I've got some pretty cool people

The last couple of days have been spent preparing for surgery - pre-op Dr. appt, pre-op PT appt, getting the crutches, etc. So many people have asked about the surgery, wished me luck and gave encouragement! I so appreciate each and every one.

Tonight, the night before surgery, we got a pizza & my hubs and kiddo pitched in to clean up the house, dishes, etc. so I won't be completely crazy wanting to clean the house.

My friends overwhelmed me with goodies! I came home last night to a bag of treats in my door from Stephanie, then again at work today, came home with a box of loot! Here is a combined total :) Awesome friends :)

My toenail polish is off (YIKES!), I'm ready. I've suffered through alot of miles I never thought I would run, gave birth for crying out loud, after 17 hours of labor, this should be a cake walk! Let's do this!

Surgery Week

Surgery scheduled for this Friday, April 9. I'm nervous, but excited to get this over with and get back to normal. I'm going today to pick up my crutches for my pre-op PT appt, so she can teach me how to use them. LOL That should be comical.

This week I'm going to hit the exercise hard. I feel like I need to do as much as I can since I'll be down for a few weeks! Putting some credit in the bank!

Will post more after the demerol wears off =)

Back & forth, back & forth

After a full week of hard training finishing up with a 10 mile run last Saturday, I was feeling really good! Got through the 10 with no pain at all, felt great. I took Sunday off to recover, spinning on Monday to sub for a run, then ran 5 on Wednesday.

Yeah, that's when things started going terribly wrong. During the 5 on Wednesday I felt fine, no pain. But later last night....magic shot has worn off, pain is back - worse than before. Dang it. So what does a smart girl do? Go ahead and try to run on it again today....you know, just to see if it really does hurt or maybe it's ok. Um, it's not.

Well folks, after going back and forth - surgery it is - no running my third 1/2 marathon with my friends in April. $70 reg fee down the drain, I get a tech shirt for a race I can't even run in. This suuuuuuucks.

Was planning a 10 miler on Saturday, 12 the next as my final long test run before that race. So was looking forward to running with my friends again. :( Boo hooing to my hubs (who is super supportive so positive, thank goodness). I'm so sad today.

Giving myself one day and one day only to feel sorry for myself and then it's time to plan - figure out work schedule, call the dr. to get the surgery on the books, plan out 4 weeks of rehab and mark the calendar for the day I can start training again - for the Tulsa Route 66 1/2 marathon on the fall.

Plan to spin like crazy until surgery day, do arms/abs/shoulders while my knee is getting better to strengthen my core for stronger running later (which I hate doing b/c I'd always rather be running, but I know it helps in the long run).

But for today, I'm just sad. :( Pfft.

Back to Real Life

Back from vacation, a full week to get back into the swing of things....and all seems to be ok. Last week I ran 16 miles total, with a 10K race last weekend. I did so much better than I expected! Well, I didn't really know what to expect since I haven't been able to run in so long.
Here is Angie and I after the race, all smiles =)

10K, 1:02. This time was the exact same as my very first race, Labor Day Chapman run! The race was fun, and really was the big test. I figure if I can run a 10K, I could possibly still be in the running for Oklahoma 1/2 marathon in April. But....April is coming quickly my friends, I have about 5 weeks. I think I can at least get to the point where I am comfortable with the distance, go and run this motha and have fun. No worries about my time or anybody else's time....every race does NOT have to be your personal best.
Ok then, there you go. I've made the decision for sure....am running Oklahoma City, April 25 =) Woot!

Saturday am attempting a SLOW 8 miles. If the knee is ok with that, we'll try for 9 next week. Training is BACK ON!!!

10 days is up! Now for the test....

10 days is a really long time to wait when you are sitting there wondering "did the shot work?" "am I going to be able to run with my friends in April?" "am I going to have to have surgery?" Plus, 10 days is a really long time to wait when you are used to exercising just about every dang day....I felt like stuffing my face in a big chocolate cake.

Ok so pouting over. Day 10 - test run. Ok, not great, only went a mile or so just to test it out. The knee was stiff and kinda swollen still, but didn't hurt like before. It was kinda like a different kind of hurt. Anyway, it went well I thought.

Day 11 - on vacay, so it was a little hard to get this run in, but I really wanted to test it out. All felt kinda weird - in a different place, not sure of how long the route was, forgot my sports bra, left my ipod in the room, people pass on the left here, it's just weird. But, having said all of that, the run was ok. Kinda the same as Friday's test run.

Day 12 - ok, getting used to our surroundings, feeling a little bit comfortable and getting used to this going to the left when you meet someone on the sidewalk. LOL This run was much better, went I would say about 2 miles, but didn't time myself or map the run. After a full day of playing at the beach it was a little sore when we got home, but better than before.

Day 13 is going to have to be a rest day. I'm pooped and sunburned, will try it out tomorrow.

So, did the shot work? I'm not sure....it still hurts, but not the same hurt as before. I'm just going to take it easy this week when we are on vacation, then hit it hard next week at home. That will be the real test - Monday night spinning class!

This is going to burn a little...

Last week, I got the dreaded cortizone shot in my knee. I was super nervous because I had several people tell me the shot really hurts....it didn't at all! The shot itself was a piece of cake. Several hours later though, well that was a different story! Ouch. Really swollen and sore. Shot was on Tuesday, today is Sunday, and it's almost 100% feeling back to normal.

The doctor told me I shouldn't exercise on it for 10 days after the shot (which I was not very happy about!) I really thought I was going to get the shot and run a few days later! Um, no.

Ok so....where does that leave me with the 1/2 marathon in OKC in April? Tick tock, tick tock the clock is not stopping and I'm running out of training time here. IF (that's a big IF) my knee is magically better after the shot, I *could* start running next Friday. I'm leaving for vacation on that day for a week (yay!), so probably not going to try to begin training on that day.

That means the first day I could actually start training would be March 7. That's a short 7 weeks out from race day. The last time I trained I did it in 10 weeks....and that was when I was super out of shape, had never run before and was 30 pounds heavier....so I'm almost wondering if I'd be able to train in 7 weeks?! I guess that is if the shot cured my plica problem. If not, it's probably surgery.

Argh! Everything is really still up in the air I suppose. I thought I decided I wasn't running OKC no matter what, because with only 7 weeks to train, there's no way I'd be able to run my best. But now I'm thinking if the shot worked and I can can get running again, maybe I'll give it a try.

Hmmm. Thought by now I'd just be ok saying "OK, I'm not running OKC." Guess I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel yet! :)

Nothing much new to tell....

I've had a visit with the Ortho now, he says I have plica syndrome. Choices to take care of it are shots or surgery. I've chosen to try the shots first....mainly because we are going a vacation soon and crutches just wouldn't work for me on the beach! Going in for shots next week, and hopefully that will get me back running again. If not, surgery is in my future for the first part of March. We all know what that means for OKC 1/2 marathon in April....if the shots don't work, I'm sidelined. I've kinda already decided I would be ok with that - still go and cheer on my friends - and then come back strong for a 1/2 in the fall. Crossing my fingers though that the shots are the cure.

I've been trying really hard to keep my cardio going with spinning and have added in some strength training this past week. I really hope those things will help keep me strong and ready to run if I can get back to it. Everyday I'm not running, my friends are training for OKC and I'm not. That is really hard. So I guess I really want to either know for sure if I'm running that race or not. That way I can either try to bust ass to get caught up, or start making signs for my friends as they cross the finish line.

Will write an update next week after the shot! :| Nervous about that :|