It all started about 3 months ago when I ordered a size 38 for myself.  I am a professional shoe-buyer, and I always wear a size 38 in European sizes.  Don’t be fooled like I was…just because you think that you wear a 38 in VFF’s doesn’t mean that you really do.  When they arrived, I nearly cried when I could barely pull them over my toes.  After fighting with them for 10 minutes, I resolved myself to the fact that my feet were too large for the size 38 VFF’s.

I promptly returned the size 38’s to City Sports where I had ordered them online, and then I cried again when I found out that the size 39’s were backordered indefinitely.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

In the meantime, I purchased a pair of Nike Free’s.  Due to my previous IT band/knee/leg/calf issues, I was a little concerned about wearing anything with no “support” by way of squishy insole.  I must also mention that I am an overpronator, and I have relatively high arches.  In order to transition a little more smoothly in to the Vibram Five Fingers (and because…well…they were cute as hell), I bought these Nike Free’s:

I had fully intended on training with these and wearing them to the Disney Princess 1/2 at the beginning of March, but it turned out that they gave me MONSTROUS blisters on my baby toes.  Like full-toe blister action.

It was pretty freakin gross.

So, I didn’t completely bail on the Nike Free’s, but I decided that for the sake of the future use and appearance of my mutated baby toes, I needed to stop running in them.  I continued wearing them for lighter workouts and general walking around type stuff.

Then, 2 weeks later (much to my surprise), My Gazelle presented me with a shiny new pair of KSO’s.  In size 36.  THIRTY SIX…you know…since the previous size 38 had just been too small.

Men.

(but they were uber-cute in all of their tiny little 36ishness)

We returned the 36’s promptly and requested an exchange.  I wasn’t taking any chances.  I asked for a size 40 this time.

Then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally!  They arrived last week (cue confetti & fanfare)!!!

I wore them for the first time last Friday.  To work.  They didn’t match my outfit at all, but I just went with it.  My boss kept looking at my toes and shaking his head.  The KSO’s got more attention than any pair of 4″ stilettos that I’ve rocked in my life.

Here are some notes that I took throughout the day.

So the first observation that I made was that everything was cracking when I walked.  It’s possible that this always happens, but I was just hypersensitive to it because I was paying specific attention (due to trying out the KSO’s).  In the end, it turns out that nothing snapped in 1/2, so all is good.

It did concern me that my big toe was hurting.  I’m clumsy.  I’ve broken my big toe on my left foot umpteen times.  There are only two instances which I actually remember:

1. When I was 16, while running full-speed to the microwave so I could rescue my Spaghetti-O’s that were about to blow up, I janked my toe on the footstool.
2. At 26, my ex-husband dropped an entertainment center on said big toe.  A week before our wedding.  Should’ve taken that as a sign.

Due to all of the breakage, the toe is much larger than normal, and has a strange bend-to-the-left quality to it that was never there before.  I’ve actually been considering going to see a podiatrist about it because my running schedule over the past year seems to have further aggravated a persistent ingrown toenail problem with that crazy mixed up toe.

In any case, something about the total immersion nature of the toe sleeve was causing me pain in that toe.  Not debilitating pain, but just one of those “hey…here I am…yeah me…you know…your mutated toe?”

It didn’t stop me from running a little bit in them during my lunch hour, though.  My first observation was that I felt naked.  Vulnerable.  As if I really was barefoot, and everyone was staring at my naked toes (shudder).

I honestly thought that I would be all heels in these things when I ran.  I have a history of heel striking, and all I could envision was myself smashing the treadmill with my heel on each stride, and everyone would be staring at me because I was running so loudly.

Didn’t happen.

I was very comfortable.  I didn’t feel heavy-footed, and I didn’t heel strike.  In fact, I was striking on the mid-foot, and I didn’t have to work for that landing like I do when I’m wearing running shoes.  I could definitely feel the difference, and I could also feel that I was working different muscles than I normally would.

This sounds very cliche and kind of psycho, but I could feel my “running” muscles being used and getting stronger.  Since I’m not a natural runner (and I didn’t really “run” until I was in my late 20’s), I don’t KNOW how to run.  My body does not naturally know how to engage the correct muscles.

