Checking in

Whoa nelly - it has been too long since my last post!  My apologies, honestly, I have been reflecting about which direction I would like to take this blog in.  Why, you ask?

• My running has slowly come to an almost halt (see below for explanation)
• I do not want this blog to be 100% IBS-focused, nor do you, I assume

As you know, I injured myself last year - knee, hip flexors, IT bands and hamstrings.  I was on the road to recovery, ran (pun kind of intended) into issues when exceeding 3k runs and now am doing 2k runs once or twice a week. The reason for such a short distance is because my knee goes a little crazy when I exceed 2k, so in the name of being able to walk up and down stairs, I have opted for very short runs.  

As you have likely read from my previous post, I have been spinning and enjoying it (somewhat) - I would probably enjoy it more if Goodlife did not incorporate Cosmic Girl into their spin classes quite so frequently.  I am praying for that song to be removed from the list and I continue to cringe whenever the opening bars open my spin class.  My knees and hip flexors have not been faring so well with spin, or with life in general.  I am back to physio, laser and extended massage sessions to maintain myself at a tolerable level of discomfort, as a result, I have had to reduce my spin schedule.  I am hoping to discover the cause of these issues at some point during my lifetime, but, as we all know, our healthcare system is anything but speedy, especially if your affliction will not kill you anytime soon.    

In other news, I have been working on some guest blogging, my first post can be found at The Local Traveler - a great site devoted to exploring Atlantic Canada, taking us on a journey through our own backyard.  

In terms of the IBS -I have become an avid user of myfitnesspal to track my food and exercise - I have been doing so well with it that I have logged in 45 days in a row!  I have always avoided the whole food diary experience and only used it when medical practitioners forced me to use it as a tool to help with my IBS.  Although I scoffed at these exercises a few years ago, I am beginning to see the light and have been trying to take note of my symptoms when they crop up.  I am hoping to discover some patterns or triggers, so I keep logging.  In this vein, I am considering trying out the FODMAP elimination diet to see if I have any luck with it.  This diet was not around when I was first diagnosed, but, I have seen it mentioned a lot in my social media networks and am wondering if I should just give it a whirl.  The main thing holding me back is the elimination of garlic - I am not certain I can survive without a healthy amount of garlic in my life!  I would love to hear if any of you have tried this, and if so, what was your experience - was it helpful?

Cookies baby!

Tonight was an absolutely beyond amazing night for a run.  I did my regular pre-injury route, just at a  reduced distance.  It was slightly warm tonight but with a lovely breeze, a cusp-of-fall kind of night.  While I was away on vacation I did one run on the treadmill where I tweaked my knee a little bit, but aside from that it felt pretty good.  As I said in last night's post, we did some serious hiking on Thursday and my knees were complete jelly after we finally found our way out of the woods.  As I ran tonight I was very mindful and a little nervous of what might happen to my wimpy knees.  They are a little sore and I will certainly be icing both of them before I go to bed, but, I was able to climb the stairs in our building, so I took that as a good omen.

About a month ago I went running with a friend of mine who also happens to be my chiropractor. She is amazing and I am not quite sure what my body would do without her.  She was gracious enough to go running with me one day and critique my running form.  It was the one avenue we had not yet explored as to what might be contributing to my slew of injuries.  It was a fabulous experience.  We ran just short of 5km, with 5/1 run/walk intervals (including several hills), which we were both amazed by considering I had not done any serious running in many, many months.  I thought I might just drop dead or face-plant at the beginning due to sheer exhaustion, but my pride would not allow me to give in.  Pride - what a wonderful motivator!  The big take-away from that (aside from the post-run laser treatment due to ignoring my body) was that I am a ... heel striker! Gasp!  She explained to me that there is a higher impact on my knees when I heel strike and that could be contributing to my injuries.  Luckily, she did not notice any other issues with my form, my posture was good.  She showed me how to strike with my forefoot instead, so I have been diligently working on that ever since.

So tonight, I spent a lot of my time looking down, which I acknowledge is likely not advisable, but I am pretty much obsessed with trying to fix this.  Given my out-of-shape legs and the new (or attempt at) stride, I had bad shin splints and ended it one interval early.  I have been doing 3/1 and I was hoping to do five sets instead of four, but, I am comfortable with the results.  Another take-away lesson from my injuries is the virtue of patience, not one of my current virtues, but one I am working on, along with the heel strike!

What really got me through the run tonight were a few "power" songs, which I am throwing out there because I love to see what other people are listening to.  I kicked off the run with Carly Rae Jepsen and Call Me Maybe - I seriously adore this song and am not ashamed to say it, it is beyond catchy, as is the Sesame Street version - I am still deciding which one I like better!

The key song of the night was W.T.P by Eminem (W.T.P. = White Trash Party).  Does this make me WT for loving this song?  I hope not, but if it does, I embrace it.  This song is so wonderful that I played it twice and had a six-minute interval in there because - how can you not run while listening to this song?!  I also have to wonder if Eminem is talking to me when he says ... you got more junk in your trunk than I do in my car.

On a final note, I had a great laugh when I saw this spray-painted on the sidewalk ... did they know I was wearing my Lulus to go running?