Half Marathon Training and Stupid Shoulder, Update

18 weeks since surgery? Is that right? I'm at the point now where I really can't keep track anymore. It's kinda like when your kid turns 2... you stop referring to them as "24" months old. They're 2! So we'll just assume it's been at least 4 months (maybe more?) since surgery.

I still have so much pain, it's very frustrating. I try to work on mobility throughout the day and a little strength here and there, but I have so many other things to think about and I've spent so much time thinking about my stupid shoulder that I'm just OVER IT. I still don't sleep well, I can't reach the top shelf in my kitchen, and I would be completely worthless in a fist fight.

So anyway, that's where I'm at there...

Also... HALF MARATHON is 3 weeks from Sunday! What!? I've been keeping up with training mostly. I did really well until I started being more aggressive with crossfit and may have accidentally been a little too gung-ho... a couple weekends ago I did the Crossfit Open 17.5 workout. I had to modify because I can't do thrusters, so I did

10 rounds
9 front squats 65#
35 double unders

I didn't really think about the fact that I haven't squatted much over the past couple of months, especially with anything heavier than my 25# dumbell. So 90 total front squats with a 65# barbell was waaaaaaay too much considering I was supposed to run 8 miles the next day. OOPS.

So basically I was comatose for an entire week. I was THAT sore. I tried to run, don't get me wrong, but it was ugly and slow and I probably should have just rested.

Did I learn my lesson? HA. Let's just say... I'm a slow learner.

So here I am, on week 13 of my training and I can barely hit the 8 mile mark. Plus I'm losing half my toenails and my feet are basically two giant blisters. I like running, I really do. But I only like running when it is a 10k or less. I like running when it's only 2 days a week. I like running when the weather is perfect. I like running when I'm listening to music.

I do NOT like running when it is cold (65 or below), hot (75 or above), windy, rainy, or cloudy. I don't like running on a major highway because of traffic and I don't like running on our backroads because of dogs. I especially do not like running when the only option is a treadmill. Just NO. I don't like running when it's humid. I don't like running when I'm tired or hungry or thirsty.

Anyway, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent there... Where was I? Oh, half marathon training, right.

Today I will try to hit 8 miles again followed by some speed work. I am trying to hydrate reallllly well (last time I only had one glass of water the entire day... oops). But I'm super sore from crossfit (oops) so we'll see how it goes.

http://infographtastic.com/humor/humor-143059725636242943.jpg

17 Weeks Post-Surgery

I meant to post an update at 16 weeks but being me, I forgot. Tomorrow (March 28th) marks 17 WEEKS since surgery. I am only going to physical therapy once a week now and I am fairly certain tomorrow will be my last visit. Not that I don't need it anymore... but at this point, I'm a little worried about insurance! I haven't received a single bill from the physical therapist. Once those bills start rolling in... that'll be fun.

Mobility has improved in a lot of areas, but the one that I've struggled with the most has not improved in several weeks. My upward rotation has been just barely at 160 degrees for what seems like eternity... and that's when I'm lying on my back and gravity is doing the work for me. I'm sure the more I use it the better it will get. I'm so ready to do real pull-ups again it's not even funny... but I still can't hold my own weight hanging from the bar.

Things I CAN do:

Power cleans
Pre-surgery max: 145#
Current max: 65#

Front squats
Pre-surgery max: 150#
Current max: 65#

Assisted pull-ups. I've done 3 sets of 10 with a green band and that felt okay. I try to pause at the bottom for about two seconds between reps to help stretch out that shoulder.

Push-ups (from my knees). I have always had poor form on these... but now I have no choice but to keep my elbows in tight or it hurts! I can't do very many, maybe 5-10 at a time with long breaks in between sets.

Deadlift:
Pre-surgery max: 300#
Current max 88# (KBs, 2x44)

Bench press:
Pre-surgery max: 110#
Current max: I used a dumbell the other day, 25#!
*Side note: this is one of the many movements that did not improve in 3 years of lifting. I always blamed the shoulder... maybe I'll start seeing this improve more! Or maybe not...

It's funny how I get really excited about these movements when they are happening... but typing out the numbers is a little depressing! lol I have such a long way to go! I feel like I spend 10 hours out of every day just stretching my stupid shoulder, and every morning I wake up feeling like someone tightened it up to the max all over again. I still don't sleep well, I wake up in pain any time I move.

Things I can't do yet but I WILL:

OH stuff, all of it.
Snatches.
Handstand holds and handstand push-ups.
Ring dips.
Back squats.
Muscle-ups. !!!!!

I am so excited to be getting back! Slowly but surely I WILL get it all back. I HAVE TO. Muscle-ups, here I come!