I can honestly tell you that running in the KSO’s felt good.  Running never feels good to me, but in the KSO’s, I didn’t feel like I was fighting myself to get the right landing so that I would strike on my midfoot.  It just happened.  Naturally.

I’ve heard some chatter about people’s calves being sore from wearing them, but I didn’t have any issue with that.  But, then again, I have calves large enough for most men to be jealous of.

I’m going to be wearing the KSO’s when I run.  They feel better to me than any other running shoe that I’ve worn, and I feel like my body will benefit from wearing them.  I’ll let you know in a few weeks how it’s going.

Has anyone else tried Vibrams?  I’d like to hear about your experience!

Yes, running jogging.

That’s right, running jogging.

That was fun.

So, due to the fact that I was feeling more than 90% myself on Monday, I eased into a little bit of interval training on the treadmill.  I did a 3 minute walking warm-up, then for the next 15 minutes, I alternated between running jogging 2 minutes, and walking 1 minute.  During the last 5 minutes, I even cranked the incline up a tiny bit for some extra burn.

From minutes 18-23, I alternated between walking sloooooow at a 12% incline for 1 minute, and doing walking lunges for 30 seconds.  Then for the last 5 minutes, I walked at 4.5 and 10% incline.

To say that my thighs are killing me today would be true.

To say that my angry bursa were bothering me today would be a lie.

So, high fives all around.

pssstttt: I think the girl is back.  Don’t tell my bursa, they might revolt..

In the spirit of healthy knees, I want to share with you some of the exercises that I’ve been focusing on for the past 3 weeks.  I’ve been doing many of these exercises 3-5 times per week, in addition to leg training at the gym twice per week.  I can often be seen sitting at my desk in various contorted positions.  I’m not practicing my circus act.  I’m strengthening my legs.

I know that this may seem excessive for some, but in my case, the only way that I’ll be able to regain my prior knee happiness is by becoming as strong in the legs as I once was.

With the help of my PT as well as this website, I seem to be on the mend, and beginning to feel like my strong, sexy, jogging self again.

Here are my favorites, taken directly from the Knee Pain Exercises website.  Some of these are going to seem very elementary to those who have never fought with injuries of this sort.

Quad Strengthening Contractions (perfect for doing at your desk):

Sit in chair. Extend legs, heels to floor. Keep knees straight (or as straight as possible if you have arthritis.) Tighten thigh muscles. Hold for count of 10. Relax for count of 3. Do 10 repetitions. You can do this several times throughout the day. You can build up to 2 or 3 sets of 10 repetitions at a time.

Quad Strengthening Leg lifts:

Lie flat on back. Bend left knee at 90-degree angle, keeping foot flat on floor. Keeping the right leg straight, slowly lift it to the height of the left knee. Hold for a count of 3. Repeat 10 times. Switch sides. Work up to 10 sets of 10 over several weeks.

Quad Strengthening Knee Dips:

Stand with knees slightly flexed. Point your toes straight ahead.
Make sure your kneecaps are also pointed straight ahead.
Lift one leg up and balance on the other leg. Slowly lower yourself up and down ONLY a few inches. Keep the knee of the leg you are balancing on slightly flexed. Your knees must remain pointing straight forward. Do not let them turn inward. Stand straight, do not lean you body to one side. Do 10 dips. Switch sides.
If you feel pain in your knees, start with fewer dips.

Hamstring Strengthening Contractions: (this one is awesome for doing at your desk)

Sit in chair, heels on floor. Don’t move heels but pull back on them. You will feel tension in you hamstrings. Hold for count of 10. Relax for count of 3. Do 10 repetitions.

What are your favorite exercises?

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**********

I’m currently not training for anything in particular.  I completed The Boilermaker 15K on July 12, 2009.

I fought with IT Band Friction Syndrome all through my Boilermaker training, but my physical therapist helped me through it.  After The Boilermaker, I moved on to my first marathon!  I planned on running The Baltimore Marathon 3 months after The Boilermaker-on October 10, 2009.

