injuries suck

I did a cartwheel and it hurt my hip and this is what I hate the most about getting older.

- Mel

Cartwheels are the best.

No, THE BEST.

When spring hits and that fluffy green (allergy-inducing) stuff develops on open fields – or when a large empty carpeted hallway opens up from your hotel room/elevator – it’s Cartwheel Time.

Cartwheel Time (CT) has been one of my favorite pastimes since I could master fine motor development. CT started sometime before I actually took up gymnastics but lasted well after I quit the sport and morphed into my cheerleader identity that took me into my 20s and jived well with my Cruise Director (aka: Life of the Party) persona that celebrated CT sometimes at 4am in the parking lot of a Taco Bell.

Ahem.

I coach a group of girls through Girls on the Run and we encourage any and all means of moving with the goal of always moving forward. There are a couple of girls who enjoy breaking up their run/walks with cartwheels. I like this very, very much, and I decided to participate this week since I’m back running-without-injury again and enjoying the heck out of this weather.

During spring break, I had my first assistant coach-ship with a local soccer non-profit camp where the girls (outnumbered by both adults and boys) had NEVER SEEN AN ADULT DO A CARTWHEEL. Naturally, that, too, called for CT.

I experienced an Achilles injury that same week of camp, which is probably coincidental, but I’ve come to find out that it stems from an underlying instability with my hip. At the time, of course, I had no idea how these seemingly un-relatable things were connected. And 7 weeks of physical therapy later, here we are:

Hurting myself with cartwheels.

And yes, my PT said, “maybe you should not be doing cartwheels rn.”

When I say “hurting” I’m not talking about a legit injury, but my hip flares up and when I did a cartwheel last week I couldn’t walk immediately after (and not because I kicked myself in the face or anything). My hip has been angry with me since we had to start regularly doing things like Single Leg Glute Bridges and Banded Monster Walks to make it stronger. It’s a sort of tough love situation where my hip needs to be told to “simmer down now” during certain forms of activity and remind us how we’re in it for the long haul.

I turn 41 in, like, 10 days. I no longer care if I have big boobs. Being untanned is acceptable. I give zero fucks about my un-dyed grey hairs. Facial peels left my face glowing for a whole three weeks and basically reverted back to where I started only $300 broker. Where is this going?! Look, I don’t really care if I’m a fast or slow runner (only that I can run!) or if my VO2 Max is optimal for a 19-year-old (it is, so OK I’m kinda braggy and this is awesome). But cartwheels… not being able to do cartwheels because my hip hurts is the saddest of sads for my aging body.

Injury Mode: Making Goals

- Mel

One of the best things to do when you’re injured is to work on goal-setting — to navigate your rehabilitation plan and keep motivation to do those rehab exercises, AND to keep a connection to your sport and stay positive in returning to play. It does no good to sit around and be depressed about not being as active as I was (though I did allow myself a good cry fest). In order to get better, I need to put my positive energy into recovering. I’m also applying some imagery techniques, as there are studies that indicate use of such can help athletes improve faster.

My goals:

  • Run a 50k again this October. This means that I have to be injury symptom-free come June when training is expected to start.
  • Roller skate outdoors this summer. Man, I had some roller skate fun already on the calendar in the next few months, but it’s probably going to be a while before I can actively skate this again. See: GOALS!
  • Return to boxing. I really, really miss my 3x a week stress release and high-intensity workouts. I’m hoping to come back soon at least to a lower-impact version before I’m able to actively jump around on my left foot again. For now, I’m minding my PT’s advice to rest.
  • Return to weekly yoga. This is something that seriously bummed me out. Yoga has always been my active recovery, but with an injured Achilles, most of the poses aren’t conducive to helping my tendon heal. I’m sure that I could modify but not even being able to do Downward Dog makes things overly complicated for me and I frankly don’t want to put the burden on my instructor.

My physical therapy plan includes two sessions a week with exercises targeting the injured area and use of whatever that muscle/tendon tool they use that feels like I’m being shredded from the inside-out. In these sessions, I’m also working on core and hip weakness (with at-home exercises as well). Meanwhile, my weekly workouts have included a lot of core and upper body strength work with free weights (just a couple times per week). I’m going to incorporate a couple days of stationary cycling into my schedule starting this week.

I’m thankfully not in a lot of pain and this injury doesn’t require the use of any medication for swelling. I had a brief episode of my ankle feeling really stiff with a dull and constant discomfort over the weekend, though this morning I’m walking much better and without as much limp in my gait. The ankle is still tight but not stiff like it was yesterday. I’m on spring break this week, so not a lot of stress to worry about impacting me physically or mentally. Taking things easy and staying in good spirits by reconnecting with friends since I have all this free time!

Have you ever made an injury or rehab plan? What are some of the goals (or exercises) that helped you recover?

