Heartland Series Training Week 7 (AKA I'm injured, please help me:)

After Sunday's run, I was feeling pretty defeated.  I like running, it  is my stress relief, and quite frankly, my addiction.  If I can't run I feel very irritable and lost.  My poor hubby catches the brunt of it and even if I try to curb it, it still comes out. Here is how the week played out.

Monday:  Another visit to the chiro.  When I told him about the pain during my run friday and sunday, and having to quit sunday during my long run, he actually said "good, that is awesome".  I was really, really confused.   Usually when the pain gets worse, the dr/chiro/massage dude says, whoa, "stop running, shut er down".  My new chiro didn't say that at all.  Instead, he said he wanted me to continue to run, but way dialed down.  He wanted me to stick to a mile running, with every other tenth of a mile walking.  He wanted me to stay active and on the road, versus shutting running down.  I was not ready to hear that. I was ready to not run for a full week, and hit the pool.  He quickly told me no, he wanted me to stay out just way less than what I had been doing.  He thought the pain was a good thing because it was un winding the injury.  He felt like this pain was expected and invited, and was a good sign.  I am still on the fence.  I am very glad that I am able to do something that resembles running, and I may very yet still hit the pool for some water jogging.  I dutifully did my mile with every 10th of a mile being a walk or run.  I had zero pain during the run/walk, so there is that.  None of the pain I had during my planned long run. And then I came home and put on my compression socks.  This is a  HUGE deal because my foot has not been able to handle compression at all for 3 weeks!!!!  I guess we are making progress even if it is super slow.   I am trying to trust the progress and not think about the fact that I have a race that I so wanted to do well in, in 3 weeks.  In fact, every time I have entered the st. Pat's day race, I have ended up with an injury right before it, so maybe I need to just stop entering it???

Okay so I don't have running pics but this is my new sacouny hat that I got on clearance.  It's reversible and super cute!

Tuesday:  Day off for Love and Logic class.  I was super sore from what I hoped was the adjustment the day before.  My foot was really  hurting, back up to what it was previously and in different places.  My spirits really dipped.  I am trying to stay in the mindset of that it gets worse before it gets better.  It's hard.  I want to feel better, not feel more pain.

Hot fudge ice cream sundaes make everything better right?

Wednesday: 1 mile with a tenth walking and a tenth running.  I was super sore again, but I wanted to run/walk to see if I had pain during the run.  Whelp, the answer to that is yes, yes it did hurt during my run/walk.  Not horrible, just a little dull ache.  Enough for me to say no more running this week.  Did an upper body work out but even getting in plank hurt my foot as well as downward facing dog.

Andrew and his bestie painting. 

Thursday: Another visit to the chiro.  I had decided after two days of pain that I wanted imaging done on my foot.  I was very honest in all of my feelings and how upset I was that we weren't seeing any progress.  Other than adjustments to my left hip that he adjusted last time, he could not find anything that should be causing the pain.  My foot bones are in perfect alignment.  I told him i could feel every ligament in my foot and that the outside ligament hurt the worst.  He wanted me to take the rest of the week off from ALL working out.  No upper body workout, no elliptical, no water jogging.  He felt like I wasn't healing for some reason, and that i needed to give my body a full break.  He also said he wanted me to see my GP, and get some imaging done.  While he couldn't find anything wrong and didn't think I had a stress fracture, he was completely at a loss as to what this is and why it won't go away.  He told me that he couldn't do anything else for me, and that I could come back for regular adjustments, but that he really couldn't help me with my foot.  I appreciate his honesty.  He could have taken my money, had me come in multiple times a week, and lead me on.  Instead he cut me loose, and for that, I will come back and get regular adjustments in the future.  I have an appointment with my GP on friday, and hope to get some imaging done or be referred to one of the sports medicine places in town.  He also suggested that I might want to get a as he called it "mega dose" of anti inflammatories.  I am not a fan of that suggestion, but he described it as a small fire that won't go out that needs to be put out.  I am still on the fence with this one.  He did do the tuning fork trick on me checking for stress fractures, which I know is not scientific at all, but I had no reaction to any places he put the fork so that is good.

