chichitao's group - FULL! (Page 66)

I did not get a ride in on Saturday morning.  We had to leave our house by 9:15 to get the kids to the inlaws for us to get to a funeral by 11.  John and I skipped out on the lunch after the funeral and went to lunch alone no kids.  We ate at the bar of one of our favorite restaurants and had a few drinks.  At that point, there was no way I was getting on my bike!

I ran 9 miles yesterday and a few of them were in the rain.  The last mile was in the pouring rain!

Crazy busy lately!  Looks like I have some catching up to do, but can you guys look at this for me and see if you have any ideas what it could be?  Thanks!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=244295&posts=1#M3389984

Way to get the run done in the rain Meggan.

Debbie, good luck and enjoy your run on Sat.  You'll do great!

Erica, if the pain is directly under the bottom of the knee cap, that is not the IT band.  I don't know what it is, but I've had occasional bouts of it and my therapist just had me focus on stabilization of the knee.  Do some stretching and balancing drills on the leg.  Sorry I can't be of more help.  Hope you get it figured out.

I apologize for being a little awol lately.  Been in and out of town and it some training this week, so haven't had as much access to a computer.  I'll be checking up on everyone. 

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday is right.  I have to share my GREAT news with you all....I am finally PREGNANT!!! 

I am 7 weeks along and get to see the dr. on St. Patricks Day.  We have decided that I won't be doing any tri's this season, but will continue to run and workout as long as I can.  I have a marathon relay that I am doing in a month that I really want to do and then for the rest of the summer I will be doing 5k's here and there. 

Just wanted to share!  I am on spring break next week, so I will get a chance to sleep in and work out all on my own schedule.  It has been so hard waking up at 4:45 to get to the gym, but I really want to do this and continue to work out.  I have been going to bed at 8:00 .

I don't really have a time goal for the race on Saturday, it is just to finish and have fun with it.

Congratulations Debbie!  Very happy for you!!  Good luck on your run this saturday, I'm sure you will be awesome!

Crazy busy right now, but will hopefully catch up with everyone and their logs sometime this weekend. 

Erica, knee pain is nothing to mess with, get in to see someone asap to have it assessed and treated. 

Meggan, you always amaze me with how you manage to get it all done!!

T1, how is the knee doing?

It has been feeling better the past 2 weeks.  I am still not allowed to run, but I go back tomorrow.  I am seriously considering no running for the year, except what my therapist wants me to do.  I am really enjoying being able to focus on swimming and biking right now

ps - My wife agreed to do the running portion of an HIM relay.  So it will get me some experience with the distances and give us some bonding time.  Now I have to find ones out there that offer a relay option.

That's great Tim!  I think it's a good idea to take a running break every so often, I'm planning on taking at minimum a couple of weeks off after my marathon, and then focusing more on cross training and let my body heal up a bit. 

I hope you can find a HIM that will allow you to relay, what a great experience to share together!

Thanks Sandra!!!  The past few weeks I feel like I am barely keeping my head above water.  Between work, our friend in the hospital and then passing, my mom recovering from her hip surgery, keeping up with the laundry and housework, and dealing with a possible issue with Joe, I feel like running is the only thing keeping me moving!!

Weather is absolutely gorgeous here this weekend and I am at work right now .  I hope to get the boys to the park this afternoon and I can't wait for my 10 mile run tomorrow!!  Two weeks until my 10 mile race!

Yes, kudos to those who deal with kiddos and still find the time.  I am in awe of you all. 

How was the run Debbie?

Had a PT session yesterday and they had me running some more on the treadmill and no pain!  She wants me to run again either Sun or Mon to test it out again.  She also referred me to another doc for an xray.  She had another patient with the exact same issues I am having, she sent him to this doc to get an xray, and they discovered a bone spur causing the pain.  She wants to see if that might be going on with me.  So, I am really optimistic right now b/c it has not felt this good since the pain began.  Even if there is no bone spur it seems like this new stretching and foam rolling I do daily is really working.  Even if I get back to running, I am going to take this year off from any running except for rehab purposes.  

