The day has officially come...
Over five months ago I signed up to do something BIG. To change my life and to help change others. I now have five months of training behind me and I AM going to run a marathon.
Its not even 3:30 in the morning yet. But it's time...
I run because I can. I run because I'm healthy and my body is able. I run because I am strong and capable. I run for those who can't.
Today I run in memory of: my Aunt Esther, my Grandpa Blas, my Uncle Hector
Today I run in honor of: Tyler - the toughest kid I know- and Virgina my honor teammates
GO TEAM!!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
The Injury Part #2
So I had an appointment with Dr. Smith that Wednesday. I was nervous about the appointment because Dr. Smith is a Chiropractor and I had never been to a chiropractor before. I wasn't sure what he would do to help my hip, but a few of my teammates and coach had all been treated by him and said he helped them recover. So what the heck, lets try it out.
When I got to his office, he had me show him my running shoes, both my new ones and my old ones. He inspected those and then asked to look at my feet. I was a little confused because I was talking about my hip and he was looking at my feet. He had me balance and roll my weight to the front of my feet and back. He then had me put my shoes on my feet, and when he did he pointed out that my feet looked really tight inside of my shoe. He poked at the material on the side of my foot and noticed that it was really taut. I told him that since getting my shoes I'd been having a lot of trouble with blisters. I kept getting them on the insides of both feet -- exactly where he was pointing. Dr. Smith said that because my feet were so uncomfortable and I was in pain from blistering, I may have started to run funny and thus injured my hip.
I have to admit this bugged me. Basically, I went specifically to a knowledgeable running store and bought very expensive shoes to help my running and protect my feet, only to find out that they are squishing my feet and causing all these problems? Oh great... BUT! Dr. Smith took both of my shoes and re-laced them in a way I have never seen before and could only be done by a veteran runner (Dr. Smith of course). I'll have to post a picture at some point, but basically he took my laces out of the first two holes to give my wide feet more room and then twisted the the laces around themselves. I put my shoes on and voila! MORE ROOM! he poked the same spot and the tension was gone. Nice!
Okay, so shoe problem fixed, but my hip still hurts. Dr. Smith had me lay on the table and he did a few motions with my legs. He went through the same process he had at the muscle imbalance clinic. When he got to the test for my left hip, it was strong and I resisted the weight he applied. He did the same test on my right and I just couldn't resist it. He tried again and my leg just fell under the weight. He said, "Oh yeah, that hip is very weak". THAT made me nervous. He then had me lay on my side and he started to feel around on my hip, massaging different muscles around it. He gently pressed on one and my ENTIRE body clenched. Oh yeah... he found the source of pain. Thankfully, he said it was just a tight muscle. My TFL muscle to be exact, see here: Wikipedia - TFL After that Dr. Smith adjusted my lower back and neck --- LOTS of tension in my neck he said. Most likely, because of my job. The adjustments felt WONDERFUL. However, in all honestly, my lower back hurt REALLY bad that night. I found out that was because it was the first time my back was ever adjusted. Uncomfortable, but the soreness was gone by morning.
Now that we found the source of the problem, Dr. Smith recommended three days of therapy starting that day and then seeing him once more that Friday. Therapy consisted of Ultra Sound therapy (same as those used on pregnant women) and Interferential Therapy (see here: Inferential video)This is getting long, so in short, I did three days of short sessions with each type of therapy. Each day the pain lessened and by Friday night it was gone. I saw Dr. Smith that Friday afternoon. He did the same test on my Right hip as he did two days earlier. This time, I could resist his weight! That was awesome to see, because I was doubting if the treatments were doing anything. But they worked! I had strength back in my hip. He did a couple of adjustments again on my back and neck and gave me the okay to run again, but to start out slow and only do 3 - 5 miles. WHAT A RELIEF!!!
To be continued... (STILL!)...
When I got to his office, he had me show him my running shoes, both my new ones and my old ones. He inspected those and then asked to look at my feet. I was a little confused because I was talking about my hip and he was looking at my feet. He had me balance and roll my weight to the front of my feet and back. He then had me put my shoes on my feet, and when he did he pointed out that my feet looked really tight inside of my shoe. He poked at the material on the side of my foot and noticed that it was really taut. I told him that since getting my shoes I'd been having a lot of trouble with blisters. I kept getting them on the insides of both feet -- exactly where he was pointing. Dr. Smith said that because my feet were so uncomfortable and I was in pain from blistering, I may have started to run funny and thus injured my hip.