I hate having to come here:(

Friday:  Visit with GP.  Well, not much really happened.  I didn't get to see my GP, but another Dr at her clinic.  She was not a runner and rolled her eyes at me several times while I was telling her what all had transpired.   She informed me that runners were always injured, and I informed her I have been running for around 7 years, and I have only  had 2 injuries, so I think that is pretty good.  She quickly told me she could do x-rays, but that probably was not going to tell her anything, which i agreed. She also said she could not order an MRI, because she did not think my insurance would cover it.  She told me the best she could do was put me in a boot for six weeks.  I told her that didn't make sense to me at all, that I needed a diagnosis, or a better guess as to what this is.  She refused to give me any steriods or more powerful anti inflammatories.  She took x-rays that I feel like will probably be useless, and be re taken.  I asked for a referral to an ortho/sports med dr and she said yes.  I at least I got something out of the co-pay.   She did not feel like it was a nerve issue but she did say that if I wanted to get a referral to a neurologist, that she would happily refer me.  Don't get me wrong, she was super nice, she just didn't see why I was so up in arms about getting this figured out and  get back to running.  The runner's mind is complex and you either get it or you don't.  She even said she knew nothing about chiropractics and didn't understand why I was exploring that option.  I can't be the only patient in her career that uses chiropractics but it doesn't matter now. I got my referral, and will go from there.  I am also taking four days of a double dose of Aleve  every 12 hours, to see if I can quench the inflammation on my own.  This was totally at the advice from my local pharmacist.  I have taken advil sporadically through this, and at best it has dulled the pain down to a quiet roar.  I have had one double dose of Aleve and have 0 pain as of right now, so I think this may be a good thing.

My hope is that next week I can at least resume working out with non weight bearing activities.  I hope to hit the pool and the elliptical and resume upper body strength work outs.  I see doug for more ART and massage monday so hoping to get some good results from that and get in with the ortho doc as well.

Have a great weekend!!!

Kurgo Go-Tech Adventure Harness

I am always on the look out for new dog running products to try out.  When I got an email that Kurgo was having a huge sale, I thought I would try out one of their harnesses, the Go-Tech Adventure harness.  For the sale, I received this harness for 15 bucks plus 5 bucks shipping.  

When I received it, I immediately thought how small it looked.  I ordered the medium (25lbs-50lb) based on stella's weight (42 lbs).  I probably should have measured her instead of basing it on weight.  This picture above is the breast plate.  One of the reasons I wanted to try it was based on the fact that it had a wide breast plate that helps reduce strain on the neck and chest.  It also has a ring on the front for a no pull type harness affect.  While I don't really worry about that with my dogs, I thought it would be cool if you needed that sort of thing to have to choices on where to put your leash (breast plate or back)

This is the back of the harness.  One of the reasons I wanted this harness was the handle on the back.  During my trail run, I had to steady myself several times using stella's harness, and I thought how nice a handle would have been.  There is also another D ring on the back, which is where I would attach while running. 

 This was a new one and took me a minute to figure out.  The buckles are metal and are nested.  After reading the directions and fiddling with it, I figured it out and it was super easy to get on and off.  Since I misjudged what size stella really needed, I had to quickly learn how to adjust the side buckles.  I have them let out as much as they can be.  I measured her at 27 inches at the girth, which puts her at the top of the medium and the bottom of the large (large starts at 24 inches), so much adjustment would be needed for either.

My plan was to do a long run with it on her.  Unfortunately, I have been battling a foot injury and while I think it is on the mend, it just wasn't having running today.  We only did about 5.5 miles before my foot and leg decided this wasn't a good idea.  It just seems too small.  There is play on both sides so it isn't restricting her rib cage, but overall it just seems too small.

Hopefully a week off of running and more visits from the chiropractor will get this stupid injury healed.  Until then, we will hold out hope that this harness will work.  I am afraid the large will be too big and floppy and cause chaffing, so I don't really want to exchange for a bigger size.  I like the color and the back handle.  The back D ring was kind of a weird shape so hard to get my clip on and off.  I did not see any evidence of chaffing but the mileage was minimal.  I will continue to use it and keep you posted!  The harness seems very well made and I look forward to using it more!

Heartland Series Training Week 6

Well, another week of a wonky foot.  Here is how it played out:

Monday:  4 miles easy.  This was a test to see how my foot would react after running 10 miles the previous day.  We took it easy although a few times I saw 9s on my watch, so we had to back off.  Sometimes we just talk and forget about pace.  Iced, took advil, and watched Westminster post run.  Foot felt great during and after.

