Weekly Update – 1/30/2017

This week was a pretty good one.  I tried to make some time to de-stress and reduce my anxiety, as I’ve had a few anxiety attacks at work recently.  Working out consistently has been good, but I’m trying hard to find balance throughout everything in my life.

Monday

Michael came home around 2 am Monday morning.  I quietly snuck off to work, so I didn’t get to see him until I came home from work.  I skipped a workout so that we could catch up and spend some quality time together.

Tuesday

Hit the gym for 2 miles on the treadmill.  My plantar fasciitis said “hello” again after the workout.  Guess I need to get hardcore about PT again.

Wednesday

Yoga was so amazing and yet so hard.  We focused on hip openers and lengthening our hamstring and calves.  Ouch. But, totally needed it.

Thursday

Date night with my hubby. We went to Red Robin and had a nice evening.

Friday

We had Mexican food with my brother in law.  Always a favorite of mine!

Saturday

Since I had a 5k on Sunday, and they last second cancelled race day pickup, I had to drive to a neighboring city to pick up my race packet. Packet pickup went well, then we went to Whole Foods and had an omelet.

We came home, I got ready for the baby shower I was attending, and Michael went to hang out with his brother. The shower was for the wife of a childhood friend of mine.  She’s sweet and their baby boy is so loved already!

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching COPS.

Sunday

Game Day 5k! Recap to come. After the race, I came home, got a shower, and ate the sub I had picked up on the way home.  Michael ended up working (an emergency came up), so I watched Finding Dory on Netflix (LOVED IT).  We had made a garlic parmesan chicken dish in the crock pot, so we had that as we watched the Super Bowl.

We went to bed early and missed all the excitement in the game, but I didn’t really care who won, so I wasn’t that upset 🙂

How was your weekend? Did you enjoy the Super Bowl?

Thoughts on Shamrock

I posted the race recap to give an overview of the mechanics of the race day for me, but didn’t share a ton about how I felt about it, other than my thoughts beforehand.

I did 3 half marathons in 2014, and none in 2015 (mostly due to getting married and all the things that go along with that.  I was planning on doing the Dolphin Challenge (8k + Half) at Shamrock last year, but plantar fasciitis kept me out of it, so I deferred to this year.

My heart really wasn’t in it this year.  I mostly decided to run it because I had paid for it, I paid to defer it, I wanted to complete it from a Type A perspective.  I’ve been mourning the loss of a personal trainer (moved on to new opportunities), I’ve gained weight from being married and happy (its a real thing!), I had a less than mediocre training plan, and I had my fall a few weeks ago that interrupted my training.

I had already made up my mind well before Shamrock that this would be my last half for awhile.  I talked about that some last year.  I don’t see myself doing a half marathon anytime in the near future.  I don’t enjoy training for them, I don’t enjoy what they do to my body, they make me injury prone…so I don’t want to do them. At least for the foreseeable future.

That being said.  I’m glad I ran this past weekend.  Even though it was my slowest half to date, the weather was miserable, etc….I ran/walked a great mental race.  I succeeded so much mentally, and that is a huge win for me.

I’m very much looking forward to my race schedule for the rest of the year. I have a bunch of 5ks, a 7k (cool!), a 5 miler, and a 10k.  I don’t really plan on doing anything longer than a 10k for awhile.

I’m looking forward to training for shorter distances, for not feeling pressured to have this enormous training plan with long runs, the opportunity to mix up my workouts and not focus just on running, etc.

Thanks for letting me think out loud and process how I’m feeling.  I know that I’ll be much more engaged with my training and my running by backing off of distances I don’t love.  Thanks for all the support you’ve given me and continue to give me!

Love you guys!

 

2015 – A Year in Review

I wanted to take some time and look back at the last year and all of the things that happened in life.  While this year may not have been a banner year for running for me, it was such a huge year of change and growth.

January

January was relatively uneventful.  I continued working out, failed at committing to a training schedule for Shamrock, and started to write Stitch Fix reviews.

February

February was the month of snow.  I missed so many workouts due to bad weather and being snowed in or the gym being closed.  I also decided to defer Shamrock.

March

In March I got the cold from hell.  I also ran Shamrock 8k instead of the Dolphin Challenge.

April

In April, we moved Michael’s stuff into my townhouse, got diagnosed with plantar fasciitis, started PT, went to Florida for work, saw Jewel in concert, creeped on Wanda Sykes at an airport, got sick again, and turned 28!

May

In May, I got sick again, got a corneal abrasion from my contacts, did ALL the wedding stuff, had a wedding shower at work, cheated on my PT, had my bachelorette party, and did more wedding stuff!

June

In June, Michael and I got married!

