Encouraged

I am so encouraged today!

Monday I tried jogging just my 2.5 mile loop again. I made it one mile before my hip started crippling again and I had to stop and walk the rest. I have a high pain tolerance. I was in full contractions with R and my response was, "it's not that bad." In my defense, I had never felt contractions before! I walk around with a severely herniated disc most days and choose to avoid Advil for "when I really need it." Dental work? No problem. When they have an option for the pain medicine or just do it, I usually say just get it done. I think my pain threshold comes from the time I herniated my lower back so badly that I literally thought my entire right leg was shattered from toe to hip. It felt like it was filled with broken glass - so much so, that I went to the emergency room. Twice. So, since that, I usually think nothing really hurts until it hurts that badly. Well, the hip hurt on Monday - enough to stop and enough to know if I keep pushing it, it will be bad.

So, I went back to the bike and watching the Olympics and being depressed and eating Trader Joe's Joe-Joes (oreos). I have been consistent about my exercise, though. I've at least been biking and gymming almost if not every day. My kids are now the "gym babysitting kids." But they like it. R was busy playing wii with a seven year old boy the other day and K was building with blocks. So it works out for an hour and a half.

This morning, all the bikes were taken (by the elderly, if you must know. These are now my peers.) So, I decided to try the elliptical. Knowing that I read if it's a stress fracture, all weight-bearing exercises will aggravate it. Well... I did the elliptical, a little over five miles in an hour (so basically my jogging goal pace) and ... no pain! SO encouraged. It dawned on me that I can do the elliptical on my run days, the mileage that I am supposed to be doing for the runs. Trust me, I know that elliptical is 1,000 times easier than road running. But I am taking a month off from jogging entirely, with the hopes that I can pick up in September which puts me back in the race (barring additional injury). I figure if I start back up by mid-September, I can still do it in January. I was encouraged by the fact that I believe it's not a stress fracture and by the fact that I came up with this run substitution scheme for the next month. Off days, I will bike. We can still do this thing! And, I'm back to giving up the Joe Joes.

I have also been doing a lot of research on foot strides. The last pair of running shoes that I owned (that I really didn't run in), we're so uncomfortable on my feet. And they were good shoes. Truly hurt my foot even to walk in - felt like my arch never came in contact with the shoe, especially on my left foot. That's when I started looking up shoes and then found out about foot strides. And immediately got new shoes because I couldn't stand them any longer. I switched from a Saucony to Brooks and I can't tell you how much I love these shoes and did instantly. Hugs my feet perfectly. So these are the shoes that I've had when I started jogging again, around spring. I know I had them at Disney in March. All of this is to say, that I have determined that I am an under-pronator, which means that I strike with the outside of my heels and push off with the outside of my toes. Basically, I walk and jog with the outside of my feet getting most of the burden. If you're an over-pronator, which I am the opposite, you strike and push with the inside of your heel/toe. Anyway, under-pronation can cause... hip pain and injury... especially if you're in the wrong shoe. The right shoe being a major shock absorber. I think I am in the right shoe (I think my old shoes were for over-pronating which is why they hurt my feet so) - but I have probably worn down the insoles, though the treads are still good. I also think my successful elliptical workout today is telling about this, as well, since you need no shock absorption on that machine, since your feet stay on the plates. And no pain today.

So, after I take my month off, I will be buying new super shock absorbing (hopefully Brooks) shoes, to start back up again. If not sooner. I, too, will be visiting the "how much are these?!" running store in town. Josh went a couple weeks ago.

So, I am down but not out! There is still hope. And even if I don't get there, I have confidence that homeboy will be running his race, so it won't be a total lost cause. I refuse to go if none of us do!

September!