Physical Therapy Update

The other day I was thinking about my first day of physical therapy. I recall the frustration I felt inside and the tears I shed on the way home. And...I was thinking it might be good to post a bit of an update. So what does a therapy session look like for me these days?

Well I start with a good 15 minutes on the recumbent bike. It gets a good sweat going and gets the blood flowing.  Then my therapist uses an ultrasound machine on my scar as well as massages it. It's looking pretty good, but there are a few spots that still have thicker adhesionsd, basically right at the bottom near my ankle. You can even see it is raised in the picture.

The scar is definitely straighter and flatter. It is lightening slowly.

Next we usually do some balance work on this machine. I don't know what it is called but it is tough! It works more on intricate muscles and proprioceptive nerve function.

After this we do a variety of plyometric exercises. Some include lunges with resistance bands, calf raises, box jumps, ladder (on the ground) drills, side-to-side jumps, and today I did some intense balance work. I also do some resistance lunge jumps and calf raises on the Reformer. Then I do some deep stretching and by then I'm usually pretty beat! I am definitely not in fast-twitch/plyometric shape! I get winded easily with those exercises.

I am not registered for any other races but I have one in mind in July. The great news is that I have found some running friends! I "bumped into" some gals on Facebook that are in the military family like we are. We are talking about running the Neon 5K night race here in San Diego. It looks like fun!

Have You Complimented Anyone Lately?

Lately I have had a few nice people pay me a couple of nice compliments and it got me thinking...how often do I compliment others? It can really make your day!

Yesterday I was in line at Starbucks and these two cute young ladies told me they really liked my "purse". They were referring to what I carry these days as my "purse"...my brown saddle camera bag. I was surprised that they said that!

The same day I was on a field trip with Samuel's class and one of his friends asked me, "So how old are you Mrs. Berman? 29?" Now I don't know if he was just being cheeky but I thought it was sweet anyhow.

Then today was the best one. I haven't let myself go or anything but without running, I am not in as great of shape. The cellulite on my legs is easier to see, my tummy is a bit softer and it seems you can see the extra skin left by 3 pregnancies and my arms are a bit flabbier. I'm feeling alright overall...I mean a softer me isn't necessarily an uglier me. And I've got a good tan going on! But either way, I have been more self-conscious about my body to be honest. Well a woman at physical therapy complimented my legs today. "Man, I wish I had those legs! Dang they are tone!" It really made me feel like a million bucks because they aren't as toned as I would like.

So there ya have it! If you haven't complimented someone wholeheartedly lately, do it! It will make their day, I promise :)

Keep On Keepin' On

My husband and I sat and watched Joe Dirt this afternoon so his saying is stuck in my head I guess. I haven't been logging a ton but I have been keeping active each day either walking or bicycling. My goal is to keep moving, keep working. Physical therapy is getting tougher with box jumps and such along with the strength moves. My PT says my calf is looking good.

I have really missed running the longer distances this year, and I don't plan on it any time soon. My 10K was really cool but I just don't want to overdo it. Maybe a couple more 5Ks or 10Ks but a half marathon before the year is over is a great big question mark. I know I could get to where I could finish for sure, but I'm sure my left leg would be rocked. That being said, I know by next year I will be back to running, I just know it!

My goal is to run the Triple Crown challenge here. It entails running the Carlsbad Half Marathon January 18, the La Jolla Half Marathon April 26, then America's Finest City Half Marathon (what will probably be) August 16th. I am really looking forward to some races in 2015! In the meantime its time to check out some more shorter ones for this year...

Bicycling

It has been another week since I have posted. Life has been crazy busy and with kids getting out of school soon, it's bound to only get busier! That being said, I've been going on walks, trying to eat right and do my physical therapy. I did not make it to my session Friday due to the fires here with evacuations and school closing and such. We did a lot of sitting around on our butts inside since it was a thousand degrees outside and we wanted to be ready in case anything caused us to evacuate. We came through!

Thankfully temperatures have dropped which brings such respite from the heat. I had better get ready though, it gets hot here in the summer. My husband built an above ground swimming pool that I'm sure will prove very popular as it gets super hot. The kids are already loving it. I wish we could put in an in-ground swimming pool but we're just renters! Anyway for now, the weather could not be more perfect.

So today I hopped on my bike to run errands and such. I biked with the kids to school and I will go pick them up in a few minutes. Then I biked to run errands and I had to have put quite a few miles on my bike today. It felt great! I am going to be doing more biking since it doesn't hurt my left ankle/achilles. Walking is really good but jogging is still pretty rough on my leg. I just don't want to overdo it. For now I am just glad my options for exercise are increasing!

Girls on the Go 10K

That's right people, a real race report! Girls on the Go Race Event

I didn't take a ton of pictures as today was a real touch-and-go scenario. I have been out of the game for a while and I just wasn't sure how I was going to approach the day. Here are my notes:

"The difference of this run and others I have registered for is that this one isn't a test of any kind. It is simply a celebration of how far I have come. It is a 4-month milestone of no particular significance except to celebrate and prove to myself that I am back!

Goals: To break 14-minute/mi, To not get caught up in race excitement...to listen to my body and go nice and easy instead."

I managed to get up early, have a bit of an outfit thrown together and hit the road around 5:45 to head down to Mission Bay (It takes about 45 minutes).

After a quick pit-stop I arrived around 6:45 and it was already really busy. The parking area was filling fast and it was a bit of a walk to get to the start line/expo area. I had not picked up my bib ahead of time, which I immediately regretted. The line was super long!

It stretched even beyond the trees there.