Also in June: Danny and Nicole decided to leave the gym, I changed my name, my cousin got married,  I watched Danny and Nicole(my trainers) get ENGAGED, I got to meet my nephew 🙂

July

I finally made it back to yoga in July, started doing protein shakes, and we went to Nags Head with my family.

August

In August I went to a casino for the first time, we visited my brother, and I started playing Fantasy football.

September

I started really loving yoga, went to more casinos, started going to ODU football games and enjoyed the fall.

October

My church celebrated its 9 year anniversary, my husband ruined a pot, Crawlin Crab 5k was cancelled and rescheduled due to a hurricane, I took a training class and got a certification, I went on a work conference and took a fall vacation. I also did the Wicked 10k.

November

We bought a new car, we did some early Christmas shopping, I ran the Harbor Lights 5k, saw the new Hunger Games movie, enjoyed Thanksgiving with family, and went Black Friday shopping.

December

I got pampered at the Red Door Spa, cleaned out my closet, ran the Surf-N-Santa 5 miler, and celebrated Christmas with my family.

 How was 2015 for you? What are you looking forward to in 2016?

Fall Races

I have a bunch of fall races coming up. Normally I’d be super excited about that, except I haven’t run since like….April.  I’m still dealing with some plantar fasciitis issues.  I know that the structure and anatomy of my feet is such that I’ll probably continue to be plagued with issues for awhile.  I haven’t been even walking a lot due to the stress and pain it puts on my feet, much less running.

Here’s my fall schedule:

October 3, 2015 – Crawlin Crab 5k (Virginia Beach, VA)

October 31, 2015 – Wicked 10k (Virginia Beach, VA)

November 21, 2015 – Harbor Lights 5k (Virginia Beach, VA)

December 19, 2015 – Surf N Santa 5 Miler (Virginia Beach, VA)

I don’t have anything longer than a 10k.  Quite frankly, I could walk all of these, no problem (until the next day when my feet kill me!) But I’d really like to run them.  My first race just over a month away.  I’m going to focus on going back to yoga, getting my mobility and strength back and finding ways to get conditioning in without killing my feet.

The awesome thing about these races is that they are a ton of fun and I always know a bunch of people doing them.  I’m at a place where I want running to be fun again, so I’m not gonna worry about anything but having fun! Here’s to a stress free fall schedule!

 

What does your fall schedule look like?  What race are you most looking forward to?

Injury Update – I Hate PT

HEP = Home Exercise Program, aka PT homework

 

You know how there are things in life you are supposed to do…things that are good for you, but you are too lazy to do them? That’s me and my plantar fasciitis PT exercises.  I know I should be doing them, and I know they help, but that is the last thing on my mind when I finally sit down at the end of the day.  I know they will make me feel better, but they are so uncomfortable to do, the idea of starting them is undesirable.

I have noticed that the shoes I wear definitely make a difference, and I’ve been trying to wear more supportive shoes.  However, there are some days that I have pain no matter how well I think I’m treating my feet.

I don’t really feel the desire to run right now.  There is a slight desire…only cause I’m not supposed to, but with the wedding coming up, I don’t really need to be running.  I don’t have any races until the fall, and I have nothing longer than a 10k, so I have plenty of time to get back up to speed.

After the craziness of the wedding and honeymoon, I want to come back and make recovering from plantar fasciitis my number one health goal.

Are you bad about listening to your doctor? Do you have a love/hate relationship with PT?

Weekly Update – 5/11/15 – Wedding Stuff Galore!

We are getting so close to wedding time and I’m so excited! We got this sweet note and gift from our photographer this week!

Yay for date night!

 

Monday

Total rest/lazy day.  I didn’t even legitimately get anything done around the house.  I did a little wedding stuff, but I mostly sat on my butt.  And I’m totally ok with that.

Tuesday

Got a good workout in with Danny outside in the humidity!

Three Rounds:

1. 10 DB thrusters

2. 10 DB deadlifts

3. 10 pushups

4. 5 (each side) hip mobility exercise

5. 10 (each side) lateral wall shots

Wednesday

Our co-workers threw us the sweetest “Tiffany’s” themed shower!  We are blessed with the most amazing people in our lives!

So pretty!

 

Our friend and baker for our wedding made this incredible cake!

 

This picture of us was actually taken while we picked out our wedding bands at Tiffanys!

 

Awww!

 

Our pimp cups.

 

Seriously guys…so blessed.

 

Practicing for the wedding!

 

Thursday

My plantar fasciitis was really flared up on Thursday. Workout with Danny outside – and the weather was amazing!  After a dynamic warmup, we did 3 rounds of the following:

1. 21 KB resistance band swings

2. 14 overhead resistance band squats

3. 7 (each side) overhead ball slams

After I got back from my workout with him, I went out and mowed the lawn for my second workout of the day.   It had gotten a little out of control!  But! I discovered that my beautiful roses are in full bloom!

