We celebrated Skye the entire weekend because why not?
Chairlift conversations with my kids are my favorite conversations with my kids.
The arcade was of course a request.
We ate so much ice cream.
And even more fruit.
Harry Potter was the theme.
She told me I am going to need to wash her Harry Potter onesie every day for her.
We had everyone over for dinner and she requested chicken noodle soup, rolls, and fruit. I swear it tasted better than it looks:)
Along with Chicken Cream Cheese Chili soup!
And ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.
Skye Jo is very loved!
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I thought I would write an overview on my injury to have all in one place in case someobdy ever needs it!
In 2023 was the first time I can remember my hamstring really bugging me. It was a week before Boston and we were doing a 5k time trial and I was way off pace but it wasn’t bad enough to stop. At Boston that next week, I felt it the entire 26.2 but once again, not bad enough to stop just very annoying and I felt like I couldn’t get that leg to work properly. I didn’t know how to explain it very well and just really assumed it was my hamstring because my lower back wasn’t hurting at the time. I went to PT and took some time off and it was 100% fine when I got back at it. Every now and then I would feel it ever so slightly and have people check it out but was always told it was my hamstring so I would just treat the hamstring. During the taper of my last marathon, the hamstring and glute started zinging. I thought it was the taper or trying different shoes and didn’t really worry about it much. It wasn’t until the marathon that I knew something was really wrong with my body. I was absolutely overtrained and feel like this is an overuse injury for me personally. I wasn’t giving my body the rest with easy runs (I was following a plan), variation and strength with the trails, and it caught up to me.
A blog reader sent me an email about maybe this being a nerve problem, and it was my biggest AHA moment. I couldn’t sit for the life of me without a zing going down my entire leg, and I did some of the tests for this, and it was clear to me it was nerve. I then self-diagnosed myself that it was just super tight and I was weak and there was no way I was going to get back into running because I was in so much pain, so I decided to do cross-training to build strength up to help avoid this problem again… road biking, yoga, and lifting were what I chose. Things were feeling worse rather than better and that is when our good friend that is a radiologist recommended that I get an MRI. He set it all up for me and got me in right away, read it as soon as it was done, and it was so nice to finally know what was happening. I always wondered why it would come and go in the previous years because that doesn’t sound like a classic hamstring injury!
A bulge-protrusion of the L5-S1 Disc putting a lot of pressure on my S1 nerve… So here is what I did! Knock on wood, but I am feeling so good now.
*I started PT right away. On day 1, he gave me some exercises, and I was very diligent with these and fixing my posture.
*Dr. Bennett (Utah friends–> 801-513-1078)! His adjustments, decompression, and muscle activations made a huge difference. He also had me journal each day about what things made it feel better, feel worse etc. This helped a lot to track how to get better.
*I had an epidural/steroid shot. Getting the shot was heck but the relief I felt a few minutes later was unreal. Once the epidural wore off after 5ish hours, it took about two weeks for the steroid to work personally.
*I stopped sitting. I got a standing desk and a walking pad (code HUNGRYRUNNERGIRL gives you a discount), avoided sitting at all costs, and found ways to reduce my driving (I am very lucky with that)! I also stopped crossing my legs which is such a strong habit for me, basically like breathing, but I swear it is helping. A few of you recommended to stop leading with the leg that is hurting around the house with chores, which was also a hard habit to break but I swear it helped! I swear I went from sitting 8-10 hours daily to 1 hour at most.
*I have this back support pillow for the car now, and it makes a world of difference.
*I stopped doing anything but walks. I really wanted to let it all calm down and get approval to get back into strength etc. Once it started feeling better, I slowly added in things that didn’t hurt at all (swimming, some strength, stair climber, etc).
*I got massages… not sure if they helped me physically or mentally more;)
*Heat and ice! Heat felt best, especially the hot tub or Epsom salt baths or a heating pad, but icing did too.
*Dry needling helped me SO so much.
*I love this cheap TENS unit to offer relief at home.
*The McKenzie Exercises were gold. Standing lumber extension is my theme in life from here on out.
*Who knows, maybe one day I will need surgery for this, but I’m going to really do my best to stay on top of this, which may mean extra rest days or learning to be more mentally flexible with my run plans, and that’s okay. Health is EVERYTHING. I would sell everything we own to pay for me and my family to be healthy if needed.
I’m looking back on it all, and so many positives happened because of this. I got to show my kids that sometimes we must walk off the course and listen to our bodies, and everything will be okay. We can change things around a bit in life, find other things that bring us joy, and still cheer on the people around us who get to do what we want to do so badly. I needed strength training and cross-training wake-up calls. Gone are the days of hitting 85+ mile weeks, but I truly think I can PR with much lower mileage while lifting heavy and cross-training. I’ve dealt with anxiety for as long as I can remember, and movement has always been such an important part of managing it for me. It’s hard for me to rest. But this has forced me to rest and find other ways to cope with my anxiety than running. Anyway, the highs never feel as good without the lows, and I’m grateful for the experience I get to experience both. Thanks for helping me get through this. It means the world!
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Tell me a highlight or two from your weekend?
What things have helped your injuries in the past?
Any positives that have happened from a recent hard thing you went through?
What’s your run or workout today?
