Running Injuries are the Worst!!

Well, unfortunately I don't have much to report as far as training goes. I had restarted with the 21 day fix videos on Monday, but by the end of the day my shin was very sore again. I did the Total Body Cardio Fix and followed the modifier, so absolutely no jumping around. I enjoyed it greatly, but the pain that accompanied it, not worth it to keep going. That evening I was feeling very frustrated and extremely nervous about whether or not I was truly looking at shin splints or if it is a stress fracture. I messaged Brecka and she hooked me up with a number to an actual sports doctor.

Tuesday morning I had snagged up the only appt available before Christmas, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, and decided to lay low until then. It was a good choice. I was pretty sore the days leading up to it.

Thursday's appt didn't go how I thought. My shin was very sore that day. I expected terrible news, but tried to remain optimistic. Xrays were done and then lots of questions and an exam of my leg.

The poor doctor had no idea what he was getting into, that poor man. He started by looking at my left leg. I honestly for a minute thought... um wrong leg. And then asked him if he knew it wasn't that leg that hurt. He responded with an "I know, I gotta look at the healthy one first" to which I responded with "oh gee, that makes sense. I was about to ask to see your credentials!" Hahaha, poor guy, he glanced up quickly to see my wide grin! The intern he had in there kinda laughed too!

These shorts tho! My "parting" gift they said.

The exam continues on and he starts pushing on the shin bones and surrounding muscle asking me if anything hurt. He was pushing hard! My response... "No. No. No. Well, if you push hard enough, sure it hurts!!"

Where is my filter?!!!

Anyway, so we carry on and go through all the walk on your heels, walk on your toes, does any of that hurt? Now hop on your left leg. K, now hop on your right leg.

SCREEEEECH!!! Wait, what!!

I stood on my right foot and mustered up what I could before giving it a go, knowing it was gonna be bad. I barely got off the ground. One "hop". I couldn't do it. I wanted to cry. I knew that was a bad thing.

So here we sat discussing the differences between shin splints and stress fractures and how not being able to hop just "muddied" up my diagnosis. My spirits fell. My xrays were perfect he said, and he was about to call severe shin splints, until I couldn't hop.

Plan of action. Treat it like a stress fracture and take 6 more weeks off of running, or get an MRI and know for certain what we're dealing with and exactly how to treat it. So. I'm scheduled for an MRI at 6:00 this evening.

The frustrating thing about the appt is literally one day later. I could hop. I'm still sore. I've gone back and forth over whether to call and leave a message and see if he'll clear me for running, or just see this thing through, and know for absolute certainty. I think I'm choosing know for certain. Better safe than sorry.

I'm hoping like crazy I get the phone call before Christmas eve saying I'm good to go. It may be wishful thinking, but if I hope and pray hard enough, it can be my Christmas miracle!

How do you handle it when you get grounding injuries? What gets you through the dark days of not being able to be active the way you were, pre-injury?

Recommit to a Healthy Lifestyle

Today I'm recommiting. I may be able to run for long distances, and I can workout for any length of time, but I am not fueling my body in a respectful way. I'm not fueling it to perform the way I want it to. Garbage in, garbage out.

When I work I pick up my old bad habits. I was doing pretty well until work started again. It's not okay. Real life means being busy, but finding time to still take care of nutrition. So today I will do my best to stay on course for the next three weeks. I will put good foods into my body. I will be more strict than normal, but not exclusive, it is Christmas time after all. But I don't need to indulge all the time. A treat here and there is okay, but responsibility is necessary.

I know I'm completely out of control and for that reason I'm turning to a program that I've used a couple of times already, once successfully. The 21 day fix. I don't have the extra shakes and I never follow it spot on, but I eat much better when I follow the basic guidelines it provides and I get results when I do. If I want to have any hopes of lining up uninjured and healthy for the Phoenix half marathon at the end of February, this is where I really need to start. Following a training plan is the easy part. It's the stuff in between that's really going to make a difference for me.

You don't need a new year. You just need a new day. A renewed sense of responsibility. A reminder of what you're fighting for. As for me, I'm fighting for the best version of me!

Be Kind To Yourself

Well alright then. Do you wanna know what's humbling? Taking some "before" pictures before beginning a workout/eating program.

Over a year ago I started making small changes, that turned into big changes, and I was succeeding! I was eating better, working out in a balanced way and I was seeing results. Then Oct 2014, about a year into it, I went back to work. I get into really bad habits when I work. I don't eat well, I skip breakfast, I drink more soda. I had to make some changes to how and when I worked out, and then I stopped strength training too. With all of that, I lost sight of where I was headed.

I finally made a decision, with my husband, to try and turn it all back around. After hearing a lot of people talk about their success with the 21 day fix from Beachbody, I started looking at it a little more carefully. I thought it was just another one of those gimmicks...lose weight by cutting out foods and working out a ton! We randomly ended up watching an info-mercial about it one day a couple weeks ago and made the decision to go ahead and purchase the kit. It seemed pretty legit, but I still wasn't sure.....I figured there was still some major calorie cutting that was gonna happen and I was anxious, but I was assured I could still run while doing it, so it couldn't be too bad, right?

When everything came in the mail I opened it up and flipped through the book. To my surprise, it wasn't cutting out foods. At least not real foods. I'm still going to get to eat. A lot. It's essentially a kick starter back into eating clean! Well this I can handle. That's what I was doing before, but this is supposed to help with better portion control as well.

As with everything, I'm a bit of a skeptic. But the fact that this was working for me in the first place gives me high hopes that I'll get back to where I was before and help keep me on track better with the support of my husband and the accountability to a group and coach.

But that brings me back to those infamous before pictures. The first thing I did after I had my husband take them was think, ugh, gross. Look at my stomach, look how I stand, my arms....

I believe in the power of taking a before picture, it helps to monitor progress so well, but in that moment I (we) have to remember to love ourselves through the process. I am a mom. My body carried three beautiful, and gigantic, babies. I have a lot of responsibilities, I don't get very much or very good sleep. I haven't always taken great care of myself since having them, but I'm trying, in my imperfect way, to do so now. I'm stronger than I was about a year and half ago, and with proper nutrition, and balanced exercise, I can be stronger in 2015 than I was in 2014. It's not a race, it's a learning process, and I will relearn it as many times as I need to in order to stay healthy and strong. But through it all, I will do my best to remember to love myself.

Pictures found on Pinterest, two link here and here, but the other one goes to a private blog so I can't link it back.