Monday Musings: Forced Rest, #IceBucketChallenge, A Wedding & Beer

Mondays can be seen in one of two ways: the start to a week of endless possibilities or the worst thing in the world as the opening to the work week.

Let's make this Monday our b&%ch! ;)

I love using Monday as a time to reassess the previous week and come up with a game plan for the next seven days. But also to celebrate the good times. :)

This past week was full of ups and downs.

Let's get the downs out of the way ... quad injury! :(

On Thursday morning I received a shooting pain through my right quad. It was scary and was paralyzing (mainly from fear). The pain happened while I was stepping out of my house on the front steps. I am very lucky that the wife was there to calm me down and help me get past that first step.

After talking with my doctor/PT friends, it was dictated to take rest days. Eek! No I didn't want to especially with a sprint tri on Sunday. Well I listened to their advice.

Do you want your own Run All Day shirt from PavementRunner - order here!

Since then it has been a steady stream of icing, foam rolling, Zensah compression shorts, stretching and adhering to doctor's orders. It has been tough. Taking a DNS (Did Not Start) at the tri was frustrating, upsetting and difficult, but I know I need to be 100% for the Half Ironman on September 7 and a race now isn't worth risking that.

Ace Bandages + Compression Shorts = One Sexy Look

Thankfully each day the quads seem a little better and I am hoping I am on the upswing.

Now while I am having a hard time with the rest, I think the pups are really enjoying it.

Once again my nurse Laney sleeping on the job.

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Now it was a tough eating weekend wise. I let some emotional eating in after the unexpected gain on the scale Friday. But really I had some cravings and I filled them. But my stomach let me know that I filled too many at one time. It was a little gut check that I needed. I was right back on track today and feeling good and more in control.

Go me!

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On Friday, I was challenged by my cousin Jen to take part in the #IceBucketChallenge to raise awareness for ALS. Luckily I had an ice bath on the agenda any way so it was a good segway. :P

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As we know I have been keeping my craft beer drinking to the weekends the past couple of months so let me share the finds from this past weekend...

Lefty's Brewing Company out of Greenfield, MA

The wife and I obviously love Slumbrew, which is out of my hometown, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on the latest brew... and it was worth the wait! Delicious and how could you not enjoy it with the description:

Fresh air and the aromatic essence of Calypso, Ella and Pacific Jade hops fill the air  and lighten our hearts while this golden ale lightens our mood.

Somerville's own Slumbrew Island Day

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The highlight of the week was my uncle's wedding in Western Mass. I even got to show the wife some of my favorite spots in Hampden, MA, including this lunch spot from my childhood. Mmmm french fries!

It was a gorgeous day Saturday for a beautiful wedding.

I was also able to spend the day with my Gramma, my Stroke Hero. She is the reason I am part of Tedy's Team and raise the money to #FightStroke! :)

It was a great day with family ... and I don't think anyone figured out that I was wearing compression shorts and ACE bandages under my dress. ;)

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I would LOOOOVVEEE your daily vote in the following two Got Chocolate Milk contests… each ends on August 15!

Chocolate Milk Contest

^I have finally broken in to the Top Three!!! 1st prize is valued just over $5k, 2nd prize just under $1,900 and 3rd prize around $775. Holy cow they are sweet.

and

Team Chocolate Milk

^The prize? $500 in sponsorship money, which I will use to fund my first Ragnar Relay experience, new training gear and free race entries. Each time you vote $1 is donated to the Challenged Athletes Foundation. How awesome is that?

Thank you all so much!!!

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What did you learn from this past week?

What is Metatarsalgia? Because I have it!

"You don't have a stress fracture!" Amazing words that came out of the podiatrist's mouth on Monday.

Phew! Now I can wipe that bead of sweat off my brow.

But's let back it up to the beginning of this saga.

On September 22, I went out for a 15-mile run with my dad around the Charles River. We were cruising along - me running, him on his bike - until Mile 10.5. INTENSE pain in the ball of my foot. A searing pain that I had never felt before. Okay okay. I pushed through to hit the 11-mile mark. Darn my OCD and ending on a whole mileage. ;)

Since that moment, my Dopey Challenge training has taken a hit. I basically scaled my running back as far as I could while still completing the race commitments I had in place. This basically meant running on the weekends and that is it.