I have to admit this bugged me. Basically, I went specifically to a knowledgeable running store and bought very expensive shoes to help my running and protect my feet, only to find out that they are squishing my feet and causing all these problems? Oh great... BUT! Dr. Smith took both of my shoes and re-laced them in a way I have never seen before and could only be done by a veteran runner (Dr. Smith of course). I'll have to post a picture at some point, but basically he took my laces out of the first two holes to give my wide feet more room and then twisted the the laces around themselves. I put my shoes on and voila! MORE ROOM! he poked the same spot and the tension was gone. Nice!
Okay, so shoe problem fixed, but my hip still hurts. Dr. Smith had me lay on the table and he did a few motions with my legs. He went through the same process he had at the muscle imbalance clinic. When he got to the test for my left hip, it was strong and I resisted the weight he applied. He did the same test on my right and I just couldn't resist it. He tried again and my leg just fell under the weight. He said, "Oh yeah, that hip is very weak". THAT made me nervous. He then had me lay on my side and he started to feel around on my hip, massaging different muscles around it. He gently pressed on one and my ENTIRE body clenched. Oh yeah... he found the source of pain. Thankfully, he said it was just a tight muscle. My TFL muscle to be exact, see here: Wikipedia - TFL After that Dr. Smith adjusted my lower back and neck --- LOTS of tension in my neck he said. Most likely, because of my job. The adjustments felt WONDERFUL. However, in all honestly, my lower back hurt REALLY bad that night. I found out that was because it was the first time my back was ever adjusted. Uncomfortable, but the soreness was gone by morning.
Now that we found the source of the problem, Dr. Smith recommended three days of therapy starting that day and then seeing him once more that Friday. Therapy consisted of Ultra Sound therapy (same as those used on pregnant women) and Interferential Therapy (see here: Inferential video)This is getting long, so in short, I did three days of short sessions with each type of therapy. Each day the pain lessened and by Friday night it was gone. I saw Dr. Smith that Friday afternoon. He did the same test on my Right hip as he did two days earlier. This time, I could resist his weight! That was awesome to see, because I was doubting if the treatments were doing anything. But they worked! I had strength back in my hip. He did a couple of adjustments again on my back and neck and gave me the okay to run again, but to start out slow and only do 3 - 5 miles. WHAT A RELIEF!!!
To be continued... (STILL!)...
Friday, March 12, 2010
purple Graduation
I should be asleep, but just wanted to get something in here really quick. Tomorrow is my final practice of the season. I can't believe we're already here. I've been thinking a lot about the marathon and getting tips and advice from people. I'm currently feeling a mixture of excitement, fear and a feeling like it isn't real.
Tomorrow is also important because I get my race day jersey. I will be receing my purple official Team in Training shirt. Until now we've only had our white singlets. So part of me feels like I'm taking part in some sort of graduation - from white to purple. Does this mean I'm officially trained?
Tomorrow is also important because I get my race day jersey. I will be receing my purple official Team in Training shirt. Until now we've only had our white singlets. So part of me feels like I'm taking part in some sort of graduation - from white to purple. Does this mean I'm officially trained?
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Alive and TRAINING
I'm not even going to try to make excuses, I haven't blogged and we all know it.
However, in my blogging absence I've continued to keep up with training, despite life, and I'm doing well. I only have 10 days left till my marathon. Ten... seriously, where did the time go and how did it fly by so quickly? I've been counting months and I'm now down to DAYS.
Last night was our very last track practice (Yassos -- I'll explain later) and this Saturday is our final practice before the big day. We're only running 10 miles. That's right --- I said it --- ONLY. Ha! Honestly, at this point a ten mile run on a Saturday morning doesn't feel like that big of a deal anymore and I think that's amazing.
So what have you missed in my blogging absence? Well, this last month of training was NOT easy. My goal is to write multiple posts to catch you up. I'll start with my most recent and most stressful event - my first injury. Here we go:
Injury Part #1:
I went for a regular run a couple weeks ago, everything was going great and I felt really good. I ran for about 40 mins straight before finally taking a walk break. During the break I noticed a muscle in my left hip hurt. Then I felt it in my lower back and along the outside of my quad, from hip to knee. My first thought was OH NO, MY IT BAND IS INJURED. This is a typical injury for runners and from the sounds of it, is not pleasant and difficult to overcome. I thought I was in big trouble. I walked for a while before attempting to run again, but it didn't really help. I ran for maybe 10 more minutes and then cut my run short.