Training Update – Spoiler Alert: It’s over

- Mel

This training cycle has not been kind to me in terms of finding motivation to chase a PR that I’m not even really sure matters to me much anymore. But all that ruminating has been overshadowed by more recent news:

I am injured.

I didn’t have any symptoms leading up to the injury last week that would have predicted it, and no moment where I “did something” to cause such an injury. There was a moment that I felt something tight in my ankle and by the end of a three-mile loop in the woods, I was hobbling back to my car completely unable to run (and nearly unable to walk). Nonetheless, I now have an Achilles tendon injury and I am unable to run.

So, not only is my goal to PR my half marathon out the window, it’s unlikely that I’ll even be able to run at all a month from now by race day. Considering I haven’t even got a 10-mile long run in, running a half marathon in four weeks is not possible. I’ve been taking it easy with an overdose of rest that is making me crazy and I also started going to PT to try to figure out how it happened (and prevent any issues in the future).

The activities that I have been doing over the last few months – running and boxing and yoga – were offering me a lot of healthy balance, and I was feeling really good (even doing core workouts several times a week). But I can’t do any of these activities right now. I recently started playing tennis with my husband on the weekends, which I also cannot do. Looking forward to golf season starting next month? Well, looks like I’ll be driving the cart!

I’m trying my best not to be so fatalist, and I am not naive to the severity of the injury and its ability to render me inactive for the next 6-8 weeks. Inactivity is NOT good for me. I’m exploring my options at joining a local gym again solely for access to pool, weight room, and stationary bikes. Because apparently that’s all I can do for now. My active recovery has always been yoga and that is not recommended at this point.

I have races coming up in summer, which I hope to be back in shape for – though it’s difficult to think about right now when my mobility just for walking is strained (the pain of the injury, thankfully, has greatly subsided over the last week). In any event, send me your good healing vibes for a speedy recovery!

In the meantime, I’ll be making some new goals and writing more regularly over at my new blog: Heartland Transplant.

Accountability Monday: Vacation Week 7/04-7/10

- Mel 1 Comment

Fun times. I wanted to finish up this post last night, but our internet was out (and was still out when I went to bed). ANYWAYS, here’s how last week’s vacation accountability and goal-setting worked out…

My goals refresher from last week: do ONE new thing (does working out in a hotel basement count?), TWO workouts while traveling (got ONE in, but shortened the vacation by a day), run THREE times (CHECK!), FOUR workouts total (nope, only the three runs; can I count all the vacation walking?), and a FIVE-mile run (CHECK!). One thing I definitely learned this week: Vacation and insomnia combined completely drain me.

I hate to give myself a pass, because VACATION, but considering I couldn’t move my arms for most of the trip, AND had to go to a running store and buy a pair of shoes, I’m taking a hard pass. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

MONDAY: Many CrossFit boxes do hero WODs on holidays, so in the patriotic spirit, I completed an adapted Half Murph workout (usually completed on Memorial Day)… which resulted in me having some serious DOMS in my arms for the better part of the week. OOOF.

The full Murph consists of one mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and another mile run to end the madness (which… no way for me). My treadmill had a featured run in Arlington Cemetery on the 4th, so I did my mile to start there (9:06 minutes), followed by 50 “pull-ups” (adapted: front rows with my TRX), 100 push-ups (probably only 20 strict, followed by sets of 5-10 from my knees, and a bunch of crying and flailing around for the last 60 — it was awful, awful form), 150 air squats, and another mile in Arlington to finish (12:26 mile). All told, it took me 41 minutes and 23 seconds, and WHOOPED my butt.

30something CrossFit Murph WOD blogger
How do people do this WHOLE THING?!

TUESDAY: REST DAY and drive to Kansas City. We did LOTS of walking in Kansas City and it was HOT… with a stop to a local running store in the Westport neighborhood (between drinks) because I forgot to pack my running shoes.

It was actually a good opportunity to try out something new, considering I’m still so stuck on my Ride 7s (he even checked their back room to see if he still had any remaining in stock in my size). The new Ride 9 running shoes were one the dozen or so that I tried on, and I really liked them; ultimately, I purchased a pair of Brooks Ghost 9, which fit pretty similar but felt a little bit lighter in the heel. There’s something about them that almost forces me to run on my forefoot (I have an unfortunate heel-striking habit), and I’m interested to see how they work for me on longer runs.

WEDNESDAY: More walking in Kansas City; more heat and humidity, OMG and a hangover.

THURSDAY: A 20-minute(ish) treadmill run (2 miles with walking warm-up and cool down) in the morning in the hotel’s basement-level fitness center before driving to Omaha. This room was so small and crammed with equipment, I couldn’t even do a burpee in there.