The foot wasn't feeling any better by the beginning of November so I knew I would have to DNS (Did Not Start) the Miles Standish Marathon, which I had planned to run on November 17th. The longest run I completed between September 22 and that date was 13.1. I would've made it through the marathon, but there was no reason to push my foot through the race. Since technically it was supposed to be a training run for the Dopey Challenge.

Finally I made an appointment to see the doctor on November 12th. For anyone that follows this blog, you know that I went to that doctor's appointment and THIS happened.

I'll wait a moment while you all catch up.

All set?

Good.

So the doctor told me I probably had metatarsalgia (which I will explain momentarily), but she wanted to get me in with a podiatrist to be sure.

On November 18th, I met with the podiatrist, had x-rays of both feet and had it confirmed that I did in fact have metatarsalgia.

Metatarsalgia is a general term used to denote a painful foot condition in the metatarsal region of the foot (the area just before the toes, more commonly referred to as the ball-of-the-foot). This is a common foot disorder that can affect the bones and joints at the ball-of-the-foot. Metatarsalgia (ball-of-foot-pain) is often located under the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th metatarsal heads, or more isolated at the first metatarsal head (near the big toe).

So how does one get so lucky to acquire this foot disorder?

Running.

Yup, my love foiled me. ;) Okay, really it is just overuse and excessive pressure in the ball-of-foot area.

The podiatrist confirmed that this had NOTHING TO DO WITH WEIGHT. Unlike what the previous doctor had told me. Ha! I did a little internal fist pump when he said that. Little things in life friends.

I quickly rattled off question after question to him: "Is my ankle pain related to that?" "Does having multiple pairs of running shoes affect this at all?" "Can I ramp my running back up?" "What happens if the pain doesn't go away?" "How do I stop the swelling in my right foot?"

And he calmly answered all of them.

The x-rays showed that there wasn't a stress fracture, but he noted that if the pain doesn't lessen in the next week he wants to get an MRI in case there was a stress fracture that has healed over time.

But in the meantime, I am rocking this lovely "metatarsal pad," which is designed to relieve ball-of-foot pain. The pad is placed behind the ball-of-the-foot to relieve pressure and redistribute weight from the painful area to more tolerant areas.

Isn't it sexy? ;)

My goal for this week: play around with the placement of the little metatarsal pad and find the sweet spot. I took it out for a try tonight on my run and I had to stop a couple of times to readjust. I am going to listen to my body and if it isn't better by Monday, I will call the doctor back and schedule an MRI.

I have TOO many goals to reach in 2014 to let this foot pain continue to cramp my style.

But for now, back to Resting Ice Compressing Elevating.

***

Do you or anyone you know have metatarsalgia?

FBC Autumn Trail Race - 11/3

When you decide to visit your best friend for a weekend do you always schedule a race while your there? Oh is that just us?

Let me also say it wasn't MY idea to sign up for the race, but hers. Well, that will happen when your BFF is a born runner and actually was on your college track team. :P

My best friend moved away from Boston earlier this year to Bar Harbor, Maine for Med School. Bar Harbor is a 5-hour drive from Boston so you can expect we don't make it up there as often as I'd like.

The wife and I decided to head up there the first weekend in November and there just happen to be a Frenchman Bay Conservancy Trail Run near her place. Sweet!

We embarked on our 5-ish hour drive early Saturday morning (November 2) and had to take a stop when we saw this awesome rest stop sight.

We must be in Maine. ;)

It is a gorgeous drive from Boston to Bar Harbor so we really took in the scenery ... and the lack of traffic. Adios tourists! :P

We pull into Bar Harbor, do a brief catch up and Sarah and I are out the door for a run. Like we do.

I was still sick so we had to slow it down so I could actually talk and hear her as we ran. Since we are in Maine, we were able to do a little baby trail run to get myself ready for the next day.

And when someone is your BFF, they understand why you need to end the run on an odd distance resulting in running past the house to hit the mileage because you need to round out your total miles for the year. ;)

After our run it was relaxation time baby. We took a lovely walk around downtown Bar Harbor, seeing all the places that are only open during the summer, hit up the grocery store and it was time to head back to their place for dinner.

It was the needed break that both Tori and I needed. It was relaxing and awesome to see this little face.

My little Joanna is getting sooo big. I miss seeing this face every week.

The race didn't start til 11am (score!) so we were able to get a nice breakfast in before taking the 40-45 minute drive to the Start. The race was actually taking place at Sarah's high school.

Oh the other great news. We thought the race was 7 miles and it ended up being 4. So I enjoyed more breakfast than I normally would have. :P Priorities right. Mmmm bacon.

