My foot is expecting!

I walked into therapy today with the feeling of god; I look like an idiot the way I am walking. However, I was told it was Good Form, Peter! The only thing is this new, good form is causing my foot to flare up.

There is something going on with my foot. It’s in the small toes and my dorsal flexion.  So to help with the inflammation a few things occurred. Last night my foot got an ice bath; it will keep getting ice baths each evening. (I curse like a trucker during these). Then my therapist slathered my foot in some cortisone, then some cool clear gel, and then my foot got an ultrasound.  It is supposed to be a quick fix so I can run on Saturday. I’m supposed to not aggravate my foot, stretch & ice it each evening. 

I hope it works. Right now it’s feeling good and I’m half way through the day at work. So we’ll see how it goes.  I’m feeling better about the race on Saturday because I’m going down the big hill that I had to go up during the corporate challenge. 

So keep good thoughts coming and keep those fingers crossed.

Hey kids, it’s race day.

It was also physical therapy day. An odd twist of events occurred and allowed me to have my super crush physical therapist work with me today. Having her hands on my legs was not a bad way to have the day start and I was thankful for shaving this morning. I also like her because she is thorough. She took her time with me today and we found out that I really have some ankle issues. My usual therapist knew that I was tight and not flexible, but my old school therapist saw I was shaky and we worked on strengthening.

 I asked if there was anything I could do before my race today and she said no, and that she knew I’d be stubborn and try to complete the race but she made me promise that if it really hurt that I would walk it out to complete the race. She also recommended hard core orthotics – so that leads me into my tax law research for the day. See, there is a way to write off expenses in regards to fighting your own personal obesity. So orthotics, gym memberships, trainers, running shoes, race entry fees…all possible tax write off’s if I can get my doctor to say that it is exercise is a benefit to fighting my obesity. I’m sure there are a few other things in there too but that’s why I have to research it.

I’m a bit happier today but it’s mostly because I am excited about the race. One of my favorite things and the main reason I run with my iphone is my Nike + GPS app. See I can say that I am starting a race and it asks if I want “cheers” sent. So it posts on Facebook that I’m starting a run and every time someone likes or comments on that post it sends me some cowbell love. It is always fun running and then hearing the cowbell. Most people comment right in the beginning but others spread the love and comment several times, which is good because it’s like 45mins-1hour of running so cheers all the way through are great.

I’m going to be picking between one of my three current playlists for today’s run. I may even create a quick new playlist by splitting songs from each three. As I really want to hear Closer to the Edge today.  I’m also bringing a Sharpie marker incase our shirts are really orange (cause I’ll never wear it for anything but running) and if so then I’ll be drawing a heart on my left sleeve and writing rule #1: CARDIO on the right sleeve.

My traditional start pose picture will also be taken, even if I force a stranger to take it.



Race 1



Race 2



I'm not fast, I'm just persistent.

“The motherfucking zombie apocalypse is nigh, and you’re in the middle of a densely populated city. It’s 15 kilometers (9.32 miles) to the county limit, there’s not much time, and you need to get moving. DO YOU WANT TO SURVIVE?”

I ran yesterday. In the rain. It was the dreaded 1.9 miles to meltdown. I tried stretching my shin out and then walking and picking up my run again. Yet it was so tight. Once I was home I asked my brother to break out "The Stick" and to work on my shin for me. I screamed so badly, my family thought my brother was torturing me upstairs. It was one of those good hurts, where the knots and tightness were being worked out. I need to keep doing that this week, each night and keep my shins & hamstrings stretched.

I also picked up two balance board circles. I'm going to work these ankles into fully supporting me. I've got 9.32 miles to run away from Zombies. In a real zombie apocalypse I'd have to keep running or die.

I'll take all two walking breaks at work today, which will give me about two miles of walking today. Tomorrow I'm going to try walking two miles, then running two miles. Thursday I've got a race of 3.5 miles to run/walk I would like to come in at 45 minutes but I'd be happy to be under 52 minutes. I'm not fast, I'm just persistent.

My goals: To have fun. To not be the last human eaten. To not get caught up in the sport but to realize I'm taking positive steps to better myself.

