Rehab run

     Up until Sunday, I have only tried a one mile run that didn't really go so well.  I made it to a mile, but just barely as my knee pain had started to return.  I attempted the run right after my first physical therapy visit and at that visit I asked her if it was ok to run.  She said yes, but I could tell she really didn't want me to.  After that run I could see why.  My knee pain had come back, it wasn't to severe, but enough that I decided I wouldn't run again till Alisha gave me the go ahead.  My second PT visit went quit well and it was obvious that Alisha thought I had made some good progress.  She instructed me to give a two mile run a try and report back to her how I felt.

     Do to the frigged sub zero temperatures I waited until Sunday when things got a little warmer out.  Its funny to say that 28 degrees was warm, but compared to what it had been, it felt like a heat wave.  I headed down the bike path for an easy out and back route.  Other than some jackass that plowed a pile of snow right on the path that I had to walk through, the path was pretty well clear of snow.  I kept the pace around a 10:30 for the first quarter mile till I was warmed up, then slowly increased my pace to right around 10:00 per mile avg.  I obviously have been obsessing over this injury, so my senses were hyper sensitive on this run thinking every little thing is the onset of pain.  The thoughts quickly died down and I was able to make it to the turnaround pain free.

     Once I was headed back, I got about a quarter mile in and I started to feel a little something.  If you asked me on a scale of 1 to 10 on pain it was a one, more of an aching feeling than pain.  I slowed my pace slightly and the aching went away.  This feeling would come and go as I finished the remainder of the run, the pain never getting above a two.  I walked a few hundred yards to cool down then headed in to do my Therapist prescribed stretching routine.

     In previous running attempts the pain would get stronger a lot faster and my knee would ache badly for the remainder of the day.  This time no extended aching after the fact and I was feeling pretty confident I am on the right track.  I emailed my therapist with my notes and she sounded happy and encouraged at my results.  She gave me a go ahead to attempt another 2 mile run.  Now it may be awhile before I go out again anyway, we just got more snow and the temps are going to plummet again.  I really hate this time of year.

The Text...The Visit

     

     Last night turned into a visit that was two and a half years in the making.  When I started this journey I came across a podcast episode from Runner Academy Podcast that featured Rik Akey and Ada Wong from the Fat to Finish Line Documentary.  They both told their stories of how they gained and lost the weight and how the Ragnar team and the documentary came together.  I knew nothing about Rik before this, but his story really struck a cord with me.  Just listening to him gave me hope that all of this was possible.  I must of listened to that episode thirty times to keep that fire inside me alive as I worked to meet the same distance and time goals in roughly the same time frame as Rik did.  I used what he accomplished as my goals like a compass pointing a ship to its port.  It would not be an exaggeration for me to say he is my weight loss hero and that he unknowingly saved my life.  It was always my goal reach out to him and thank him and even meet him one day.  

     In this day of electronic communication, Facebook made it rather easy to reach out.  I wrote him a long message thanking him for everything he had no idea he did for me.  Rik was so nice when he wrote back and even graciously offered to come run my marathon with me.  Unfortunately my race was the same day as a race he was already signed up for, so we took a rain check.  Well that race was going to be the Indy Mini half marathon that I was also running with my SoleMates for our reunion, but sadly I had to back out due to a work scheduling conflict.  I kept thinking I was never going to get to shake his hand little lone run with him, that was  till I got the text.  Just as I was walking in the door from work my friend Katie, from Runs for Cookies, texted me that Rik and his wife made a spur of the moment visit and asked if I wanted to come up and hang out.  I changed my clothes and literally headed right back out the door, because it's an hour drive from my house to Katie & Jerry's.  If you are a regular reader of Katie's blog you would know that Katie had another weekend house guest, Andrea, who was also a member of Fat to Finish Line team. 

     It was so much fun to just sit back, relax and listen to the three of them reminisce about their Ragnar Key West adventures and the documentary.  We talked about our up coming races, and Rik and I still plan to run a marathon together.  Rik is working on his goal of running a marathon in all 50 states and he still needs to cross Ohio off his list so we plan on getting together for that one.  The time seemed to just fly by and before I new it was past eleven and I still had an hour drive home.  We said our goodbyes, took a few pics so the rest of my SoleMates would be jealous; just kidding!!! 

 

LAST CHANCE for the Glass City Marathon Giveaway

The drawing for the two entries being given away for your choice of the Glass City Marathon, Owens Corning Half Marathon or the 5K race is only a couple of days away.  This is your last call to get entered for the drawing to be able to run with me for FREE!!!  Click the link below for all contest details and to sign up.  Best of luck to you all!!!

