Ilanarama!

I am actually working on an epic post about our amazing Thanksgiving weekend (spoiler alert: I do seem, after all, to be healing up okay!) but I wanted to post a follow-up after my meeting with the osteoporosis specialist. He thought my bone loss over the past 6 years (since the previous DEXA scan) and the bone-remodeling markers from my blood tests were worrying, and so I have just started taking alendronate sodium (Fosamax) which helps to prevent bone breakdown. He has also advised me to continue taking calcium, and to increase the vitamin D3 I take. If my bone stabilizes I should be okay; if not, there are some steroidal injections that can increase bone quality, but that are usually held in reserve because they can only be taken for a limited amount of time.

Contrary to the usual stereotype about doctors telling you not to run after a running-related injury, he said that it was a good thing I was a runner because that weight-bearing exercise probably helped keep my bone loss from being worse!

As some of you know, after my glorious victory at the Canyonlands 5-mile I had a relapse of the lung rot that had plagued me since the first week of March. When it just seemed to be getting worse I went to the clinic and was diagnosed with bronchitis and prescribed a number of things, including an antibiotic "to take if you don't get better in a couple of days," because apparently these viruses often mask bacterial infections. I got worse and began taking the antibiotic a week ago, and things turned the corner pretty quickly after that, and today I went for a run for the first time in ten days.

It was extremely slow. I coughed every so often. But those problems, I know, are temporary. What may not be temporary is that my gluteus medius ached - not horribly, but enough to concern me. I had noticed the butt-pain starting to return last week, in fact, which dismayed me since I wasn't doing any physical activity at all.

The spine guy had said that it often takes more than one shot to fix the kind of problem I had. I hope I don't have to do it again - it's expensive (I've maxed out my deductible, but I still have a co-pay which comes out to about $500, and even though it's not a problem for me financially it freaks me out a bit - and my insurance company is beginning to get nervous, which makes ME nervous) and it's a bit of a hassle/pain.

I am going to try to work on those core exercises, keep running, and see what happens. I guess if things get worse (or don't get better) I will have to get a second cortisone shot. I hope I don't have to. I also hope I'm smart enough to see if I DO have to, and do it.

( Some weight and bodyfat talk )

( Boston plans )

( Other running plans )

( Other non-running plans )

So since my last post I've been steadily ramping up the running. That first week I ran 5 times, 3 miles a day with 4 as my long run on Saturday, for 16 miles. Last week I ran 24 miles, with a "long run" of 6. I'm hoping to get to 30 this week, probably hold that for another week, and then give another push.

There are three problems, though. The first is that...my pain in the butt is back. And I have no idea what to do. It's not as bad as it was originally - it doesn't radiate down the leg, and I can still run, and actually, the pain goes away after about five minutes - but it hurts all the time. In fact, it hurts more when I'm not running! I've been doing some stretching and strengthening exercises, but I'm reluctant to go back to PT when it didn't do me any good before.

Second, I am soooo slooow. I'm running by heart rate, keeping my HR in the 'easy' range, and my pace is 1-2 minutes per mile slower than it used to be. I am so out of shape! It should improve as I run more, but it's just depressing.

Third, I am soooo fat. I gained ten pounds since October, and that's a lot for me. I don't fit in any of my clothes and I feel terrible. Almost terrible enough to diet. It's just so hard for me to restrict my eating. I'm eating a little less, but I haven't e.g. given up drinking wine, and I probably should, but - I hate dieting. HATE. So I rely on my eating a generally good diet and running to keep the weight off. I'm hoping that when I get back to my usual running volume all this fat will go away, because I really don't want to go on a diet!

Anyway, I feel like I am clawing my way up out of the pit. I can see the sunlight, but man, it's so far away.

I had my meeting with the specialist today, and I'm in a lot better mood this evening than I was a few days ago. Although the prescription painkillers may have something to do with it...