Good News Feels Like Bad News

I am officially 12 weeks post surgery today. I had my follow up with my surgeon this morning. This is the first appointment I've had with him since my shoulder repairs. PLURAL: REPAIRS. Because I hadn't seen him since the actual day of surgery, I wasn't aware of all things that had been done to my shoulder. I had a general idea, but I didn't know what half of it meant. Today he pulled up my x-rays and did some much needed explaining, 90% of which I still didn't understand but...

My shoulder was in worse shape than we thought. He said for a standard labral repair, recovery time is about 4 months from the date of surgery, meaning patients can generally begin doing normal sports stuff (in my case, crossfit). If that were the case, I'd be almost done with physical therapy. But I didn't have a standard labral repair, I had a reverse "hagl" repair. I don't know why that's worse, but has something to do with where the tear actually is and what it tore from. Or something like that. I think.

Then of course I had a dislocated shoulder, so he had to put anchors in there to stabilize the rotator cuff. I have anchors in the front, the back, and on top. Eventually these will "disappear" and my body will naturally fill in those spots with bone. This is why my shoulder feels SO TIGHT. Because he tightened it. Makes sense.

Aside from that was the "divot" that had formed in my shoulder joint (He made a lot of golf references today--something of which I know nothing! HA). Because my shoulder had been dislocating repeatedly for so long (3 years), it had created a "pocket" in the joint. So not only was my shoulder dislocating, it would sometimes get caught in that "divot." So he had to fill in that divot with my own bone. I don't know where that extra "bone" came from; I'm not a doctor.

He ended up making 3 repairs to my shoulder in different locations. He said that kind of extensive shoulder repair doesn't happen very often. I'm so lucky! ???

The good news is that I am recovering as expected. He said he was not surprised that I still have a lot of pain and that I can't raise my arm on my own past eye level. He wasn't surprised that I feel like I'm not progressing very quickly. So I guess it's good that all that stuff is expected and I'm where I should be. He also said I should progress more in the next few weeks and if I don't, he'll want to put me under again and.... I didn't hear the rest of what he said because I was shaking my head no PLEASE NO.

The bad news (in my eyes...): I CAN'T DO CROSSFIT FOR ANOTHER 3 TO 6 MONTHS, possibly even more! When he told me that I felt like I was going to fall over. I THOUGHT I WAS ALMOST THERE! He said to work on core. I can run. I can do body-weight leg related stuff. BUT I CANNOT DO ANYTHING WITH MY SHOULDER other than what I do for physical therapy. He recommends I continue physical therapy for at least another 3 months.

So that's where I'm at right now. I am going to refrain from posting any more updates until I hit the 16 week mark. I'll continue to train for my half marathon, and I will continue going to the gym and doing ridiculous amounts of double unders and box jumps.

Recovery: I'M COMING FOR YOU.

Almost to 12 Weeks...

Well here's an update for all 2 of my fans (thanks husband and mom)...

I am a few days shy of the 12 week post-op mark. Goodness time is dragging! I have another follow-up with my doctor next Tuesday in which he will most likely send me to another 4 weeks of physical therapy. I made SO MUCH progress this week! Weeks 9-10 were so maddening. I felt like I was getting nowhere. And then this week, BAM, progress!! It feels so good! No, I still can't put my hair in a proper high pony-tail BUT I can give a [super soft] high five! Here are some things I can now cross off my goal list:

1. I'd like to be able to wash and fix my hair normally again. PLEASE! I can now mostly wash an fix my hair! High pony-tails are still hard, but I can do it (it just doesn't look very good..). I can, however, rock a low pony-tail, curl, straighten, and scrunch. BOOM.

2. Put on deodorant like a normal person...  YES THANK YOU! And shaving isn't quite as difficult anymore, either.

3. Sleep. Well... this one is about 50/50. On days I hit physical therapy pretty hard, I'm super sore and do not sleep well. Other days I take it easy and I sleep well enough.

4. I'd like to eliminate my fear of injury. I'm not worried anymore. Physical therapy HURTS, but it is definitely a different kind of pain and I'm so relieved.

5. Muscle ups. Still a long ways from this one.

6. Carry my son again. I love love LOVE being able to carry my big heavy sleeping baby to bed when he falls asleep on the couch. I still have to be careful but I can do it. Definitely my favorite thing. <3

Here's what's going on with fitness:

I am still training for my half marathon. I can run around 5 miles fairly easily. I don't think I'll have any problems staying with my training program!

I'm doing CrossFit again about 3 times a week on top of running. I modify 90% of the movements, which totally sucks, but it's better than nothing!