Tuesday:  Rest day.  Woke up with pain in my foot, back to what it previously was after two days of no pain during the day.  Did advil and put my orthotics, on and didn't have pain the rest of the day.  Even though that little pad kind of hurts other parts of my foot, it sure does make the other pain go away, and i will take it.

Wednesday: 5 easy miles.  Nothing exciting about this one.  Is it sad to say that I am ready for some speed work?

Thursday: Visit with a chiropractor and strength.  Tried getting in with a podiatrist but he was booked till mid may.  Sigh.

Okay, my old chiropractor did the whole manual manipulation.  I was not ready for this new fangled treatment.  He used this gun thumper thing on me, that kind of scared me.  This new guy came highly recommended for crazy runner types like me.  He was super nice and thoroughly listened to my issues.  He had me lay on the table, and then did some tests before he started adjusting me.  He said initially my fibula was out of place on my left leg, and that was torquing everything, including my left ouchy foot.  He felt like there was not a neuroma at all, but he never really did any test to prove to me that I didn't.  He also didn't see any point in the pad that the PT put in my shoe the week before.  He was okay with the orthotics, but he felt like the shoes I had them in (I recycle old running shoes as my daily shoes, i know, bad idea) were too old and broken down.  He would do an adjustment and then he would have me go take a walk for 5 minutes around the block before adjusting me again.  I had adjustments in my foot, leg, back, and neck.  He did probably three different adjustments, and had me walk three different times.  I have to admit, I had no pain afterwards, and was fine during my strength training.  That is the first time in a LONG time that I was pain free in my foot.  I started feeling a little ouchy later that night, around 9 pm, so I took a long hot salt bath.  

Friday: easy 5.  I had another appointment with the chiro on friday.  I did strength thursday, changing out the split jump lunges with planks.  I had kept the jump squats in, as they didn't hurt my feet, and neither did the step downs, and stepping weighted lunges.  My chiro was very happy, as he said my adjustment had held.  He did say something else was out, but it was higher up on my leg, and for whatever reason, he was happy about that.  We went over my shoe issue, as in stability versus neutral, versus orthotics.  We decided that the older shoes I wore everyday were out.  I am going to try wearing my stability shoes as my everyday shoes, and run in my neutral shoes.  The only problem is, I feel like my stability shoes (asics) crunch my foot up and have a very narrow toe box.  I think I have gotten use to my saucony's bigger toe box, and anything else feels too small.  My chiro wanted me to go ahead with my two easy runs, my easy 5 on friday, and 11 on sunday before a recheck.  I will admit, I for the first time had pain in my foot during running.  It wasn't sharp, it was kind of dull ache and it came and went.  I will play this weekend by ear.

If I go in on monday and I still have pain or my adjustment doesn't hold, he wants me to take a week off.  If i have to take a week off, I am going to renew my membership to the pool at KSU, and hit the deep water well.  I will not freak out about time off.

Saturday: Strength:  Didn't happen.  We spent the day in Lawrence together, and didn't get home till late.  I was worn out.  We had one happy red headed little boy though.  We visited a model train show, a 3 story toy store, and a new to me running store.  I got to sample a Nuun happy hour that had Nuun mixed with champagne, and grabbed a new to me flavor of all day Nuun that was on sale.  We also visited andrew's favorite pizza place, CiCi's pizza, and got some candy at the toy store.  It was a FUN day!

Sunday:  11 easy miles planned.  What happened was much less.  My foot wasn't hurting, but my leg further up above my ankle a little bit was KILLING me.  I kept thinking it would warm out, as other little aches and pains do, but nope, it just kept at the same intensity.  I decided to call my hubby to come and pick me up rather than keep pushing on in pain and making Mel walk.  I think we both thought it would just warm up and out, but it just wouldn't.  After getting home, I tried putting on my compression socks and heading back out.  That lasted about 2 miles and then the pain came right back.  Again, I had to call my hubby to come and pick me up since I was too far out to limp back.  I surrender foot/leg/whatever.  After having a bit of a pity cry and stress eating some bad food, I have clarity, and am ready to get this mess taken care of, even if it means not running.  I am just hoping that the adjustments just have me out of whack, and that all I need is rest.  I am going to go back to the chrio monday and tell him what is going on, and see if biking or water jogging is even an option.