At first I thought I just had a tired, cramped up muscle, but my hip continued to hurt for the rest of the night and the next day. While at work I tried to find anything to massage it. At night the pain would get worse and walking up the stairs in my apartment was not fun. On top of this, I was in the middle of moving. Every night my boyfriend and I would pack stuff up and then take it to our new house. This meant lots of walking, lifting and going up and down those dang stairs. I told my coach and he suggested I take it easy. No track practice and no running for a few days. This was great for packing, but so stressful mentally. I'm training for a marathon and now I have to stop running? WHAT?
So I took a break for THREE whole days. My left hip felt fine. I went to group training that saturday and thank goodness it was a "step back" week. We were only doing 10. I ran the first five miles and by the end of it the pain was back but in my RIGHT hip. I don't know how or why, but the pain switched sides and stayed there for almost a week and it was worse than the first time around. I ended up walking about 4 more miles that Saturday which helped, but by the evening I was in pain again. I talked to my coach again and decided it was time to see a doctor. I wasn't about to take even MORE time off of training. Monday morning I called Dr. Smith (the same doctor who did our muscle imbalance tests) and got an appointment for that Wednesday. In the meantime I stayed away from running and headed to the gym for an elliptical, which is just not the same.
To be continued...
However, in my blogging absence I've continued to keep up with training, despite life, and I'm doing well. I only have 10 days left till my marathon. Ten... seriously, where did the time go and how did it fly by so quickly? I've been counting months and I'm now down to DAYS.
Last night was our very last track practice (Yassos -- I'll explain later) and this Saturday is our final practice before the big day. We're only running 10 miles. That's right --- I said it --- ONLY. Ha! Honestly, at this point a ten mile run on a Saturday morning doesn't feel like that big of a deal anymore and I think that's amazing.
So what have you missed in my blogging absence? Well, this last month of training was NOT easy. My goal is to write multiple posts to catch you up. I'll start with my most recent and most stressful event - my first injury. Here we go:
Injury Part #1:
I went for a regular run a couple weeks ago, everything was going great and I felt really good. I ran for about 40 mins straight before finally taking a walk break. During the break I noticed a muscle in my left hip hurt. Then I felt it in my lower back and along the outside of my quad, from hip to knee. My first thought was OH NO, MY IT BAND IS INJURED. This is a typical injury for runners and from the sounds of it, is not pleasant and difficult to overcome. I thought I was in big trouble. I walked for a while before attempting to run again, but it didn't really help. I ran for maybe 10 more minutes and then cut my run short.
At first I thought I just had a tired, cramped up muscle, but my hip continued to hurt for the rest of the night and the next day. While at work I tried to find anything to massage it. At night the pain would get worse and walking up the stairs in my apartment was not fun. On top of this, I was in the middle of moving. Every night my boyfriend and I would pack stuff up and then take it to our new house. This meant lots of walking, lifting and going up and down those dang stairs. I told my coach and he suggested I take it easy. No track practice and no running for a few days. This was great for packing, but so stressful mentally. I'm training for a marathon and now I have to stop running? WHAT?
So I took a break for THREE whole days. My left hip felt fine. I went to group training that saturday and thank goodness it was a "step back" week. We were only doing 10. I ran the first five miles and by the end of it the pain was back but in my RIGHT hip. I don't know how or why, but the pain switched sides and stayed there for almost a week and it was worse than the first time around. I ended up walking about 4 more miles that Saturday which helped, but by the evening I was in pain again. I talked to my coach again and decided it was time to see a doctor. I wasn't about to take even MORE time off of training. Monday morning I called Dr. Smith (the same doctor who did our muscle imbalance tests) and got an appointment for that Wednesday. In the meantime I stayed away from running and headed to the gym for an elliptical, which is just not the same.
To be continued...
Friday, January 22, 2010
My Shoes!