Friday

Rest day and nothing to do! How wonderfully delightful 🙂

Saturday

Danny had a training thing somewhere (I listen so well, don’t I?) so he cancelled with me for Saturday AM.  Boy, did I enjoy sleeping in!  I got a late start to the day because of it, but it was so worth it.  I got up and got started on Operation Clean the Guest Room.  The guest room has become a storage place for all of our moving junk and all our gifts from showers.  I put together a few lamps and found homes for many things!  Its still pretty full, but at least its organized mess!

Michael had his bachelor party on Saturday night, so my brother and his fiance came into town.  I got to hang out with her while the boys played.  We had fun…got some wedding stuff done and did a little shopping!

Sunday

I had worship team in the morning and then headed over to nurse Michael’s hangover.  We spent some of the day going over wedding stuff and got our grocery shopping done!

How was your week? What was the neatest theme for a shower that you’ve been to (I know someone who did a Mad Hatter theme!)?

Weekly Update – 4/13/15

I finally got three solid workouts in this week! I was very excited and proud of myself.  Its been a rough few months and it was good to get back to a more consistent routine.

Monday

I swear I’m never getting back into my Monday night routine of yoga.  I decided to attack the guest room and see if I could clear out enough room to get to the futon.  I was able to pack a lot of things away in the closet, although the setup in there is less than ideal.  I’m not making the best use of the space in there.  Got some laundry done, finally got the dishes washed (don’t judge me!) and took care of some bills and the like.

Tuesday

I worked out with Danny.  He was running a few minutes late….bad weather had caused some traffic delays.  I warmed up with 1600 meters rowing.  We did 3 sets of the following:

1. Overhead cable assisted squat (12)

2. Cable cross row, extend, y raise (6)

3. Overhead walking lunges

Seems pretty simple, but the focus was on form and stabilization.  Its harder than it looks!

Wednesday

No workout for me.  Even though I already thought I had plantar fasciitis, getting that truly diagnosed kinda sucked.  I did my first PT session and it was awful.

Thursday

Nicole – and new machine day!!!  We did Jacob’s Ladder for the first time and its so weird.    We did 3 round of the following:

1. SA KB Swings (10 each side)

2. SA Clean and press (10 each side)

3. SA Suitcase Deadlifts (10 each side)

4. Jacob’s Ladder (1 min, 2 min, 3 min – increase a minute per round)

After my workout, Michael and I went to my friend Jessie’s house for our cake tasting!  She will be doing the cake pops for our wedding and she had an amazing spread for us of 24 different flavor combinations!

Friday

My dear sweet love gave me $100 to go shopping at Old Navy! I got lots of great summer clothes!

Saturday

Danny was away at a class, so Nicole and I worked out together outside.

1.  10 hex bar dead-lifts/100 meter row

2. 20 wall balls/200 meter row

3. 30 resistance band side steps/300 meter row

4. 40 walking lunges with dumbbells/400 meter row

After my workout with Nicole, I headed home to do yard work for about 2 hours.  I sufficiently wore myself out, but got myself cleaned up and then mom and I headed off to the mall to get some more spring shopping done.  Victoria’s Secret got the bulk of my money!

Sunday

Michael was out of town for the weekend, so after church, I headed to Erin’s house and we grabbed lunch at Noodles and Company.  After that, I headed home to do some errands, laundry, etc. Michael and I are going to Florida and had a lot to get done. I went to Kohl’s and got some new pants for work – I was LONG overdue.

Injury Report: “You are just set up for issues!”

That is what my sports medicine doctor said to me after examining my legs and feet when I went to see him for all my foot/heel pain.

….Thanks, I guess?

Anyway,  I am  very good at self diagnoses.  I have plantar fasciitis and pes cavus; which is a really fancy term for high arches.  I have homework to do, in the form of PT exercises.  He says that if I do what he’s asked, I will have significant relief in 2 weeks, and hopefully very little pain by the end of a month’s time.  If at that point, I don’t have relief, we will resort to step two, which involves shots and specialists!  He’s also given me an anti-inflammatory, so hopefully that’ll help with pain management too.

He was explaining to me that people with high arches tend to have tight achilles which then pull on the plantar fasciia.  There are other structural things with high arches that lead to increased chances of plantar fasciitis, but its a little to complex for me to full digest and regurgitate to you.  So, good news is that he approved my running shoes and birkenstocks as great supportive shoes.  He did however, tell me he never wanted to see my work shoes again unless I had some major supportive inserts in them!  Sorry, my poor little cute flats.

I will continue working out like normal, but avoid running for a few weeks so as not to aggravate my feet further.  I will be at a work conference next week that will require a lot of walking and standing, so that will be interesting for my pain levels.  I’m hoping that if I do all he’s asked me to do that I will be able to keep the pain and inflammation at bay and slowly get back to running.

