Goodbye Zumba! (For Now)

Today I made a gut wrenching decision. I'm letting Zumba go, at least for now, until I feel my pelvic malalignment issues have been permanently corrected. Up until I attended a couple of classes last week my pelvis/IT band has been feeling pretty good with only some slight aching. After attending the classes (regular studio classes) I began having increased pain to the point that I had to start sitting out some songs on the second day. Even now I have some issues with mild pain and tightness when I first start running even when running at a pace slower than my normal training pace of about 12-13 minutes/mile. My next half marathon is just over two weeks away, so I think that it is the smart move to stop Zumba now and allow as much recovery (between runs) as possible.It seems that the Aqua Zumba isn't causing me any problems, other than sore arms because I use swim gloves for more resistance, so I'll be staying with that. Luckily summer is headed our way in a few months so I'll be able to attend classes at the outdoor pool over the summer...woohoo!

So, what will I replace it with? Well, I should start training on the bike for the sprint duathlon in May. I still need to replace the MTB tires for semi slicks and my bike needs a serious tune up (it doesn't help that it's a cheap WalMart bike). I'm just not ready to fork over big bucks for a road bike...that won't happen until I find out how much I enjoy/or not enjoy riding. We have an elliptical but to tell the truth, I hate it. First of all my quads burn so bad within 10 minutes or so and well, I don't have the patience to stay on it...I think it's actually worse than the "dreadmill."

So, I'll have to decide fairly quickly. I definitely need some cross training in my routine as well as speed work (again something that I dislike). I wish our YMCA had a full on rowing machine...I've loved rowing in the past. I've read that rowing is a great cross training activity for runners as well. I could row almost forever I think. Maybe that's what I'll look for to add to the home gym in the future, a nice rowing machine. But that costs money. Ugh. Running is making me even more broke than normal!! Running is NOT a cheap sport...don't let anyone tell you it is!! LOL!

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 39
• 38 minutes of PT exercises for pelvic malalignment/ITBS

What I Ate Today:

• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 2 fried eggs
• 2 sausage patties
• 8 oz Mongolian beef
• 1½ cups white rice
• 1 pound baked potato from Something Different Grill with
• shredded cheese
• bacon bits
• chives
• sour cream
• butter
• salt
• pepper
• 32 oz Pepsi
• 20 oz G2

Alkalete Review Day 2:
Yesterday was my 2nd full day on the Yoli Alkalete dosing. After doing a 6 mile treadmill run late last night I woke up today to my feet feeling okay but some soreness in the legs/hips. As the day has worn on, the soreness had eased significantly although I did do some PT exercises and the soreness increased somewhat. I was also extremely tired today and yesterday having to take an extended nap each day. Now, I'm not saying that the fatigue is due to the Alkalete as there is also a change in my body's self-regulation that I noticed yesterday. Tomorrow is an 8-10 mile run so we'll see how things are feeling on Friday. The testing continues.

Can you say Zumba?

Yes! It's finally happened!! After nearly 3 months of absolutely no Zumba I have been cleared by my physical therapist to go ahead and give it a gingerly try again. Of course, I'll have to wear my SI belt while doing so. I have been instructed to avoid anything that may jar my pelvis out of alignment again such as jumping on one leg. The timing couldn't have been better since I'm hosting a Zumbathon for the American Cancer Society tomorrow morning. Since the planning for this event was relatively short notice (less than a month), I'm hoping that we have at least half the turnout that I did for the last one in November. At least this time I'll be able to actually Zumba with the rest of the crowd. It was so sad last time because I had to stand or sit on the wings and either dance around in my chair or kinda semi-Zumba while standing up. I am definitely excited!! Maybe with the next one I'll finally be able to teach. I got my license to teach Zumba back in September, but with the injury and the training I haven't had a chance to practice except for a week or two.