I was feeling good in my training up until about a month and a half before The Baltimore Marathon.  I started having severe pain in my fibular head due to my IT Band, and I ultimately spent the last 1.5 months of my training on the stationary bike at the gym.  On one Saturday three weeks before the marathon, I was on the bike for 2 hours.  Everyone though I was insane.  In hindsight, I probably should have backed out of the marathon and spent a few months recovering, but I’m just not a quitter anymore.

To a fault.

I did finish the entire Baltimore Marathon.  If you want to see the full race report, you can get it here.  It wasn’t pretty, but I finished.  I’m still not sure if I’ll ever complete another marathon.  If you asked me moments after the race, my answer would have been a resounding “HAIL TO THE NO”.  Almost a month later, however, I’m still on the fence.

At the present, I’ll be happy with just being able to run at all again.  I’d be happy if I could just run a mile.  A half mile.

My worst fear is that these pictures of me running races are all I have.  Right now, I’m scared that I won’t be able to run again in the future.  Hopefully I’m just being overly-dramatic.

Two Tuesday’s after the Marathon, I couldn’t walk.  I went to the gym and ran for the first time since the marathon.  I was excited to run, so I may have pushed it a little more than necessary.  When I got off the treadmill, my left knee (the “good” one) was all jacked up.  It hurt to walk and bend or lift my leg.  I went to my physical therapist the next day and cried.  This was the GOOD knee!  The one that wasn’t supposed to be hurting!  What the HAIL?

After seeing my PT and then my doctor, it was determined that I had bursitis in my left knee, but my PT was confident that it would go away quickly.  It has now been 16 days (not that I’m counting or anything), and it’s still bothering me.  Some days are more goofy than others, but it’s still there.  Although the doctor gave me Mobic to help the inflammation, I believe that DRUGS SUCK (thank you, D-Dub).  I’ve only taken one Mobic in the past 1.5 weeks, and things seem to be manageable.  Maybe even (dare I say) getting better.

Post-marathon, I set a goal for three months of cross-training, strengthening, and rebuilding.  My body was very damaged by the marathon training, and I’m confident that the only way that I will gain back all of my abilities (as lame as they may have been) is by starting from square one and rebuilding everything.  I’ve also come to terms with the fact that my body might not be cut out for as much running as I was doing.  I remained in a state of “training” for almost two years–training for one race or another.

In the midst of this “rebuilding” phase that I’m in, I can’t run.  I’m doing a lot of biking.  But I feel like I’m getting fat (albeit completely irrational), and this is causing me quite a bit of mental anguish.  I’m trying to find a way to deal with this issue without resorting to my old ways of coping.  I’ll get back to ya on that one.

I am registered to run the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon on March 7th, and I’m very much looking forward to it.  I also registered for the Celebration Sprint Triathlon next July.  I have decided, however, that I’m not in a hurry to begin training for March’s half marathon.  The goal at this point is to rebuild, regroup, and pray that running jogging will be part of my future again very soon!

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Well you are.

Momma Gazelle (a.k.a. “MommaG”) mentioned that my sweetie was a little chubola when we first started dating!  I found this very funny, because I never noticed until after I saw that picture many months later.  I thought he was the cutest man alive when we first met, chubby or not.  I blame the chub on all of the Ramen Noodles and fast food that he was consuming prior to me!

Gross.

Moving on.

I blog-slacked yesterday because I knew I’d only be a downer.  On Monday, me and My Gazelle went to our new gym together (I realize that this is not the typical way that a 29 year old man would prefer to spend his birthday, but whatevs), and I was very excited about running for the first time since the marathon.

Like really, uber-excited.

I hopped on the treadmill and did a cool 3.5 miles.  Carefree, calm, wonderful.

When I hopped off the treadmill, my LEFT knee (a.k.a. the one that works) felt a little jacked.  I just thought to myself, “hmm…that’s strange”, and kept it movin’.

By the time that I found My Gazelle and we started down the stairs to exit the gym, I knew that something was wrong.  I could barely go down the stairs, and every stair was causing a sharp pain on the inside of my left knee, just below the joint.

I was pissed.

