Pre-marathon jitters

11 days til the marathon and I'm freaking out.  I'm not doing what I know that I should do.  I ran 2.6 miles on Sunday and I stopped the second I felt a tiny bit of pain, even with both knees taped up.  I am not icing or foam rolling like I should.  Add an extra layer of anxiety: my 39th birthday is Friday.  Like in 2 days Friday.

I said a week ago I think that I would blog every day up until the marathon.  I thought this would keep me focused.  But I am absolutely freaking out!  Freaking out about the training that I've missed, beating myself for running too hard at the 18 mile Marathon Tune Up, and obsessing over everything I could have done differently leading up til now.  What's done is done, and my attitude does not help.  I know this in my rational mind, yet I can't stop.  And having a pity party about feeling old doesn't help either.

I've ran 18 miles as my longest run.  I've built up my base.  Now just try really hard not to be injured 11 days from now.

I'm also quietly freaking out on the inside about a couple other things that I don't really want to share on the internet.  

Maybe I need more yoga in my life.  I went to hot yoga the past 2 weekends and felt great.  If someone would open a gym and a hot yoga studio within 2 blocks of my house, this would really help combat the winter blues.

I did find a great website with tons of information and advise about running your first marathon, and all about the NY Marathon: http://www.runarweb.com/index_e.php. 

I still don't know what I am going to wear.  The weather looks like it will be low of mid 40s and high of mid 50s.

I have been thinking about the various devices that I need to charge. Will I wear earphones?  The crowds and bands along the route are supposed to be amazing and motivational.  I really need new music and playlists, I'm open to suggestions.

I can't see putting myself through this again.  Especially next year, so close to my 40th birthday.  Why the hell do I put myself through this?  All this time, effort, money, pain, and anxiety!  (I did take the time to look up the chances of gaining entry by lottery which is 8-10% and I did check out the half marathon times for qualifying which I am nowhere near close.)

I promised myself and my fiancé that after this, I will chill out.  No more new projects, classes, sporting events, for at least a little while.  Which is not a specific unit of time, and is subjective.  I have to admit, I am already secretly planning to conquer conversational spanish and my great return to knitting so I can make wardrobes for my doggies.  I keep pushing myself and pushing myself and pushing myself. 

Am I any different or better than a workaholic?

What is my point?

Really need to reasses some goals after this.

Rest & Recovery: 19 more days of blogging 'til the marathon

Today was a scheduled day off from running for my training program.  My knee is a little hurty, but feeling much better overall.  It did start to bother me while sitting down for a long meeting, and then again while sitting in Spanish class.  Unfortunately, this is a repeat injury for me and the symptoms are way too familiar.

I have been taking a medication that a specialist prescribed for me last time I had the same knee injury: diclofenac.  For some reason Aleve doesn't really work for me, even the prescription strenghth.  But this medication really helped with pain very quickly.  I remember last time that I felt great by the end of my 1st 30 day supply.  After I went off of it, and the pain returned in 2 days.  By the end of the 2nd 30 day supply I was healed.  I'm about 2 weeks in so far, so the meds should having me feel great by race day.

I hate Physical Therapy.  I've done it twice before, different injuries and PT's.  I've learned a lot about my injuries and my body.  But I still hate it because I feel like all the exercises and poking around in my trouble areas just makes it worse.  Sometimes you need to just heal and rest.  My Chinatown acupressure guy is so much better, I seriously might go to him soon.

Izzy must have pulled something in his back because he burst out squealing in pain tonight for no reason.  Actually, as he was eating cookies and milk he suddenly keeled over in pain.  I laughed, because all I could think of is that the milk was bad and he had stomache cramps and explosive diarrhea was eminent.  I know, I am such a lovely girlfriend!  So I took my muscle roller stick to his back and backs of his entire legs.  I could tell that he enjoyed it, I think he was even able to block out the lecture I gave about how foam rolling.  And then I made him do it to me and it was magical and so much better than doing it to yourself.  They sell much more expensive ones, or I've heard people take a rolling pin to their sore muscles.  I got this one from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GTLOUDM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seriously, they have a stick roller massager for pets: http://www.amazon.com/The-Stick-GW-740-Pet/dp/B001HTX80C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413255517&sr=8-1&keywords=The+pet+stick

I put some icy hot on my knee, popped a pill before bed, and put on my knee brace from Back On Track, which has ceramic powder within the fibres which creates infrared thermal warmth which is supposed to increase blood flow to the injured area and reduce inflammation: http://www.backontrackproducts.com/People-Products/Knee-Calf-Braces/Knee-Brace-w-Strap-p306.html

I did not foam roll and I did not wear my night splints for plantar fasciitis.  Still feeling a lot of tension in my hips, going to see if Izzy will hang me upside down tomorrow night in the gravity boots.

What else can I do???

