I am injured. I've had some fun injury stories through my life: jumped/fell out of my dad's truck, fell of the side of the pool deck, slipped on ice, tripped over a foot at Zumba, tripped on a weight, caught my baby toe on the corner of the wall. THAT one was fun! This time? Complete mystery.
Now normally I love a good mystery. Just 10 days ago I was telling Jon one of the reasons I love Venice so much is that it's a big labyrinth and finding your way through the twisting alleys, canals, and bridges is one big mystery. I was always the kid playing with puzzles, reading mystery novels, solving brain teasers. I LOVE a good mystery. But when it comes to my health and fitness journey, not so much!
It started innocently enough. Last week on my run I felt some tightness in my right calf. Not really painful, but enough to be annoying. Saturday at Zumba it was back. Again not really painful, but enough to annoy. By the end of class it was bad enough that I was ready to say uncle. But as soon as I was done, it went back to feeling fine.
Yesterday I went for my run, and it started feeling tight. I thought maybe I was trying to push too fast, so I slowed down. Sometimes if I walk too fast on my intervals that'll cause some tightness. Not a big deal. I texted Jon that I was having an issue, and maybe I'd enlist a massage later. No sooner did I hit send and resume running when, it happened. My leg muscle felt so tight it was as though something would have torn if I'd tried to keep running. I collapsed in pain. I sat there on the sidewalk, right in front of MCC, lunch time traffic zooming right along (and horns blaring at the runner on the ground) trying to stretch and massage it as best I could. I got back up and finished a good calf stretch, and tried to resume. Nope. My body was completely done. I sobbed as I dragged myself back to the office, and the sobs turned into a full on meltdown as I got dressed.
What has happened? How long will it last? How long am I out for? Will this completely undo all the progress I've been making with my breathing? Ever since I was a kid, I've felt like there's something wrong when I run. I can't breathe like a normal person. It feels like I'm inhaling through a straw. In college I was diagnosed with sports induced asthma, based solely on symptoms and not on any tests, and sent on my way with an Albuterol. I've tried other inhalers with little to no relief. Intal, Symbicort, Advair, Flovent. Nebulizers. Nothing helps. Finally I came upon an article in Women's Running Magazine about a condition that's often confused with asthma: Vocal Cord Dysfunction. The symptoms are an exact match: Trouble breathing IN rather than OUT, throat pain when confronted with a trigger, inhalers don't work. I was referred to an allergist who specializes in VCD and while an endoscope would be required to confirm diagnosis, I was given a tentative confirmation based on symptoms and sent to a speech and language pathologist for treatment. Right around this time, Jesse took his final turn for the worst. My priorities shifted in a major way, and I never followed up.
Through the years I've found that the only treatment for whatever it is that's wrong with me that actually works, is consistent, vigorous exercise. When I trained for my first marathon I could go for 13 miles without stopping for anything but water. I realized during that time that it wasn't my lungs that were bothering me, but my brain telling me that they should be, and was able to keep going. The longer I'm out, however, the worse my conditioning gets. That brings me back to my current fears.
This round of trying to get back into shape has been the hardest yet. I don't know if it's age, the fact I've had a baby, emotional distress, or some combination of the above, but I just can't get my lungs to play nice. I'm only just getting to the point where I can run for 3 lousy minutes without feeling like I'm dying and now? Back on my bottom, and who knows for how long?
Of course the first thing I did was the worst thing you can do. I went to Dr. Google. The first thing that came up besides the obvious muscle strain was a DVT blood clot. Um, well? That's plausible. Jon and I did just spend the better part of a full day on an airplane. Sitting. I was wearing compression socks but I know that's not a guarantee to prevent the clots. So I worried, checked my skin (it looks normal), and Googled what do I do about it. Well, other than going for ultrasounds (probably an unnecessary expense right now) keep moving and hydrate. Today, the pain and stiffness has expanded to the upper part of my leg and a little bit on my left, too. So back to Dr. Google. What do I find other than again, the obvious overuse, but MS.
Okay now we're reaching a bit here.
Finally I came back to the obvious, and what most likely has happened. Let's reexamine overuse. I thought to myself, I've just restarted at the beginning of couch to 5k, AGAIN, so there's NO WAY it could be overuse, or increasing mileage too quickly. Right?
Wrong again there, kiddo!
Jon and I were just in Italy. I wear my Garmin faithfully of course, so I have a good record of my steps. EVERY DAY we walked no less than 5 miles. Two days we were over 10. I'm used to 2-3 miles at best, now suddenly 5-10? Now I want to come home and run, and Zumba? I think we've got a winner here, folks!
So now here I am, aching to get out and run, and knowing it'll ache even more if I do. Here's where I need a plan!
- Focus on nutrition. And we're going back to basics! Whole fruit, whole vegetables (limiting potatoes and sweet potato), meat, whole milk dairy (because you will never take my cheese from me), spices, and water. NO WHITE SUGAR!
- Meal planning. I will create my plan for breakfast and lunch on Saturdays, then spend Sunday preparing. Eva's big enough to start being able to help, and occupy herself otherwise, so I can do this. No more getting caught with nothing to bring and eating out multiple times a week. ONLY on Quimby's night, or Friday lunch when Jon and I usually go out.
- Exercise. Okay, here's where things get tricky. Walk when I'm able. Stretching multiple times a day. For cardio, my choices are rowing machine, recumbent bike, and the pool. The pool is horribly underrated! If I get myself a swim cap there's no reason I can't pop down to the JCC and swim a few laps on my lunch. And it's an amazing burn! This will be 3x a week.
- For strength, I will ask the personal training staff at the JCC for what I can do without aggravating the leg. NO CALF RAISES, and probably no battle rope for a while. Plain old lifting. Damn.
- Self-myofascial release. This is dynamic stretching and self-massage. I have a foam roller, and bought a set of those calf sleeves you get in the hospital if you're bed bound for a while. I love those things.
I allowed myself a pity party yesterday. Every time I make a good start at getting back into this something happens. I was certain, this is the time. My half marathon in September WILL be under 3 hours. It's not too late still for me to make that goal happen, but I am not happy about another setback. But in my usual Type A way, after I finished my pity party, I made a plan.
It's going to be an interesting ride. Welcome aboard my journey back to Phoenix Fit.
