Massage = Torture

Monday morning I woke up with one thing on my mind: massage.

I scoured the web for every massage therapist that specialized in sports massage, and as soon as the clock struck 8am, I started calling everyone to try to get in ASAP. Of course everywhere was booked out except for the most expensive option in town. Uff. But I've already invested time, money, and so much energy into my upcoming 26.2 that getting healthy takes precedence over having $$$.

I went in and let her know about my knee pain, I shared my usual tight spots: IT bands, piriformis, and QLs. I guessed that something in my back/butt/hips was the culprit with the recent lower back pain, and something in that same boat was likely pulling my knee out of whack as well. She told me she'd concentrate on those and then reminded me that this would be very uncomfortable.

Well, so is running 26.2 miles with knee and/or hip pain. Trust me.

Oh.

Sweet.

Jesus.

I got destroyed.

She started with my back/QLs which were tight, but not nearly as painful as the last time they were worked. She then moved to my glutes. It was during this part of the massage that she told me to tap into my yoga practice and implement some deep meditative breaths to get through the pain. I was *that* knotted up. I was practically in tears and hoping that 60 minutes had already past.

She then went to my calves. Which never give me problems. And of course she found a huge knot in the top of my calve, likely pulling my knee off. More excruciating pain. Yay.

Next up was my hamstrings. Also, NBD, right? Wrong. Remember after my 3k XC race I had some hamstring tightness? Well I had forgotten. I was smart and rested extra and foam rolled it out until I couldn't feel it anywhere. Well apparently it was still there. Can you request an epidural during a massage? Because I'd pay extra for it at this moment. I had a giant knot in my right one, and my left was ok.

She did some hip opening leg swings before moving on to more torture.

She flipped me over on to my back and did some work on my shoulders/neck and finally told me that she's never seen someone so asymmetrical as me. One shoulder was way higher, my hips were off, and what would be super tight on the left would be not so bad on the right, and vice versa with all the muscles she worked.

Apparently she saved the worst for last because I told her I needed a second while she was working on my IT bands and she was shocked because she was only doing the "muscle warm up" portion before she actually worked them. Oh Em Gee.

She also wanted to work my adductors since those are usually tight with hip tightness, and again I couldn't hack the pain. I apologized for being a wuss with an apparently low pain tolerance, and she said that most people would've been crying with what she put me through. It made me feel better for having my eyes full of tears for 80% of it.

The Aftermath

I drank and drank and drank and drank for about 48 hours after the massage to help my body heal. And really I've tried to keep up that excessive drinking beyond that 48 hours because I could really stand to drink more water daily anyway. I felt incredibly nauseous most of Monday after the massage. At work. It was a treat. Tuesday I had worst DOMS than I've ever had from a race, marathon included. My whole body just felt wrecked.

Wednesday I still had quite a bit of soreness, but it's definitely subsiding. I had toyed with going for a run Wednesday after work, but instead decided to do some stretching and yoga to further help my muscles along.

My current plan:  an easy 2-3 miles Thursday morning with hopefully no knee pain. Friday, I'm going to try my hardest to knock out my last major long run before taper. I hope to run somewhere between 3 hours and 20 miles, legs dependent.

I also plan to get in weekly for more massage/torture up to race week. Based on the pain I wasn't even able to bear, there's still quite a bit of work to be done, apparently.

So please cross your fingers my body behaves and I can make it to the start line in Bemidji ready to tackle 26.2 miles. I'm not looking for another marathon hobblefest. I've had enough of those to last a lifetime!

Irish(wo)man Challenge

The VP of my company is an ex-runner, so whenever he's down on the minion's floor (aka my part of the agency's floor) he always stops by my office to see how my training is going and to see what's next.  Last Thursday morning he stopped by, and to my sheer terror when I looked at the calendar realized that I'm racing.... this weekend.  Holy guacamole.  After the VP left I went in to my ex-office hubby, Tom's office to freak out.

Me:  Holy crap.  I'm racing next weekend.  And not just racing.... 3 races!  AAAAAAAAH!
Tom:  What are you going to, a track meet?
Me:  I wish.....