This wasn’t the knee that was supposed to be causing me problems, and it was an entirely new and exciting pain.  Nothing like the pain in my other knee.

So, I did what any reasonable person would do.  I ignored it.  Took a shower (while hoisting my leg manually into and out of the tub), and took my birthday boy out to Pei Wei for dinner.

By the time we got home, I was hobbling, and I repeated my previous hoisting technique in order to get up the stairs in front of our building.  Whenever I tried to bend my knee past a 90 degree angle, I came up against excruciating pain.

I went inside and iced it, my honey put Tiger Balm on the offensive area and compression-wrapped it for me, and then I went to bed.  Total birthday fail for my boy.

He totally didn’t mind, because he’s basically the best boyfriend in the universe.  But I still felt (feel) really bad about such a boring birthday for him.

When I woke up yesterday, instead of being better, the pain was worse.  Again, pissed.  And, I was pretty sure that this was my fate:

And I was honestly intimidated by the task of convincing everyone in my life that the cane was just a trendy new accessory.  Somehow, I figured they’d see through that explanation.

As soon as my doctor’s office opened, I called them and got an appointment.  I was sure that I had torn something important (meniscus, ligament, tendon…the big dogs), so I wasn’t wasting any time.  Not to mention, the pain!  I was a total bum yesterday.  I even came to work in full on ‘yoga pants and matching sweatshirt’ mode.

Before I went home yesterday, I stopped by my PT’s office (she’s literally right next door), and had an awkward mental breakdown in her office.  Complete with tears.  And snot.  And hugs.  The woman is headed for sainthood for putting up with all of my shenanigans.  She gave me an impromptu examination, and told me that it was nothing serious.

“NOTHING SERIOUS?”

“THIS PAIN IS NOTHING SERIOUS?!  HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?”

She laughed, and told me that it just FEELS serious, but it was likely just a case of bursitis.

“BURSITIS?  WHAT THE HAIL IS BURSITIS?”

She explained that on either side of our knees, below the joint, are several fluid-filled pods called bursa.  The bursa reduces the friction between the knee joint and the surrounding muscles and tendons.  Since the bursa are located fairly close to the skin, they can become inflamed and irritated upon being bumped, after repetitive motion, or after frequent pressure to the knee.  When the bursa become inflamed, it’s called bursitis.

After Liz gave me the once-over, I was relieved, but I still wanted to see my doctor and find out what he had to say.

I saw the doctor this morning at 8AM, and I was at work by 9:15.  I have a classic case of bursitis.  The interesting part about this situation is that my knee had been feeling “tweaked” in that location, beginning the Tuesday after the marathon.  I literally woke up on Tuesday morning to this new weird feeling in my left knee.  I didn’t think much of it, because I did just do the marathon a few days before.

The doctor asked me if I sleep on my side, which I do (I am a newly-reformed belly sleeper), and then he asked me if I sleep on my right side.  I do.  Then, he asked me if I put a pillow between my legs when I sleep.  I told him that I do sometimes, but not always.  He said to always, always put a pillow between the legs.  Here’s his hypothesis:

Saturday’s marathon caused the bursa in my knee to become irritated, but not irritated enough for a full on flare-up.  On Monday night, I slept on my side, and all night, the left interior knee bursa were resting on the bone of my right knee.  The pressure applied for a long period of time caused a slight irritation, which is why I woke up on Tuesday with the new knee pain.  It tried to heal throughout last week, and apparently was not entirely healed, because Monday’s run irritated it to the point of a full-fledged bursa meltdown.

The bottom line: I didn’t rest enough.  Why does this not surprise me or any of you?

The doctor told me to follow RICE guidelines (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), and gave me an anti-inflammatory medication to take once a day as needed.  He also reminded me again (as so many have) that I need to be focused right now on rebuilding the muscles surrounding my knees, and giving myself enough time to heal.  Since I was injured before the marathon, I wasn’t even at 50% going in.  Now, since I’m not training for anything, I need to regroup.

That is what I intend to do.  I’m just still trying to figure out how to do it.

I’m viewing my continued setbacks at this point as an opportunity to learn more about my body.