30something hotel workout running blog
Dungeon workout, selfies from the treadmill (and an entire wall of mirrors!), and my new Brooks!

FRIDAY: We woke up early to walk around downtown Omaha a bit (along with some gluten-free cinnamon rolls that I found at a local bakery!!!), followed by a three-hour (lots-more-walking) adventure to the Omaha Zoo.

SATURDAY: We came home from vacation one day early, so I skipped one of my workouts while traveling. I still hadn’t recovered much from our trip, and spent most of the day doing nothing but reading books. A much-needed day of catching up on sleep and relaxing. Didn’t I just get back from vacation?

SUNDAY: Another treadmill run at home — it’s obvious that it’s no longer the dreadmill, right? Five miles (this time in Budapest!). I mindlessly set the treadmill to run and kinda zoned out… and didn’t realize how slow I was running. Ah, well, work is done!

Goals for the week:

I’m practicing some self-care this week. I haven’t been able to regulate my sleep schedule for weeks. I’m also becoming very aware that the “minor nagging discomfort” in my left foot for the last couple months might be the beginning of an injury (I have a doctor’s appointment on Monday). Half marathon training starts in two weeks, so now is the time to prepare my mind and body (and schedule) for the upcoming challenge. For now though, I’m going to relax a little bit (and think a little bit about my goals).

Training Week 9: Niagara Falls International Marathon

- Mel

I knew going into this week that I would be pressed and stressed for time (probably a self-affirming limited belief as well). Do I accumulate any points this week for driving over the bridge that I’ll be running over for this marathon? How about any for breaking a finger?

(Seriously.)

MONDAY: The usual rest day (but maybe it shouldn’t have been…)

TUESDAY: Had tickets to Kinky Boots after work, and couldn’t wake up any earlier in the morning despite three alarms and one set to System of a Down.

WEDNESDAY: Drove to Toronto, crossed over on the Peace Bridge. Got super giddy about running this race!

THURSDAY: I completed a treadmill run at our AirBnB apartment complex — oh, this is a hilarious one! So, the touch screen on the stupid treadmill in the gym was not working, and it wasn’t until well into my warm up that I realized that I was running IN KILOMETERS. Meanwhile, I had no wifi access (or international plan), so I couldn’t easily Google “how many miles are in a kilometer?” Obviously, I knew my 5K breakdown, so I just estimated from there. But what a hilarious adventure. (I’m quite fast in Canada!)

4.34 miles (or 7 kilometers) which included a six-minute warm-up and .4km walking cool down.

FRIDAY: Rest, convention and finish up final papers and assignments.

SATURDAY: FINALS DUE! Last day (for me) for convention. I wasted a couple hours celebrating the end of school too BECAUSE.

SUNDAY: Drive home from Canada. I was hoping to run IN Toronto in the morning, but decided to just get on the road early and back home to the cats. And then I slipped up the steps in my house while carrying a water bottle and Fig Newtons, and… well, I now have a chip fracture in my left pinky finger and I’m splinted for a few weeks.

Total runs: 1 (yuck!)
Total miles: 4.34 miles
Total training miles: 96.35 miles

This is the first week of my training that I missed my Sunday run. Last week I did one more mile than I should have, and next week is a drop-back week, so I know that I’ll be fine. But a broken finger is definitely not the injury that I anticipated experiencing during my training program! I’ll be taking a couple days off, and hopefully Wednesday I’ll be good again for run//yoga club (adapted for the yoga part, naturally).

Weekly Therapy: taking care of old business

- Mel

the week:
The background colors and layout here at 30-something Therapy were bothering me for a long time. I contacted a few designers about tweaking the blog, but got some serious sticker shock. I decided to figure it out on my own…

So, check out my new site layout — mobile-enhanced now too! And please let me know if something is wonky.

Speaking of new layouts, we met with a contractor about possibly recreating the space on our second level. It’s a weird layout and really doesn’t define a first and second bedroom, mostly because of 12 foot glass doors separating the two spaces, but also because of a terrible bathroom addition. We can’t really do much with our attic space either because of space (and possible historical) constraints. He had some great suggestions, and would solve the problem for us using the space we have — AND only 3-4 months of stress! Next up is a meeting with an architect.

weekend:
A little happy hour with derby buddies on Friday night and an EPIC bottle share with friends on Saturday. Hangover on Sunday, natch. True story: we had to go buy two more dining room chairs to fit our anticipated party size.

seven things, seven days:
1. I am love with this all-natural hot chocolate mix from Silly Cow.
2. Is there nothing better than coming home to a professionally-cleaned house? Especially so when you plan to host 15 guests on the weekend.
3. Finally had x-rays for lingering, nagging derby injuries on my left hand and foot. No visible fractures, so likely ligament damage on each (blargh). So much healing time.
4. Signed up for unlimited month at CrossFit, which includes a strength training program. Did you know that I can deadlift 133 pounds?! Me neither.
5. There is a thing called rice nog from the brand Rice Dream (I use rice milk in my cereal). I *squeed* a delightful squee when I found it in the grocery store. And thoroughly embarrassed myself in the presence of strangers.
6. Special order: Bulleit boubon truffles from Sinful Sweets. Mmm-hmm, that’s right.
7. Who are the “Masters of Sex”? I’ve been wanting to download and watch this Showtime series about Masters and Johnson. Sunday’s hangover might be the perfect opportunity.

