"Are you 90 or something?"

My LSAT instructor asked me that yesterday. I've been mentioning in my Gmail and Facebook profiles that my left hip has been giving me trouble, and that I was planning on seeing an orthopedist Tuesday morning. He wanted to follow up to make sure I was okay, and/or not a very well preserved senior citizen.

If you've been following the blog, you'll know this isn't the first setback I've dealt with. It took me about a month to get into the right pair of shoes and deal with the plantar faciitis that resulted from wearing too-narrow Asics. I missed about a week of training because of that, but was able to cross-train and come back strong in my nice and roomy New Balances and brandspankin' new Superfeet inserts. Once the feet were settled, my left hip decided it was in need of some attention, so it started seizing up last Thursday during my speed workout. After a pitiful 1.87 miles on Saturday, I was driven back to the start of our run. I spent the weekend icing, stretching, getting a sports massage (not pleasant) and going to yoga.

None of it has really helped, unfortunately. However, my appointment yesterday went very well.

I walked into the office and was happy to see posters commemorating the Boston Marathon and famous athletes. I was seen by Dr. Thunder (coolest name ever), who ordered an X-ray performed by a spunky older nurse. After reviewing the X-ray, we had the following conversation:

Dr. Thunder: Here's your X-ray.
Nina: [looks at X-ray. Doesn't see any obvious fractures. Wonders if hips look fat] Okay...
Dr. Thunder: I don't see any fractures...
Nina: Great!
Dr. Thunder: ... But that doesn't mean there's nothing there. Do you know what a stress fracture is?

At this point he begins explaining what a stress fracture is. I know exactly what a stress fracture is- it's the ruiner of marathon training schedules and my nemesis. I think he saw my face fall and my eyes well up with tears.

Dr. Thunder: Wait. Oh. No. No no no no, I'm not saying you have one and I don't think you do.
Nina: [sniffles] Okay.
Dr. Thunder: I have to ask you though... Have you lost a lot of weight recently?
Nina: No sir. I've actually put on a couple pounds since I began training.
Dr. Thunder: You put weight on?
Nina: [Dude, wtf! I'm hungry!] Yes, but I think it's muscle. [God I hope it's muscle!]

Dr. Thunder: Okay, well, just as long as you aren't just eating popcorn for a month straight. Some women get crazy and diet while they train so they can lose weight.
Nina: Yeah, sounds crazy. [Popcorn diet, aye? Never heard of this one. Sounds interesting...]
Dr. Thunder: So anyways, I don't think you have a stress fracture...
Nina: Great!
Dr. Thunder: But, if you do, I can't see it on here. I'd have to order an MRI.
Nina: [MRI?!? F-word. I need to be at work in 30 minutes and I don't think I can afford an MRI anyway] Okay...
Dr. Thunder: But I'm not going to do that, because I don't think you have one.
Nina: [Starts breathing again] Okay... great...?

We wrapped it up and Dr. Thunder sent me on my way with a prescription for physical therpay twice a week for three weeks. If that doesn't work, I will be having said MRI soemtime in the middle of August. I see my PT on Friday for the initial visit. I'm considering bribing him to give me crazy animal steroids so I can run without feeling any pain, even if my hip ends up falling off. Hips can do that, right?

But on a more serious note, the race is only 12 weeks away. I'm starting to worry I won't even make it to the starting line. I'm trying to weigh my options, but I'm still at a loss as to what to do. I don't want to injure myself permanently while training for this race, but I don't want to let my team down, my donors down or my family down. I don't want to let myself down, either. This was supposed to be my way of helping, and it's looking like I can't even do that.

I'll keep y'all posted. And as always, thanks for the support.

Why?

I always stay up late on Fridays, even though I know my alarm goes off at 5:00am for Saturday long runs...

My left hip is still hurting. I'm sticking with intervals tomorrow, and then having our massage guy, Rick, stretch out my hips for a while after the run. I may induldge in a sports massage at the Knot Shop, too.

Dear Body:

Please stop being hurt.

Kthx,
Nina

Hurtin'

I was able to get in my 6 miles after work today, but I had to walk the last two.

I'm not sure what's going on. My hips and knees just weren't in the game today. Good news though: my feet felt great!!

I did the first three miles pretty well:
1st mile: 11:00 (warm up)
2nd and 3rd miles: 10:30/8:30 every 1/2 mile

At the end of mile three, I stopped to get a drink of water and go use the restroom [aside: forgot how dirty beach bathrooms are]. I started back up again, but had to keep an 11:00 pace for my fourth mile. After attempting a few walk/run intervals, it was fairly obvious that I would just be walking back to my car.

It's not like Mission Bay is the worst place to be stuck walking, but it's frustrating when people are running passed you and you want to rev up and go!!

