and the culprit is

Feb 27, 2012 by tracy

So I have been hurting quite badly for over a week. I have winced and moaned and laid in bed. I taught my Worldviews class on my belly last week. I had my assistants teach gym. I stood up through church because trying to sit on the pew was unbearable, then I spent the rest of the day in a horizontal position. I have really taken it easy and tried my best to rest my leg. But it has not improved in any way. It just keeps hurting more and more.

So, today I went in to get it all checked out and find some answers.

Drat it all! I have a stress fracture in my acetabulum, which is the cup of the pelvis the femur head fits into.

And when I say drat what I really mean is DRAT!!!

Two weeks of running did me in. I never wanted to be a runner, I only wanted to be a supportive mama and run with my girlie. I am frustrated and dejected and hurting.

At this point I have no idea what recovery time is going to be, but I know it is longer than I want. I don’t know what to do about gym or resting (really, how can a person like me rest for 8 weeks?) or driving or typing or bending. All I want to do is stop hurting.

apparently everything is too much

Feb 21, 2012 by tracy

After yesterday’s run (really more like a running attempt since I only made it through the first five sets) I was sore…really sore.

As the night wore on, I was hurting more and more.

My blasted pelvis was aching so badly it hurt to bend my right leg up in front of me at all. Like, you know, to sit and eat. Or to walk. Or to pull my pajamas on.

After a pretty painful night, I woke up this morning unable to roll over to kiss Richard goodbye. He rolled me over, gave me his off-to-work-smooch and then I started evaluating how my pelvis felt and I decided it hurt really, really bad. Bad enough that I didn’t know how I was going to get through the day. Bad enough that my post-car accident pain came back to me in a rush. Bad enough that I knew I needed it to be worked on stat.

I was thrilled when my chiropractor’s receptionist said she had one opening today. I hobbled down the stairs and did learning time with the children and then hobbled back up the stairs (boy, did that hurt) to go to my appointment.

He said my pelvis is so inflamed and the ligaments so damaged, I must stop all physical activity for 6-8 weeks. I told him flat out that that is an impossibility. He said, “it will not heal if you keep hurting it.” I said, “but what about Keziah, what about running, what will I do?” He said, “Tracy you are too stubborn of a person for your own good. You can do whatever you want, but you are exacerbating your ligaments and in the state they are in they cannot hold you together. This is serious and we are going to be back at ground zero if you keep this up. You have got to trust me. You have got to stop doing things that hurt yourself.” Needless, to say, I still didn’t listen. I kept trying to ask about exercises I could do or stretches or something. There must be something. He said “no, you need rest and you need nutrition.” I said, “but what about gym, I have to teach gym.” To which he laughed in his grandfatherly way and said “I know you will keep teaching gymnastics, because you think you are invincible, but you must, absolutely must not run until this is healed.”

I was frustrated and felt rather defeated by the whole thing. Then I felt angry. Angry that the stupid car accident from over seven years ago is still haunting me. Still impacting my life.

Now I just hurt. My pelvis is throbbing. If I had any amount of sanity in me whatsoever I’m sure I would be downing ibuprofen by the handfuls. Right now I just want to cry. I want to curl up in a ball and cry and chase this pain right out of my body. I want to stop hurting. I want to be able to run with my daughter…and walk up the stairs and sweep and vacuum and all the other things that are so incredibly painful when my ligaments are unable to keep my femur head in its socket.

two minutes is one minute too much

Feb 20, 2012 by tracy

So, we have been running for one minute, walking for two minutes, running for one minute, walking for two minutes.

Today that all changed. We were scheduled to run for two minutes, walk for one minute.

It is reversed! Not only do we have to run for twice as long, we only get to walk for half as long. I have been gearing myself up for it all weekend long, knowing it was going to be a huge jump for me.

Well, it was.

Too huge.

I made it through our warm-up.

I made it through the first two minute run and thought I was going to die.

Then, when we finished the teensy-weensy one minute walk in between runs and I was just barely getting oxygen back into my lungs, I knew I would die on the second run.

By the third run I was completely focused on my breathing and putting one foot in front of the other. My femur head was hurting. My shins were burning. My right foot was once again aching. I made it through going about half as fast as I was running last week on our one minute runs.

By the fourth one, I was in a ton of pain, but I was determined to make it. Once again total focus was required and somehow I made it through. I tried walking on my heels in between to help my shins stop their ridiculous burning, but it didn’t really seem to help. All too soon the minute was up and it was time to run again. Very, very slowing I made it through the fifth run, but I knew it was time to put my pride away and listen to my body. My pelvis was not liking this at all, my shins were shouting at me, and my poor right foot was crying out in pain.