I think I've got everything ready to go. Water and Gatorade are in the cooler in the car; mini donuts and bananas are in the car; oranges are in the house and need to be sliced; pens, tape, plates, cables boxed up; gym towels drying. Let's see, there are a couple of to do's left:

1. Print up more waivers
2. Print up more registration forms
3. Get ice
4. Print up some signs for the doors (one arrow pointing towards registration, two for entry way doors
5. Pack a cutting board and knife for the bananas

Let's see. I think that should be it. I think I'll call this post good for today. Wish me a fun and busy Zumbathon tomorrow! (And a 10 mile run afterwards!)

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 6: 50 minutes in PT (8 mins recumbent stepper, 10 minutes treadmill at 4-5 mph, Bosu ball, stretches, jumper machine, 

What I Ate Today:

• 4 small pieces of toffee (Honest! They were small, no more than an 1" x 1")
• 1 3/4 cups Texas Style Beef Chili
• ~1 cup Tostitos Scoops
• 2 Tbsp Fiesta Mix shredded cheese
• 24 oz non-fat lactose free milk
• 1 3/4 cups Skinny Rosemary Potato Soup
• 20 oz G2
• 2 small Clementine oranges

I really need to start hydrating more!

Tired of being broken!

Well, I went into PT today after my disappointing run yesterday where both sides of my hips began hurting due to ITBS. I don't know why, but yesterday when I got back home after the old man picked me up I forgot to check me pelvic alignment. Well, I asked my PT, Kay, to check my alignment today after I had gone through the normal PT torture routine (not really, I actually enjoy the workout) and she found that my right side had rotated forward and my left side had rotated posteriorly. That's kind of an odd finding for me. Usually the right side is pretty much in place and the left side usually rotates forward. So we did some pushing and pulling on both hips to get me re-aligned and I skipped the diathermy (heat application) session so that I could go straight home to put on my SI belt which I forgot to bring with me to PT. I've determined that the only thing really different that I did yesterday was to run on an uneven dirt alley way...right after which I began noticing the hip pain. So the plan is to use the SI belt daily, run only on paved surfaces (usually softer surfaces like a trail is better, but apparently not for me) and continue with the stretches and exercises. Luckily, for women, somewhere around the age of 50-55 the pelvic bone solidifies and fuses so that hopefully by then I will no longer have any problems with the misalignment. Heck, that's anywhere from 3-8 years...only. LOL! I hope I can get this issue under control way before then!

BTW, I got on the Bosu ball again today and did much better! Enough that I was able to do the first balancing and side to side rolling exercise (facing forward) without the safety rails. But when it came to the sideways position (feet lined up one in back of the other) I had to use the rails. Oh well, baby steps!

The great Bosu ball adventure

Well, yesterday's PT session involved not only the routine exercises and stretches that I've done in the past but also some time on a Bosu ball which is basically half of a full size stability ball on a hard plastic base. If you're not familiar with a Bosu ball this is what it looks like... --->>

Now, imagine that I'm putting you through the following exercises on this piece of equipment. Flip the darned thing over so that it's rocking on the dome (it does squish down...a little). Stand on the flat plastic base with both feet at either side, right along the edge. Now maintain your balance without falling off focusing on keeping the pelvis centered and strong. Just to let you know, you are set up on a platform with two handrails that you can grab in case you start to fall off which, for me, usually happens during the first 20-30 seconds of this exercise. Balance has to be maintained and then add squats to that (still on the Bosu)...20 of them please. Next, if you've survived that, roll side to side to the point that the plastic base touches the platform 20 times in each directions...again concentrate on balance through the pelvis. No, you're not done yet. Turn sideways with one foot behind the other on either side of the base, keep them as straight in alignment and facing forward as possible. Now, balance...good...20 squats...good...roll forwards and backwards 20 times each way. Excellent. Now, either reverse your feet or simply turn around on the Bosu. Repeat the last activities...balance, squats, rolls.