I have a difficult time finding the balance between being totally lazy and overdoing it.

I suspect that it’ll require a total lifestyle overhaul.  I’ve been going hardcore with my running for so long that it’s just strange to work out without pushing myself to the max.

Suggestions?  Tips?  Know a good therapist?

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P.s…In case you don’t follow Letters To My Body’s RSS feed, I’m giving away a $50 Amazon gift card to one random winner who submits a Dear Body art project between now and October 31st!

P.p.s…Why aren’t you following Letters To My Body’s RSS feed?   =)

Well, that’s a lie.

I got up to make a sandwich.

Because food is really important to me.

I am worthless today.

It’s kind of because I ran 26.2 consecutive miles yesterday.  On a body that was already angry with me.  It wasn’t that I was trying to batter my body even further, I just knew that I had to complete this marathon (one way or another), because I was positive that I would never attempt another.  The training process was just too much for my body, and there was no way that I was going to put myself through it again.

I began the day very positive.

Prepared.  Ready.  Excited.

Makeup free.

My plan yesterday morning was to begin the race very slowly.

My friend James, who I did a training run with ages ago, decided to start the race with me at a pace that was painfully slow for him and his own wonky knees.  It was so nice of him to start with me, but when the pain in my fibular head surfaced around the 5th mile, I knew that my time with James was short-lived.

I was feeling guilt-ridden because I didn’t want to hold James up, and I knew that he was battling with himself on whether to leave me or stick around.  I knew he didn’t want to leave me behind to suffer alone.

It was sort of like we were stranded at sea.  He didn’t want to leave his friend there to get eaten by sharks, but he had to save himself.

At mile 10, I told James to feed me to the sharks.  It was just time to let a sista go.

I was almost thankful.  I didn’t want him to be held back, and I also felt like an injured animal.  I wanted to suffer in silence.

I haven’t felt motivated or even interested in doing a full analysis of when exactly everything started going downhill fast, but I think it was around mile 12.  I could only stop and adjust my Cho-Pat strap so many times before accepting the fact that the pain was there to stay.  Wogging was the only option at that point.

For the next 8 miles, I walked 1/4 mile and jogged 1/4 mile.

Those were 8 really long miles.

But not nearly as long as the 6 miles that I completely walked at the end.

I kept trying to jog, but it was not happening.

At mile 21, I came upon a race photographer, and I actually covered my face and bib number as if I was part of the witness protection program.  To say that I had come to terms with the fact that I had crashed and burned during the race would be a lie.

However, I wasn’t quitting.

Oh, I WANTED to quit, but I was lost.  Baltimore is not exactly the safest city.  The race course is really sketchy.  I’m still not sure why the course takes you through every ghetto in the city.

Or why the race officials didn’t consider cleaning the dead rat carcasses off of the road before the race.

I guess I had time to ponder these and other mind-boggling things while I was walking.  It was very lonely out there as a marathon walker.

The race volunteers were literally packing up the tables.  It felt like I was walking through a carnival after closing time.

It was kind of depressing, but I had other things to worry about.  After mile 20, I honestly had a difficult time focusing on anything other than the unbearable pain in my extremities.

My feet.

My hips.

My lower back.

My knee.  My knee.  My knee.

Oh, my knee!

To say that the last 6 miles in particular were complete and utter torture would be the understatement of the century.

When I hit the mile 25 marker, I looked at my Garmin, and it said “25.12″.  I knew that when my Garmin said “26.32″, this nightmare would be over.

For the next 15 minutes, my life revolved around arriving at “26.32″ on my Garmin.  I continued walking until I got to 25.80, and then I hobble-jogged the remainder.

The race ends inside Camden Yards (the Orioles baseball field), and there is a long brick corridor leading up to the finish line.  All of the finishers exit The Celebration Village to the left side of said brick corridor.  All of the finishers were cheering me on, and one lady yelled to me “YOU’RE ALMOST FINISHED!  YOU’RE A MARATHONER NOW!!!”

And I cried like a girl.  I’m getting all choked up just typing this.

Such a girl.

Then, the announcer said my name, and I cheered for myself.

HOO-RAY!!!