I have a special affinity for St. Patrick's day.  Yes I'm Irish.  Yes I heart green.  Yes I heart beer.  What's not to love, no?  I've participated in the 5k twice (read 2009 here) and the 5 mile once (2010).  It's terribly organized, and every year I say I won't be back.  But here I am participating in the Irish(wo)man Challenge:  5 mile in the morning, 5k later morning, and one mile dash! (heh, did anyone else FREAK OUT in high school track when they listed the 800 m. as a dash.... ::shudders::) to start off the St. Patty's Day parade.

Since I'm in the process of reigning in marathon shape, my fast twitch muscles are probably non-existant.  Also the route has changed and it's hilly.  Ick.  I've decided my tentative game plan will be to do a tempo run for the 5 mile.  Race-ish the 5k.  And then run my little hiney off for the one mile.  I know I won't PR in the 5 mile (last year's short course) or 5k, and I haven't raced a one mile since 2008, so might as well focus my efforts on that, right?  Plus it's slightly downhill.  Yay!  Haha.  Plus I will be decked out in all my green glory.  EEEEEEEEEEE!

Monday night I hit the treadmill for an easy 7 miler.  I'm back to wearing my stupid knee strap after all this running on ice and snow.  Turns out I REALLY heel strike when I'm unsure of my footing.  Ugh.  After how many months of trying to break this habit.....  Anywho, the first mile felt like garbage.  And then it was a really really good run.  Other than the whole 4th mile where I thought my internal organs were going to erupt out of me (def TMI heh).  Turns out 8 handfulls of Starburst jelly beans are not the best pre-run snack.  Starburst jelly beans ≠ sport beans.  Who knew?!?!? :)

Go Pack Go!

The second reason this weekend was so great was the Packers v. Vikes game!!!  I had planned to go to this game since the schedules were released way back when.  I did some work to convince Aaron to attend the game with me.  I was super excited to watch my boys dominate..... and maybe see my ex-boyf Brett as well.  :)

There were so many Packers fans at the game, I was really in heaven.  So many "Go Pack Go" cheers erupting through the crowd, which were actually louder than the "Fire Chilly" cheers later on in the game.

I really feel like I thrive amongst "my people."  You know...the cheeseheads....  good times.

Wednesday I got in a short and easy recovery run on the treadmill.  I took Tuesday off because my IT bands were beyond pissed at me for Monday's tempo run.  I've become a bit of a sadomasochist the past few days with my rolling pin.  Eeeeeeeooowwwwwww.  But in a good way, ya know? :)  I had that random pressure under my right knee cap that I had previously in my left knee before the annoying runner's knee kicked in.  Oh and just in time for the MARATHON.....joy!  I'm still hoping it's just the random taper aches and pains and nothing normal.  I did 3 miles in 29:02.

And in holy crap that's disgusting news:  Monday I was hustling booty after my tempo run to get ready and meet Matt at for some catch up time over drinks and football.  Since I knew I was going to be having some beers, I was trying to rehydrate at mach speed while getting ready.  I love me a good Cool Blue gatorade, and this was no different.  When I got home later that evening, I noticed that there was something floating in my Gatorade that was still one third full.  Upon closure inspection, I realized that there were black mold spores/chunks floating around inside.  Based on the sheer number of mold chunks remaining in the bottle multiplied by the two times the drank amount almost made me lose my $#!t.  SOOOOOO GROOOOOSSSSSSSSS.  But I haven't died yet, so I'll probably be ok.  Blech.

If my knee is going to be Goofy, I might as well be too.

I've started to read Born To Run and I'm obsessed.  Holy cow is it good, and insanely inspiring.  As I was reading it on my lunch break on Friday I was just itching to run.  The knee hadn't been bothering me walking around so I decided to give it a whirl.  Plus it was gorgeous weather outside.  Sunny but crisp and cool.  Catching a tan + minimal sweat?  Where can I sign up? 