Weekend Therapy: traveling for something other than roller derby feels weird.

- Mel

the week:
Holy crap, THE SORENESS. Good sore, but still. I’m working out with the regular athletes and doing real WODs now, and O.M.G. But my post-workout exclamations go something like this: I JUST PRESSED A BAR! I JUST SQUATTED WITH WEIGHT ON THE BAR! I JUST DEADLIFTED 50 POUNDS! I JUST CLEARED A 30″ BOX JUMP!

Drinking the kool-aid, and loving every drop.

Also, how about them Pirates?!

Living near the stadiums, we could hear the roars of the fans stream through the windows during the wild card game. IT’S SO AWESOME! Though I’m an Indians fan at heart (sad trombone), it’s hard not to rally behind the Bucs and their success.

weekend:
Road trip to Columbus for friends and fun! (and the President’s Cup) I have plans for dinners, plans for brunches… and I’m looking forward to some room service (and possibly an in-room massage) too. FOR REAL.

52 Books in 52 Weeks:
Definitely not meeting the goal this year, as I started around Thanksgiving last year… and have only finished, like, 20 books. DO BETTER. But no time like the present to start again!
#1. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

seven things, seven days:
1. I signed up for two upcoming 5Ks. *gulp* The one next weekend ends in HOT APPLE CRISP, which… I’m so easy.
2. Scored a couple items from Poshmark this week. I am obsessed with window shopping the app (and have been finding some amazing deals).
3. See also, it was time to do a closet and makeup drawer purge — soooo, I finally purchased the Naked 2 palette.
4. A carafe-less coffee pot is the answer to all my coffee-making prayers!
5. My left pinky finger still hurts from two weeks ago (derby injury, natch). It hasn’t really impacted my workouts, but when I set my hand down or smash it into something… YEOWCH. Putting a timeline on it for healing before seeking our urgent care.
6. Our neighbor invited us to a Sundays meatballs dinner (they’re rumored to be award winning). One of the guests was the contractor who remodeled their BEAUTIFUL home… and built their amazing rooftop deck. WANT.
7. Gender as non-fiction in The Atlantic {shared via Dan Savage (*swoon*)}

Weekly Therapy: stop picking on me!

- Mel

the week:
Five days straight of roller derby. Whew. I’m exhausted.

Oh, and my nose is severely bruised (hopefully not broken, but ouch). Not dealing with that until I’m home from California. I also found myself in tears again in the middle of practice out of total anger and frustration after a drill. Then the next practice I smashed my knee on the rink floor (yes, even with knee pads). W.T.F. This week is picking on me.

weekend:
Day trip to Philly for banked track training camp. We’re playing two banked track games in San Diego (we are part of WFTDA, a flat track league), so we need to LEARN how to skate that type of track beforehand. This is on my derby bucket list, so I am excite.

Then, napping all of the hours on Sunday. What super bowl? Pffft. Oh, I probably should get some packing done for Cali. (I’m going to try to fit in meeting an out-of-town, visiting-someone-else friend for brunch too.)

This weekend is also GROUNDHOG DAY. Man, one year I have to drive up to Punxsutawney to experience that madness. Also, I spelled that correctly on my first try! If you can’t make it to see Phil in person, Groundhog Day (the amazing movie starring Bill Murray) is playing tonight at the Hollywood theater in Dormont.

52 books in 52 weeks:
9. The Widow Clicquot by Tilar J. Mazzeo. 304 pages. LONG pages. Woof. I never thought I’d finish this book. I was anticipating reading it for weeks (while it was checked out of my branch for a month or so by someone else); what a let-down.

seven things, seven days:
1. Started my 30 days of waking up before 8am… *yawn*
2. Also, my first drink of alcohol in 31 days. Hello, beer.
3. Check out this awesome article from Pitt News about my derby league (you just might spot me in the gallery too *wink*).
4. HOMEMADE YOGURT-COVERED CRANBERRIES!!! {from the Kitchn}
5. Interviewing for a local non-profit internship position for a really cool project. Wish me luck!
6. Boredom (and me) explained! (in under 300 words) {from PsyBlog}
7. How to cope with failure {from PsychCentral}

Tell me what’s part of your Weekend Therapy!