Yeah, so definitely not easy. This piece of equipment made me sweat so much that I was literally dripping sweat off my face! Now, in most exercises with a Bosu ball the base is flat on the floor although I have done push-ups with the Bosu in this position. I had no idea that it could be used in this manner. Still, trying to do this was actually fun and I found that the secret to it is to find a point on the wall or the floor to focus on as that will help to maintain balance. It takes so much concentration that I really can't talk to anyone while I'm doing these exercises. As hard as it is, I'm looking at getting my own Bosu ball and trying to figure out how to set up some safety rails. I'll do almost anything to keep my strength in my hip flexors and other running muscles to keep from getting injured so badly again.

More PT in my future

Well, I went for my PT re-evaluation today. I'm in for another 4 weeks, 3x/week starting on Wednesday. There is some improvement in the hip strength compared to the right side but there's still some fairly significant weakness present. I'm supposed to try to take things a bit easy and not push too much so I'll just let my body tell me when to walk or run. I did manage a 5K run/walk today but it took a lot to finish and I'm pretty sure that I walked more than ran. My PT did say that it's okay for me to continue to run but not to overdo it. My task will be to try to keep from doing more than I should. I'm still planning on a 8-9 mile run this weekend and possibly a 10 miler the following weekend but that'll really all depend on how my toe is acting...I managed to end up with "turf toe" or a sprain of the great toe on my left foot while out running on Saturday...still not sure how I managed that. The completion/re-evaluation day for this next round of PT will be exactly 10 day before the Tinkerbell Half Marathon so hopefully I'll get the go ahead to try to run/walk at full effort for the event. I'm especially hopeful because I want to do another half marathon at the end of February. So onward I go with slow, methodical training to get where I need to go...

On another note I've failed in my daily blog postings as of yesterday...just couldn't think of anything worth blogging about. Not that what I do blog about is noteworthy anyway! lol! Oh well, such is life...I'll just keep on going whenever I think of something to blog about...

New "Fashion": SI Belt

Today I went to my regularly scheduled PT appointment. I've been having some pain in my right knee with the ITBS kicking in in that location for some unknown reason. So anyway, my PT found that my left hip was out of alignment...again. So I was evidently compensating with my right leg thereby causing the ITBS in my right knee to start acting up. We worked on getting my left hip/pelvis re-aligned which took several attempts but we managed to get it back to a near normal position. After doing some of my regular stretches and exercises the PT told me about possibly using a sacroiliac (SI) belt. He let me try one that they had in the clinic and although it's a bit awkward because it has to be worn on the hips I did feel that it made a difference. I need to get one and figure out how I'm going to adapt it to carry my hydration bottle and snacks so that I'm not wearing two different belts while I run the half marathon in January.

Hopefully I'll have one of these belts in my hands by next week. I'll report then how it helps, but I'll have to wear it most of the day as well as when I run. I do have to be sure to check that my pelvis is fairly well aligned before I put it on as it won't do any good if I'm out of alignment. So, hopefully, if I'm released from PT next Monday this belt will help me stay where I need to be in order to run/bike. Below is a video that outlines how this belt is to be worn...doesn't look like much fun, but if it helps I'll do it!

I did go for a 4½ mile run/walk today and so far no pain so maybe, hopefully, my pelvis will stay in place for my appointment tomorrow because I really need to bump up my training and start increasing mileage so that I can hit at least 11 miles before Tinkerbell. I know I can do 7 miles but I really need to run 13 miles at least once so that I know that I can do it. Wish me luck!

Pain, pain...go away!

Shows exactly where my pain was tonight on the left hip.
Totally different area than my ITBS pain.

