Monday, May 16, 2011

i'm done hiding

a lot has happened since i last blogged a week and a half ago. i was in the thick of physical therapy and was hopeful that my pain would get better. i was given the go ahead to do a light run on sunday, which was may 8th. i was very excited to see how i felt. i even bagged out of the usual saturday routine of a long hill ride just so i could keep the legs fresh. i ended up doing a 20 mile ride on the trainer, a 3000 yard swim, and the elliptical for 8 miles. i rested the remainder of the day, stretch, did the tennis ball, golf ball dealio, iced, etc... woke up on sunday excited to run. i already decided 2 miles would be my limit no matter how good i felt. felt great for about 1 minute and the rest of the entire 2 miles (which i pretty much forced myself to do) hurt a lot. very discouraging. i got home and the j-man asked how it went and my exact words were, "it was horrible, not good at all." i felt it as we did our 50 mile ride and the worst pain was when we were done and i clipped out of the pedal. that inward hip rotation about made me come out of my skin. i felt like crap the rest of the day and then on monday as i was sitting at work, in pain, i had a light bulb moment. something made me think about ART (Active Release Technique). i remembered reading about other bloggers and some friends on facebook having had this done. i immediately started googling and researching about it. i asked friends on facebook and dailymile what their experiences were with ART and if they recommend it. i received nothing but positive feedback and everyone pretty much said, go for it. i quickly cancelled the 2 physical therapy sessions scheduled for tuesday and thursday and found someone in my area who does this specific therapy.

meet my new best friend Andrew (the ART guy)
here is the readers digest version: i called him on monday from work as i was writhing in pain and we made an appointment for the following day. i ended up calling him back on my way home to see if he still had the opening for that evening and he did thank goodness because i don't think i could have waited until the next day. that is how bad i felt. i got there at 6pm and we started right on time. yes it was painful, but OMG it worked. i literally walked out of there with about 75% less pain than when i walked in. i went back on friday for round 2, another hour of pure torture and pain. this time it was even more painful but amazing how it works. in a nutshell, it works by breaking up scar tissue and adhesions that have accumulated and i obviously have accumulated a lot. damn those swim fins! round 3 is on thursday.

my other best friend, the foam roller found on clearance at TJ Maxx. i don't leave home without it.
i was supposed to race this past saturday but with this injury still lingering, i thought it would be best to not jeopardize the healing process. i also found out that the race director announced (only 4 days prior to the race) that the run would be on the beach unlike last year when it was on the sidewalk. looking back on the decision not to race, i'm glad i didn't because i think that the resistance of running in the sand would have set me back.

as for upcoming races, i'm still not sure about the 70.3 in Clermont coming up in less than a month. i'm not sure that i will be ready to throw down a decent 1/2 mary. we'll see! the good news is that i ran 3 miles yesterday. even though it was slow, i was running and i felt a lot less pain. i still have tightness but it is sooooo much better.
one last update before i sign off. the website i used to log all of my workouts and races on for the last four years, crashed.  as in, all of my data and everyone else who used buckeye outdoors, lost all of their history. it made me feel nauseous when i read what happened. apparently, all of the terrible tornadoes that swept across Ohio, wiped out the servers and the backup. they were unable to restore any of it, so for about a week, i felt lost ...i couldn't run and had lost my log, could it get any worse, LOL! i'm now logging my workouts on dailymile. many of us bloggers have connected on there already but if you are on dailymile, please come by and say hi. you can find me HERE.  

to all those who raced this weekend, i am slowly making my way to reading your race reports. congrats to all of you who raced!

much love and peace out!

29 comments:

  1. I'm glad to hear the ART is helping! It's so frustrating trying to get through an injury with upcoming races. I am dealing with some foot pain and took a few weeks off of running before doing my first half iron this weekend (yay!), but the pain came back in the second half of the half marathon. I was hoping to do a fall marathon and jump into the training after a couple weeks off, but now I'm not sure what my foot is doing. Ah, so frustrating!

    I think you made the right decision my skipping the race...running on sand is TOUGH, and I am pretty sure that would NOT have felt good for your injury! Good luck and keep us updated on how the ART goes!

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  2. Keep it up! The sun will shine for you eventually.
    I thought about having my online log disappear like that, and so I started writing it manually in a notebook, too. Just an idea! Also, runningahead.com is a cool logging site too, I use it. Works great with garmin products.

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  3. Wow, buddy. I'm sorry 'bout all the pain you've been having. That sucks, but it sounds like you've found a partial solution with ART. Matty O said that it's really helped him. I hope you get straightened out soon. Sorry about the dog and the whole training history loss. What a bummer. Hang in there!

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  4. I am glad ART is working out! I will keep sending you happy "pain free" running vibes. Here is to a full recovery my friend!

    Sorry to hear about the running log.. I think I would be SICK. The only numbers I care to think of or keep track of are the miles I do. I use DM but I also keep a running(now bike and swim) paper log at the house.

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  5. I love the first pic!
    I hope your body starts coming around, sounds like you are on the right track.
    On another subject, I hope 1200 calories of Paydays doesn't do me in...

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  6. GL with the therapy sessions KC....hoping they work for you - fingers crossed and positive vibes to you.

