Another Busy Week (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Two weeks ago I had a crazy busy week.  Last week I was out of town.  And then another crazy busy week.

Monday I got back from Florida in the afternoon.  I had to work a few hours, but thankfully I was able to work from home.  I was able to unpack a little, but enough to empty the suit case and put into piles of dirty laundry, items reused for travel that needed to be reorganized and put away, and items that just needed to be put away somewhere.  I was so tired from the week away that I just went to be really early.

Tuesday I got up and went to the gym.  Nothing really exciting there.  After work I went to another User Group.  As I explained in another post, in IT there are user groups which focus on different aspects of IT.  There are ones for .Net, Database, Networking, and of course Agile.  There are two different groups for Agile in Richmond and this second one I have never attended.  They decided to do drinks, networking, and a Q&A.  So basically it was like a happy hour where you could submit a question and those questions were discussed in smaller groups or the group as a large.  It was a nice night were I met some people, had some good beer, and talked Agile (not everyone would enjoy that last part.

Wednesday I didn't get up and go for a run.  My knee was still bothering me a little and really, I need at least a week of rest before I start running again.  I really hope I do enjoy getting back out there when I don't have to do longer runs.  After work I went to physical therapy.  While my knee had been feeling better, I knew I needed some straitening done.  He ended up needling my IT band and it just kept jumping.  If you have had needling you know what you mean.  Knowing most haven't, it's like someone shocked you.  It usually means that things are very tight and it's getting loosened with the needle.  It doesn't hurt much, just a weir sensation.  And I know that things will feel a lot better in a day or so.

Thursday I went to my FT class at the gym.  Again, nothing special.  Than after work I went out to a happy hour with a couple of ladies from my contracting company and someone that I used to work with that also got a job through them.  As I walked in I saw a running friend of mine.  I said hello and went over to my group.  The three of them are in their twenties and there was more then once that I felt old.  It was a good time, but more then once I had to date myself and had to remind myself more then once that they really needed a few more years to really understand things. :)

Friday I didn't run again.  It was nice to sleep in a little.  After work I met my parents for dinner and then we had tickets to see Rent.  I walked into the restaurant and who did I see?  My running friend that I randomly bumped into the night before at my happy hour.  It was Restaurant Week, so a lot of restaurants have special three course meals that you get for a set price.  A few dollars of each meal goes to the Food Bank.  It's win win.

We headed to the theater to see the play.  I went to get some water and who do I see again?  Yes, my running friend.  Granted, I knew they were going by at this point, but it is a big theater.  I know I saw Rent when it first opened on Broadway.  I remember that I didn't like it, but for the life of me I couldn't remember why.  I did enjoy it this time around.  A couple of songs reminded me of TV shows that have used them, namely Big Bang Theory and The Office.


On the way home from the play I got a text from a coworker.  His wife had their baby earlier that day.  He is such a sweet guy, I know he will make a good dad.

Saturday morning I woke up early to one cat in my face, one on my leg, and the other kneading my back.  I wanted another hour of sleep and they just wanted snuggles.  I guess I really haven't been home much in the last few weeks.

I got up and knew I had to clean.  I still had my piles of stuff from unpacking and my house was a mess.  So what did I decide to do?  Let's make a bigger mess by rearranging furniture.  I rearranged my CD and DVD shelving, which meant I had to pull everything out, which meant that I needed to wipe everything down individually cause everything was so dusty, which meant I just made a bigger mess.

I got most of that done by early afternoon, and really I am happy with the change.  But before I could finish I headed out to the movies to see the new Avenger movie.  I really enjoyed it.  The first part, I was unsure as it was a lot of characters and they quite hadn't fit all the pieces together.  But by the time they got to the Guardian of the Galaxy guys I was rolling.  They really stole the whole movie.  And yes, there will be a squeal to finish up the story line.  We only have to wait till May of 2019 to see it.  Very excited to see the conclusion.  Oh and I got the best shirt to wear to the movie.

Sunday I did all of that laundry from my trip and cleaned more with the rearranging of the furniture.  I still have to put back all the DVDs and clean the kitchen (and a few other odds and ends), it is still better then it was.  I would have loved to take Monday off and finish what I started.

How was your week?  Ever randomly bump into the same person more then once in the same week?  Have you seen Rent?  Did you see Avengers this past weekend? 

I am linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!

Heart Rate Training Week 7 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

OK, so there wasn't much training going on this week.   I was still having issues with my back and a lot of other things came up.  So let's start it off.....

So the week started out with Labor Day and me on the couch icing my back.  I had taken the week off to spend some of my vacation days (if we don't use 'em we loose 'em).  My back wasn't feeling any better and I was starting to get agitated.  I didn't even go to the gym for my strength training class on Tuesday.

