Some Not So Good News
Are you glad its Friday, or what? I am for sure. It’s been a hectic week, with my office holiday party, on Tuesday, and yesterday Chris and my sister’s boyfriend both came over for dinner last night with the family. The holidays are in full swing, that’s for sure.
Yesterday morning I started out with something healthy to make up for my crappy eating this week. Honestly, I haven’t been making the best decisions food wise lately. It was probably stupid of me to try to actually lose a few pounds during the holiday season, but right now I’m trying just to maintain my weight through the holidays with lots of exercise and healthy meals in between holiday celebrations to make up for everything, so far so good!
Breakfast yesterday was a green smoothie.
In the smoothie:
- large handful of spinach
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 banana
- 1/2 tsp of maca powder
Cold, but refreshing.
And now for some not so good news.
Yesterday afternoon I had an appointment at the orthopedic for my right leg/hip problem. I haven’t talked much about it on the blog, but over the summer I was having problems with my right hip. The pain comes and goes and is usually after running a few miles, only really hurting when I do certain stretches. I made it through my half marathon and following 15K just fine.
But, a few weeks ago I developed a twingeing pain in my right thigh, which has also been hurting during runs and also when I’m walking longer distances. Both Monday and Tuesday I tried running (Monday I ran 1 mile and had to stop, Tuesday I pushed through the annoying twinge and ran 2 miles) so I made an appointment at the doctor.
The thing is, they didn’t tell me much. I had another x-ray done on my femur, and nothing was wrong there. They think it might be a tear in my hip somewhere, or a hip abnormality. They ordered an MRI to find that out–so I just have to wait around until then. In the meantime, I have an appointment with the sports doctor who specializes in athletic/running injuries on January 6.
But I’m supposed to start half marathon training next week!! This is NOT good, my friends. I’m kind at a loss with what to do. I really want to run that race on February 6. The doctor told me to stick to the arc trainer/elliptical and bike until it feels better, but didn’t give me a time frame.
This week I have been:
- Using the arc trainer at the gym for 30-45 minutes
- Riding the stationary bike at the gym for 30+ minutes
- Icing my right quad
- Foam rolling my quad + IT band (seems to help with my hip pain) but not noticing anything better with my quad
So I guess I’m just waiting it out. My biggest fear is not being able to maintain my endurance while taking time off from running. I’m just really hoping the elliptical and bike help keep my endurance up. We shall see.
Anyway, dinner last night with the boys + family went really well! My mom made spinach lasagna and venison meatballs with sausage. The meatballs were a hit! The venison was from a deer my dad got on Black Friday. I enjoyed salad + lasagna.
Chris and I also exchanged gifts! He got me an awesome new lululemon gym bag! Mine is actually teal, and so pretty! I love it. He knows me so well. 🙂
I also got my Christmas present to myself in the mail the other day.
I’m ready to run in the cold now, except, I can’t really run yet. Sad. 🙁
Runners: have you ever had to take a break from running? If so–what did you do to maintain your fitness?
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17 Comments
Katie H
Oh no! Hopefully it is nothing serious 🙁 When I had ITB issues I had an x-ray and it showed nothing. Always helpful lol. Do you have access to a pool? If so, how about water running? I belong to the Y and have some guest passes if you want to use them!
Love the bag! What an awesome gift 🙂
Jen
I sort of have access to the pool at my old HS. They have open swim for an hour in the evenings on weeknights, but I lost my pass to the pool. Don’t know if they would let me in! I could try. haha. I don’t have a sports bathing suit either..haha.
Katie H
hahaha I had to purchase an “athletic” one-piece suit for scuba diving certification. I bet you can find one cheap-ish this time of year!
Katie H recently posted..Want Some Cookies
Amanda
I had to take 5 weeks off after my first half marathon for IT band issues. I hit the gym hard when I couldnt run. I was in the gym for about 2 hours and I would do the arc trainer, elliptical & bike. When I was cleared to run again I ended up being faster and felt better then before I got hurt! Katie’s suggestion about water running is a great idea.
Amanda recently posted..Jingle Bell Run 5k Recap
Katie @ Healthy Heddleston
My gosh, love that jacket. Sorry yo hear about your hip — I hope there is good news from the test and the doctors in January! For now just keep listening to your body!