I also have a family friend that creates shoe inserts for people who have issues like me.  I will be paying them a visit and try to see what we can do for my work shoes.  Its hard to find good supportive dress shoes that are appropriate for work (we have a VERY strict dress code), so my hope is we can alter them in a way that will make them work for me.

To sum up: I have plantar fasciitis and high arches.  I have much homework to do.  We’ll see how I feel in a month to figure out next steps.

I’m sure many of you are no stranger to plantar fasciitis. Every person and every doctor are different and have different philosophies on treatment options.  How did you and your doctor choose to handle it? What stretches or exercises seemed to bring you the most relief?

(Probably) Injured and most decidedly stubborn

As you guys know, I’ve been struggling with suspected plantar fasciitis for awhile now.  I have a really tight back-line.  My hamstrings, calves, and achilles are all tight.  That is just a breeding ground for PF!

I like to self diagnose injuries, because who needs doctors?   Ok, ok, I actually respect doctors a lot and recognize that self diagnosis is often a bad idea. That being said, I also realize that sometimes you go to a doctor, they diagnose you with what you thought you had, and all the treatment options don’t require their help.

In the case of plantar faciitis, most of the treatment options do not require a doctor’s help. So, if I go, and that is the diagnosis, I’ve just wasted money on something I already knew.  So many of the signs point to it: pain in the morning, heel pain, cramping in the arches, etc. I have the cramping and the sore arches in both feet. Stretching and rolling on a tennis ball feels fantastic on both feet.

But, since the pain in my left heel is much stronger than in my right and in a slightly different location, there is a tiny sliver of me that thinks that perhaps this isn’t plantar fasciitis.  Part of me wonders if something else is going on and that I should go and get checked out.

I’m really starting to contemplate going because the pain is getting so bad at times (especially in the morning) that I really have difficulty walking.  It is extremely painful.  It has started to affect my workouts – I’m asking for modifications from my trainer. I’m even starting to compensate in my other foot too much and its causing pain in that foot.

I know what most of you are going to say (go to the doctor, dummy), but I wanted to get your thoughts on this. Are you like me and like to self diagnose? Or do you go to the doctor like you should?

Shoe Problems + Self-Diagnosis

So I have been wearing the Saucony Guides ever since I started running. I got fitted at a great local shoe store (Running Etc). I have tried a pair of Nike that were similar, but they just didn’t do the trick.

I was a little apprehensive when the updates from the Guide 6 to the Guide 7 seemed pretty major, but after wearing them a few times, they didn’t seem that different.  Among the notable changes were:

-Saucony has switched from its ProGrid cushioning system to Power Grid for the 7 which is a 15% lighter and 30% more durable material.

-The Guide 7’s newly-created platform have a roomier wider toebox that is definitely more accommodating. Adjustments to the overlays have helped to open up the shoes fit as well.

None of these changes really worried me.  When I put on the shoe, it felt the same as the Guide 6.  So fast forward a few weeks into wearing them and I’m not so sure that these changes were as benign as I once thought.

I started having issues with my heels and arches (suspected plantar fasciitis – yes, yes, I know I shouldn’t self diagnose) a few weeks before I switched to these shoes.  When I realized how horribly worn down the tread was, I chalked it up to broken down shoes.  After switching to the new shoes, it felt much better….for awhile.  Now my arches ache after wearing them.

I didn’t have a ton of pain after Crawlin Crab Half Marathon, but I do remember my feet hurting more than normal while running.  After the Wicked 10k this weekend I had excruciating pain in my left heel the next morning. I couldn’t even bear weight on it for hours it hurt so bad.

Now I’m wondering if the shoes are playing a huge part into my foot pain.  The only other factor that changed in my life is that I’m now doing yoga.  All the research I’ve found is that most yoga poses (especially the simple ones I’m doing) are not detrimental to plantar faciitis… if that is even what is going on.

I’m not sure if the shoes are the culprit, but it seems a bit suspicious.  I probably should stop self-diagnosing and scouring the internet for answers and go get checked by a doctor for real answers.

All my issues seem to point to PF: the pain is worse in the AM or when getting up from a seated position, doesn’t hurt while running, only after, most of the pain is in the heel, but the arches feel tight throughout.

I’m rolling my feet on a tennis ball throughout the day under my desk.  I should be icing more than I am, but I do roll on a frozen water bottle occasionally.  I am going to work in more exercises to stretch out my feet, achilles, and calf. I know that I’m really tight in my back line.  My hamstrings are the only thing that have made any progress.  I hope that trying to stretch more will allow me to ease the tightness that is probably the source of a lot of my pain.

If any of you have suggestions for a stability shoe that is similar to the Saucony Guides, please let me know.  I’m willing to try a new style to see if that makes a difference.

Have you ever switched shoes and noticed a difference in your feet? Do you like to self diagnose?