I knew there was no way I would have time to go back to my car, and I would probably barely have time to make the actual start (like many others). I decided to just start whenever I was ready, and be fine knowing that the timer would start and stop when I hit the pad.

I had registered for the 5K so that is what line I was in. I met two other nice young women and we chatted about our stories. One was running with her young daughter, and the other one was running solo because her friends pooped out on her. I love the report among runners, and I always meet such nice folks!

Once I had my bib on, I ran over for a quick potty stop before the start was announced, which I had miraculously not missed. While in line, the guy next to me mentioned..."So you're running the 10K today? Cool." "Oh, no, no, no...I'm running the 5K..." I said as I looked down at my bib. At that moment I had a slight freak-out as I realized my bib said 10K! Wait a minute? Did I register for the 10K? Surely not! It must have been a mistake! I had about 2 minutes to figure out what the heck happened in my registration process before the 5K started so I gave up trying to figure it out. Well...I guess I was going to be running 6.2 miles this day!

I found my new friend who I had been chatting with and told her about the mix up right as the race began. I ended up running with her through the first 1 1/2 miles as we chatted a bit here and there.

I didn't have a lot of time to really consider my decision...run the 5K and kind of "cheat" on my 10K registration or run the 10K (risking an owie leg) and end up running twice the distance I registered for. I went back and forth until I reached the literal fork in the road and I took the 10K path. I figured my bib said 10K, I had better just go for the 10K. After all, with my run/walk strategy I could do it and be fine. I walk all over SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo and am never sore. And perhaps I let the excitement of race day motivate my decision a bit...

The course itself was very nice! I enjoyed running around Fiesta Island. Each turn was a new perspective of Mission Bay and San Diego. I may not have mentioned it much on this blog but I LOVE our new city. San Diego is an amazing place to live (and run). The downfall I saw on the course affected half marathoners. In order to reach the full 13.1 miles, there was a lot of double-backing and re-looping and keeping up with that could get frustrating, especially when you are desperately tired. But the day was great. It was cool with a light cloud cover and light breeze. Perfect running weather.

I haven't seen 4 miles in a long time!

I kept a pretty steady pace of jogging and walking but I did a lot more jogging than I have at home, that's for sure...and it felt good through the entire race. While I tried not to let the energy of the run push me, it really did. Even though it wasn't about beating anyone, and not even about beating myself, I was just so happy to be out on a fun run course! I ran hardest at the end. I was going at about a 10-to-11-minute/mile pace when I was jogging which was better than I had thought I could do! I just kept feeling it out and paid a lot of attention to how my leg felt. While I didn't have the choice to stop if it started to hurt, I could walk more if needed. It turns out it wasn't needed! It felt like it was working hard, but didn't hurt really. My doc gave me a tendon of steel!

When I arrived at the finish chute I was the only one coming so the announcer rallied support "Give her a hand folks! Finishing a 10K today...great job!" I was so thrilled that I had really ran a 10K. Even after surgery and being out of the running game for 6 months, it didn't feel bad, and I didn't feel crazy out of shape. It goes to show you that your body doesn't lose everything if you are down, and that the run/walk strategy lets you go farther without killing your body.

Can't forget the bling! This race was really cool and everyone earned medals whether you ran the 5K, 10K, or Half Marathon.

There were a few booths set up but I didn't bring any money and wasn't super interested in hanging out too long. I did score a couple of Luna Bars and bottles of Tea of a Kind drinks. The reps were giving out whole cases to anyone who asked for them!

Once I had walked to my car, I stopped for a second to take a picture of my socks. The same ones that have sat in the back of my dresser since the fateful day of November 10, 2013 when I tore my Achilles.

My Facebook post read: "The last time I wore these socks was 6 months ago, when I tore my AchillesTendon. Today, I finished a 10K in them! #4monthspostop"

t-shirt and bib...very girly

Proof!

After I got home, I got an e-mail confirmation with my race time which was really cool. I never had to register for it or anything, it just came automatically with my race registration and participation. Pretty cool!

I was shocked when I saw my stats:

I did register for the 5K! So according to the results I ran probably the slowest 5K in recorded history-LOL!! 

Here is my Nike + app result:

Running is a very cool way to explore Fiesta Island in Mission Bay

I guess that's it folks! This lady is back in the game, if only somewhat by accident. I don't plan on repeated 10Ks and even on my own I am still going to stick with 2-3 miles run/walk for now until my calf/tendon are stronger. But now I know that if I register for a race, I will survive it! :)

And She's Running Again!

Little recap of this week or so...

I have completed 3 weeks of strong walking, around 2- 2 1/2 miles each. Then Monday, something magical happened...

I was on my walk and had a good pace going, with a great beat in my head and for no reason in particular I thought about how badly I missed the feeling of jogging, and I just started jogging! I have held off for about a month or so because my leg did not tolerate jogging and I just wasn't ready. Well this time I was ready! I did some shorter intervals just feeling it out and it was awesome! I finished with a straight stretch that ended at my house, where my husband was mowing the lawn.  He saw me there, hopped off the mower and gave me a standing ovation. Then once I got there he gave me a huge hug and told me how proud he was of me as we both cried happy tears. It was a great moment.

Wednesday I did some walk/jogging too and I talked to my PT about it on Friday during our session. She said it was awesome as long as it felt good and wasn't too much. I just can't believe it, I'm able to do some light jogging again. It feels so great!

Oh...and I have totally fell off the Paleo bandwagon. It was so boring and I can't stand not enjoying my food! I haven't written it off, but I need a new approach. To be continued...