CLICK HERE

To be routed to entry form

Wednesday Weigh In / PT Visit

     Hello from cold Cold COLD Northern Ohio. It's been in the single digits the last couple days and wind chills have been almost unbearable.  When its this cold I usually do something stupid like shave my head, but it's a new year so I felt like I needed a new look.  Actually I was just looking pretty shaggy and really need to clean it up some so instead of just shaving my head I headed to the local barbershop to get a trim.   I decided I wanted to continue to grow the top, but wanted to trim down the sides and the back.  I am digging the look and I think it will lay a lot better when it gets longer.

     

     As you know I haven't been running due to what I have self diagnosed as IT Band syndrome, or better known as "runner's knee", so it has been difficult trying to maintain the weight loss let-a-lone try and loose any. I had a slight up tick this week, but that is not bothering me at all.  With how my weigh ins have been going recently it doesn't shock me what the scale said today. 

1/7/15 official weigh in

176 lbs

Change: +1 lbs

Total loss from heaviest:  141lbs

Current BMI:  27.5 (overweight)

Change:+.1

     Today was my second visit with my physical therapist and I have to say it went very well. We reviewed my gait analysis, which gave a glimpse into what my problem is. Running itself without doing any other strength and stretching exercises can cause a muscle imbalance. For me, running is all I have been doing for two plus years now, so it was no surprise to my therapist as to what she was seeing.  Essentially, as things got tighter and tighter on my right side and my right leg was pulling inward and kind of crossing in front of my left. When my right leg would land it was putting torque on my IT Band and irritating it. Eventually it got to bad and my leg said "I give up" with pain on the side of my knee. 

     After we finished the analysis we moved on to the actual physical therapy part of the visit.  After a lot of stretching, bending, pulling, twisting and deep massaging she gave me my homework. I am still to continue my stretching and foam rolling 3 times a day, but she added 3 stability/strengthening exercises to do once a day. 

     As for my running future, she has asked me to attempt a two mile run and email her how I felt.  If things go well she will allow me to attempt 3-4 more runs before our next visit in 2 weeks. If things continue to progress positively then at my next appointment we will talk about where my training will go from here.  

An Apple A Day

     Well my at home PT is been going pretty good.  So far she is just having me do three 1 minute sets of 4 different stretches three times a day followed up with some foam rolling.  I am trying not to let my inability to run to continue to get me down.  All I am focused on is doing everything my therapist asks me to do in hopes that I will be able to start training for the Glass City Marathon event at the end of April.  It is not what I would recommend as a proper training plan but for me it is all I got.  As far as actual running goes my therapist has only allowed me to run one to two miles at a time as long as I have no pain and though she didn't say she didn't want me running I got the impression that I should keep my running attempts to a minimum till she tells me otherwise.  My hope is by the start of February I'll be back to running regularly and can add some real mileage, but I am not holding myself to a timeline.  March and early April is when I really have to ramp up the mileage if I am to have any hope to completing the race.

     I wanted to share a small victory I had recently.  I haven't really talked much about my nutrition and I promise I will, but this was a big moment for me.  Now I am not a fruit or vegetable guy; in fact I am a self proclaimed meat-eterian, almost the complete opposite of a vegetarian.  Pretty much potatoes were the only vegetable I ate and if I was eating pizza then the tomato sauce was the closest I ever got to eating a tomato.  Yeah I know.
   
     Well maybe a year ago it was a big deal for me when I added spinach to my diet, so the other day I got the "What?" look from Mandy when I asked her to get me an apple while she was at the store.  I don't know why I wanted to try one but I did.  She ended up getting a bag of them and it took me a few days to get up the nerve to try one and when I did I only ate about a 1/4 of a 1/4 of it and that's it.  A few days later I gave it another shot and ate a whole 1/4 this time.  Both times the apple was at room temperature and I didn't really like it a whole lot.

     See I have what I believe to be some sort of a psychological block when it comes to this stuff.  Whether its the taste, consistency or the crunch it makes when eating it I start to get a little bit of an anxiety attack and feel like I want to throw up.  For example, years ago I was at a Skyline Chili in Dayton, Ohio and got a couple of chili cheese dogs.  I asked for no onions, but when they arrived on my table, hidden under the cheese was fresh diced onions.  I took a bite and heard the crunch of the onion and immediately knew what it was.  I had to spit it out and almost threw up from a severe anxiety attack.  I know a lot of this is all in my head and I don't know why I let it get to me, but it is just the way I am built.  If you wanna hear something funny, after I graduated college I was looking for a job in my field and to pay the bills I was working in a produce department at a local grocery store.  Me!  A self proclaimed meat-etarian working in a produce department.
     
     Anyway, back to the apple.  A few days later I took one to work and left it in the fridge all day and forgot to try it at lunch so I grabbed it for the drive home.  This time it was nice and cold and no cutting this one, I just bit right in.  It was so much better cold!  I got through about half of it and decided to call this try quits, but I liked it and I am gonna try it again that way. 