Total miles for the week: 19.5 miles.

Going to need all of that positive vibes and energy that you can spare this week.  I am going to keep my eye on the prize and not go crazy.  I can hopefully still run all of my half marathons, and just move my goal race till later.  The bigger goal is the 50 K anyway, but I do want to finish the Heartland Series, since it is my third time doing it.  Have a great week and run some miles for me!

How I use Nuun in my life

As a nuun ambassador, I thought I would explain how I use Nuun in my life.  I love finding a product that works so well for me in my life, and would love to help you find a way to incorporate Nuun into your life as well.  Anytime I mention a specific product, I have linked the word directly to their web store, so you can browse and read more.

First of all, let me explain how my week days use to go pre Nuun.  I would wake up and brew a cup of black coffee to get my caffeine fix.  I wouldn't necessarily consume a full cup, usually just a quarter or maybe half, while I ate my kashi bar.  I would then go to work, either buying a soda at sonic (usually diet and usually large, since they have a drink special in the morning), or I would get a soda out of the vending machine (that now takes debit cards).  Now, that soda could last me two days but still.   I would eat a lunch and consume my soda.  I usually cut caffeine off at 2 pm, since I use to battle insomnia.  That statement makes me laugh to type it out, because now that i have a kid, I am ready to go to bed at 8:30.  I would have dinner with either a beer or a caffeine free soda.  Then I would switch to water.  I would drink water till I hit the hay, and then be up all night peeing.  Not the best lifestyle, I will admit.  I would also suffer from dizzy spells in the afternoon, and be hungry an hour or so after breakfast and the same post lunch.  I usually don't snack, so I would just suffer and then stuff my face at night at dinner.

Now fast forward to having Nuun in my life.  I started using Nuun Active when I was training for Chicago.  Some mornings, even getting up at  4 am, I would be battling 100% humidity.  Give me high heat any day over the stickiness and oppressiveness of humidity.  I would either go out with a 21 oz bottle of Nuun Active Grape flavored and a bottle of water or double it up with two bottles of Nuun.  I would have a third bottle at the house, so after I did my 16 or so miles, I would head back and pick up the third bottle and drop off my empties.  Now mind you, Stella and I share water, so if I were by myself, I probably could have gotten away with less.  Having Nuun really was a godsend!  I use to sweat super salty, and suffer effects of dehydration.  Now, that is a thing of the past!!!  I am one well hydrated runner before, during, and after a run.  If I am doing a shorter run, or don't take water with me, I will ALWAYS drink 16 oz of Nuun active after my chocolate milk.   My recovery goes so much smoother if I am well hydrated!

During the normal work day, I start out mid morning with a 16 oz water with Nuun Energy Cherry Limeade tablet.  Per the Nuun website, Nuun Energy contains caffeine from green tea extracts.  I was very interested to find out exactly how much caffeine it contained.  Post pregnancy, I have been very sensitive to caffeine in that instead of making me feel very up and buzzy, I have been feeling very tired and run down.  I was delighted to find out that the amount of caffeine is about 40 mg, which is half of what you would get in an 8oz cup of coffee.  I get a little tiny jolt of go juice, without getting the bad side effects I was getting previously from my lunch time soda.  PLUS, my mid morning hunger was gone as well.

Here are the ingredients per the Nuun website for the Nuun Energy tablets.  Note that Nuun Energy comes in four flavors, Wild Berry, Mango Orange, Fresh Lime and Cherry Limeade.  I love the flavors for the fact that they are mildly sweet, and are sweetened with plant based sweeteners, and are  certified vegan, and gluten free!

nutrition facts:

serv. size: 1 tablet (prepared for 16 fl oz water), servings: 10, amount per serving: calories 10, total carbohydrates 4 g (1% dv*), sugars 1 g (#), vitamin c (as ascorbic acid) 38 mg (63% dv),niacin (as niacinamide) 20 mg (100% dv), vitamin b6 (as pyridoxine hydrochloride) 2mg (100% dv), vitamin b12 (as cyanocobalamin) 6 mcg (100% dv), magnesium (as magnesium oxide) 25 mg (6% dv), sodium (as sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate) 360 mg (15% dv), potassium (as potassium bicarbonate) 100 mg (3% dv). caffeine (from green tea extract) 40mg (#). *percent daily values (dv) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. #daily value not established.