So I called to Keziah who was far ahead of me and told her I needed to just walk the rest. She said no problem, she would finish the last five sets on her own (which is hilarious because I was running so slowly she was already on her own). I hobbled back to the car, did my stretching in the blowing snow and then tried to walk a little bit more.

Well, my femur head didn’t like the walking one little bit, so I gave up all together and sat in the car while Keziah finished up. At the end, she was still looking strong. She is a tough cookie!

Now, I just want to get in the bath and go to bed!

lessons learned: running

Feb 14, 2012 by tracy

Keziah and I have started running. We have now run together three times (which is three times more than I ever thought I would run) and I haven’t died. That is lesson learned number one. Running for one minute at a time will not kill me. I’m still not sure about longer than one minute, but given my experiences thus far, I don’t have a great fear of dying come Monday (just a teensy-weensy trepidation).

I have already learned gobs about running and about myself. I have spent oodles of time reading about running and investigating all the various opinions about stretching, breathing, shoes, surfaces, gear, goals, injuries, treatment, schedules, training, races, etc.

Lessons learned after two weeks in this new world of running:

• Having a bio-mechanical evaluation done at a real running store is a great idea and will help you know what your feet and legs normally do. This will save you time (theoretically…see below) in picking out shoes that are correct for your feet and stride.
• Trying on lots of shoes is a great idea. I am so glad I didn’t just order some off the internet. Unfortunately, if you are like me, you might spend several hours in the running store trying to decide between two pairs of shoes and wear yourself right out by running and running and running in them to help you make the final decision.
• I prefer dynamic stretching instead of static stretching. We walk, do jumping jacks, skip forwards and backwards, toy soldier kicks, butt-kicks, and whatever else strikes us as a great stretch at the moment.
• I do not know how to breathe AT ALL. I breathe out over and over and can’t figure out how to breathe in. If it is absolutely the ONLY thing I focus on, I can manage to breathe in through my nose, but if I let my mind wander for even a millisecond, my breathing is all messed up.
• I breathe out for a really long time. I read you should breathe in for your left, right, left steps and then breathe out for your right, left steps, then get ready to breathe in again when you hit your left foot. Mine is more like right, left, right, left, right.
• I am kind of drawn to barefoot running. I’m not doing it, but it definitely intrigues me.
• Running in cemeteries is nice.
• I like running outside. I feel like I am feeding my body a much needed dose of God’s creations.
• Running with my daughter is much more enjoyable than I ever imagined.
• Running with Scout is not so enjoyable.
• Stretching after a run feels really, really good.
• Something is wrong with my right foot. It aches when I run. The running store recommended orthotics with massive arch support for my insanely high arches, but I am hesitant to try them because I want my arches to be strong all on their own. Still thinking about this one.
• 38 degrees is a lot warmer than 31 degrees.
• I must find some wind-proof gloves.
• My running clothes feel so comfortable I am tempted to wear them all the time. They are warm and cozy and I can move ever so freely. Then I look in the mirror and realize it would be a big mistake to allow anyone to see me like this.
• There are more runners in my life than I realized. I am surrounded by them!
• I need to figure out a better way to time our training runs. Holding my cell phone is driving me crazy.
• I love being a mom who can choose to make this happen for my daughter. I know everyone doesn’t have the option to exercise with their children and I am so grateful I do.

What else should I look forward to learning? What do I need to know? What advice do you have for me? Would you like to train with us? Tomorrow is our walking and/or biking day. With all this mud, I don’t know that we are biking anywhere!

first run

Feb 7, 2012 by tracy

We did it. We ran for the first time. Well…not her first time, but my first time in a very long time. Our training schedule for this week is one minute running, two minutes walking, then repeat ten times.

I did it. Every single second. I felt like I finished strong.

BUT I CAN’T IMAGINE RUNNING FOR LONGER THAN ONE MINUTE AT A TIME.

Afterwards, we went to DI (local thrift store) to look for some running clothes for her since the bulk of her sports clothes are cotton and cotton is not going to cut it in this cold weather. Eleven dollars later she has a nice fleece jacket with pockets, running capri tights (still need to find some long ones), nylon pants, and a short sleeve Under Armor shirt (she already has a long sleeve one that she wore today). She learned that she needs to wear a hat or ear protection of some kind and gloves because her head and hands got pretty cold.

If you would like to train along with us, here is the schedule we are following. So, this week is the one minute run, two minute walk plan, followed by a day of rest. Kez has no interest in resting, so on her off days she is going to ride her bike or go on a thirty minute walk.

I am not at all sure I can do this, but it was quite enjoyable to be out running in the sunshine and brisk air with my girlie, so if I can keep having days like this, maybe I will be able to overcome my dislike of running.