Daily Chatter

Thursday, August 4, 2011

No I Didn't Tell You

My thigh.  My left thigh.
It decided to start hurting.  I finally told you about this the other day.
It was one of those things that I could find an excuse for every little twinge.

Excuse #1 - I started a new program.
Excuse #2 - I'm not 20 any more.
Excuse #3 - I need new shoes.
Excuse #4 - I'm getting used to the new shoes.
Excuse #5 - It feels better after I run.
Excuse #6 - Running on the sand just changed my form.
Excuse #7 - It doesn't hurt that bad.
Excuse #8 - I'm not stretching enough.
Excuse #9 - I'm stretching too much.
Excuse #10 - It'll just go away.

But ultimately I know my body and my left leg was not on board with the new program.  So after almost 2 weeks of shorter easier miles with no cross training, I went to the doctor.
After a very complete once over he sent me to the hospital for a load of tests.  Only to find out the my leg does not have a stress fracture (Worry #1) or bone cancer (Worry #2 thanks to the doctor planting that concern!). 
I am back this week to my full schedule and cross training.  Stretching, ibuprofen and warm heat.  I put in my fastest 6.5 in weeks and my leg felt great afterwards and didn't make a peep during Insanity.  I will factor in the need to make sure I allow for a day or two each week of purposeful easy runs to allow my body some active recovery time. 
It is a reminder that I need to remember how my body responds to changes in my routine especially when I am under stress as I was over June and July with loads of traveling, activites with the family and the disappointment of not having the required support to make my push to 100 this year.  But armed with the knowledge that I haven't broken myself, I am charging forward towards an improved overall fitness level that will get me to and through my next goal in 2012

100 miles in the woods.
Wanna come along?

11 comments:

  1. I was suffering with thigh/quad pain all winter and it turned out to be r/t my hip. stretch, stretch, stretch!! 100 miles in the woods YIKES!! you are a machine!

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  2. So glad it is feeling better and that you are listening to your body and taking steps to make sure this does not become a big issue.

    100 in 2012 - yeah baby!

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  3. Glad it's not too serious. A 100 miler? You are insane, but I love you for it!

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  4. OH, I'm glad you're keeping an eye on this. It takes more work to pay attention to ourselves than not.

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  5. happy to hear youre listening to your body

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  6. I'm happy to read you had it checked out! I hope all is great when you do your 100 miler next eyar.

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  7. So nice to hear from doctor's that pain isn't anything big. Good job taking care of yourself and ironically, I thought about you when I needed inspiration to run and pondered if you ever got knocked down by sickness or injuries. Love your approach of easy running.

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  8. Isn't it such a relief to know it's not anything permanent and it's not anything fatal. Glad to hear it's feeling better.

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  9. Lol, I had to laugh at the bone cancer scare! Doctors always give us the "Worst case scenario" about every little thing. You go in with a sore toe and walk out thinking amputation due to a tropical jungle rot. lol!
    Good job and getting in a good run! Got to love that!
    Thanks for letting me stop by! Love the blog! Your inspiring!
    Visit me and let me soak in some of your wisdom ;)
    @ http://coolrunning.com/index.shtml

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  10. Whew- glad it is nothing serious!

    By "come along" does that mean I can just hang in a lounge chair? I mean, I'll cheer :)

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  11. Love the blog, a jolly good read, its nice to connect to people who like running and the name of the blog is def inspirational, I;m following now. I'm running my first marathon in April, the london marathon and would really appreciate the love and support of fellow runners on board. You may like it, read and let me know...http://53000stepsandthenablog.blogspot.com/

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