ingredients:

citric acid, dextrose, natural flavors, malic acid, beet juice powder (for color), calcium carbonate, monk fruit extract, stevia leaf extract, avocado oil

I usually follow my morning Nuun Energy with a Nuun All day tablet. There are 17 vitamins and minerals in the All day tablets and electrolytes and flavor (again mild) to increase your desire to drink water.  I am not a huge water drinker, as per my past, and this has helped me to get at least three, 16 oz  bottles of water down a day.  This is WAY better than my probable 20 oz of water I was downing pre bedtime, and BONUS, no getting up to pee all night, because I am hydrating during the day.  Again, my afternoon hunger spells have disappeared, and I am not dying by dinner time, which was causing  me to stuff my face.  

Here are the ingredients for the all day tablets below.  Nuun All Day come in grape raspberry, blueberry pomegranate, grapefruit orange, and tangerine lime.

Nutrition facts:

serving size: 1 tablet, servings per container: 15, amount per serving: calories 7, calories from fat 0g, total fat 0g, total carb 1g (1%dv), sugars 0g, protein 0g, vitamin a (as retinyl acetate) 750 iu (15%dv), vitamin c (as ascorbic acid) 60mg (100%dv), vitamin d (as cholecalciferol) 200 iu (50%dv), vitamin e (as dl-tocopheryl acetate) 15 iu (50%dv), thiamin (as thiamine mononitrate) 750mcg (50%dv), riboflavin (as riboflavin) 850mcg (50%dv), niacin (as niacinamide) 10mg (50%dv),vitamin b6 (as pyridoxine hci) 1mg (50%dv), vitamin b12 (as cyanocobalamin) 3mcg (50%dv), pantothenic acid (as d-calcium pantothenate) 5mg (50%dv), magnesium (as magnesium oxide) 20mg (5%dv), zinc (as zinc sulfate) 750mcg (5%dv), selenium (as selenium chelate) 3.5mcg (5%dv),manganese (as manganese gluconate) 100mcg (5%dv),chromium (as polynicotinate) 6mcg (5%dv), sodium (as sodium bicarbonate) 60mg (3%dv), potassium (as potassium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate) 200mg (6%dv). percent daily values (dv) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

ingredients:

citric acid, sorbitol, natural flavors, stevia leaf extract, natural color, wheat germ oil.

I am super happy that Nuun has not only helped me train smarter by stepping up my hydration, but also has improved my daily life, by helping me to increase my daily water intake.  I feel better, have been sick way less than normal (and i have a three year old germ factory), and have curbed unnecessary hunger pains.  The biggest is that I have cut out my soda addiction.  I still have a diet soda ever once in a great while, BUT that is few and far between versus every.single.day.  It did take me a while to get use to the flavor, as it is so subtle, especially when I was so addicted to sugary sweet fake soda, but I tried different flavors and found the flavors that I can drink every day and love.  I always have a tube or two  in my purse, so I can have them on the go, and keep 16 oz water bottles at home and work.  I also got the privilege of being a Nuun ambassador this year so I can spread my passion for such an awesome product! if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, or visit their website at www.nuun.com.  They have tons of blogs and great infographics on their products, so you can find the product that is right for you!

Have a great week and stay hydrated!

Heartland Series training week 5

My coach and I decided to ease up the mileage a bit this week, but still leave out the speed work until this thing, whatever it is heals.  The pain is still there although it is like a 2-3.  It certainly isn't getting worse, and that is what I am happy about thus far!

Monday: A very easy 4.  The wind was blowing 21 mph sustained from the NNW, but my running partner and I decided it would be fun to run straight into a wall of wind.  Yes, we have lost our minds.

Tuesday:  Off for parenting class.  We are taking Love and Logic classes again and thoroughly love them, no pun intended.