I had no idea where anyone was, but apparently my sneaky Gazelle captured me crossing the finish line.

And then, I searched for my peeps.

Finish lines are lonely when you’re a walker.

Hello?

Hello?

S’cuse me, Mister…do you know where my family is?

Eventually I found them (with no help from Mr. Tux), and I was able to look at the pix of my Sista’s finish.

She was mad.

Not because she had a crappy time (around 4:30), but because she hated every moment of her marathon experience.  She said that the whole thing was less about fun, and more about survival.

And she really didn’t enjoy sidestepping all of the rat carcasses.

Maybe you thought I was joking.

Personally, I was not a fan of the dead rats either, but I’m glad that I finished.

I’ll never do another full marathon again–one was enough.  I have gained a lot of respect for people who consistently abuse their bodies with long-distance runs.  My body is just not equipped for a repeat experience.

I’ll be sticking with half marathon distances or less.

I’m looking forward to moving on to my next fitness project.  I’m sure that I’ll have challenges along the way, but I hope that this is my last race that includes dead rats.

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Two thumbs up, man.

And no, this picture was not taken 2 months ago, pre-IT band weirdness.  It was taken last night, post-run, and I was happy.

Can you tell?

No?!

How bout now?

I know this pic is blurry.  But, it’s blurry because I was dancing.  And I was dancing because I was happy.  So, despite my aversion to all blurry pictures, I’m posting this blurry picture on the basis of principle alone.

Because, I RAN MORE THAN 3 MILES, DAMMIT!

All happy dancing aside, the reasons why I was able to run 5 miles with no pain are simple (yet so very complicated)…

1. I rested for 3 weeks, despite the fact that I have a marathon in 10 days (breathe in…breathe out…).
2. I have been wearing my Cho-Pat Strap regularly.
3. I inserted my orthopedic insoles back in my running shoes this week (uh…duh).

Now, since I can so confidently tell you that the Cho-Pat ITB strap works, here is my full and honest explanation…

Under the suggestion of my physical therapist, I ordered a Cho-Pat IT Band strap online.  Within 4 days after ordering, I had it in my hands (quick delivery…check).

The premise behind the Cho-Pat ITB strap is that by compressing the IT Band in just the right place, the strap effectively alleviates the symptoms of IT Band Friction Syndrome (i.e…stabbing, jabbing, knife-cutting pain).  By alleviating the pain, one is usually still able to maintain a certain amount of activity while the cause of the IT Band inflammation is addressed.

The location at which you wear the strap is a personal choice, but most chose to wear it just above the knee, or just below the hip.  According to my physical therapist, these seem to be the two points where one benefits the most from ITB compression.

This is where I wear mine…

You’ll notice that mine is neither just above the knee nor just below the hip.  It’s mid-thigh.  Because I’m frickin weird, ok?  I’ve learned to live with the weirdness.

Please also notice that I ordered a size medium Cho-Pat strap, and it is too small for my man-sized legs.  I’m going to order another in “large” today.  Because it’s necessary.

The proof that the Cho-Pat really (really) works came for me last Friday.  I went outside and tested out the leg with a 3 mile run.  Everything was fine until the very end of the run, and then it started to get strange.  By the time I got home, I was in full-on pain mode.  I forgot to wear my Cho-Pat Strap.  As soon as I got home, I put the Cho-Pat strap on and iced my fibular head for 10 minutes.

Within a minute after I put the Cho-Pat strap on, the pain was completely gone.  This thing is no joke, man.

I can’t argue with Cho-Pat.

Cho-Pat has a full line of sports medicine products similar to the ITB Strap.  If you need to order any of their products, you can get 10% off by using coupon code CHP001, which is good until November 1, 2009.

Even if I don’t wear it in the right place, it still works.  Gotta love that.

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Acne.

Sweat-induced, gross, tiny little pimples all over my face.  Forehead, chin, cheeks, temples.  Sometimes, even in my eyebrows and eyelids.  It wasn’t pretty at all.