Kind of a bad picture, but oh well. Surprisingly, they look pretty similar to my old Asics shoes I was using.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Two More Months
Can't believe it, but there are only two months left till my marathon. My training has flown by and I've now been running for three months. I do believe that is the longest I've consistently ran ever. I'm now in the, perhaps, tougher time of training? I've crossed the ten mile marker and am still building. I think this Saturday we're running 14 miles. I'm a little nervous about it since my 12 miler last Saturday was awful. I started to get tired much too soon and had to slow my pace down significantly by the end of the run. My gels and energy snacks did nothing to help really either. I'm thinking it had to do with my rather large dinner the night before of Thai food. So tomorrow I'm going to eat a lighter more nutritious dinner and see how things go on Saturday.
In other news, I have new running shoes! Well actually, I now have NEW new running shoes. I originally bought a new pair two Saturdays ago at the running store (that so conveniently happens to be down the street from me). They seemed okay at first, definitely felt different on me feet. I can only describe it that my feet felt like they were being held differently. After a couple of runs, I decided that my feet felt like they were uneven inside my shoes. But, they were new fancy schmancy running shoes so I wanted to keep giving it a chance, maybe I'd get used to it. I took them on my long run (the 12 miler) and ended up with a couple of big blisters by the end of it. Fortunately they healed pretty quickly, but on my next run I could tell they'd come back. SO thankfully, the running store has a trial period with new shoes. I ended up going back yesterday and picking up the other pair of shoes I originally looked at. I now have a pair of Saucony's. Since it's raining (and I was in a grumpy mood from work) I decided to run on a treadmill at the gym (better than nothing, which I was very close to doing!). So my shoes' first trial run seemed okay. I could definitely tell my feet are being held differently, again, but they also don't feel as awkward inside the shoe. I was going to post a picture but technology seems to be failing me. I'll post it later.
So I found out that the Rose Bowl Half Marathon is pretty pricey. It's an $80 registration fee...and that's with a discount. So I may end up just doing the 10K which is only $30. Not quite what I wanted, but I have a lot of stuff going on with finding a new place to live so spending that much (when I've already spent SOOO much on running gear) doesn't seem like a good idea. A little bummed about that, but oh well.
Keep dry out there! Or run in it!
In other news, I have new running shoes! Well actually, I now have NEW new running shoes. I originally bought a new pair two Saturdays ago at the running store (that so conveniently happens to be down the street from me). They seemed okay at first, definitely felt different on me feet. I can only describe it that my feet felt like they were being held differently. After a couple of runs, I decided that my feet felt like they were uneven inside my shoes. But, they were new fancy schmancy running shoes so I wanted to keep giving it a chance, maybe I'd get used to it. I took them on my long run (the 12 miler) and ended up with a couple of big blisters by the end of it. Fortunately they healed pretty quickly, but on my next run I could tell they'd come back. SO thankfully, the running store has a trial period with new shoes. I ended up going back yesterday and picking up the other pair of shoes I originally looked at. I now have a pair of Saucony's. Since it's raining (and I was in a grumpy mood from work) I decided to run on a treadmill at the gym (better than nothing, which I was very close to doing!). So my shoes' first trial run seemed okay. I could definitely tell my feet are being held differently, again, but they also don't feel as awkward inside the shoe. I was going to post a picture but technology seems to be failing me. I'll post it later.
So I found out that the Rose Bowl Half Marathon is pretty pricey. It's an $80 registration fee...and that's with a discount. So I may end up just doing the 10K which is only $30. Not quite what I wanted, but I have a lot of stuff going on with finding a new place to live so spending that much (when I've already spent SOOO much on running gear) doesn't seem like a good idea. A little bummed about that, but oh well.
Keep dry out there! Or run in it!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Taking a Breather
Today I took the night off. No running, no cleaning, no moving related chores, nothing. Instead, I took a much needed nap, ate some pizza and relaxed. I did this because life again threw a curveball and this time I needed a day to recover. In short, there was a death in my boyfriend's family and last night was very emotional and tiring. I didn't get home till just before 4am and still woke up at 6:30 for work. Tomorrow I'll resume my training with our final hill training session of the season.
In other news, my boyfriend says I need to put more variety in my blog, so here is a list of posts to come (If I write this, then it means I have to do it!):
New Shoes
Gearing Up
Fundraising
Running on my own
Time for bed and relax the brain!
In other news, my boyfriend says I need to put more variety in my blog, so here is a list of posts to come (If I write this, then it means I have to do it!):
New Shoes
Gearing Up
Fundraising
Running on my own
Time for bed and relax the brain!
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