And we begin rotator cuff rehab

10. April 2015 · 3 comments · Categories: injury, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Almost 9 weeks after I fell off a snowmobile I FINALLY went for my first rotator cuff PT appointment.

Reporting to PT

Reporting to PT

I’m embarrassed to say that the knee rehab took precedence because I need my knee to run and I need to run to stay sane right?! The therapist said I don’t have frozen shoulder so that’s good. He said that the pain is lingering mainly because my surrounding muscles are picking up the slack a whole lot. They are fatigued to the max! He did a full evaluation of my current range of motion and made me fill out this silly questionnaire to determine how my daily life has been limited. The scale was from 1-6…1 for no difficulty and 6 for severe difficulty.questionairre

I got a chuckle over some of the questions. #17! Card playing and knitting! LOL! And #21!!! OMG embarrasing.

He had me do some stretches and exercises for a bit and that was it for my first appointment. I’ll be going back next Thursday but in the meantime I’m going to do the stretches and exercises at home. I need to find a pulley I can hang from a door. I’m looking at a long road ahead of me for this rotator cuff rehab.

In other news I love when they plant all the pretty spring flowers in the big flower pots around Herald Square by my office.

spring-herald-square

I also got a run in today.

pseudo long run

pseudo long run

40 degrees and dreary. Come on Spring! Where are you?

40 degrees and dreary. Come on Spring! Where are you?

It was rough to find the time because I had so many deadlines for work so I had to compromise with 8.25 miles even though I wanted to hit 10ish as my long run for the week (I’m going on a little vacation this weekend and didn’t want to do a long run while I’m away). Next weekend is my last long run before the marathon!

Well, I better go pack for my trip. I’m off to see the Cherry Blossoms in DC.

What are your weekend plans?
What’s your favorite flower?

Related posts:

  1. Long run progress buried underneath a lot of Jeep pictures
  2. testing out new shoes and a twisted knee in my sleep
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If we all tossed our troubles in a bowl

26. March 2015 · 6 comments · Categories: injury, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Do you know that expression?

If we all tossed our troubles in a bowl we’d probably take our own troubles back. My troubles are nothing compared to so many others (both friends and strangers).

I went for a run this morning and that’s what popped into my head.

rainy run

rainy run

I woke up this morning and just felt crappy…AGAIN. I’ve been feeling crappy for a few days now. There’s the rotator cuff tendonitis that’s just been so painful lately even causing me to wake in the middle of the night. And then my entire right quad/groin/knee area that’s sore and bruised from the latest treatment I had from Doctor Wonderful Williams this past Tuesday. Add on Spring seasonal allergies that have been giving me dizzy spells, headaches and nausea (TMI: thanks to the nasal drip!) And yes, I’m sure this post is sponsored partially by P.M.S. too (more TMI). My lower back has been hurting which is often that telltale sign. I don’t really get bitchy at least.

I’ve been trying to get extra rest and just cuddle with the doodle hoping this will all pass since i have a busy weekend including a half marathon on Sunday. Luckily I’ve been working from home the last couple of days since our office is in the process of moving and we won’t be settled in the new space for a few more days.

bye bye cubicle....

bye bye cubicle…gonna miss this actually. Our new space is “open concept”. No more partitions…

But I’ve been curious to see how the knee is doing and even though I felt so crappy and it was raining I got myself together and headed out for 4 miles on my lunch break. Good news is the knee is doing SO MUCH BETTER! I felt the usual twinges in the first 1/2 mile but then it felt so good I actually forgot about it for a bit. And no pain at all upon stopping. Woo Hoo! Dr. W. said on Tuesday he felt I only needed another 1 or 2 more sessions. So while all my other maladies made me grumpy and cranky this morning I’m so grateful that the knee is progressing and rather quickly in the grand scheme of things. I’m hoping once I give my shoulder the proper attention it’ll get better as well.

I know you all don’t come here to read about my illnesses and injuries but more for the cute dog pics…so here….Duncan in every angle imaginable.

staring down my peanut butter toast

staring down my peanut butter toast

and stretching his hip flexors

and stretching his hip flexors

Working on tight quads

Working on tight quads

Get off Facebook please

Get off Facebook please

I’m excited to head into Sunday’s race feeling a little more confident in my knee. While I won’t have a repeat of last year’s PR at the Philly Love Run, it’ll give me a good idea of how I’m doing and what my plan will be for the following weekend. The NJ Marathon offers an on-course training run on April 5th. There’s a 10 miler and a 20 miler. While I’m pretty sure I’m going to drop back to the 1/2 and only need to run the 10 miler, I am still contemplating starting out with the 20 miler group and trying for at least 15-17 miles. I know, I know. probably not the smartest. I’ll see. One day at a time.