One day, My Gazelle came home from work and told me that I looked like a monster.  He wasn’t being mean–he thought it was pretty cool actually.  You know, how one woman can go from clear, pristine, beautiful skin one day, to fire-breathing dragon skin lady the next.  To him, it was sort of super-hero-transformation-ish.  To me, it was agony.

After I stopped crying, I called the doctor.

I asked my general practitioner to refer me to a dermatologist, because surely this type of horrible condition requires a specialist.  Right?

This is how the converation went:

Me: I have this terrible acne thing.  I’ve never had acne.  Even as a teenager, I had clear skin.  I’m really upset about it, I want to lock myself in a room from Monday-Wednesday every week after my long run and be invisible to the world.  I most assuredly need a referral to a dermatologist, because I just cannot live my life this way.  It’s embarrassing and I hate it…(insert further long-winded ranting here).

Dr: Do you want me to treat it?

Me: Can YOU?

Dr. What do I look like, a potted plant?

Me: Uh…err…uh…mehhhh…ummmmm….

Because really, how do you answer that question?  I’ve never had anyone ask me if they looked like a potted plant before.  I wanted to tell him that he looked more like a topiary, but I just didn’t think that would go over very well.

Dr: The summer will be over by the time you get in to see a dermatologist.

Me: (that was all I needed to hear) YES, please, treat it!

So, Dr. Topiary proceeded to tell me that what I have is commonly referred to as Rosacea, which encompasses a whole slew of symptoms surrounding skin irritation, itching, puffiness, redness, pimple-like formations, and grossness.  I was experiencing all of the above.

He gave me a prescription for metronidazole cream, to be applied morning and night after washing my face.  I’m not too keen on drugs to treat conditions, but this time I was making an exception.

I’ve been using the cream now for about 6 weeks, and the stuff has worked like a charm.  Not only has it cleared up all traces of the ‘pimples’ that were appearing after I worked out, but it also seems to have cleared up my historically dry skin (which is also another symptom of Rosacea).

I couldn’t be happier to be back to my old, clear-skinned self.

Just kidding.

Such a kidder.

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The nutrition info on these guys is pretty good:

Calories: 120

Fat: 2g

Sodium: 180g

Carbs: 21g

Fiber: 1g

Sugars: 0g

Protein: 3g

Not too shabby for a ’snackish’ kind of food, and the ingredients have nothing crazy.  They are crunchy, and they definitely taste like edamame.

The best part is that the serving size is 38 crackers.

These crackers remind me of a hybrid Bugle + Asian rice cracker.  They are quite tasty by themselves, but I paired them with my favorite TJ’s hummus with freshly ground horseradish.

Yum!

The wonky leg report:

Last night’s short trial run (pun intended) outside with the wonky leg went pretty well.  Today nothing feels especially more or less weird than it felt before.  However, I can confirm that I am most definitely sore in places that I haven’t been sore in ages.  I’m not sure if the soreness is a result of my trip to the PT yesterday, the 13.5 mile steady incline bike, or the 2 short runs.  I’m leaning towards the bike ride.

Tonight I’ll do a little strength training and do another epsom salt bath!

Hope everyone is having an awesome day!

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Under the direction of my PT and my own best judgment, I took 6 days off from running.  This isn’t something that I wanted to do–it was something I HAD to do.  The pain in my knee/leg/calf was getting worse and worse, and was showing up sooner and sooner during my runs.  I crashed and burned last Sunday on my 10 miler.

Since I could trace the reintroduction of this pain (”oh, hi again, pain”) back to around a month ago on a 10 mile run in which about 4 of those miles were done on uneven road shoulders, the PT pretty much locked in on the fact that my pain is due to an inflamed IT band.

I was semi-relieved to hear this, since I’ve never had a formal diagnosis.  My problems have always been chalked up as general muscle tightness and poor mechanics.  The IT band issue is most definitely brought on by muscle tightness and poor mechanics, but at least now I feel like we can identify the source of the pain itself.

Although I didn’t run last week, I made it a point to still sweat a lot.  I spent many (many) miles on the Expresso bike at the gym, (since I don’t have a big girl bike yet), and lemme tell you; that thing is no joke.  On Tuesday, I had a 10 mile run planned, so I spent 20 miles and about 1.5 hours on that damn bike.  My ass was hur-ting on Wednesday.

