I worked from home yesterday to rest my foot and also because I was finally able to make an appointment with my primary care doc (a.k.a. the “gatekeeper”).

Duncan was thrilled that I was home so he could nap confidently

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I am just gonna vent for a minute about health insurance and the stinkin’ protocol about having to see your primary care physician before you can go anywhere else. Needless to say had I just taken myself to the emergency room on Saturday it might have cost me a heftier copay but at least I’d already have had my X-ray or whatever and know what I’m dealing with. Instead I got to cry Saturday and Sunday before even getting to make an appointment with my primary care doc (who has no idea how much running means to me and hasn’t seen me since 2012 when I sprained my ankle so he really doesn’t even remember me…..and let’s not get me started on filling out paper work every god damned time I go in there. Really? the information is on the insurance card that you just made a copy of yet I have to fill out a form too? And why do I need to write my name, address, birthday, SS# etc 3 times? Can’t I just write “ditto”? I am the patient, the responsible party and the insured. Sheesh!!!! Good thing I didn’t fracture my hand.) #RantOver

And to add insult to injury I had to get on the scale for the nurse last night too.

the Devil

the Devil

147! That’s a 5 pound weight gain since the marathon 2 weeks ago. At this rate I’ll be featured on the next episode of My 600 Pound Life before my foot is better. #exaggeratingnotexaggerating

And here’s where I’m going with this. I have always struggled with weight/body image issues. Not only does running allow me to get through the “small stuff” but it really helps keep my self-esteem and body image issues in check. I’m so worried that without running I’ll have a major emotional meltdown. It’s already started.

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they look the same. you’d never know one hurts more.

So the doc agreed it didn’t seem like an ankle sprain because he could twist it all directions without me feeling pain. I explained my theory of tendonitis but he seemed to think that wouldn’t bother the outside of my foot although I disagree. Basically I don’t believe him but he suspects a stress fracture that might have been there for a while and the marathon finally aggravated it. In any event I now have to wait for the referral to be approved by my insurance, then make an appointment with the podiatrist and then see what that reveals which means Brooklyn Half Marathon is not happening for me (only 29,999 runners now). I feel so isolated already. All my friends will be running and I won’t be there. I thought about cheering for them at the finish but I think it’s too soon for me….my head is not in that space. The following week is a 5 miler in Spring Lake NJ (I already received my bib for it too!). Maybe I’ll be able to go down for that one to cheer. Otherwise there will be a big wine and chocolate party at my house and you’re all invited!

I know I’m not the only one sidelined at the moment and I know this isn’t life threatening but I’m just really sad and not sure how I’m going to deal with all this. I had surgery for a non running related issue back in the fall of 2012 and was unable to run or do much of any exercise for 4 weeks and I got through it, so I know I am strong enough to deal with this. I just have to get to the acceptance stage. LOL!

I’ll post more when I know more.

Question: If you could do one thing to cheer me up what would it be? Are you a good patient? Or do you go nuts?

Yup. I’m at an all time low. And it’s ok. I just have to get it out so I’ve invited myself to a pity party for 1 tonight. Well Duncan has already crashed the party  =)

Rest in Peace Lambchop!

Rest in Peace Lambchop!

So this morning I headed out to Brooklyn to meet up with my running peeps for a 5K and some additional pre-race miles as well.

it was super foggy on the Verrazano Bridge this morning

it was super foggy on the Verrazano Bridge this morning

A tree grows in Brooklyn (and a Mike hides behind it). Thanks Elvia for the pic.

Lisa’s new apartment….A tree grows in Brooklyn (and a Mike hides behind it). Thanks Elvia for the pic.

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Lisa, me and Mike (thanks Elvia for the pic). This was before we started running and my ankle felt good (hence the smile).

We started out from Lisa’s house and headed to JD’s house via a loop of the park making it 4 miles. From the first step my ankle felt “uncomfortable” but it wasn’t pain, just achy. We arrived at JDs and had a little breakfast and chit chat before walking to the starting line for the family-friendly PTA 5k in Prospect Park.

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walking to the start

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Elvia and Lisa =)

JD's daughter brought her scooter and her adorable disney helmet adorned with a dandelion =)

JD’s daughter brought her scooter and her adorable disney helmet adorned with a dandelion =)

As soon as we started walking to the starting line I noticed I was limping. I figured maybe the ankle just stiffened up but when the race began and I tried to run I was pretty much shut down as I felt pain at this point. So I just walked/limped and texted Lisa to let her and the gang know. She said if I wanted they’d wait for me at the Grand Army Plaza entrance which is actually only 2.5 miles from where we began and we could just head back to her house and not finish the 5K. What a great group of friends! They gave up finishing their race for me. (it was a fun run so no timing chips or medals or anything but still I was very happy they did that). It took me an hour to walk those couple of miles. We headed out of the park and straight to the farmer’s market where everyone got some goodies. I got a gluten-free apple pie.

pretty much killed the entire pie (it was smaller than a regular size but bigger than those single serve minis)

pretty much killed the entire pie (it was smaller than a regular size but bigger than those single serve minis)

Body & Soul Gluten-Free and Vegan goodies

Body & Soul Gluten-Free and Vegan goodies

 

Then we walked a few blocks down for coffee and eventually back to Lisa’s before I headed home and immediately started icing!