Wednesday:  A very easy 5.  I think i am starting to see a product of the weight coming back off.  I am down 6 lbs and back to my easy pace pre Chicago.  Glad to see those numbers again, was slightly concerned that running a marathon had made me a slower runner.  That is okay except that I was already a slow runner to begin with :)

Thursday: Strength training.  For whatever reason, my foot decided to be super ouchy, and much of my work out had plyometric exercises.  I had to switch some exercises out to keep my foot happy.  Still not sure why my foot doesn't hurt at all during up to 6 miles of running yet gets very angry when I try to do a lunge.  I must have major endorphins running through my blood that cover up the pain?

Friday: Another easy 5.  Headed out with Deuce for this one.  He was pretty over joyed to go.  He is turning out to be a very nice running dog now.  We met a black and white kitty but lucky for us, he was on his way somewhere and wasn't bothered by our presence.

Saturday:  Runner's Expo in KC and a day with Mel.  The expo was pretty small, so we were done pretty quickly (I got several t shirts, like I need more:).  We headed out for brunch, and then stopped at the local running store.  Got into a very long discussion with their resident PT student about what is going on with my foot.  After doing a few tests, his conclusion was Morton's Neuroma, based on the fact that i could not take ANY compression on my foot.  He fitted me for some orthotics that had a pad to help spread out the meta tarsals.  The orthotics should also help with my over pronation.  I am kind of skeptical, but I am willing to try ANYTHING at this point, so I can keep running and not have pain all day.  I am to wear my orthotics for a few hours a day at work to break them in for a few weeks, before attempting to run in them.  The PT student also put a metatarsal pad in the insoles of my normal running shoes to help when I run for now.  I so hope that he is right and that this fixes it.   He did say that I should continue the icing and advil, so I shall.  I try and do an ice bath after every run, and I take advil in the morning ONLY (i want to be able to feel pain during my run if it is there).

Sunday: Long run 8-10 depending on how my foot felt.  Had no pain at all during the run or even before the run, so went for 10.  It was a perfect day again, little to no wind, cold temps but sun.  I ran without the meta tarsal pad since I don't have pain when I run, but I put the insert in with it as soon as i was done.   I came up with this idea to make a pic with Mel and I with our arms being the heart and then Stella jumping through.  Here are a few of our outtakes.  We decided to be happy with her just sitting behind our heart:)  Here are the outtakes!

This one cracks me up so much.  She kept trying to run under our hands and succeeded on this take.  

I am hoping we are on the downside of this little injury.  The pad does seem to be helping, and I am able to continue running.  I am thinking about seeing a podiatrist anyway just to make sure this is what we are dealing with.  Hoping for more healing this week and more pain free miles again.

Total miles: 24 miles

Heartland Series Training week 4

If you have been reading this week, pretty much none of my scheduled work outs have happened as is, so this will be a short blog post:)  If you want to read my freaking out for a few days read here, and read here for the conclusion of what was going on.

Monday: off

Tuesday: off

There has been a lot of ice, compression, and arnica this week!

Wednesday: Was going to attempt strength.  Long story short, I had just ordered an upgrade on my Iphone to a 5 S which was free if I signed another 2 year contract.  Well, as I was unpacking it, it fell out of the box and the top of the screen shattered.  I was SO upset.  I have replaced two screens on my current Iphone 5 thanks to me having butterfingers and not wanting to put the money out for the Otterbox.  My screen had never been the same after I replaced it the second time, and it had been locking up and not working (remember when it quit working at the beginning of the Chicago marathon?) more often lately so I thought it was time.  I was so sad because I would have to pay full price to get a new one and I didn't have insurance on my latest phone yet.  After spending much time on the phone with Sprint, I got everything resolved but by the end of everything, I needed a beer worse than sweating, so I opted out of working out.

The sun was still out for pretty much the entire run!  Hurry up spring!

Thursday:  A very cautious 3 miles.  I was on the fence about running versus waiting.  My sports massage guy wanted me to try it out and see what it felt like.  If it truly was the Peroneal muscle pulling on things, I should be okay to run with very low intensity.  I talked to my coach and she agreed.  IF there was ANY pain at ANY time during my run, I was to stop and call home to get a ride.  I am VERY happy to say that I had 0 pain during my run.  I honestly was shocked that i didn't.

Friday: Strength training.  I so need to get a video of stella attacking the band on my ankles when I do the monster walk.  Not sure why that sets her off so bad, but it is kind of funny till she gets my leg instead of the band.