Wednesday I finally got in to see the main therapist.  He said I was really misaligned and my pelvis was twisted all wrong.  He said I really did a job to myself.  While he manipulated me and did some needling, I still hurt.  Hurt less, but I wanted a miracle right then and there.

Then my week went all wonky.  My dad, who has dementia, is starting to get worse.  Twice this past week he went for a walk with the dog and couldn't find his way home.  Both times the police were called to get him home.  Everything is fine with him, but we have found that we cannot leave him alone when my mom is at work.  Thankfully I was off work, so it was easy for me to head to their house to help out while my mom was at work.

Thursday I actually made it to the gym.  I felt like I didn't do anything during the class, but it was good to move some and catch up with everyone.  I headed to my parents house so my mom could teach her afternoon class.  Because the police were called, social services had to check in on him that afternoon.  We talked and she gave us some resources that we didn't already have.  Things are fine in that department too, just a routine visit.

Really, everything is good with my dad.  It was just a lot of decisions have to be made and we need to find someone that can stay with my dad while my mom is at work.  It's stressful and it sucks, but my dad is always in a good mood and happy.  We even took the dog for walks and had a nice time.  The cat even joined us on a couple of the walks.  

Friday I went back to the PT and finally started feeling better.  It's been over a week and I was starting to get in that slump when you start to think you will never feel better again.  Weather it's mental or physical there always seems to be a point where you will feel like you will never get better.  I always have to remember that the pain will eventually pass.  And by Friday afternoon, I finally started to feel better.  Which was good as I was taking a friend out to Texas de Brazil to celebrate his birthday.  Yum!

Saturday I finally felt good enough to do something.  The PT said no running, but I could walk on level surfaces like a treadmill.  If I tried to do any hills, I would feel it.  So to the treadmill I went.  I decided to use the gym at my work.  It's usually quiet and I like that.  I decided to try and do 5 miles if everything felt good.  Things were tight in my back, but no sharp pain like I was having.  I set the treadmill to 2.9 which is about a 20:40 minute mile.  To say the least, I was so very bored, even while I was watching Netflix.  They were repaving our parking lot, so I did have something to watch, even if Netflix wasn't completely entertaining me.  I finished the 5 miles and after stretching I didn't feel too bad.  I was glad to get moving some.  That afternoon I got my hair cut.  I'm keeping it short and cute.

The removal of the pavement.  Interesting process.

Sunday, I decided to do the same thing. 5 miles on the treadmill at work.  My back was feeling so much better.  It was still tight but not as bad and not as often.  I bumped it up to 3.0 which was a 20 minute mile.  I was still bored, but I knew it would pass.  They were all done with the paving, so I just had to rely on Netflix to keep me entertained.

I even two books this week.  First was was "The Silent Sister" by Diane Chamberlain.  While I guessed the end pretty quickly, it was still a fun read.  The other was "The Forgotten Girls" by Alexa Steele.  It seemed like a short book cause I flew through it, but maybe just cause it was a page turner.

So this next week will be just as busy and stressful, plus I will have to work.  I know I can have a flexible schedule and can work from home or my parent's home.  I hope that I will be back to running soon.  I will also be really looking forward to next weekend (already).  Have a great week!!

Have you missed 2 weeks of training before?  What do you do to keep entertained while on the treadmill?  Have you ever had a cat that liked to go for a walk?  Have you read any good books lately?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Dry Needling (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

I have had on and off issues with my left IT Band and knee which started during my first half marathon years ago.  I have done everything from cortisone shots to PT to resting.  Last fall my ortho mentioned to me about dry needling.  I have never heard of such a thing and thought I would do some research on it.

What is dry needling?  How I describe it to others is that its like a combination between a massage and acupuncture.  Basically the therapist will stick a needle and get deep into the muscle to loosen up the knot.  Instead of doing that by massage which can cause damage, like bruising, to happen to the skin area.  It gets deep to the knot itself to loosen it up.

Dry Needling

Last fall I found a place that not only did Dry Needling, but also offered massages.  I checked this place out and decided to give them a try.  My first appointment I described the issues I've been dealing with and did an assessment of my flexibility and what hurt.  He then did some needling on my left glute.  At first I was confused as my pain was in my IT Band, but the more I went the more I understood that where your pain is, really may not be the cause of it.  I have to say that first needling HURT, like really H-U-R-T.  He then had me go to the back area and walk on the treadmill to work out the area and then ice.  All night and all the next day my glute hurt.  Hurt like a sore muscle. But the next day it felt better.