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So what does all this mean? It means I’m trying to make a dr. appointment ASAP. I’m still thinking it’s tendonitis but with such intense pain when I tried running again after breakfast I really got worried and started to think about other things like, eeek…. fractures. (I’ve since calmed myself down from the ledge). I know this could mean weeks of PT and rest and that means my half marathon next weekend is in jeopardy but I refuse to go beyond that. I’m also trying to devise a plan for cross-training that won’t aggravate the ankle because I feel like a slug right now. And hey, maybe this will be the catalyst to get me to focus on upper body and core strength training that i’ve been neglecting since forever.

Well, I’m late for my pity party! Catch ya later.

Question: Injuries…how do you cope? any miracle therapies to suggest? Have you ever had to bail on a race you paid for because of an injury?

Hi!

How has your week been going? Yesterday was Earth Day. It’s sorta that for me every day. I love nature and spend as much time as I can outside. Yep. I’m a tree hugger =)

me hugging a tree

tree-hugger sally

I had to work from home yesterday to wait for the appraiser to come. I’m refinancing because the interest rate on my mortgage is ridiculous. I bought my house back in 2000 when the rates were between 7 and 8 percent. So now i’ll be down to 3.625 and I’ll be able to pay the house off sooner. Feels so good!

Anyway, I got some miles in…

earth day running

my penultimate training run. (I had a thing for vocabulary is school)

Just 3-ish. It really feels so weird to be running such low mileage but it works out ok because to overshadow my allergy woes, this past Sunday my sciatica/piriformis muscle decided to spasm. I’ve been dealing with horrible annoying pain since then. Remarkably running and walking make it feel a little better. I’m currently taking anti-inflammatories, rolling my butt on a tennis ball to massage the tight areas and rotating between ice and heat. I never get it right. Is it ice first then heat? or the opposite? I get this every now and then usually from sitting for too long or sitting the wrong way. But timing-wise it sucks. Hello! I have a marathon coming up in 4 days! 

Since most of my physical training is in the books at this point I am trying to work on some mental exercise because my mental muscle is mush lately. I started with a peaceful walk in the woods with Duncan. Green is finally popping up!

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I enjoy these walks because I can talk to myself out loud and there isn’t a soul around to hear me. Well I did scare away about 5 deer. Poor little guys were seeking out their dinner and when they heard me they bolted. All I saw were 5 white tails as they darted away.

I’d love if you all could share with me the sayings/quotes/mantras that help you feel confident and inspired.

I have been a little wishy-washy with my expectations for Sunday. I’m nervous and doubting my abilities lately…part of the taper madness? I want that fire to return for race day. I want to “crush it” as people say. But I don’t want to be disappointed if I have a slower finish time or if I struggle during the race. I did get in a solid 16 weeks of running but I never got on the bandwagon with things like strengthening my core or cleaning up my diet. So while my endurance is good, my weak core isn’t going to help me keep strong in those later miles. (Slapping my hand!) Maybe I need to just start singing that song from the movie Frozen…LET IT GO, LET IT GO! =) It’s all gonna go down just as it’s supposed to anyway. So long as I can keep smiling from the minute I line up in the corals to the minute I cross the finish line that’s all that matters right?

Just pulled out this pic. I took it the day before the NJ Marathon last year. It’s the finish line! Right on the boardwalk with the beach to the right. I will stare at this pic each day. I had an amazing day last year and set a PR. I’m hoping to have a repeat of that for this year.

NJ Marathon finish line

NJ Marathon finish line

Well, I need to get ready for work. I’ve got one of those days with back to back meetings. At least it will be a good distraction from everything.

Questions: How do you handle pre-race nerves? What are your mantras? Ice then heat or heat then ice? Tree-hugger?

It’s 18 degrees and the winds are sustained at 20mph with gusts up to 45. But I woke up this morning and felt 80 percent better! Fever broke, only used 20 tissues instead of 40 and ankle felt perfect! So I decided to try and run just 4 miles. (I missed a 5 mile interval run on Tuesday thanks to sickness and ankle discomfort and today was supposed to be 6). Well I bundled up like Nanook of the North…

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…and set out. Felt really just fine for the first 2 1/2 miles. I was keeping a decent pace and nothing hurt. Lungs were fine ironically even with the cold air. Nose was running a little but hey that’s what sleeves are for right? Then I started to feel the slightest bit of something where my ankle had been compromised over the weekend. It wasn’t pain, but it was just a little something to make me realize it’s not 100 percent healed. I got a text message from a friend at the same moment and started walking to reply. It was a sign. Just walk it in…and so i did. I actually stopped my watch at the 5k mark and then re-set it for the last mile which I walked entirely. The ankle didn’t hurt at all walking so that’s a plus!

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I’m glad I made the attempt. And I’ll do another shortie run on Saturday. And I’m pretty sure I’ll wear my ankle brace on Sunday just to be safe. 18 miles is a long way to go so if it can have a little extra support I think it makes sense. My goal for the NYC Half is to run it at marathon pace and finish in about 2:20. I’ll have done just 2 1/2 warm up miles before hand and I’ll be doing another 2 1/2 cool down miles after so this is the perfect place to benchmark where I’m at (contingent on ankle being good of course).

Off to foam roll the calves and get some new pillows at Bed Bath and Beyond (I know, riveting!)…

Question: What do you call it when it’s not an injury but it’s not nothing? I’ve heard the term “niggle” and “tweak” used before.