I am regaining muscle mass in my surgery arm! Physical therapy requires I do some weight training for my shoulder but it is suuuuuper light (I'm up to 3 lb dumbell curls! HA). So far I have had ZERO problems with this part of therapy. I still struggle big time with mobility, but that's normal (so they say). They keep telling me "We need to get you to 160 degrees by 12 weeks." This refers to how far back I can get my arm to go when I'm lying down. Last week I was at around 150, but since I made so much progress this week I think I'm almost there! We measure again on Monday.

And that's about it! I expect the next 4 weeks to show a TON of progress. I'll be back doing pullups and hang cleans and snatches and all the fun stuff in no time!

Oh, and for fun, here's a picture of my right [surgery] arm (top) versus my left arm (bottom):

10 Weeks Post Op

UUGHH Could time go any slower!?!? It has now been 10 weeks since surgery. Today I started my fourth week of physical therapy. I'm on schedule and doing well... but I'm nowhere near where I want to be!

The good news is that I get to start doing more this week. YAY! I mean really it isn't much (I'm up to 2 pound bicep curls...) BUT I did leave physical therapy looking like someone had mugged me in a dark alley, so that's gotta be a good sign. He did a lot of pulling and bending on my shoulder. I did a lot of yelling and some crying, and may have issued a few threats. I always leave feeling like they put my shoulder through a meat grinder. Must mean improvement!

In other news, I'm still training for my half marathon, slowly but surely. I'm up to 4 whole miles now! I'm also back to crossfit. Yea, you read that right! Basically all I can do is leg stuff and double unders, but it's so nice being back. I haven't missed the workouts (maybe a little...) but I have really REALLY missed working out with my group! It sucks having to modify everything, but I WILL get back to normal eventually!

In two weeks my physical therapist says I get to start doing the hard stuff (3 pound curls?) and I am SO excited. I asked if that meant I could practice muscle ups... he laughed at me before realizing I was serious. "Uhh, no..."

Physical Therapy Week One

One down, 5 (or more...) weeks to go! I started physical therapy for my shoulder last week. It HURTS... but all I can think through the pain is THIS IS TEMPORARY! My PT asked me what my goals are. I named off 1,000. Here's a few:

1. I'd like to be able to wash and fix my hair normally again. PLEASE! And other normal day to day things, like putting on clothes and not needing help to get them back off again. My husband has to help me all the time to get my work clothes off (I doubt he minds, really). Don't even get me started on sports bras--uuuggghhh

2. Put on deodorant like a normal person... do you have any idea how hard it is to put deodorant under your left arm using your LEFT ARM. Just give it a try, go ahead, I'll wait. Also annoying: shaving.

3. Sleep. I thought this problem would be solved once I was free from the sling. NOPE.

4. I'd like to eliminate my fear of injury. I spent the past 3+ years worrying I was making it worse (I was) and not pushing myself because of it. Turns out that fear was probably a good thing. But now, since I'm all "fixed," I'd like to stop worrying about it. I want to push myself during workouts without fear of "making it worse."

5. Muscle ups. This is so vain. But I just think if I can manage getting some bar muscle-ups with a torn ligament and unstable rotator cuff, SURELY I'll be able to get some ring muscle-ups once I'm healed! COME ON PRETTY PLEASE!

6. Carry my son again. He's about to turn 6 and while he's small for his age, he still surpasses my 0.5 lb lifting limit. :( I miss being able to pick him up and give him hugs. I mean yes I still hug him and love on him, but so many times over the past 2 months he walks up to me and wants me to pick  him up, and I couldn't do it. I can't wait to get that back.

That's it for now! Basically I just want to get back what I had and MORE! Dreaming big here!

6 Weeks Post Surgery

I am so giddy I can hardly stand it! It has officially been 6 weeks since my HAGL repair! I am now DONE wearing the hideous black sling! Here is an update of what my future holds:

The doctor said that I can begin running and doing light exercising as long as it doesn't risk me falling (he doesn't know me very well--I risk falling any time my feet hit the floor).

I will begin physical therapy next week! I don't know how often I'll have to go, maybe twice a week? Who cares--I start NEXT WEEK! I will go for 6 weeks and then go back for another checkup with my surgeon. And then--they'll decide. He said it's likely I'll have to continue PT but at a higher intensity.

I can start lifting and doing CrossFit again in anywhere from 8-12 weeks, depending on how physical therapy goes. I'm kinda bummed but then again, this will allow me to focus on other things I've been neglecting, like cardio and my core. Because he said I could start running again as long as I'm safe, that's what I'll do! I have signed up for the OKC Half Marathon which is 16 weeks away! I've already put together my training schedule which starts (drum roll...) tomorrow! I've run the OKC Half before... but I didn't train for it last time. Oops. I promised to never ever make that mistake again! EVER.