We arrived at the high school and headed to pick up our bibs and gift bag.

It was coooold that morning. The day before we were basking in mid 60s while race morning was mid 30s with real feel of 20s. Yay! Not! But it was time to break out the Under Armour and tights!

 

The race began on the field next to the school and looked to be an intimate crowd of about 100 people. I was nervous with my breathing, the cold weather and the impending elevation, but was ready to give it all I had.

It was not a chipped timed race so I made sure to start my Garmin when the horn went off.

Immediately I felt it hard to breathe and was nervous from the get go. I decided to slow it on down to make sure oxygen was making it through my body which would be necessary to run. :P

It is tough to have people pass you from the get go, but I knew there were many trail runners along the course and I wasn't at 100%.

We hit the top of the first elevation and I had to stop and take pictures.

I couldn't pass up catching that view. Beautiful.

Sarah was waay ahead of me, but was nice enough to hang back with me so we could enjoy the run together ... and thank goodness she did.

Why was I really so glad she was there?

Well as we were going through the hills I was bobbing and weaving through the rocks and other such things you find on a trail. Doing my best to keep my footing. Boy I could feel it in my ankles and knew I would the next day as well.

As I was descending down one hill. I was losing my footing and reached out to grab the tree in front of me, which was at my eye level...

... and BAM!

Blood everywhere!! I had hit the tree at such an angle with my hand that one of the little branches went through the palm of my hand. OUCH!

If you don't remember from earlier, Sarah is in Maine for med school so she quickly went into work mode. We applied pressure to the hand, used my sleeve to catch some of the blood and quickly moved out of the way of the other racers. I don't even know how long we were standing there, but it then became a look out for a volunteer.

And we weren't even 2 miles into the race yet. There goes any semblance of a pace if I was looking to have one. ;)

We finally found the volunteer nurse/EMT person at the water stop and Sarah went into action of getting a band aid on my hand and using some tape to get it to stick since the band aid wasn't adhering to all the blood on my hand. We put her glove over the hand, I elevated my hand and we were back off.

I was on a mission to Finish strong. Again still having trouble breathing, but I knew I could make it through.

We made friends with other folks on the course since it is a single lane you have to make an effort to pass someone. With the injury break, we ended up near a group where we took turns passing each other it seemed like. But I loved the positivity. Every time you passed someone or someone passed you there was a "Great job," "Keeping going" or "Looking strong!"

I can tell you that 4 miles feels a lot longer on a trail than on the road.

Finally we saw the trail we entered on and were out of the woods and back at the field. It was a great sight as I was ready to get my hand cleaned up.

Thanks FBC for this shot!

As Sarah and I approached the Finish Line, we decided to cross holding hands and were able to get this awesome shot.

Thanks FBC for this shot!

It is my new favorite photo!!

My Garmin put the total mileage at 4.16 miles and we finished in 1:00:26 (64 out of 98 overall). Respectable time with all the stops along the way.

Despite the hand injury, which just threw me off a little mentally more than anything else...

... it was a great race. I owe a big thanks to all the volunteers along the course and the organizers for doing a great job marking the course with blue flags.

As I've said before I need to practice more on the trails, but it is truly a great entire body workout and a good compliment to road racing.

So if you are in the Bar Harbor, Maine area, check out these trail runs. The course was beautiful and well-organized. Plus for just $15 you got the race, a t-shirt and post-race food. Yay snacks! ;)

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Do you trail run? Ever race in Maine?

Weekly Workout Wind Up (9/26-10/2/13)

This week was about two things resting and running!! Still trying to nurse this foot pain that came out of nowhere. Last week it started in the ball of my foot, but during my RnR Providence Half it moved to the right arch. I think it probably came from compensating while running, but I am still working on resting, icing and foam rolling. I will heal and still own my training as best as possible. I won't give up.

BUT I am ready for change. I am ready to get variety back into my workouts. I said this before, but I think now I really am ready.

Thursday, September 26: Mandatory REST

Friday, September 27: Mandatory REST

Saturday, September 28: ZOOMA Women's Half Marathon

Sunday, September 29: Rock 'n' Roll Providence Half Marathon

Monday, September 30: 46-Min Spin Class

Tuesday, October 1: REST DAY

Wednesday, October 2: 35-Min Stairmaster

I'm excited for a couple fun 5ks this weekend (Electric Run Friday night and Oktoberfest Sunday morning) with an attempt at a long run on Saturday.