Craptastic Craptacular Crapola

Tonight, I just did not feel like running. That may have something to do with me almost falling asleep with the Kiddo when I was putting her to bed...the sound of rain on the window didn't help!

I hopped on the treadmill once I finished packing lunches and getting tomorrow's clothes ready (around 8:45 pm)...I really did intend to get in 5 miles, but my shorts were bugging me so I stopped to change into my running skirt. Next, I stopped to turn on the ceiling fan. Once I finally got going, I felt like it was taking a lot of effort to keep my 10:42 pace. My footsteps sounded loud and I just felt awkward.

Ever have one of those runs?

After a mile, my back started to give me that familiar ache (not that it ever stopped). Then, the left hip started to hurt right at the joint..where that came from I don't know! (Maybe it's linked to that nagging pain in my left quad? Or even my back?) Honestly, the back has been bothering me more and more - at my desk at work, just driving home...I hate to say it, but I might need to suck it up and go to the doc. Lemme tell you, going to specialists and to physical therapy gets expensive. And last time I didn't really notice a difference....we'll see.

I managed to get in 3 miles at a spectacular 10:40 pace. Truth be told, I wanted to stop at 2 miles. After my run I got out the frozen peas and iced my back and hip...oh, and to make matters worse, as I was walking down the stairs when I felt a pain in my left shin...shin splints? Surely not!

I'M FALLING APART!!!

Okay, maybe it's not all that bad. :-) But, one thing I want to do is get my bike fit checked. I had some back pain last year and it turns out my seat needed to be adjusted. I don't think I've moved anything on the bike, but I want to be sure.

Tomorrow, it's back to the pool for a nice low impact workout...

post and run.

I am experiencing something this morning that I haven't experienced in a really long time - a really crappy, shitty mood. Seriously. In the past few years, I have gotten so much better about not sweating the small stuff, but today everything is getting to me. The traffic was horrible, the shirt my work gave me to wear to an event today is so huge, I can barely get it tucked in. My hair looks like crap, my computer is running slow, the copier got jammed, the shredder isn't working, and our new hire has not shown up yet (an hour late!). Small, stupid things to get all worked up about, but for some reason I am so incredibly irritable today!

Life has been insanely crazy the past few days. I'm sure that has a lot to do with my mood.

I had a visit to the back specialist Monday and she prescribed another month of PT, with more stretching added to the strengthening exercises. I forgot to mention in my Race for the Cure report that I ran into the PT hottie right after crossing the finish line. He gave me that "are you supposed to be running?" look and asked how my back felt.

In school, I have a project due in my international management class on Saturday and I am only 1/2 done. Plus our finance mid-term is in two weeks!

At work, I had to travel to our Austin office on Tuesday, went to a job fair at UH yesterday (arriving at work at 6:15 am to get some "urgent" stuff done before hand) and today I am in the office until noon and then off to Dallas until about 9 pm. And somehow, I have to finish my school project, so that it's worthy of an A. Ugh! I did manage to get in 30 minutes of brisk walking on the treadmill done on Tuesday and 45 minutes of jogging/walking with the kiddo in the jog stroller yesterday. This is the 5th week in a row that I've only been in the office 2-3 days. Yet, there is still so many big projects that have to get done.

Well, I am off to get more of those "urgent" work tasks done before I head to the airport. I'm beginning to wonder if I am ever going to get back to regular posting again.

Update

I've been having trouble getting the kiddo to sleep the past few nights. Last night it was 9:30 pm before she drifted off. Since I can only study and blog after that, studying always has to come first which leaves little time for blogging. And, I've returned to my treadmill in the mornings before studying some more, so again, no time for blogging.

I talked to the PT hottie during Monday's session about the back and not being able to run. He feels that since I am showing improvement, that if I stick with it, I will be running soon. We'll see. He really increased the intensity of the workout and I felt it yesterday. My quads were sore! Everytime I went up and down the stair at work, I'm sure I grimaced! Today will be my last PT session until I see the doc again. Unfortunately, I've had to reschedule the doc appointment until Monday due to a work meeting tomorrow. It looks like I'll be walking the Race for the Cure on Saturday! Oh well, it's a huge race anyway and definitely not the best place to plan a PR, so I'll just enjoy being part of such a huge, awesome event.

In other news, the hubby has taken quite an interest in running lately. He ran a 5k distance on the treadmill yesterday and we are talking about going to Memorial on Sunday, so he can run a loop outdoors. He is also talking about signing up for the Turkey Trot 10K in November, so he'll have a goal to shoot for. He's taken up running here and there in the past, but then dropped it after a few weeks, so who knows. I'll be estatic if he decides to continue! He's also looking at bikes, so maybe we'll have a couple of hobbies in common soon. He is more interested in mountain bikes...but, he's promised to go on some rides with me as well.

Workout Stats - 10/1
30 minutes, treadmill, walking :-(
1 hour PT torture

Workout Stats - 10/2
30 minutes, treadmill, walking

Speechless

Okay, I'm never completely speechless. However, I am currently at a loss about what to blog about since this is technically a "running blog", but I have not run in almost a month.

I am happy to report some improvement with the lower back. Not much, but a little is better than nothing I suppose. I can now sit for pretty much any length of time painfree and I can do a "power" walk on the treadmill with almost no discomfort. But, I was greatly disappointed when I attempted to do some intervals on the treadmill last Thursday while in Lubbock. Let me back up a week...there was one instance in NYC when my friend and I were forced to run down 10 blocks of 8th ave to get to 47th st. so that we wouldn't miss our show. I noticed the back pain then. I was hoping it was just because I was caring an assortment of souviners and my Cold Stone ice cream and wearing non-running shoes. But, it was confirmed on the treadmill last week...my lower back feels no different when I run. It feels exactly like it did before I started PT. Sigh.

Will I ever get to run again???

If I was training for the marathon, I would probably run regardless. Bad, I know, but that's just how I am. However, since that's not the case, I felt I should follow doctor's orders and not run until given the okay. I wasn't given the okay, but I figured why not try it and just see if we're getting anywhere. I have more PT today after work, so I am going to bring this up. It's been a month, I feel like I should be able to run again!

This is very frustrating.

Update

Just a quick update before I head off to my alma mater for the next few days for work. The PT appointment on Monday was a bit frustrating. I think the therapist was stumped as to what might be causing my lower back to hurt. So, after making me bend forward, bend backward, move my legs around and hop on the treadmill, he decided to work on my core stability; particularly around the area that hurts. Since I'm going to be out of town for the rest of the week, my next appointment is Monday of next week. Until then, I have been told that I cannot do any running or even "power" walking". So much for taking an early morning jog around campus. I hope the hotel I'm staying in has a stationary bike or that the rain stops long enough for me to swim a few laps!