Saturday:  My coach,  sports massage therapist, and I decided to try an easy 4 today.  Mentally I needed it.  The weather was amazing, the sun was out, and Deuce needed to get out, so he got to go with me.  It was glorious!!!!!

Sunday:  A longish run.  Again my coach and massage therapist decided that it was okay to try a longish run.  I was really happy because I had signed up for the virtual Nuun New Year Dash.  I knew i wouldn't be able to dash, but at least I could complete it.  Mel was also long running and while she was doing more than 6, she worked it out so she would be at my house with 6 miles left.  Running friends are awesome like that.  There was quite a bit of wind coming from the North so when we headed back home, it was like running into a wall but we got it done.

Total miles for the week: 13

My foot seems to be getting better ever so slowly.  I am so glad I am able to run while it heals, even if it is just easy miles.   Going back to four days a week this week with no speedwork, and again a longish run, but not what I would normally be running at this point in my training.  I am at peace with that and will go with the flow!

SLS3 Dual Pocket Run Belt Review

I was contacted by SLS3 to do a review of their new Dual Pocket Run Belt.  I am always on the look out for new gear, and I love when my favorite bloggers talk about the newest gear in their blogs.  Well, lucky me, I get to be one of those people this time!

I have evolved in my run belts over the years, especially as my phone (which I always run with) gets bigger and in bigger cases.  I started out with a very simple flat belt that had multiple slits throughout.  The problem was, my keys would work their way out of said multiple slits if not careful, and I was constantly worried that I would miss them falling out and loose them on our runs.  I then changed to a zippered belt that stretched to accommodate not only my phone, but now my chomps or cliffshots, since I was training for longer distances.  While that worked for a while, I was always on a the look out for a belt that would accommodate more fuel/phone storage and wouldn't bounce or move.  Enter into the picture the new SLS3 Dual Pocket Run Belt.  

First off, it comes in four cute colors.  I am a sucker for purple or pink gear, so I immediately chose purple.  Always a wildcat GO CATS! Unfortunately. due to the overwhelming response, we didn't all get our color choices.  That's okay, I like the black on black too.

You can't even see the belt, as it blends nicely with my black running pants.  This could be a bonus, because it could have other uses than just for a run, and no one would even know you had it on.  

that is with just my iphone in it's otter box in the belt

My first impression was, WOW, how are all of my things going to fit in those pockets.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Here is a pic with my cell phone, keys,  2 sets of cliffshot blocks, and a doggy poop bag.   There is honestly still room for more!

 I like the fact that the pockets are split into two different pockets, not one giant pocket, where everything can kind of gather and sink to the bottom.  I was also impressed with the water proof lining of the pockets.  Most everything I take with on a run is solid, but I could see how this would be nice if you were taking GUs with you that could leak, or if you are out on a run and a sudden rainstorm hits.  With my current run belt, I have to put my phone in a ziploc bag if I suspect it might rain, but with this belt, I don't have to worry about that at all!

I also like the fact that it can be worn in the front or in the back.  I did a 5 miler with the belt on  the front for 2.5 miles and with it on the back for 2.5 miles.  I honestly didn't even know it was there.  The belt never bounced, never moved.  The only negative I will report is how hard it was to get my phone in and out of it while the belt was being worn.  I sometimes take pictures during a run, and it was kind of a pain to take the belt off to get the phone in and out.   A seriously minor negative that can be dealt with.  

I have worn it on a 5 miler, my long run of 10 miles, and hill repeats so far, and just love it!  After two runs, I did feel like it stretched out a little, so I had to re adjust the tightness of it, but once I tightened it down, it was fine and stopped moving.  The SLS3 dual pocket run belt is a must have if you are in need of a run belt! 

In fact, I am going to give one lucky winner a chance to win one of these babies!  The raffle will be open for one week (till 2/13) so get those entries in!  If you can't wait and just have to have one, you can visit Amazon through this link.  This is a limited time introductory price for the dual pocket run belt. The belt retails at $29.90 but our Amazon store has it listed for $12.90 (57% Off). 

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My Peroneal hates me

Got a diagnosis today of what we think is going on.  Huge props to Doug at Body First for getting me in so quickly.  He knows I get super mental when I can't run and he knows how I freak out and self diagnose.  