I had been referred by my PT (Advantage Physical Therapy) to Animas Spine; Mike said they'd worked a lot with Patrick McLaughlin, "who is a runner, too," so naturally I had to look him up on Athlinks! Turns out he ran both Imogene, and the road portion of the Durango Double. (Also, he's slow, which surprises me as he's a fit-looking guy of about my age. But that's okay!)

Anyway, he seems like a good guy, pleasant and knowledgeable. I got x-rays taken today, have an MRI scheduled for Saturday, have bottles of three different pills (painkiller, steroid anti-inflammatory, and muscle relaxant), and will be going back in on Wednesday morning to hear the verdict. He thinks a disc problem is likely, but that surgery is probably not necessary, and he was super-encouraging about being able to get back to activity soon, so, yay!

After my third massage, things were leveling out, so on Sunday I decided to make another try at running. And by "running" I mean "jogging at two minutes per mile slower than my usual easy pace," but it did not feel that great, and the next day I was hurting again.

So I threw in the towel and went to a physical therapist, which, maybe I should have done it sooner, but I was hoping that rest would take care of things, and obviously it didn't. They think that the tight knot in my butt should resolve with dry needling (which sounds terribly scary, but I have it scheduled for Monday) and at that point they can address the hip imbalance they feel is the source of all my troubles (hamstring, ITB, peroneal tendons). We shall see.

Also, it's December, which means it's time for Vestal Peak to put on the Santa hat!

It's unsurprising that the last few weeks before a race tend to be filled with disaster and depression, and most especially the phenomenon known by runners as 'taper madness' or 'taper tantrums'. My training has come to a peak, which is very hard on the body. Everything has been working toward the point which is now less than two weeks from now - so naturally, everything is going wrong.

The biggest problem, at the moment, is that I seem to have strained my soleus (the deep calf muscle). On Monday I ran an easy 6 miles with hill sprints, felt fine, though my peroneal tendinitis was bothering me a bit more than usual. In the evening when I did my core routine I noticed my calves, especially my right calf (the one with tendinitis) were tight, so I made sure to do a little stretching (which I don't do often enough) along with my exercises. But on Tuesday morning my calves still felt tight, and when I headed out on my run, my right calf felt like a block of wood, unresponsive and stiff.

Despite the odd feeling in my calf, I had a great workout. My run was 2 miles easy, 3MP (which averaged 7:42), 3 minutes easy (which was not particularly slow, 8:15 pace), 3HMP (which averaged 7:19), and then easy home, which was another mile and a half, for a total of just under 10 miles. Except as I headed home I felt like my calf was even tighter - usually it loosens up as I run - and after I went upstairs and took my shower, I found it hurt to go down the stairs!

I didn't run yesterday (Wednesday), and I bailed on my planned Turkey Trot today. I have been self massaging and foam rolling (using the excellent resources at http://www.athletestreatingathletes.com/self-muscle-massage/self-muscle-massage-pt-1-the-calf/). I don't think it's a tear, or something severe enough that I'll have to cancel the marathon - at least, I hope not. No idea how many days I'm going to need to take off; as they say, 'the hay is in the barn' and I don't need to do more workouts, but hope I can get a run or two in before the marathon.

You'd think that this would be enough for the vengeful gods to throw at me, but, no. My husband's had some sort of respiratory ick for the past two weeks - I've been sleeping in the guest room, washing my hands fifty times daily, and taking vitamin C / echinacea / zinc supplements. So far, so good, but I'm terrified I'm going to come down with it.

Of course I'm stressing about the weather, too. We're just getting into that timeframe where forecasts are possible and...they're not that great. It's looking like wind and rain, bleah.

I'm not in the best of moods, as you can imagine. So, naturally...I get my period! I'm at that stage in my life where it's so irregular as to be random, and it's also become heavier than it used to be, and lasts longer. If I was in a normal state of mind I would probably rejoice, since this means I'm unlikely to be having it during the race, but after reading horror stories of perimenopausal women with month-long periods, I'm just hoping it GOES AWAY NOW PLEASE.

Ah, well. Taper tantrums. I'm self-medicating with alcohol and chocolate, and crossing my fingers, and hoping for the best, because there is nothing else I CAN do.