I did notice that my form has improved somewhat, though. I feel like I can stand up straighter.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I'm going to go on a walk in the morning and stretch a whole bunch. I want to be nice and loose for our long run on Saturday! TWELVE MILES!!! Yikes!!

Well...

I didn't make it to spin this morning. My alarm went off at 4:30, and I decided to sleep in until 5:30 and take the 6:00 a.m. class at Balboa-24 instead. When the alarm went off again, I decided that 7:30 sounded even better that 5:30, so I reset my phone and pulled the covers up tight.

My knee has been bothering me a little bit, too. I managed to make it through our trail run without falling, but totally ate it walking up Julie's stairs on our way to the Pride parade. I have a pretty sweet bruise and some pain on the outer side of my left knee. I figure a morning off will do me some good. I do still plan on going to pilates tonight, though.

I've also noticed the development of what I've learned is called "Runner's Waist." I used be able to maintain a pretty defined set of abs, but since training has started I've noticed that a couple pounds of fat have decided to take up residence on my midsection. I want to get rid of it, but I'd probably end up gnawing off my own arm if I tried to cut calories. I guess I'll have this visitor around until after the marathon is done in October- I just hope it doesn't invite any friends over...

Slight change in schedule

In order to accomdate spin class on Wednesday mornings, I've decided to move my easy midweek 4 miler to Tuesdays instead. Now my training schedule looks like this:

M- 5mi hill workout; upperbody weights; abs
Tu- 4mi easy run; lowerbody weights; abs
W- AM: 60min spin class; upperbody weights/PM: 60min pilates, abs
Th- 6mi speed work; lowerbody weights; abs
F- OFF (I may fill this with yoga)
Sa- Long run day
Su- I want to take another spin class, but it's my only day to sleep in. I'll probably start taking a long walk on the beach.

Today I decided to hit the gym after work. I can do upperbody workouts at home, but lowerbody workouts are best done at the gym because the equipment selection is far superior (sorry dad!). I ended up getting in:

15min on the stairclimber
40min of lowerbody weights
150 crunches
3mi on the TM
15min stretching

I don't think I'll be able to run on the treadmill anymore. It was so. painfully. boring. I felt like a gerble stuck in a wheel! From now on, I'll get my Tuesday & Thursday runs in along the harbor, and then head over to the gym for a lowerbody lifting session.

Bed time for this girl- Wednesday spin class starts at 5:30 a.m.!!

New Shoes, pt. 3

My podiatrist put me back in my wide toe-box New Balances. I had been running in a pair of 768s without issues, so I headed to RoadRunner on Friday to pick up another pair.

I arrive to find out that:
1. RoadRunner is out of the 768
2. New Balance is discontinuing the 768
3. New Balance will release the 769...
4. ...But not until October

The shoe guy sent me on my way with a pair of 858s. They felt alright in the store; I can wiggle my toes and grip the ground. I'm heading out for another hill workout in 20 minutes, so we'll see what these puppies can do.

I'm really looking forward to triathlon training so my feet can get a break while I'm swimming and cycling!!

Beer cures cancer, right?

Things with Team-in-Training have been busy recently. Monday evening I met the group for my first run in two weeks!! We did the usual hill workout at Torrey Pines, but this time I opted to run intervals so I didn't aggrivate my injured foot. Coach Kerry recommended I try 5 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking for the entire 5 miles- it worked out really well. My overall time was almost identical to workouts where I've run the entire time. I'm able to run at a faster pace for 5 minutes and recover quickly with the 1 minute walk break. I felt great after the run, and I'm going to continue experimenting with interval times so I can use that method in the marathon.

I slacked a little bit on Tuesday and didn't a solid cross-training workout in. I decided that having clean clothes to wear was more important than spending 60 minutes on the elliptical, so I headed up after work instead of going to the gym. I ended up doing laundry and cleaning my car, so I'm counting that as an upperbody workout. Just to be on the safe side I did a couple hundred situps, some bicep curls, lunges and squats. It's probably a good thing I took it easy, because Wednesday was the longest day I've had in a while.

Twenty-five TNT members were allowed to volunteer at opening day at the Del Mar races. The food service provider at Del Mar would deposit money into each of our fundraising accounts, and then we would be able to keep any tips made and deposit those into our accoutns as well. Everyone has been looking forward to this all season, as we had been told it was a great way to raise a lot of money.

I wanted to get a workout in before hand, so I met my friend Bryan for spin class at 5:30 a.m. Spinning is an excellent way to cross-train as it really works your quadricpes. Running is great for the hamstrings and butt, but the quads need some attention as well. Anyways, I headed home for a quick shower, and then left for Del Mar at 7:45, where I met Anne Marie, Julie and Tauni:

Yes, Tauni's hand is very clearly on my butt, and neither of us are quite sure how it ended up there. Moving on...
After standing around for 10 minutes, our Del Mar contact told us to take our lunch break. So, at 9:10 a.m., we took our 20 minute lunch break. We had all eaten beforehand, but we took advantage of the free breakfast buffet and forced down some oatmeal, eggs and fruit. This ended up being a good thing, as it was the last time any of us would eat until we got home at 8:30 p.m.

