Fitness, Pain, and Other Stuff
Last Thursday, May 28th, I went out for a run. It was about 74 degrees outside, with an equally high humidity. But, you know, I had to run. That marathon is getting closer, I had no choice. Naturally, this being Pittsburgh, we really haven’t had these temperatures stick around long enough to be acclimated to it yet, so that made it difficult. I was doing reasonably well, though, making decent time, feeling pretty good and relatively pain free. It was on the way back, about 4.5 miles into the 6.2 mile run that I suddenly had pain. The pain was in my right leg … and I’ve been having trouble with the left one. It started at the very top of the inside thigh, and then moved to the hamstring/glute area. I could run a small amount, then needed to walk. I pretty much walked only at the very end. I thought this was odd, but wasn’t too worried at the time.
The next morning I got up and went to yoga. Imagine my surprise when I couldn’t even do a forward bend without pain. Not even downward dog. This being vinyasa yoga with all its forward bends and down dogs meant that I was in real trouble here. I could actually bend with a lot less pain if I kept my knee bent. I muddled through the class. The only pose I ended up sitting out, well, I actually stood, was “twisted triangle” which for some reason was the worst. I nearly yelped when I tried it. I left the class feeling better though and could straighten the leg in down dog by the end of class.
Saturday, I was signed up to do a level 2 yoga workshop. My glute/hamstring whatever, was still bothering me, but the pain was about 50% of what it was on Friday. So I went. I learned so many cool things. I still couldn’t do twisted triangle, but forward bends were permitted. I learned a new way to take flight in crow, and I am so close to being able to stay in that pose, but still can’t, its pretty frustrating!
Sunday was our scheduled long run. Um, yeah. I gave up at around mile 3.5 (and I was crazily thinking I would be going 15 miles) and walked the rest of the way. I did manage to walk 10 miles, but it got really slow at the end. 
Hills are not my friends.
At this point, it is looking like the full marathon is out of the question, and that I am going to have to do the half. The only good news there is that I am way ahead in training for that. This really makes me sad, remembering how great it felt to complete the full 26.2 miles. Maybe if I can learn to not be so hard on myself, I might allow myself to walk the second half of the marathon … I’ll have 7 hours to complete it. We’ll see. It will be a game day decision.
So this week, I took the week off from running to allow my leg to heal. It’s been tough. It’s funny how I fight with myself to get out there and run normally, but then when I “can’t” there is nothing I would rather do. I just got back a few minutes ago from picking up my CSA farm box (all greens, I guess I’ll be eating lots of salads) and saw many people running. It made me happy to see them, as running does make me happy but it made me want to come home and put on my running shoes. But I know I can’t do it until Sunday … that is the smart thing to do. A walk on Tuesday (in flip flops because my blisters would crack open in shoes) made it very clear that I am not quite ready to run.
I took off my coward hat and tried the South Side yoga studio this week and I loved it. The noontime class is great as I don’t need to get up early, or rush in the morning and can even go if I run early. I just don’t like the rest of the day starting at 2:00, by the time I get home, so I guess I’ll have to work on being productive before the class. Let’s not kid ourselves, its not like I usually get started on things earlier than that most days! Four classes in six days whetted my appetite for more yoga. So that is good I got the yoga bug back.
Today … I finally finished the seasonal wardrobe conversion. I had time … waiting for a handyman to come by to give us estimates on some work we need done. We thought he was coming by at 9:30 but it was after 4:00 before he got here. Funny how much more time I have when I don’t have to workout. It was frustrating to have no idea when he would be here and Matt gave up his run because of it. The handyman didn’t act like I was crazy for having so many cats, he just asked if they all got along, just as Blossom decided to terrorize Fuzzy.
Cole did not sleep one minute all day. I don’t think Fuzzy, Blossom, or Willie did either. They were too interested in me. Cole is very mischievous in general, and more so today. He was getting on my nerves. He should be glad that he is so sweet at other times!
And, finally, an update on Hallie. She is doing fine. No weird leg pop-outs and she is eating very well and neatly, at that. If you stuck it out, thank you for reading this very post.