Fashion is Pain

So last week my back and my ankle were pretty sore. The physio session started it off, which is not unusual. But the jeans finished them off. For most people the act of pulling on and off your pants is no big deal. But in my case it's hazardous to my health. Okay, it was about 20 pairs of jeans I was trying on. And they were skinny jeans. And I couldn't breath very well in them (let alone eat all night!). But damn it, that store dummy looked hot in them and I wanted to too!

Okay, lesson learnt. I'm not 20 any more. And the act of breathing is kinda essential to my fitness plan moving forward. Plus confessing to my physio the reason for my sore back was kind of embarrassing. I laughed. I'm not sure he thought it was as funny as I did.

So, anyone want a pair of skinny jeans? Really, don't be deterred by the breathing thing.

Just one more thing...

So last night it was mentioned again that I have a curve in my spine. Not from the side which is normal, but from the back. I knew about it but it keeps getting mentioned and came up recently in an MRI as well. But I don't know what to do about it, or even if it's worth worrying about. So I did the only sensible thing and Googled it. Of course. But after looking at numerous medical sites and reading pages of information about it I decided to stop as I was being advised that it could mean as little as nothing to extensive degenerative issues. Plus there are really gross pictures of pus and parasites on medical sites. So it was best I stop. And continue to ponder what this means.

So, with a slipped disk which is on the mend, I think. An ankle sprain, which isn't improving, and may involve another MRI. A dodgy curve in my back. And the inability to run anytime soon, my happiness levels have declined drastically. Even new running pants from Lululemon (awaiting my return to running) last week didn't improve my happiness levels.

There is only one thing for it... retail therapy at lunchtime!

A Bucket of Ice

So things should be on the up and up by now. Right? It's been eight months since my back injury which was recovering nicely. And I should be back on track. Until the overexcitement of my new computer caused a lack of concentration while lifting the mothership downstairs and the disk went again in January. An MRI confirmed compression of the nerve. And just because I have to be a bit different a bunch of Tarpov cysts were discovered on the nerve roots. Although apparently that's not causing the problem. It was just interesting that I had to show up something strange.

Then just as I was settling into a  morose mindset that this up and down disk injury would determine how I led the rest of my life (tentatively) my original physio suggested I see a different physio who could strengthen my core and back with one-on-one exercise sessions to help me recover.

Of course just as I was being tortured into someone who didn't have to spend the rest of my life bending gingerly and walking as exercise, I fell backwards down a set of stairs and tore my anterior tibiofibular ligament. So my back program has been set back (no pun intended) and I have spent the last three days with my ankle strapped in place and performing ice baths on my right ankle. And in order to get to ice on the affected area I've had to do that in a bucket.

So today as I was thinking what exciting things have I been up to that I could status update and I realised that my life has been reduced to simple physio exercises, slow walking and a green bucket. And 4 to 6 weeks recovery. There are many worse things in life than the inside of that big green bucket but I sure wish the road to recovery hadn't had so many obstacles of late.

I'm back (no pun intended)...

I got a Garmin Forerunner 610 for Christmas and I'm excited as a jar full of jumping beans!

It's been five months since my back injury and despite my couple of previous posts that seemed positive about my recovery I was far too optimistic. At each and every visit to the physio for two months she continued to shake her head at the mere hint of running and in the end I even stopped mentioning it. Until my last physio session. She always looks very pleased for me when I reach the last session after an injury, like I've just graduated or something. I guess I have. After months of core strengthening and increasing the difficulty of those exercises along with increased walking sessions until we were up to a brisk 8km, she finally said she could do no more for me and sent me out into the world with a recovery plan to start running again.

That was about 2 months ago. The plan goes like this...

During our usual 5-8km walk run for a short distance ie 20-50 metres.
Continue walking till the end.
Take a rest day.
If the injury area doesn't inflame or cause pain, rinse repeat.
If the injury area does inflame discontinue running until it is better.
Week 2 rinse repeat 1 through 4 and increase run period to 50-100 metres.
Rinse repeat until we're back on track with our usual run distance... and by that calculation this is going to take a while.

Except... the two runs I've tried have both resulted in several weeks of recovery time in between.
/sigh

So the run recovery program is on hold until Jan. During each and every walk I spend the entire time trying not to run. I feel good when I'm out and now I just have to train the injured area not to remember the run on the day I injured it and it doesn't need to spasm and protect my back every time I run anymore. That's easier said than done apparently but I'm hopeful this Jan is it.

I'm raring to go, and so it my Garmin!

