Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Bye Bye February!

And good riddance!

I was due for a tough month, I know. February filled the role nicely.

I already wrote about my nasty cold keeping me home from work and slowing down my runs and my first race since the Houston Marathon. Well, last Saturday I got a nice urinary tract infection to top off the week and the month. Luckily (?), when I realized I was coming down with this bug, I happened to be in the emergency room already with my daughter, who had a mysterious throat ailment that fortunately turned out to be nothing. Having established that Ruthie was OK, they admitted me, gave me the necessary test....and here I sit, on antibiotics. I'm very glad that they caught the thing before it had a chance to turn into a kidney infection, as happened last summer.

In light of all of this, I decided to modify my training schedule for this week and treat it as a recovery week in more than one sense of the term. I had a nice easy 6 miles on Monday, a toned-down fartlek workout yesterday (5 2-minute intervals instead of 7 3-minute ones) and a 30-minute run this morning that felt pretty glacial and therefore served mostly to take the edge off my exercise craving. I'm hoping that next week I can return to my full-on schedule. That half-marathon in April isn't going to run itself.

On the other fronts.....My Lenten pledge to eliminate sugary treats has gone much better than my training. Colds and antibiotics both cut my appetite, so the cravings (though still there) are blunted. I allowed myself my usual Sunday treat (Cadbury eggs last weekend!), and this week's abstention is going fine. (Mostly. Today someone brought some scrumptious-looking apple turnovers to work and left them on the table in the break room that I call the trough....that was the first really tough challenge I've faced.....first-world problem, big-time, right? :^) )

Perhaps because the sweets are gone, eating smart in other ways has been easier. Lots and lots of fruit, Mario Lopez's chicken enchiladas (one my favorites in his book because they are tasty and easy), chicken noodle soup, non-fat plain Greek yogurt (I had been eating too much of the fruity kinds) and greens are back on the menu.

My back and hamstrings are still hurting, and despite some dire reports on dry needling that I've read on other blogs I'm looking forward to getting started with it and any other physical therapy that's prescribed at my appointment next Tuesday, March 6. I'm also looking forward to the insurance-covered massages!

I definitely recommend the MYRTL routine (see video below--it's the first in the series), which my doctor told me I should do after every run. I've been pretty good about this (I don't always do it after the super easy ones, but even after those I do at least try to do part of it). Created by Coach Jay Johnson here in Boulder, it's the first core routine, combined with dynamic moves to keep your hip girdle happy, that I've been able to do without increasing my back pain. And as you'll see if you visit the link, you can progress to more difficult versions that include leg work as well (I'm not there yet; I'm sticking with the moves in the first video until I see the physical therapist next week).


Running Times: Part 1 from CoachJayJohnson on Vimeo.

Finally (and I apologize for this long post), I think I fixed the problem that was preventing many of you from commenting! Please let me know if that's not the case!

16 comments:

  1. Lacey Sue - N.Y.A.R.M.February 29, 2012 at 4:11 PM

    I am right there with ya...couldn't be more thankful February is on it's way out the door!! Ugh! ROUGH MONTH! 
    So glad things are going smoothly with the nix on sugar! I am trying, okay, kind of trying...lets be honest...I haven't tried for days to quit my sugar addiction. But I will jump back on that train now that my life is settling (some what) done again!!! Keep up the good work lady, you are amazing!!!

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  2. Nothing like a urinary tract infection to spruce up the Spring of Speed! Although I'm not Catholic, I might join your Lentian self denial for the remainder of February. I've been eating like a 4-year old without supervision this month.

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  3. I want her abs.  Just saying.
    I hope next month is a smoother month for you and that physical therapy really helps!

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  4. Jill told me to do this routine to help me with PT.  It is not as easy it this gal makes it look!!! I wonder if the abs come with the routine....probably not...:)
    UTI ...I hate them.  I have to take cranberry supp every day to try to prevent them!

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  5. Oh Hi Sara...that's Sara Vaughn, she is married to Brent Vaughn and Brent was a graduate of our high school and ran for CU Boulder.  He is now an elite runner and so is his wife, Sara :).  That's just a little bit of trivia for you...never know if "Where did Brent Vaughn graduate from high school" will be on the next version of Trivial Pursuit.  ;)

    Yeah, I was just looking at my Feb stats and I can't say I'm overly impressed....I just am struggling with everything it seems.  Wish you lived closer and could go to interval track group with me...I'm hoping it's what turns things around for me.  

    Nice job on the sans sugar - woohoo!  Looking forward to seeing you at that half marathon....you'll wait an hour afterwards for me to finish, right?!? 

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  6. A UTI on top of everything else? Ugh!  But I'm glad you caught it early.  Your week sounds a lot like mine... except I'm not running, just replacing it with spinning, elliptical and maybe a swim today.  I tried a short run last night and my ankle felt fine, until later.  Backing off again!

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  7. Sorry you had such a rough month.  I hope March is better! 

    What 1/2 are you doing in April?  Are you doing the Platte River 1/2?

    Have a great day!

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  8. Begone February!!! No how do we turn off all this wind?
    Over a week pop and handheld techie gadget free and I feel absolutely fine!! 
    Can't wait to cheer you on at the Platte!

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  9. Oh yes, the insurance covered massages...love it!

    Glad they caught the UTI before it turned into a kidney infection...that's what happened to me last year :(  It was painful, ugh.

    I think I'm similar to you-- if I cut crap out of my diet, I'm more likely to eat healthier in general, because I feel better and want to keep that feeling going!

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  10. Geez, i hope you and your family are doing better this week/month in the sick department.  UTI's are NO FUN what-so-ever.  

    I'm glad your sugar cutback is going well.  The Reeses Peanut Butter egg is now out and available at the stores, so I am in trouble.  We went through 6 bags of those eggs last year.  

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  11. Happy March 1st -- and good riddance to February.  

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  12. Hallelujah i can comment today!!
    MYRTL is the bomb. Really? You're having dry needling? Sounds similar to that bed of nails treatment i had before myofascial release. Not fun but wow it was effective.
    Hope all the bugs, infections and the like are dead and gone soon!
    Impressive job shunning that apple turnover--no easy task for sure.

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  13. That is a nasty month! This winter needs to be done, it seems plagued with sickness, harder than usual challenges and grumpiness.  So I agree, bring on March!! Hope you are feeling better :)

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  14. Insurance covered massages.  I need to figure out how to make that happen for me.

    February wasn't my month either.  It even had to be prolonged by a day.  Get better as I'm sure you will.

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  15. Hope March treats you more kindly! Glad your daughter is okay too. ER visits don't sound like much fun.

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  16. I wish a better march with many many miles run and, why not, some PB.

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