My hips don't lie

My hips are so sore. My knees are right there too. At physical therapy we are working on the vastus medialis and the soleus muscles. When I was younger I often heard that my upper leg wasn’t strong enough to support my lower leg. I guess it’s still the case. It supports it but my legs have been over compensating in order to function. So my hips are extremely tight, my hamstrings are as well.  I am also working to get better flexion in my feet, ankles and toes to help strengthen my flat feet. 

Oh, I didn’t mention that I have flat feet? Yeah, that’s what my PT was saying. So my shoes are working right now but they might not be the best thing for me. 

So we are working on strengthening my lower legs but not overdoing it so I can still run. I am going to run tonight. I don’t care what time, I am going to go do it, preferably outside. 

I’ve got exercises to do while I’m at work sitting in my chair but they involve me getting a ball at the dollar store (which I’ll do later). My knee caps shift a lot during all this because my muscles are pulling them in different directions, same with my hips. So all this correction is making my hips and knees ache. 

I’m also finally signing up for the Freihofer's Run for Women. I should have done it a few weeks ago but I was side tracked and well today is my pay day.

I want to love you, My PT*

*Sung to the tune of Michael Jackson’s Pretty Young Thing (PYT)

Today was the first day of physical therapy. I’m no stranger to physical therapy. I’ve gone for my ankles, knees, back, wrist, shoulder, and now legs.  When I was at Albany Med I went to PT in the hospital and found myself laughing a lot with my PT.  Later when we were trying to assess my head pain & leg numbness I was sent to PT to work on my lower back. Again, the therapist was cool and it was my first trip to this center (the one I currently go to). For my shoulder I went back there and I was introduced to my physical therapist. She was cute and tomboyish.  I played most of our 6 weeks of therapy playing the do you date boys or girls game.  When I had to leave it was kind of sad because she and several other therapists had become bright spots in my daily routine.

I walked into physical therapy today and as I pulled the door, there stood my favorite therapist, smiling at me. She was like what did you do this time? She looked at my chart, saw that I had someone else as my therapist and gave me my stuff to fill out. Then she teased me for taking a chair in the corner and hiding from her. While I waited for my therapist, she called out while working with another patient asking me what shows Tony Danza was famous for.

My new physical therapist came in and met me and we started talking about my problems. She looked at my feet, my gait, my leg length, my flexibility. We found out a lot of things. My heal shifts on one foot more, my left leg is shorter than my right; my hip is so tight that she made a crazy face.  I’ve got to strengthen my quads to help support the rest of my legs. Next week she is going to watch me run on the treadmill to see how I am doing with my running and we’re going to see what else needs strengthening & flexibility.  

I walked away with a page worth of names of stretches for me to now add into my routine.  Tonight I’m going to do a little walk around my neighborhood. Then go through the list of stretches. Running comes back on Saturday.

The key is to be flexible

While I’ve heard this several times over in my new job, I’m really looking at flexibility in some new ways.

I know the key to my post run recovery day happiness will be if I can stretch out my stiff hips. I know my IT band is the route of all evil to my left side. I’m also figuring out my left side big toe just does not want to stay flat while I run, causing my shin to get super tired. From all the reading I’ve been doing the main suggestion is stretching.

I’ve picked up a few stretches along the way from tried and true websites, videos, and personal trainers. Yet stretching my hip flexors and my IT band remain the hardest areas to fully stretch out. It would be alright if most of my daily job wasn’t sitting at a desk for 8 hours, with a 1 hour morning & evening commute where I’m sitting stationary as well.

I am taking a look at a sports stretching class ($95) at Back in Balance Massage in Latham and I’ve found a few new stretches to try from the book 4 Hour Body I’ve thought about Yoga but I’m just not there yet.

I woke up sore and I’ve been at work for an hour or so and already feel my body just tightening up. I know that I will get used to all of it again. I’m just having a spell of complaining, followed by slow movement while I am at the house and my parents commenting on it. I have a run on Saturday that I am hoping the scattered showers stay away from while I am running. Just because I’ve taken on the battle of running in cold weather doesn’t mean that I will enjoy cold wet weather mother nature.

The weekend is always my challenge. It a food challenge, an alcohol challenge, and a motivation challenge. I know I’ll get up and run on Saturday just keep those fingers crossed and keep singing Blind Melon’s “No Rain” for me.