     I know this may sound stupid to many of you, I mean shit its just an apple, but this was a huge deal for me.  When I started this weight loss journey I made changes to my diet that I could live with and was healthier than what I was eating.  Now I feel like I am pretty much at that maintenance period of my journey and I want to explore some other foods that I have never tried or tried and didn't like previously.  Hey you never know what I might end up liking. 

Wednesday Weigh In / PT Visit

     Well Happy New Year to you as I type this at 1:32am January 1st 2015.  As you all know I have been in a bit of a funk lately with my binge on cookies and buckeyes, my IT Band issues and my weight gain last week.  Today, well actually yesterday, I finally felt like I was on my way back up from the depressed lows I have been feeling.  I managed to have a solid week of eating my usual stuff without any major slip ups.  I also tried an apple for the first time in years.  It was only about a quarter or a little more, but that is more than I have ever eaten before so I call that a success.  The scale snapped itself back to where I was hoping it would be.  I really think the gain last week was more of a fluke than a true weight gain, but the scale is all I have to go on right now.  

12/31/14 official weigh in

175 lbs

Change: -4 lbs

Total loss from heaviest:  142lbs

Current BMI:  27.4 (overweight)

Change: -.6

     As my regular readers know I have been battling a horrible case of IT Band syndrome.  I have been doing a lot internet research and trying to solve the problem myself with no luck.  After talking to Hilary, my Ragnar teammate, she suggested I visit a sports physical therapist for some professional help.  I did some research and found a place in Toledo, Ohio that has impeccable credentials and she is geared to athletes of all skill levels.  I had an appointment next week, but I was really getting impatient waiting so Monday I asked if she had an opening on Wednesday and she did.

     With my first visit Alisha made me very comfortable and asked me what seemed to be all the right questions that helped her narrow down what might be causing my issue.  After a physical exam of stretching, twisting, pushing and pulling she had me running on a treadmill while video taping me for a gait analysis.  She gave me her initial diagnosis and a few stretching and foam rolling things for me to do till my second appointment next week.  At my next visit, we will review my gait analysis in detail and go over my treatment plan and time frame for it.

     I know it has only been one visit and I have to be realistic about this, because this injury takes time to fix, but I feel so much better about my situation.  I need to be diligent and do all my "homework" that she gives me, add in some prayers and time and I think I'll be back to running long distances in no time.

     To add to what I wrote last night, I got up this morning to a very cold and windy new year.  The temp read 30 degrees, but with the heavy winds the wind chill made it closer to 15 degrees.  Alisha has allowed me to continue running but I am restricted to no more than 1 to 2 miles as long as I don't have pain.  After seeing everyone getting out and running today on Facebook I felt compelled to get all bundled up and head out, even if it was only for one mile. 

     

Run With Me, FOR FREE!!!!!!

     While Santa was making his rounds dropping off all his gifts to the good boys and girls of the world he did a favor for the organizers of the Glass City Marathon and dropped off TWO FREE ENTRIES for me to give away to two lucky readers of my blog.  The winners of these two entries may use them to participate in their choice of The Glass City Marathon, Owens Corning Half Marathon or 5K. 

     It was an honor for me to be asked to represent this race, not only because it is my hometown race, but because it is such a well organized race that takes great care to deliver a top notch race experience.  The Glass City Marathon prides itself on being a flat fast course great for those going for a Boston Qualifying time, better known as a BQ.  If nothing more than a great race experience is your goal than look no further.  Race weekend features corrals at the starting line, pacing teams, chip timing and a finishers book that is sent to you after the race.  Marathon and Half Marathon finishers receive a quality made finishers medal that you will feel proud to display around your neck.  Additionally, every runner receives a quality event shirt and a glass mug paying homage to Toledo, which is known also as The Glass City.  Amongst all that the organizers manage to put together a wonderful post race party featuring top notch local musical entertainment, quality food from from local establishments, free swag from local business and sponsors, FREE Massages for runners and last but not least most runners favorite post race adult brewed beverage.  There has been beer in years past anyway so I am assuming there will be this year.

The drawing is now closed
 

*These entries cannot be used for entry into the relay event, but may be used in the Glass City Marathon, Owens Corning Half Marathon or 5K on race weekend of 2015.  I am not buying you a race entry, the amazing people who put together this race weekend are allowing me to slide you in for free due to my status as a Glass City Marathon ambassador.
     
     Just a reminder, the early bird registration period for these races ends at the end of the year and the price will increase on January 1st.  If you don't wanna wait to see if you won a free registration and want to take advantage of the early bird pricing you my do so by clicking here for registration.