When I got off of the bike, a gym employee asked me how long I was on it, and then told me I was “insane”.

Not insane, just injured.  So now rather than running my 10 miles outside in crazy fashion, I have to ride 20 on a bike where other people can see me.  And how long I’ve been on it.  Thus, displaying my variety of crazy for all to see.

Does anyone else experience this “you so crazy” phenomenon from non-sweaters?

If so, you know the drill.  This phrase is uttered as they shake their head in amazement.

I don’t mind being crazy, but I wish that I would’ve cashed in my crazy this past week  on running rather than biking.  There was a lot of damn biking.

Today was my first attempt at running since the crash and burn.  I rode 10 miles of moderate rolling hills first on the bike, then walked a mile on the treadmill to get my legs on board with the motion.  After that, I ran 2 miles at about a 10:30 pace.  This is actually pretty fast for me, and I was feeling confident.

It was fun.

But I didn’t want to push it.  Especially since I could feel the twinges in my hip and fibular head…a friendly warning that the pain is about to be brung.

Bring it.

I stopped at 2.25 miles, wishing that I could run farther, but concerned that if I did, my leg might fall off.  I know that I am not going to be better for the marathon–it’s only 20 days from today.  Next weekend is my last opportunity to get a 20-miler in before the taper.   I will be supplementing in some running this week along with a lot of hard-core biking, but I’ve come to terms with my fate.

I’m just going to have to wing it, friends.  Hopefully adrenaline will carry me at least 15 miles–I can crawl from there.

I’m not going to finish in 4:30 like I had originally planned on doing.  I’ll probably be lucky to finish in 6:00.

Although I’m not even slightly excited about coming in at 6 hours, I’ll take any finish I can get at this point.  As long as the sweepers don’t come through and roll me in, I’ll be happy.

Ok.

Maybe not ‘happy’, per se.

Satisfied.

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This one took the cake–I actually had to ‘phone a friend’ (My Gazelle) at mile 10 (after walking a solid 2.5 miles), and asked him to pick me up. After phoning home, I walked another mile while I waited. It was a long tearful walk. I wanted to get all of the crying over and done with because there’s nothing more that he hates than to see me cry.

I really don’t honestly know what’s going to happen to my marathon plan. I only have one more month, and things seem to be going downhill quickly.

My knee is not impressed with all of the running that I’m expecting of it.

THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!!!

I want to finish what I’ve started. Race training (prior to now) is the only thing that I’ve ever been able to “finish”. I am a serial hobbist, remember?

I FEEL LIKE A FAILURE!!!!

I know that none of this is directly my fault, but when my body doesn’t cooperate, I blame myself. I am having a difficult time coping with the idea that I might not be able to finish what I’ve started (the marathon), and also dealing with the fact that my body is not doing what I want it to do.

So, in other words, failure and lack of control. Two things that I have the worst time coping with.

To take my mind off of this horrible day (my Garmin also broke this AM), we went to the bagel shop and got breakfast. Then I came home and took my crazy bird out to play, because she always makes me laugh.

Yes, my bird is chillin on the dining room table. I promise to wash it before you come over for dinner though.

She likes to gnaw on my hair clips. You can’t see it in the pic, but she was eyeballing the clip that I left on the table.  If you ever meet me and I’m wearing a chewed-on hair clip, you’ll know why.  I try to salvage them for as long as I can before I finally throw them away.

Then, something exciting happened. Hanni approached my Cashew Cookie Larabar.

She was very interested in the Larabar, and it made me happy. I’m sure that her interest was piqued due to the fact that this Larabar is healthy and only contains two ingredients!

I’m sure that it had nothing to do with the pretty orange wrapper.

So, I let Hanni do a video taste test. It’s kind of boring to non-bird peeps, but I love her, and she made me smile after a crappy run. Humor me here, ok?

So, it’s official.  Larabars are good.  Hanni likes them.

* Have you joined my Facebook Group yet?

* See how my training is going over here!

* Wonder what I’m eating?

* Everyone loves a giveaway