20 days blogging to the NY Marathon

20 days, 16 hours, 28 minutes and 30 seconds until the marathon on November 2nd.  I have been preparing for this since January 2013.  I became a member of New York Road Runners, ran in 9 qualifying races in 2013, and volunteered at the 2013 NYC Half Marathon.  This year I've run almost 500 miles so far, spent hundreds and hundreds on entry fees, membership fees, virtual training programs, and energy gels.  There is no other option but running on November 2nd, I will walk or crawl if needed.

My knee is STILL hurting, and my training has suffered a lot.  For the last 4 weeks, I have done very little running.  Today was supposed to be a 19 mile run, the longest in the training program and would have been my longest run ever.  So I'm getting nervous.  I have got to get better.  

I can feel my hips, lower back, legs, and IT band are still really tight, so I went to hot yoga tonight.  And I feel great.  The key to relieving my knee pain is going to be loosening up all of these areas.  Tomorrow is a day off from all fitness, and I'm hoping to do an easy, pain-free run on Tuesday.  My strategy is yoga, stretching, foam rolling and gentle running for the next 20 days.  And Epson salt and ice.  I will be taping everything on race day.

Ideally, I would love to do 10 miles next Sunday and then taper for the remaining 2 weeks.  Wish me luck!  I am going to blog every day until the race.

Marathon Training Blues

4 weeks now until the NY Marathon.  As it gets closer and closer, my goal finish time increases.  Before I started training, I had a goal of 4 hours 30 min in mind (beat Oprah!).  Now my goal is to finish under 6 hours (beat Pam Anderson!).  Check out some other celebrity marathon finish times here: http://running.about.com/od/famousrunners/tp/celebritymarathonrunners.01.htm

Training was going pretty good, I felt really fit, strong, and injury-free until the 18 mile Marathon Tune-Up on September 14th, which I finished in 3 hours, 34 minutes, and 28 seconds.  This is a 11:55 min per mile pace, which is significantly slower than the pace that my training program estimates (11:04-11:24).  Izzy commented that I looked completely fine as I crossed the finish line, not like someone who ran 18 miles.  But as the day went on the serious pain sunk in.  Previous to this, my longest run was 17 miles, after which I was tired but my body was injury-free. 

I got almost no running in before my next running event, which was the Bronx 10 mile run on September 28th.  My right knee was killing me, so I taped it up with KT tape.  For anyone who has ever wondered how much this helps, I can attest that this is pretty amazing stuff because my right knee didn't bother me at all.  But my left knee started hurting immediately!  And my right ankle was sore too.  This was one of the worst runs I have ever had, my finishing time was 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 40 seconds.  (Actually, I am making a commitment to myself right now to finish a half marathon in less time than this next year.)  But I finished and I earned another medal.  And I completed 4 our of 6 of the Five Burroughs series which earned me guaranteed entry to the NY Half next year.  Clearly, I am going to tape all of my legs for the marathon.  I did a little research, and decided to order "Mummy Tape", which isn't as pretty as pre-cut, colorful KT Tape but is supposed to stick better.  And I bought a spray that also helps the tape to adhere better and stay put.

This past week I ran less than a mile and a half with my doggies, and today 2 miles on the treadmill.  A whole week wasted when the marathon is so close!  My plan at this point is to take it easy and slowly ease back in to running this week.  If I have to go to the gym and ride the exercise bike just to keep up my fitness then I'll do it.  Because time is running out and I don't know what else I can do.

I'm sure that this is totally related: I have been feeling fatigued and depressed for the past several weeks.  I sort of crashed the other week, all of the extra training and also extra work hours seemed to catch up to me at once.  As much as I would love to be able to do everything that I set out to do (which is a lot) I do actually have a physical and emotional limit.  I think the changing of the seasons has a lot to do with it, and cumulative effects of hard training.  I had my first facial ever yesterday, and the facialist suggested that the pattern of my new acne breakouts on my skin suggest stress or adrenal dysfunction, and hormonal issues.  All of which were theories of mine based off of internet research.  Another theory is that my pH level is too acidic, I plan to eat more whole foods this week and drink lots of Smart Water.

Also notable news is that my birthday is this month. And Izzy's birthday too, he is exactly 10 days older.  We'll both be 39.  We're keeping it mellow this year, just having one combined celebratory dinner.  Izzy won't even tell me what he wants for a present.  Training is definitely keeping me in line.  Usually, October is always such a busy month for us.

Besides that, I have been taking spanish again.  This time just a 6 week class, which is perfect.  Better teacher this time.  My spanish is still not that conversational, but it's getting better.

Yoga Trials and Tribulations, and Renewed Joy

My yoga journey has had many false starts.   My practice finally stuck in 2008 because my employer at the time (until beginning of 2013) offered yoga class once a week in the studio. Sit at my computer for another hour vs. 1 hour of self-care/awareness/exploration proved to be enough incentive for me to get the habit going.

Prior to this, I had taken a yoga class at the Fashion Institute of New York for college credit.  It was ridiculously cheap (and tax deductible!) and I was already making the commute for a drawing class on the same night. It was a good foundation that included nutrition, chakras, and basic idealogies.  But even my downward dog was sad to be quite honest.  