I mentioned to my PT that my wife agreed to do a destination HIM relay and she HIGHLY recommended a small one up in Washington state called the Black Diamond.  It is near Seattle, but she said the lake swim and scenery is just amazing.  It is not an ironman branded race so I looked up the fee and it is only $120!!!  Crazy.  I've paid that for a sprint down here before.  It's in Sept and we are seriously considering it and making a long vacation out of it, as we have wanted to tour Seattle, Orcas Island, and venture up into Sandra's neck of the woods.  If we do it Sandra, I'll be asking for your opinion on things to do, see, and tips.  No pressure!

Hey all, I had a great run race yesterday!   We had a gorgeous day here in St. lOuis and weather was better than expected.  All week they had been saying high of 56 and at run time mid 40's.  It ended up being in the mid 50's during run time and mid 60's the rest of the day!!!!

The run was great.  A few more hills than I thought, but that is okay.  Considering that my time was 57:46.  I was very happy with that time!  I will put a race report up shortly.  It was really crowded though, so glad I did it!

Congrats on the great run Debbie.  Glad the weather and everything else worked out for you.

So what is on the plate for everyone this week?

I've got another busy week with swimming on M/W and biking on T/Th.  Having an xray and getting a 2nd opinion on my knee today and a regular PT session on Fri. 

Happy Monday!

Good job on the race Debbie!  Glad you enjoyed it.

Tim...why the second opinion?  Are you not sure you agree with the original?

Not much going on here this week other than the normal.  Today is a day off.  Tomorrow intervals, Thursday tempo run, Friday recovery run, Sunday long run.  I am going to keep an eye on the weather and hoping to get out on the bike on Saturday for a quick ride.  We are looking at a busy weekend because we are throwing my mom a surprise 60th Saturday night.  Most of the work is falling on me because my sister sucks.

Awesome job, Debbie!

So I went on my last long run befoer my 30k race... I don't know exactly how far I went, because there was too much cloud for my GPS to pick up signal, unfortunately, and I missed a few turns on the route that I mapped, but I think it was about 25k. Felt GREAT. Just got out there and ran. It was amazing. 2 weeks out from my race, so I'm glad I did it. I feel like I'm really ready for the race now. I'll do a bunch more runs, but nothing more than about 15k next weekend. Weather is supposed to be getting better, too! I'm getting excited. Also, just realize it's less than 4 months until my first planned tri of the season, and it's one of my A-Races... I can't wait!!!

Happy Monday, everyone.

Congrats on the run Debbie! 

T2, so are we hoping that the second opinion reveals a bone spur or not?  If it is a bone spur, is it an easy fix or something more long term?  Which ever prognosis you are looking for, I hope you get it:-)  As for a trip to the west coast, I'd be happy to direct you to the hot spots in Vancouver, maybe we could go do the grind together!!  Beer and nachos at the top, with a most impressive view.

Pete, way to go on the long run, I'm sure you will do great in your upcoming race!

I had another crazy weekend, Saturday was my longest run to date and I was still concerned about my calf going in, but I managed to get it done.  The weather was again miserable, rain and high winds, but it was still better than the last one with snow, wind and below zero(celcius) temperatures.  The last 5K were very tough, my hips were aching from the wet and cold, but my leg held up.  Saturday night was a late night at a friends house for a St. Patrick's party, it was fun, but I am an early to bed, early to rise kind of person.  Sunday morning I was up early, because there was a half marathon running in my back yard and I had several friends running it, so I got out to support them on a most miserable day.  First up was delivering my garmin to the start line, when  a friend contacted me in a panic about her garmin being dead, then it was driving the course and finding places to stand out of the way and cheer them on, while taking pictures. It was so much fun, despite the weather.

After it was done, I went home and got the family moving, did a little grocery shopping, made a fantastic brunch and then I crashed...I was sooooo tired I had a nap and never really regained my energy after.

All in all a good weekend!