On the next visit, he worked more of my glute and had me walk on the treadmill and then added a few stretches and exercises before I iced.  I now have a page full of exercises and stretches that I do after the needling.  As time has gone by, he has worked on many other places on my body to try and help my cronic IT band issue, including the opposite lat.  As I have learned, with my very tight lat, it pulls the opposite leg out of alignment, causing issues with those muscles.  Who knew that everything was connected in our body. :)

A lot of people ask me what it feels like and if it is a lot of pain.  It does hurt, but not really bad. The closest thing I can relate it to is a very deep tissue massage.  It hurts, but it's a good hurt cause you know you will feel a lot better in the long run.

Different places give me different feelings and sensations.  When he finds a big knot in my glute it feels like he is trying to pop a big nasty bubble.  When he needles my shin, I swear I can feel each needle stick directly in my ankle.  And there was one time when he was needling my hip and I felt an electric charge go down my leg.

They also do pressure point therapy, but I personally prefer the needling.  The main reason is that I bruise easily and every time it's done, I leave looking like they took a bat to me.  But there are times they have to do the pressure point as there might be a nerve cluster in that place and you can't needle near that.  I also feel like the needling gets to the issue and works things out quicker.

I thought that after I did Dopey in January I'd be done with it.  I would be over the hump and not in high mode of training that I could stretch and exercise on my own.  Then shortly after I was walking down my stairs and pulled my calf.  It was completely out of the blue and I could barely walk on it.  A few weeks later he had most of it under control and figured out that a muscle in my shin caused the misalignment and the pain in my calf.

When I did the Star Wars Dark Side Half in April and an old pain in my right hip came back.  Making it worse was sitting on an airplane not being able to move and stretch much.  I had this issue during training for my first marathon a couple years ago and never figured out the root cause.  Within one session he knew it was my glute that was causing the issue as there was a huge knot it it.  The next day my hip felt great.  I swear this man is a genius figuring out what the real issue is.

By then I was about to start marathon training for MCM this summer so I decided to stick with the PT through my training.  It's probably the best decision I've made in awhile.  Overall my IT band pain and tightness has basically gone away (knock on wood).  My knee pain came up last month and some needling in the front of my hip ceased that right away.  Again, another nagging issue that would have had me off from running for at least couple of weeks and I was back running the next day.  He took care of my pulled hamstring a couple weeks ago.  It has been nice to know that anything that might come up during training won't linger long and I won't miss a lot of training runs. And I am hoping that he will be able to take care of my pulled back when I see him this week.

While I hope to scaling back on appointments after MCM, I do plan on still seeing him.  How often will be discussed at some point between the two of us.  Overall I have found that it has been the best physical therapy I have done.  While I wish they had more of a sports medicine aspect, I know that any issue I have will be resolved.

Have you ever done dry needling?  Have you ever had a different PT experience?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Mind Over Matter (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Last week was a busy week and it flew by!  Lots of work outs and lots of fun to be had.  We had a little bit of a cooler spell last weekend and that was short lived and got to the upper 90's by the middle of the week.  My workouts did suffer because of the heat, but my mind pushed my body to finish.

Sunday - I had to get out there on Sunday because I wouldn't be able to get a run in on my normal Friday.  I knew this would be hard as it would make 4 days in a row of running (including Monday), but it was only 3 miles and it was going to be a very easy run.  My knee was holding up, but I wanted to wear my big knee brace just in case.  The run was very good and I felt good. I have a hard time getting out there on days I don't need to get anywhere.  I want to sleep in, but then it gets so hot even early in the morning.  But I got up and got it done.  Only 30% of the run was spent in Zone 4 (or walking) so I knew it was good.

Monday - The 4th day in a row of running.  My knee was starting to feel it on this run, but not bad, just annoying.  It was another good run mentally and physically.  I spent 37% in Zone 4 and again, my heart rate was exactly where it needs to be, between 140-147.  And this sunrise was amazing, I'm so glad I could see it.  I saw my physical therapist that afternoon and he fixed me right up.  He needled the front of my hip and the pain went away almost immediately.  I so don't know what I would do without him this training season.

Tuesday - Instead of going to the gym for my strength class, someone from the marathon training team was offering a free class of water jogging.  I had started to do some water jogging in the spring when I had a calf injury and still needed to train for a half marathon.  I went into the class thinking he would instruct us on the best way to do it, position and speed and all that.  But it turned out that it was just a normal class that happens every week.  It was fun, he had us do ladder sprints and I actually broke out in a sweat.  The pool was all deep end, which is nice as the one at my gym goes from 4 feet to 6 and I can only water jog in the middle and I'm turning around frequently (in true water jogging, you are not supposed to touch the ground - helps with the stress of the joints).