When I first started the run, I was surprised at how great my legs felt.  No pain.  Around a mile to a mile and a half I started feeling the same "pressure" under and around my knee cap that I originally had felt last week.  Based on Marissa's advice (from Scott's blog iRunner) it was okay to run on my knee as long as it wasn't affecting my form.  I did a quick analysis and deemed that I was okay.  It was uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt.  There were periods in the run that were completely normal, and then other times (running downhill) that weren't fun.  After my first downhill stretch, I decided to walk on the remaining ones, just to be safe.  One thing I did notice while running is that when I was running without thinking (meaning my bad heel-striking form) I had no knee pain.  When I was focused on forefoot striking was when I had the pressure feeling.  Also, when my speed was a bit quicker ~9 minute pace, there was no pain, while my standard "easy" run pace of 9:30 caused some discomfort.  So weird.  I had wanted to go as far as my knee would let me, and finally decided to call it a day at 5.5 miles.

I did 5.5 miles in 51:50 for a pace of 9:26.

I will be purchasing a knee strap this weekend to hopefully alleviate some of the pressure on my knee cap while running, and also working on some strengthening to the areas surrounding my knee cap.  I also did some revamping of my marathon schedule as I'm now only 10 weeks from the Vegas MARATHON!!!!  Uh holy poo.  Oh, and I'm running the Twin Cities 10 Miler next weekend.  You hear that knee?  Shape up or ship out!  Jk.  Please don't ship out.  Love you.

I realize I shouldn't even be mentioning this given my current issues with being healthy.  But I'm toying with the idea of taking on the Goofy Challenge this year!  For those of you who don't know what the Goofy Challenge is, it takes place in January at Disney World.  You complete the half marathon on Saturday, and then the full marathon on Sunday.  It's Goofy because you have to be insane to do it (and to shell out the $$$ to do it...holy crapoli!)

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I originally had planned on doing it in 2012, but when Alyssa mentioned that she was doing it this year, it didn't take much to convince me.  Especially after I realized flights to Orlando were reasonably priced in January!  Well then I had Jenn half-convinced to participate, and maybe even Susan, and before I knew it, not only did I want to participate, but I also wanted us to dress us as Disney Princesses for the marathon portion.  (I've already set my sights on Tinkerbell, while not technically a princess, she is dressed in green so it only seems right.)

Granted all of this decision making went on before the great knee issue of Fall 2010, so we'll see how quickly I'm back to normal running Jeri.  Our tentative game plan would be to race the half on Saturday, and then do a complete fun run for the marathon on Sunday....obviously if we're dressing up....  :)  Based on how my IT bands feel after an HM race, a walk-run method would definitely be employed along with taking TONS OF PICTURES.  Ok, just putting all this down on paper makes me want to do it so terribly bad.  Hopefully the legs are on the same page as me.  :)

This run powered by GLEE

I have a confession:  I'm kind of obsessed with Glee.  And Finn Hudson.  Ok, mostly Finn Hudson.  My co-worker convinced me to watch Glee and it's amazing.  And then she gave me some CDs to listen to.  And then I uploaded them to my iPod for my morning run.  And it was perfection.  The only way it would've been better is if Cory Monteith would've been running along side me crooning in my ear.  Oh, and if my knee wouldn't have felt all weird.  Yes.  That would've been nice too.

I had my first legit run of marathon training (since Wednesday's easy 3 miler was just to make sure that everything was still in working condition) of 6 miles.  It was a chilly 50 degrees so I got to wear my favorite shorts and long sleeved combo.... I knew as soon as I put it on that Aron would be jealous.... ;)  I tried to keep the pace easy, but it seemed that when I was running slower my knee felt funny.  Like there was a ton of pressure directly under the knee cap as well as the area below the knee cap.  When I stopped to stretch to see if it needed to pop it HURT instead.  When I started running again it felt fine.  Of course when I was done running it hurt again.  Perhaps I just need to run everywhere to keep the pain at bay.  I'll be chilling with an ice pack for the next couple of days to be on the safe side.

I did 6 miles in 58:41 for a pace of 9:47.

Of course after I logged my miles in my running log, I realized I was at 999.4 for the year.  :p  Perhaps I could've just gone that extra .6 because I guarantee that I'll forget I'm running my thousandth mile for the year when I set out on my long run Sunday.  Hah.

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