My current PT recommended the 2nd opinion.  I looked this guy up and he specializes in knee issues and seems to be the go to guy in town when it comes to them, so I am looking forward to it.  If for nothing else, just a little peace of mind.

I am kinda hoping it is a bone spur, b/c then it seems that surgery may be an option.  The surgery seems relatively minor with a 2-6wk recovery time, which is not bad (although I would have to wait until after my swim class is done).  If it will make this pain go away completely then I think I am all for it.

Had my 2nd opinion yesterday and it went well.  Took an xray and there is no bone spur or growth.  He looked again at my MRI from before and noticed something that he does not like.  He is not completely sure at this point but thinks I might have a small tear in the tendon coming off the hamstring muscle and attaches to the knee.  He wouldn't be able to know this for sure until he did some exploratory surgery, but we are holding off on that for right now. 

His course of action was to get a steroid shot into the knee.  He said we need to get the inflammation to go away completely and then readdress the situation.  If that doesn't work then the next step is to get a bone scan to rule out a stress fracture.  After that would be the surgery.

So, yesterday right there in his office I got the shot.  It was a combination of local anesthetic and the steroid, so my knee went numb right after the shot.  He had me test it and I felt no pain whatsoever for the first time since last summer.  That didn't fix anything but it shows us that he got the roids into the right spot.  He said the roids should kick in in about 3-5 days and should last a few weeks.  He wants me to workout and run during this time to really test it out.  If the pain returns then we'll know that there is more going on in there and something is causing the inflammation.

Has anyone gotten a shot like this before?  He said it would be very sore until the roids kick in, but I didn't expect this.  Last night and today I can barely walk on it.  I canceled my bike ride today.  I can't wait for those steroids to do their thing.

I am pretty excited b/c he seemed to really know what he was talking about and set out a definitive course of action.  I should know if this works in 2-3 weeks.

T1 - I'm so sorry about all the craziness with that injury!  I was sore after my shots in my spine, too, but I didn't have to walk on it like you do, so I can't even imagine the pain you must be in.  Take it easy 'til the drugs kick in.  Keep us posted on it, too.

Pete, Sandra, Debbie - I know it's a little late, but great runs!  You guys are making huge improvements.

Debbie - Congrats!!!  Keep us updated on doctor appointments.

Sandra - How is your calf feeling today?

I hope that caught me up to speed.  I've had a ton going on lately!

Went to the orthopedic specialist yesterday and he confirmed that I have patella tendonitis in my knee.  Not a HUGE deal, but I do have to stop running for 3-4 weeks.  I can swim as much as I'd like, and I can bike so long as it doesn't hurt.  I don't know if I'll be able to hit any goal times in my half-marathon now, but at least I'll be able to get my swim up to where it needs to be over the next few weeks for the HIM in July.  I did a full mile today in the pool, and that's the farthest I've ever done!  I'm thinking that I'll swim 4 days/week for the next 3-4 weeks and see where that takes me for my swim fitness.  Luckily, the doctor did say that if I take enough time off, it'll totally heal itself without PT or anything, just basic stretching and icing.  Oh boy!

Erica, sorry about your knee but glad you got it looked at and have a good course of action to take.  It looks like your mind is in the right place about it and use this time to focus on the bike and swim.  I am trying to look at my running time off from that point of view. 

The knee is much better today and only a little bit sore.  No more limping around.  Tomorrow will be 3 days from the shot so the pain should hopefully be gone completely here soon.

My calf although better is still there, did a little run last night to shake things out a bit, with a lot of stretching and going to do another easy run this evening.  Saturday's run is "only"  22.5KM...which makes me laugh just to say that I think that this distance is a shorter run...crazy.

I have my brother in from out of town this week for my Nephews Basketball tournament, so it's busy again...I'm feeling exhausted right now...it may just be the time change and the weather, but all I want to do is sleep.

Sorry about the knee Erica, but you have the right attitude and using the opportunity to focus on your swimming is great. 

T1, I've never had a shot like that, it does not sound like fun, but hopefully with the help of this doctor you will figure out what is going on(hope it isn't the tear).