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.

As the Year Comes to an End...

At the time of my last blog I was on a bit of a yoga high.  For those of you not following all along, I had a shoulder injury that I was going to physical therapy for, that was painful and sucked all of the joy out of yoga.  My injury was a huge setback in upper body strength because I put off physical therapy and muscles started to compensate for others.  After recovering, I was just getting back into yoga after a long hiatus. I am happy to report that soon after my blog I did a substantial and proper crow pose and held it for a respectable amount of time.  Three times, actually.  It is a long-time goal of mine to be able to do real push-ups and real chatarungas one day, one which I have never been able to achieve because upper body strength has always been a challenge for me. 

Right around the same time Izzy started to get interested in boxing again, and we decided to shop for a new gym.  I always love to check out the very best and most expensive, just to see what is out there and we were able to get a trial day at Reebok Sports Club/NY, which is $217 a month per person for a no commitment membership.  We loved it, but the location and price weren't practical, plus I really don't need 6 floors of gym and supposed celebrity clientele.

I researched gyms in our neighborhood and we fell in love with Quick Fitness in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (right by McCarren Park/Williamsburg).  There is a boxing room for Izzy, and they have the same virtual reality Expresso exercise bikes that I got to try at Reebok.  They also have a Jacobs Ladder, a rope pull, a rock climbing wall, steam rooms, and EcoMill self-powered treadmills.  All of this for $85 a month with no commitment.  Izzy is actually excited now to go to the gym, worth every single penny!

I also reported a knee injury in my last blog.  Long story short, after two doctor visits and an MRI, I have a classic case of Patella Femoral Syndrome.  Could be age-related or a sports injury, and women are more prone to this injury because we have hips which more easily cause bio mechanical issues.  In a nutshell, my knee cap is a little out of whack and I need to strengthen the surrounding leg muscles to keep it in place.  Turns out riding a bicycle is great for strengthening quads, which is perfect because I've been doing lots of that lately!  I've also started to sit against the wall for 2 minutes at a time and the Hip Abductor Cybex machine.   A new prescription is helping to reduce inflammation better than the high dose prescription Aleve that I was previously on.

More great news!  The doctor gave me the go ahead to run, so I ran on the treadmill today for the first time in forever.  Half marathon training has officially begun!  I ran a little over 3 miles at a comfortable pace, and it felt good.  I am confident that I will be in good shape for the NYC Half in March.  And I plan to incorporate more cross training this time.

So just 2 more days til the end of the year.  Will try to get another blog in before that.  Izzy and I have not drank for 6 weeks (we have a $500 bet!) and I have been juicing with my new Breville juicer since I got back from Pennsylvania for Christmas.  And me and Izzy received many fitness-related presents this year, I am sure I will blog about our favorites.