 

So what are your weekend plans?

Are you excited that April is almost here?

Do you ever prank people on April Fool’s Day?

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A perfect sweat out the small stuff weekend

23. March 2015 · 10 comments · Categories: injury, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

My weekend has been a roller coaster of ups and downs and I only have my love of running to thank for getting me through it. OK well maybe some emails with Mr. SOTSS (a.k.a. Mr. Calm and Smart and Practical and Helpful….I love him!). Oh and of course good times with old friends and a whole lotta sangria helped me too. #keepinitreal

So let’s backtrack. Friday morning I trekked into the city for my 6th visit with Dr. Williams. We worked on my upper quad/groin area and he helped separate a muscle that was “sticky”. I already have appointment #7 set up. So much for “we can fix you in 3-4 visits”. My friend Lisa who also went to Dr. Williams said he said the same thing to her. LOL! But she was fixed eventually. And I will be too! I met the boy for a quick lunch before heading back home. Mind you it was the first official day of Spring and we got hit with about 4 inches of snow!

Very pretty but I had already packed up my shovel and ice scraper for the season.

Very pretty but I had already packed up my shovel and ice scraper for the season.

Hello Spring!

Hello Spring!

I laid low for the rest of the night knowing I had a 5 am wake up call so I could get myself out to Queens to work at the Queens 13.1 race Saturday morning.

I think he wanted me to turn off the lights

I think he wanted me to turn off the lights

Just relaxing

Just relaxing

Saturday morning i sprung up and went outside to warm up the car and clean the snow off of it. I didn’t have a chance to eat breakfast but did bring a travel mug of coffee for the hour long ride to Queens. I arrived to a winter wonderland around the World’s Fair Grounds and reported to duty.

My favorite bridge

My favorite bridge

View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Queens Expressway

View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Queens Expressway

More »

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foam rolling like a champ

19. March 2015 · 4 comments · Categories: injury, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Hi there.

Hope your week has been moving along ok. I’ll catch you up on what I’ve been up to since running the NYC half last Sunday.

This past Tuesday, St. Patty’s Day, I went to Dr. Williams for my 5th ART session but first I had to acknowledge the holiday with all.things.green.

I posted this to Instagram. I just found all the green on my phone's camera roll.

I posted this to Instagram. I just found all the green on my phone’s camera roll.

I was so excited to share the news with him about how much stronger my knee was and that I ran 12 of the 13 miles at the NYC Half.

He smiled and said “why didn’t you run it all?” And then he began to work his torture magic on my scar tissue. We’re almost done breaking up the scar tissue on the lower quads just above the knee and tomorrow we’re going to move to the upper part of the leg and groin area which means the end is near! Then we’re going to move on to my shoulder =)

I asked how to prevent this from happening again and he replied without hesitation “STRENGTH training!!!”. I have been saying I need to do this for years but just can’t ever stay motivated with a strength routine. But something about the way this man said it to me. I really think it finally hit home. I’m going to try and collect as much info as I can about what the critical strength moves for runners to prevent injury are. I’m hoping to get a post up in the next week sharing that info.

Yesterday I ran a few errands on my lunch break and took a stroll through Union Square.

Union Square Green Market

Union Square Green Market

Then I made a pitstop to Jackrabbit Sports. I treated myself to a new foam roller. I got the Grid 2.0.

The Grid 2.0 for the win!

The Grid 2.0 for the win!

I LOVE IT! I already can feel the difference from the plain foam roller I had before.

And I also got this deep tissue massage ball called the Orb.

The Orb

The Orb

It’s amazing! I can’t believe how much it hurts so good when I get it under my tight hammy. I just couldn’t get aggressive enough with the foam roller to deeply massage the hammy so this will fit the bill.

Ouch....ahhhh!!!!!

Ouch….ahhhh!!!!!

It worked great for the top of my calf too.

IMG_4084Since I had a gift card I used up the balance on some fuel and some new socks.

Feetures socks

Feetures socks

Today I went for my first run since the half on Sunday. It went ok. I see the trend of the knee getting better. My legs felt a bit sluggish but that’s to be expected.

4 miles

4 miles

And even though Spring officially arrives tomorrow it’s really cold here today and we’re actually getting snow tomorrow.

needed my winter hat today and my favorite vest

needed my winter hat today and my favorite vest

Do you foam roll? What spots do you focus on?
For me it is my left hamstring and outside of my left calf along with my right quad.
Are you excited for Spring to arrive?

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