Katie @ Healthy Heddleston recently posted..Diet vs Diet
Liz (Little Bitty Bakes)
Leg issues are the worst, right?! Think of it this way – better now (in the dead of winter) than in the warmer months! I’ve probably run a total of 20 miles since my marathon, but am keeping my endurance up with tons of spinning. Can’t wait to meet and chat with you tomorrow!
Liz (Little Bitty Bakes) recently posted..Mystery Chip Bars
David H.
Hang in there. I’ve had ITB problems for a while and it was most likely related to my pelvis being out of line. Usually wherever there is a problem, it’s the result of something else in your body being out of whack.
Carolyn @ Lovin' Losing
I’m sorry to hear about your hip/leg! I know how you feel. I am working my way back into running after straining my calf. I’ve been going to a PT and he’s only letting me run on the treadmill right now. I have to so a ton of strengthening exercises and stretches, too. I hope you hear good new soon.
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Cynthia (It All Changes)
I’ve had IT and calf issues before. In addition to what the doc said I agree with Katie…swimming kicks my butt. Helped keep my fitness up.
Christina @ Food.Fun.Fabulous.
Oh geez! I hope the sports doctor can help you in the meantime and you still get to do your next half-marathon. (and looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!)
Christina @ Food.Fun.Fabulous. recently posted..A Busy Week & Sad Day
Mary
You should take some spin classes instead of just riding the bike in the gym. It will work on your endurance and that was part of my training for the half marathon. They have you do speed work on the bike and turn up the resistance for hill work. This will make a huge difference. Also, kettle bell is a great class to take. It works on cardio and builds muscle at the same time and for the most part you stand in one place during the class.
You need someone to push you. Using the equipment in the gym by yourself it is almost impossible to push you to the next level. You need a good instructor to do that.
Hope these suggestions help and you feel better soon.
Jen
thanks for these tips! i’ve always wanted to take a spin class–but my gym doesn’t have classes, which is pretty sad. 🙁 I will have to make up my own version!
Sara
I had a hamstring injury last year that took me out of commission for 8 weeks. I was so scared I’d lose my endurance. This was before my half marathon training, but still, I’d gotten up to running 8 miles before the injury. I stuck to the elliptical and spin class until I healed. I had no problem getting right back to the 8 miles once I started running again. A couple times a week I’d do a “speed” workout on the elliptical. I’d start with a resistance of 10 and go for 3 minutes, I pushed pretty hard, probably around a 7 or 8 out of 10 for effort, after the three minutes I’d go for one minute as fast as I could, then back off for 3 minutes, and keep alternating. While it’s certainly not as great as running, it felt good to really get my heart going.
Bowden
Hi Jen! When I had IT band issues a while back, I had to take about a month off. This happen right before my first marathon in May of 2009. Anyway, I did PT 3 times a week, and I did water jogging in the pool! Amazing how that works. You wear a belt to weight you down in the water. I actually liked it. SO hang in there… you’ll be running again soon!
abbi
Hope everything checks out with the hip – or at least they can tell you what the issue is to make sure you can get the issue to go away completely!
abbi recently posted..Three Things Thursday – Holiday Edition
Amber from Girl with the Red Hair
Ugh! Sorry to hear about your injury – that’s the worst!
When I was injured I did A LOT of biking and swimming. When I started running again I’d barely lost any fitness so that’s what I would recommend. You’ll be back to new in no time, promise!
I actually just wrote a post about how I recovered from my injury: http://girlwiththeredhair.com/2010/12/recovering-from-an-injury/
Originally I was SO UPSET that I couldn’t run. But now I feel way better and I’m coming back stronger than ever so I know it was the right choice!
The Linz
Sorry to hear about your running injury. I am currently in the process of healing a running injury too so can completely relate to how you are feeling. My best advice is to keep up your endurance. I have been doing a lot more weight lifting and spin classes and yoga! All of these were activities I liked before but didn’t have time to do while i was training for my marathon. I wonder if I had done them more often if I would have gotten injured. I wish you luck and hope you heal soon!