    D

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  7. SO glad to hear it is helping....for you- AND I am happy to hear something may work for me;)) My butt muscles and down my glutes are in so much pain after the 7km mark I feel like crying. I'm looking for my own therapist now. Thank you!

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  8. So glad it seems like you've found an answer. I think you're playing it smart to hold off on some of these races until your body is READY. You're too competitive to go out there and give an effort that isn't YOU because of an injury.

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  9. Woohoo for ART! Never used it myself but saw it in action in the T2 tent at IMWI last year and have heard everyone else rave about it. Sounds like another success story for you.

    That sucks about BuckeyeOutdoors! I fled from them a few months ago because I got sick of relying on their site to be up to be able to log workouts. I can't recommend SportTracks (Desktop app) enough. It is Windows only though so if you are a Mac user check out rubiTrack or Ascent. That way backups are in your control :)

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  10. Yeah for ART. I loved my session last week. There is still some pain in my periformis (sp?) area but I am back to stretching everyday and getting rid of that nasty little hiccup. I am going to start using your tennis ball routine (The wife insists as well.)

    Now, please tell me to foam roll. The wife says do it and I need 2/3 of you angels to tell me so you would be #3.

    I love having a pit crew in my wife, you and my coach. You guys are awesome.

    BTW - smart smart move on bagging that race. No way that would have helped you. You have bigger fish to fry like IMFL and then KONA. And yes, Karen and I am coming out there when you qualify and hanging out for a sherpa-cation with you and J-Man

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  11. So glad the ART seems to be helping! I lost my logs that were with Buckeye too. A few months before I had starting also logging with Daily Mile so at least the more recent info is there but HATE that I lost all my history. Oh well, there are worse things... Looking you up on daily mile now :)

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  12. Woo Hoo for ART! I love the pic!

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  13. I think I look like the Unibomber! Quick update: I ran 5 miles this morning and barely a twinge. Hard to believe after only 2 ART sessions that I can actually run again. Honestly, I wish I would have thought of getting ART sooner. Live and learn. So all of you out there hurting, what are you waiting for? Next time (hopefully there is not a next time), ART will be my first plan of action.
    Thanks for all of the great suggestions for workout logs. I will go check them out as well.

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  14. ugh. sorry to hear about the injury. welcome to my world of ART. It's like John Mellencamp sings - it hurts so good. ihave been having success with starting my long runs with an hour+ o aqua jogging, then move to elliptical, then move to treadmill for the finale. slowly increasing time on the treadmill and reducing time in the pool. stay focused and listen to your body. you are strong. keep your eye on the prize.

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  15. You have no idea how happy it makes me to read this post KC!

    The only reason I finished the 26.2 was because of my ART Dr. I swear by it. He told me 3 trips and you were done. Little did I KNOW, I was causing all the injury with my running gait.

    He figured that out and told me how to correct it. So far, IT Bands were PERFECT for the race and now my achilles just needs time off, no getting out of my injury that easy!

    Hoping that everything is back in order for you and that the ART does fix you up, it seems such simple technique but they know EXACTLY what to feel for and how to work it out.

    HAPPY HAPPY!

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  16. ART is Ah-mazing! It hurts like freakin hell (especially if your chiro is a Souel Olympics Brozen medalist in Greco Roman wresting like mine is!!!) but it works wonders. Glad you're on the mend.

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  17. One of my mentors (when I started working as a personal trainer) specialized in ART. It is freakingggg amazing. Good for you! You will be back to 100% in no time.

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  18. So glad to hear that ART is helping. I've heard wonderful things about it (and luckily haven't had to use it!)

    I'm glad you are back to running... take it slow and I bet you are back in no time!

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  19. glad you are healing.... i haven't tried ART but have also heard lots of good things about it. definitely think it can work though... happy healing and continue to rest! again IM FL is the goal :) Keep your sights set on the A races.... you will be glad you did!

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  20. ART is great. Glad you found someone for it. And smart move on the race! Happy healing.

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  21. Never tried ART but I've heard great things about it! Just found you via athletes palate!!

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  22. Spent some time on your blog this evening, and I love it!! I am happy to hear you are back. Can't wait to read more about your adventures!

    And by the way, I love that your playlist is on your blog - that is so cool! :)

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  23. I'm so sorry that you're still having a lot of pain. But, I'm glad the ART therapy seems to be working! Yay!!

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  24. Sorry...injuries suck! But at least you are finding something that is working for you, which is definitely a good sign

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  25. I'm so glad that this seems to be working for you. You have lots of time to decide on the 70.3.
    When I was off, my chiro told me, "Keep your eye on the prize at the end." It helped me deal with my "lost" race.

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  26. Late on the update here, sorry! I hope the healing is still continuing and you are back to training the way you so love to do!! I have heard wonderful things about ART and I hope it's the magical cure!!

    ((hugs))

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  27. GOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL

    watchn the TB/Bos tilt

    TB just tied it up 2-2
    had to wait for commercial to email u - great puck action

    born in Montreal I have for some reason always hated Bruins. Okay thats a bit strong. I really disliked them growing up.
    GO TB

    D

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  28. Small friggin' world, KC -- I am reading along and then suddenly shocked to see my friend Andrew in your blog! One of the nicest guys in the world. I didn't realize that that was what he does for a living (I know him through my son's cub scout pack) -- but next time my shoulder goes out of whack, I am calling him!

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