Wednesday - The heat is back.  It was a hot morning with 95% humidity.  I knew that either my time would be slower or my heart rate would be higher or both.  In the end, both were a bit high, but really not by that much.  My knee felt great on the run.  I did spend 47% of the run in Zone 4, and that was expected.

Saturday - Ahh, Saturday.  Saturday was interesting.  On my way to meet the training team I saw this huge shooting star.  It didn't go very far, but it was beautiful!!!  I wish I could have gotten it on camera or something.  Because of the heat, I decided to start 30 minutes early.  I couldn't leave too much earlier because it was dusky at that time.  But OMG was it HOT already.

Left: At the start at 6 AM; Right 4 hours later at the finish

As you can see by the image above, the feel like was already 86 degrees at 6 AM.  I walked out my door and it felt like an oven.  I got to the stadium and realized that I had forgotten my iPod.  I couldn't believe 16 miles with no music or book on tape to listen to.  How was I going to do this?  I've only done 3-4 miles without something to listen to and once during a half marathon (but there was so much to look at and have fun with I didn't notice).  But this was going to be hard.

I decided just to go easy and listen to my body and heart rate alerts.  I knew this wasn't going to be a pretty run, but we were out there to just finish.  I started out and a couple miles into it a few people from my team had caught up to me.  They had started early too, and it was good to see people out there with me.  A mile or so later, people from the fast group who starts first caught up to me and passed me quickly.  I tried not to get caught up in their speed.  About mile 5.5 others from my team that started on time caught up to me.  Not too bad.

By the time the sun started coming up above the trees and we started getting direct sunlight on us, we were heading over the bridge.  I like being on the other side, as it is so beautiful!  I love seeing the river and nature, it just makes me happy.

A coworker of mine that usually runs on Sundays had caught up to me.  I was glad to see him as he stopped and walked with me for a little bit.  Most people won't slow down to hang with me and he was nice enough to do so for a couple of minutes.  I wish I ran at his pace as he is a lot of fun.

Because I didn't have my iPod, I did have fun listening to little bits of conversations as runners passed me.  These are the one liners I heard from people as they passed me:
"Do you program?"
"It's a mobile platform for travel."
"And that's why we got our mortgage."
"And there was all this foam."
"I'm friendly with Andrea but not that friendly."
(as we approached another hill) "I need a reason to slow down." (and they continued to run up it)


By the second half, I really started to feel the heat.  Most of that was spent walking with a little bit of running here and there.  Most of that part of the run was in the shade, which was great.  And we even would get a breeze now and again.  As we wound about and hit the scary bridge to cross the river again I was almost walking exclusively.  Though I ran over the whole scary bridge cause I knew the more I ran, the faster I'd get over it.

You can see all the way down!!!

As we came up to the last SAG people were really starting to fall apart.  There were people there to drive the ones that were too over heated to continue back to the stadium.  By this time, even though I was walking almost every step, I still felt strong.  I knew I could finish it.  After the SAG we hit part of the route that had absolutely no shade.  A couple coaches drove the course and asked if anyone needed a ride back to the stadium, some took them up on the offer but even with the sun coming down on me, I knew I could finish.  They say that running is a mental game and I brought mine with me!  I mentally felt so strong at that point and it was good thing as I would have taken a ride if I didn't.  Even though my heart rate and time sucked, it felt like one of my best runs.  Towards the end, I would walk a block and run a block.  I wanted to get done and I knew I could do it.  My heart rate was constantly in Zone 4 by this point and I was just trying to keep it out of Zone 5 as much as I could.  I found what shade was left and put one foot in front of the other getting the16 miles done.

I saw this at the very end of my run and thought it was perfect.

"Can't Stop. Won't Stop"

I finished strong.  I felt tired and very hot, but I felt good.  I was in Zone 4 for 76% and Zone 5 2% of the run.  I wore my big knee brace just in case and that was a good thing as my knee started to hurt a little on the last few miles.  Again, not painful, just annoying.  An Icee well deserved when I got back to the stadium.  My time was slow and my heart rate higher then I would have liked, but I'm proud of my mental game.  The feel like temp was at 100 degrees when I finished, so to know I finished strong was what I wanted.

When I was back at the stadium I heard stories of those that had a hard time.  One guy said that he laid down in someone's lawn and either fell asleep or passed out.  That sounds scary.  I think the coaches and other runners out there were really looking out for each other.  There was one coach that ran a person in and then ran back out to go run the next person back in.  I'm glad I was able to do this run with a team with the moral and SAG support.  And dinner was well deserved!

What was the hottest temperature you have run in?  Have you run without music and felt like you would do it again voluntarily?  What's your favorite meal after a long run (or race)?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.