Doctor & Running Again

Phew! First of all, let me just say that I love that I have health insurance. Getting hurt (or sick) really highlights how lucky I am to have health care that is very good and very reliable through my employer. It also highlights how big an issue it is for America that we don't have universal health care! Terrible.

Yesterday, I went to a sports medicine doctor b/c of the pain in my hip. The doctor's visit, the x-rays, and the prescription all cost only $35!!!!! Needless to say, I am very fortunate and I sincerely hope we can get a president in the white house who can fix the health care crisis that America is facing!

BUT . . . back to my hip. Dr. Roth told me that I have irritated my sciatic nerve, prescribed some anti-inflammitories and some physical therapy, and sent me on my way. He was very nice and though the visit took longer than I had expected (to be fair, I was a little late . . . ), it was a very pleasant experience, as doctors' visits go. He also said that I could run without worrying too much about any issues, as long as I wasn't in too much pain. He even gave me the go ahead to run my race on Sunday in the park!!

So, given the green light by Dr. Roth, I ran for a couple of minutes last night, getting just a short 2.5 miles in. Despite the brevity of the run, it felt great to get out again and to move. It had been too long since I had last run (see previous post). The best part of my running was . . . NO PAIN. And now, the next morning, I'm still pain free . . . so I'm hoping that I'll be ok.

I ran 16 miles last week before I hurt myself and I won't get more than 10 in this week, but I'll be able to run my race and continue my training without too much difficulty!

3 days . . . no run . . . Tom go crazy!

AAAHHHH. It is now Wednesday, and I haven't run since Saturday. I'm freaking out a little bit. I am going to try to run today. I've been pain free since yesterday morning and I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday, so if I hurt again today after my run, I'll be able to talk to the doctor about it. I'm a little frustrated by this for a number of reasons, but some of those are:
(a) I'm running a race on Saturday and I was hoping that I'd have a good time b/c I would have started by running class by then . . . BUT . . .
(b) I missed the first day of running class. It worked out ok I think b/c it was basically monsooning yesterday in NYC, and as Sara pointed out (she's always looking out for me!) yesterday was my first pain free day b/c on Monday I tried to run with very painful results
(c) I need to be at my base by June 1st and I really need to make the first week of June a 20 mile week
(d) I'm nervous that the sports medicine doctor I go to see will tell me not to run or that I have hip failure or something like that . . .

In any case, I hope to get a good four miler in today and we'll see what happens. I don't want to overdo it, but I'm really losing patience for this.

Sore Hip

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I have sustained my first injury of the year . . .
On Saturday, I ran a really good 6.5 miler from my apartment on 181st Street down to the east side of Central Park. I felt great, had a good pace, and really enjoyed running from point A to point B (rather than running in a loop or an out or back . . . the run had a point).
BUT when I got to the park, after I had finished running I developed a major pain in my hip. That afternoon I couldn't walk without a limp and then on Sunday I had a big time limp as well. Monday (my normal day off) I tried to run a bit, but I wasn't able to get more than 3/4 of a mile in before I had to stop for pain.

I'm worried b/c I haven't been able to run much, but also b/c my running class starts today and I don't want to miss the first class, but I'm nervous about pushing myself too much if I'm hurt. So far today I haven't had much pain, but I don't want to ruin and forward progress I've had by running too soon. I'm going to make an appointment to see a Sports Medicine Doctor to see if I'm hurting myself too much.

I might still go down today to see if I feel like running, but I don't know.
More later.

3 Down, 2 to go!

Well, my goal of running five days this week is more than half completed. I was able to get runs in on Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday for the first time in a few weeks. Running three days in a row is a new kind of challenge and I found that I lagged a bit today. I ran slowly this morning and didn't really feel like I had much energy or strength in my legs. This could be do to the fact that I ran three days in a row, but I think that the more likely bet is that I had a pretty good run yesterday evening, so this morning I wasn't fully recovered. Thankfully I have Friday off and a long weekend with nothing planned to get some good mileage in.

Also, if I can manage 10 miles this weekend (which shouldn't be hard . . . I've run at least 10 miles for the last two weekends and nine miles the weekend prior to that) I will have hit 20 miles this week. Remember that I need to be running 20 miles per week from now until I start increasing my mileage on July 1st. I'm feeling pretty good lately, though, despite a less than stellar run this morning.

On another note, I've been keeping track of my weight in my food journal for the last three days, and I have been doing much better lately. I'm still eating too much crap, but at least I can manage to shed a couple of pounds at the same time . . . hopefully that'll keep up!