After lunch (brunch?), we stood around for another hour. We took pictures with a woman who was waiting for the hat contest to start:



Julie and Tauni are pros at the hip tilt action, but I don't forsee myself gracing the fashion pages of Vogue anytime soon.

Finally, at 10:45, the four of us were designated as barbacks for four bartenders near the main gate. We helped them set up, and then poured beer for the next 8 hours. Tauni and I lucked out in having two bartenders that were pretty experienced. We also developed a "Circle of Trust" with these two guys:

The one of the right tipped me $25, so he was allowed to be as crazy as he wanted to be.

Anne Marie and Julie got stuck with two women who didn't know how to tap a keg and poured beer that was more head than anything else. Towards the end of the day we all started getting a little punchy (funny how not eating will do that to you), and were looking forward to getting tipped out and going home. Ah yes, the tipping...

It became somewhat evident that none of the four bartenders were looking forward to sharing the fruits of their (and our) labor. Julie and Anne Marie were tipped nowhere near enough for the hardwork that they did all day long, even though their bosses were thanking them profusely and admitting that they would have been lost without their help. Tauni and I were actually going to get stiffed entirely, until Julie came over with her tips and made it obvious that they were expected to thank us for a job well done. After Tauni's bartender tipped her out, my bartender asked him how much cash he had given her. He then deducted the $25 given to me by the gentleman above from Tauni's tip amount and handed me a wad of crumpled bills as thanks. "So, you should be even with her now."

I understand that, between payment from Del Mar and the tips, I was able to raise close to $200 while working for one day. However it was really, really frustrating to me that we weren't tipped out fairly. The four of us worked hard, placated customers that had stood in line for 30 minutes to buy overpriced beer, and kept people coming back for more drinks. Each bartender made several hundred dollars in tips, and it's ridiculous that they sent us home with such a small percentage of their profits. The verbal appreciation is great, but all of the "thank yous" don't result in more money going to LLS. Again, I was greatful for the opportunity to raise more money, but would have appreciated being given my fair share of the profits.

In any event, we are all still looking forward to continuing to raise money while training. For those of you in San Diego, we will be selling beads at this weekend's Gay Pride festival, so look for us at the corner of Centre & University, so please come say hello!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAALLL!!!

Just a quick update- I hit my fundraising goal this morning!

Glad the hard part is out of the way. 26.2 miles will be cake knowing I have a bunch of supporters out there.

Thank you so much everyone. You all are the best!

7/12 Slinging hotdogs for charity

I've been trying to keep my Monday nights open now that I've joined the midweek running sessions. Mondays are designated hill workout days, and while Tierrasanta is quite aptly named "The Island in the Hills," Rueda Drive doesn't hold a candle to the behemouth that is the descent down to Torrey Pines beach. [I just spent 10 minutes trying to Google a picture, but I've been unsuccessful. Let's just say it's very steep].

However, since I'm rehabbing the plantar fasciitis in my left foot and taking time off from running, my Monday nights are now really, really open. This worked out nicely when Julie and Tauni called and asked if I could volunteer with them at the Padres game last week. The Padres Foundation has a long relationship with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and allows Team-in-Training participants to, among other things, come in and work a concession stand during the game. Volunteers then get a percentage of the profits from the night they worked, and that money goes directly to our fundraising accounts. Since my new goal is to beat Julie at fundraising, I jumped at the chance to earn some extra money.

It was also a special night for me because Petco Park was Robert's favorite place. He was a diehard Padres fan, and he saved up his money so that he could purchase season tickets to their games. I don't think he ever actually sat and watched the whole game, but he loved to go in and talk to everyone. He was so well known amongst ushers and security guards that some of them recognized his obituary back in March. They commented in his on-line memory book, and spoke highly of his character and charm. It was really nice to be able to experience something that he really loved, and I look forward to going back many times.

Anyway, I met Julie, Tauni and several other teammates at the Rubio's stand in section 121, and proceeded to sell $1 hotdogs all night long. That's right: $1 hotdogs. At the Rubio's stand. Also popular at the taco stand was frozen yogurt. I don't understand why we bothered fronting as a Mexican food joint if we were selling the most American food you can find, but it was a good time nonetheless. I also got to practice pulling beer from a tap, which will come in handy next week when I volunteer at the Del Mar racetrak during opening day.

Oh- since I think blogs with pictures are always more fun, I leave you with a picture of me, Tauni and Julie, after we sold hotdogs for five hours straight.