Source

Okay so here goes.  My peroneal muscles were SUPER tight.  This was causing my peroneal tendons to also be super tight, which were basically putting tons of strain on my last three toes.  There was some inflammation as a result, thus the feeling of a stone bruise.  After 45 painful minutes of ART on my left leg and much popping and shifting and OUCH, everything seems a heck of lot more relaxed.  I still have some pain in my foot, but that isn't going to magically go away in one day.  I am still doing ice therapy on and off when I am at my computer at work and at home when I get 5 seconds to sit down.  I am also using arnica on my foot.  Tonight after parenting classes, I took another long soak in epsom's salts to help with the pain, and have been drinking water like it is going out of style.  I really feel good about the diagnosis because I noticed how tight everything was when he was working on it and I noticed how sore everything was.  I have been rolling my calf muscle out everyday but he said it was loose and good to go.  I guess I need to look up how to contort myself so I get the outside of my shin as well as the inside and my calf.

The jury is still out on what caused this. I am going to take another day off from running tomorrow, and then try a short run thursday to see what it feels like before deciding what the weekend is going to look like.  I know this totally does not sound like me, but I would rather take a week off now and save myself for the bevy of half marathons coming up in march and april, than to push through and potentially injure myself more.  I know, I know, totally not like me at all.  I am all for keep pushing.

Source

  That is usually me.  Not this time though.  Let's get this crap dealt with and healed and then go on.  If it means loosing a week, so be it.

This could all be a product of my new shoes or it could have been a random occurrence.  I am going to return to running in my saucony kinvaras when I start again this week or next just in case.  Then we can go from there to see if my new shoes are the cause.  I am hoping not but if they are, they are and I have to move on.

Have a great week my friends!  Going to try and not go insane from not running but got my eye on the prize and it is long term.

An update on an update

This will be brief.  I am trying not to panic.  I am trying to tell myself this is a tiny bump and only needs extra ice, stretching and foam rolling.  Let me back up.  I had one of those PERFECT long runs saturday.  It was the stuff dreams were made of.  I felt great during, stayed busy the rest of the day, and got to bed early saturday night thanks to a worn out toddler that fell asleep early.  On sunday morning, as I got out of bed, I was hit with the stiff, I can't walk on that foot pain on my left foot.  I felt like I had plantar's fasciitis (PF) for sure.  Of course, being a mom of a three year old and it being pretty nice out, we headed out for a long hike up some pretty serious hills.  The pain seemed to go away the longer we hiked, so I thought to myself, awesome, I have caused PF in my foot.  I am no stranger to PF, had it years ago in both feet.  I used stretching and massage and a shoe change to get rid of it and I haven't had it since.  The good and bad news is you can run through PF, as do many runners, but there are many other things you need to do to keep it at bay and to keep from tearing that plantar's fascia all together.  I got to work immediately, icing the bottom of my foot any time I was sitting, and doing lots of stretching, foam rolling and using the stick (well, having my hubby use the stick on my calf).  My left calf is pretty tight, so I am doing everything to get it to loosen up.  Last week was my second week to add speed work back in the form of hill repeats, so I am sure I did something to it over the course of the week that probably started out small and insignificant and worked its way into an injury.

This morning I was thrown for a loop again. When I woke up, I didn't have that feeling of PF stiffness and soreness AT ALL!  Instead I felt like I had stepped on a huge rock.  The padding of my foot around the third and fourth toe felt bruised.

We have way too many big sticky dots laying around my lab that never get used so this is a good way to use them up:)

Of course I have researched what it could be and it could be several things.  I hope with just taking a few days off, reducing intensity, and icing/stretching/rolling/stick rolling, that I can beat this.  In some ways if it is the dreaded PF, I know how to handle it, but I am just not sure that it is PF based on where the pain is localized.  I am trying not to panic. I don't have my first half until the end of march and I have a great base built so taking even a week off wouldn't hurt me. I don't really want to see a dr just yet.  I have of course performed the in house test for stress fracture and yes, I can hop up and down comfortably on my foot 10 times.  I will have to stay on top of this and I will keep you posted and by you I mean mom and the three other readers I have LOL!

Thanks for listening to this runner whining:)  Now back to your regularly scheduled program!