Since the yoga sessions at work were with only a couple co-workers, I was able to freely ask questions and got lots of individual attention.  I started to get better and better.  I remember that my hamstring started to bother me, and I started riding my bicycle on Sunday nights to a candle light yoga class in the East village that got hot enough to sooth my pain.  Pretty soon, I was hooked, and adding more classes, instructors, and studios into my repertoire.

Since this new awareness/journey started, I've worked through several injuries.  I've had a slight case of scoliosis since I was young, my spine has about a 5% curvature that is enough to throw my shoulders and my hips off balance.  The effect of my offset hips is that my legs are like they are different lengths.  Prior to this, I've treated the resulting back pain with massage, a Chiropractor, a Physicsl Therapist, a Chinese Acupressurist, and an Acupuncturist.  But I did all of these things after I was already in pain, to fix the symptoms.  Yoga is a proactive long term solution.

As mentioned in another blog, over 2 years ago I got Plantar Fasciitis for the first time, which is a pain in the arch of your foot.  Most people have heel pain, but I did not.  I wasn't able to run for about a year.  But after a couple months of PT, and rest, I started running again a little over a year ago.  I switched to running in Vibram Five Fingers, which require some retraining because you use all of the muscles in your foot that you don't normally use when wearing conventional sneakers.  You actually have to change your stride and strike in the middle or front of your foot, as opposed to heel striking which is what most people do in conventional sneakers.  It took a lot of time and it was like starting over, but I was able to increase my mileage past the 5 mile wall that I kept hitting previous. After switching there was no more knee or IT band pain.  I felt so great that I became a New York Road Runners member in January, ran in the Brooklyn Half Marathon (my first half), and ran in enough races to qualify for guaranteed entry to the New York City Marathon for 2014.  2013 was the year that I fell in love with running, and it was also the year that I fell out of love with yoga.

How could this happen?  I still believe in all of the principles and goodness of yoga.  But about a year or so ago, pain started to develop in my left shoulder.  I thought it would go away, but it got worse over time, and my right shoulder started to bother me a bit as well.  I wanted to avoid chaturanga, and Aerial Vinyasa not only achieved that, but was also fresh, and helped stretch my hamstrings and decompress my spine while I was training for my first half marathon.  But eventually the pain worsened to the point that there was no joy left in yoga, and I finally decided it was time to go to physical therapy and deal with my injury.

By ignoring my injury for so long, I allowed my shoulder muscles to weaken a lot.  Eventually other muscles in my neck and back had to compensate for the weak muscles, which made physical therapy an even more difficult process.  Sometimes I would be in throbbing pain for days after PT.  We were able to improve my range of motion and I did gain strength, but the results came slow because I could not do my exercises at home often enough.  Something did not add up.

Towards the end of my physical therapy is when my doctor told me that I am hypothyroid, and I did reading and found that this was likely the cause of my Plantar Fasciitis and my shoulder pain.  I've been taking Synthroid and have figured out the best time to take my pill in the morning and when to have breakfast and take other pills.  (Synthroid has to be taken on an empty stomach without any other food or pills for at least 30-60 minutes after or absorption can be effected).  I am due for a blood test and follow up with my doctor to find out if my dosage needs to be increased.  And I'm plugging away on my reading list so I will be prepared to ask the right questions this time and manage my own health.  Unfortunately, 2 weeks ago my left knee started bothering me, and since I don't remember injuring it I can only assume that this is a result of the hypothyroidism too.  All I can do is wait for my synthetic hormones to build up in my system, and ask my doctor if a cortisone shot as a temporary fix for the pain is appropriate.

So the recent knee injury has put a damper on my running plans for the near future.  Which totally sucks because I am supposed to start training soon for the New York Half Marathon which is in March.  In the meantime, I've been easing back into yoga and really enjoying it.  I've indulged in a few restorative yoga classes lately, if that doesn't make me fall in love with yoga again then I don't know what will.  My current roster of yoga studios are all studios really close to my home or my work, and places that I really love.  I did take advantage of a free trial week at a studio today to help jump start my yoga comeback.  Sometimes I need variety, but right now it's cold so I just need convenience and warmth.

When I was in physical therapy, the therapists kept telling me how many patients came to them with injuries from yoga.  How is this even possible?  All of my time spent in physical therapy, I have never heard anyone say that they were there because of yoga.  I'm sure it happens, I'm just saying that I think that they are skewing the numbers a bit, and I blame that article in the New York Times about people getting injured in yoga. The worst part of that article was everyone who would never in a million years being all smug acting like, "See, this is why I don't do yoga!", when they never would because they don't do anything physical.

Ending on a good note, I finished my 10-week Beginner Spanish class and I got an A on my final exam.  I am going to study on my own for bit with my ipad.  And the next project up, Salsa dancing lessons.  Never a dull moment!