I'm starting to get a bit frustrated with my body. After successfully completing the 10K last Saturday I have two failed runs this week. Tuesday I only got 1.83 miles on the treadmill before my ITBS started kicking in. Then today I only about 1.5 miles on a run with the big grand pup before I began having some pain in my left hip flexors...didn't seem like ITBS pain. Ah...if it's not one thing or another! I've got a 5K night run this Sunday that I'm hoping to run but we'll have to see. At least it is a run or walk...that way I won't feel so bad if I do have to walk! lol. I'm actually hoping that PT will keep me a little longer when they do the re-eval on the 19th, but that also means that I won't be able to run the Tinkerbell HM for sure...it'll mean a definite walk event. Well, I'll just have to work a little harder to strengthen my core, hip flexors and quads. I'll just have to kick the strength training up a notch and slowly build up the running which probably means not much of a taper before the actual race. What a life...

Back to running...sort of

Goodies from the race.
Including sweatpants!

I finally ran today for the first time in 7 or 8 weeks! I participated in the Reindeer Run 10K with the husband and after asking my PT if I could try to run a little and getting the okay I ended up running about 80% of the race and walking the rest. I even outpaced the husband who has continued training on a somewhat regular basis while I've been sidelined with my ITBS. I knew that I missed going on my runs, but I just didn't realize how much until today. I finished in what I believe was a 1:19:07 but I'm not sure if that was the final time. I did, however, manage to place 1st in the women's 45-49 age group (of course there were only two of us in the division). Lol!! The old man finished a minute or two after me which surprised me because he usually runs a little faster than me.

Metatarsal pad, the dark area.

I made sure that I stretched really well focusing especially on my ITBS on both sides. Maybe I should have paid a little more attention to warming up my feet as well because by mile 4 I started having some fairly significant pain in both my arches and the balls of my feet. Now, I have already bought some metatarsal pads to help alleviate the ball of foot pain but haven't installed them into my shoes yet. I forgot to grab them before we left last night so I'll be sure to install them tonight. Hopefully those will help alleviate both the arch and ball of foot pain.

I think this is my last race for the year. I may try to find a race to run in January, but it's time to start focusing on finishing the training for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. So wish me luck and no further injuries. Disneyland, here I come!! :)

First official day of PT

I survived my first day of PT! Not that it was all that, but I wasn't sure what to expect since the only other time I'd been to PT was when I had tendonitis in my right shoulder. Anyway, we started out with eight minutes on a recumbent stepper...I had no idea such a thing existed. No problems with that although I did break a bit of a light sweat averaging 130 steps/minute; note to self, bring a towel with me to the appointment on Monday. Next came some serious stretching using a strap (calves & hamstrings), knees to chest and sitting crossover pull stretches...couldn't do them laying down as my hip is too tight. Next we moved onto exercises, first squeezing a bolster between my knees and doing a pelvic bridge holding for 5 seconds and doing 10 reps. The standing adductor and abductor machine was next...we'll probably use the rubber straps next time as the machine was a bit awkward. 

Can you imaging doing a squat on this,
standing on the flat part?

The one exercise I totally sucked on was doing squats on half of a foam log with the curved side down...my balance is fairly non-existent...so I've already been warned that that'll be something we'll be working on as that'll help strengthen my glutes and other small hip flexor muscles. Manipulation was next, not in the full realigning as in a chiropractor but by resistance. John, the therapist, would support my left leg while I pushed against him for 10 seconds at a time for 10 reps. Apparently that exercise helps to move the hip back into the correct position. We did have to do a second set after he checked my alignment and to my surprise, I could actually tell that there was an improvement because his thumbs were almost at the same exact level when he checked the tops of my iliac crest on both sides...yay! I spent the next 15 or so minutes on the diathermy lamp, deep penetrating heat, before finishing up for the day. 

My hip hasn't been bothering me much today but I haven't been on the elliptical yet. I need to try to do 39 minutes to take the place of my running...that should be fun since it usually knocks me on my butt in less than 5 minutes! So, here I go...get back into my workout gear and onto my arch nemesis...the elliptical! Wish me luck! lol!

Update: I was only able to do 20 minutes on the elliptical tonight. meh.