Swim, walk, stablise

I have been banned from running. This has not put me in a happy place. And I am actually surprised how much I miss it. The ban is until my back is better and then there will be rules surrounding my return to running (like no hills). But I have to stay active. Fortunately this time it's not a full blown prolapsed disk but it's in the danger zone and discomfort/pain extends down my legs depending on what I've been doing all day. Sitting at my desk at work is the worst.

So this holiday is actually well timed. Although it interrupted our plans which was to run 5km every day we tried to remain positive after my JP also injured his back (yes, gardening like me!) and we decided instead to use the holiday to build our strength again and start with a stabilising and strength regime to rebuild.

The best thing has been that we have not been putting our backs under stress by sitting all day. And we have been walking, and doing our stretching and stabilising, and walking, and swimming. The swimming was nearly a no-show when the wind whipped up and I got in the pool up to my knees and started to seize up from the cold. However the fact that an old lady and her two toddler grandchildren were splashing around in the pool meant I couldn't chicken out. So in I got and did deep water running and laps. I even saved a ladybird from drowning.

We followed the swim with an interval session. My JP and my young adult nephews took off on a 5km run. Our teenage nephew taking the lead with a running stride I am quite envious of... but 20 year ago maybe I could have done the same. Well, in my imagination anyway. My bro and I took it easier - he's a cyclist so it new to this running caper - and we eased into the interval session for day 2. So far so good. Movement is the key after all.

And after day 2 my back, I say tentatively lest I jinx it, is doing well. And, here it is... I agreed with my bro that I would add that I slowed him down today. Tomorrow it's on.

Aqua Adventures

So after I made fun of my sore finger last week it turns out I had actually sustained an injury...to my back. Not just a little strain but the weakening of my six year old disc issue. Oh, it's been fine now for about three and a half years...just long enough to forget that heavy duty gardening followed by a long strenuous hilly run doesn't mix well. It did just protest...it protruded slightly to remind me of my frailty.

So when my physio said no running - just walking, lying and more walking...on flat ground, I did a little groan. Maybe it wasn't out loud but she saw the expression on my face and said I could do some gentle core strengthening exercises. I groaned again. She relented...and said I could do some running in water with a floatation belt on. What am I... 90?! I dont think I said that out loud but I think she saw the expression on my face.

I spent the next day making fun of it and strenuously denying the notion of aqua therapy. I had decided to call it therapy in order to qualify it as something not so absurd. It was was on par with being told six years ago that I would henceforth have to wear flat - otherwise known as gimp - shoes. Oh the horror.

And then tonight I donned the belt and climbed in the pool...in public...with music pounding out of a box on wheels while an instructor paced up and down with a sunny smile on her mic'ed up face. But when I got in the water a bizarre thing happened. That weird foamy belt kept me upright the water like a cork spinning round a pond. I put my arms out as I spun out of control and it was like being on a cloud. Then the hard work began...

Okay, so I actually enjoyed it and it was as strenuous as my physio said it would be. And it didn't hurt my back at all. In fact it feels great. maybe it wasn't so absurd after all...

And the good news is, my finger is better too.

Running Injury

Well, I knew this day would come. When I got a running injury. We've been a bit slack on our runs lately, mostly because JP got sick and we've not been out as often as usual in the last few weeks. Plus, let's be honest, the middle of winter needs a lot of motivation just to even think about putting running shoes on and heading into the cold when it's about 3 degrees outside.

We'd been out already this week and felt okay but simply couldn't face it Friday night again. So we bargained with ourselves to switch to Sat instead. Then slept in and bargained to do it later in the day. Then when 5pm arrived we had no choice. And having to take a video back to the store we decided to do a long run - see previous post re our definition of a 'long run' haha.

The good thing about having been running now for nearly a year is that our stamina has improved. We made it most of the way without having to slow to a walk and actually ran all the way back from the half way mark without walking at all. My legs did it hard though and at about three quarters of the way through, as each step strained up through my lower legs and into my thighs I thought I might just know, in the tiniest way, what it feels like to do a really long run. Not the pain - it wasn't that. It was just an awareness of my lower body. With each step I was acutely aware of my legs to the point that my lower body felt entirely different to my upper body. My lower body was the reality - it was hurting. And my upper body was doing it easy, just along for the ride. It didn't even feel like part of me.

Here's the irony though. I ended up with a strain which I only noticed when I got home and had stopped. Yeah, my legs were hurting. But that wasn't the worst of it. I strained... my finger! Not, I would think, a common runners injury! I don't know what I was doing with my hand but my finger's got up a hurt that makes my legs feel real good. I'm going to be positive though and assume this is not going to slow me down and ruin my running career :p