min total of running at a time. I run for 2 min then walk 30 sec. it doesn't seem like much but after what I've been through I'll take anything I can get! I missed a race for the first time, the Timp 1/2 Marathon. It made for a few very hard and sad days but in the end I was grateful I didn't do it and that I was letting my body heal so I could get back to running pain free.

Here are a few things that i now must incorporate into my life

Heat, ice, and Aleve are now my constant companions

Enjoying some trashy celebrity gossip at physical therapy. This fancy machine is hooked up to my leg and hip with heat for 10 min, its electrical stimulation. Quite honestly it scares me to death that I'm going to get shocked! After this they use ultrasound and massage on the affected areas, then I do all of my fancy stretches and exercises, then the amazing Steve works his magic on me, and then I get iced down and sent on my way 2+ hours later.

Another saving grace is this wonderful man, my husband Jorge, who is a massage therapist/pain inflicter. He does deep tissue massage on all the places that hurt real bad that I would rather no one else see or touch ;) since most of the injury is in my butt/groin area. The extra work he does on me is really helping the process of healing.

I am so lucky to have a sweet husband and 3 little boys that want their happy mommy/wife back, so they gave me a sweet card, my favorite treats, and an iTunes card to get more jams while I sprint away on the spin bike. (what I really need is some fancy padded shorts, if ya know what I mean) Running for me is such a stress reliever and is so relaxing. I pretty much just love it, so as you can imagine I have been freaking out and very emotional with the lack of running. I am very grateful to still be able to work out and do cardio but nothing quite does it for me like running.

The physical therapist also requires of me to stretch, ice, and foam roll at least twice a day. He also recommended a few days a week of Yoga. Jackson and I enjoyed some P90X yoga the other night. Lesson #3-STRETCH before and after your run and warm up first. Before the injury I stretched a little after but never before and didn't really warm up. The stretching I did do was about 2 minutes in the shower after the gym, not sufficient. Now I spend almost 30 min after every work out stretching, foam rolling, and icing and it is helping so much!
Lesson #4- Take the time to just enjoy running. I have loved running since I was 14 but mostly did it for the fun of it and to control my weight. I've gone through times that I didn't run much and times like before the injury that I was putting in 60 miles a week. The times I've loved running the most are before Garmins, Ipods, and wanting to get in so many miles in a certain amount of time. Times where I ran until I was done and had nothing left or had 30 min to put in a few miles. It wasn't until this past winter where I got bored on the treadmill and realized I could go pretty fast. With that I started going fast all the time, never doing recovery runs or slowing down. I PR'd and even placed in my age group in the races I've done this summer. But to be honest, I didn't enjoy those races because instead of taking in my surroundings and enjoying the race I felt the need to check my watch constantly and push my body as hard as I could until I felt horrible. I always felt the need to go a certain speed or get in as many miles as possible each day. My body didn't like this and I started getting aches and pains but didn't slow it down or take it easy til my body had enough and decided I was taking a break weather I wanted to or not! I could go on and on (as if I haven't already)about all of the lessons I've learned from getting an injury, if anyone is still reading I won't bore you. My goal with this post is to help at least one person avoid an injury. I had many warnings and advice from friends and fellow runners but I didn't listen and now really wish I had!