So here I am, out of the sling and mentally preparing for what lies ahead!

I am SOOO excited to be sling-free!!! 

Look at that poor, sad little (HA) sling. It misses me already. I do not feel the same.

Cheers and AROO to the next 6 weeks! 

Where Have I Been!?

I happened to stumble across my own blog a few days ago and realized it has been almost TWO YEARS since I last posted. WHAT!? I can tell you exactly WHY I've been absent for so long: In June 2014, I took a job as a school librarian and BOOM, 100% of my time was devoted to serving my school and students. Then, in May of 2016, I was relieved of this position due to state budget cuts. Here I am, January 2017, with a different full time job that, at 5 o'clock each day, allows me to go home and just BE. No more spending every waking hour thinking about school and lesson plans and book lists and awards and grants and projects. Seriously, I had no idea how busy and stressed I was until I was no longer busy and stressed! And someday (when the budget crisis improves) I plan on going back to it. But for now... I love where I'm at! Especially since it allows to me focus more on fitness and writing!

So--what have I been up to gym-wise? Still at it! I've been doing CrossFit now for... almost 3 years? I've done a couple of team competitions, ran a few more 5Ks and 10Ks... But, right now, I'm actually in an arm sling. That shoulder injury from a long, long time ago? It turns out it was much MORE than just a deltoid strain. Apparently I suffered a HAGL tear. Don't ask me to get all technical and explain, cuz I have no idea. All I know is that I had a torn ligament that required surgery. And because I didn't have it fixed way back when, it caused major destabilization of my rotator cuff which also had to be fixed. I had my shoulder scoped November 30, 2016.

Before going under, the doctor told me that there was a chance that they would go in with the camera and find nothing. After years of pain (and never improving on any lift that required my shoulders), I was so afraid they would find nothing and I would just have to live with it. Good news was they found the problems and fixed them, bad news was that I would have to wear a sling for 6 weeks at which time I can start physical therapy to rehabilitate my shoulder. I'm at 5 weeks right now! My plan is to periodically update here on my progress with PT as well as getting back into CF.

There is so much more I could update here, but I'll save it since A) hardly anyone ever reads my blog anyway and B) it's really hard to type wearing a sling! Cheers!

"Run and Be Happy"

Since I started running a few years ago I've accrued several medals. Okay yes, most of them are participation medals, but still. And I've never had a designated area just for my medals. Some were hanging alongside my jewelry, some from my car's rear view mirror, and many in my office.

The other day I found a picture on Pinterest of the letters "R U N N I N G." Each letter had hooks in order to hang race medals. Cool! (Click here to see that one!) So that was my inspiration. I wanted to use the letters "R U N" for mine (because 3 letters versus 7 letters sounded like less work!) and use bigger letters. So I went to my local craft store... and they didn't have any wooden letters thick enough for the job. So I improvised and used a decorative block of wood. Then I thought, "Why not go ahead and put on quote on there?" So I did.

I painted it gray, added some brown around the edges, sanded it to made it look more rustic, used a Cricket to cut out the letters, added some rolled paper flowers, a few sparkly gems, some hooks, and voila! My very own designated place JUST for MY medals! 

The only thing left to do is round up the rest of my medals! 

Happy Running!

Another Half

Wellllllll... I completed my second half marathon! It was miserable! I thought I was going to die! Let's do it again!

A couple weeks ago, I completed the OKC Memorial half. I started training a few months before and had been doing really well. I gotten up to running 7-8 miles comfortably, so I figured I wouldn't have any problems. Then life happened (and I got lazy, too) and my training became pretty much nonexistent. I was still going to the gym doing crossfit maybe 3 times a week, but that obviously wasn't adequate half marathon training.

Three. That's how many times I ran during the month before the half, totaling a whopping  14.26 miles. Yikes! So the whole week before the Big Day, I knew I was doomed. But I figured Hey, if I can do a 6 hour, 15 mile Spartan Race, surely I can go out and do a 13.1, even if I have to walk some (uh maybe most) of it.

I drove up by myself on Saturday evening and stayed with one of the fitness coaches from my gym who was also running the half. Seriously I don't know what I would do if I didn't have people all around me always stepping up to take care of me! We woke up early Sunday morning, got ready, and went to the race. Then it started raining, and then there was some lightening, and then they made the announcement that they were going to delay the start time for 30 minutes. Everyone (thousands and thousands of us) piled into nearby parking garages so we wouldn't get rained on. We sat on the dirty concrete floor, and then the start was delayed again. And again. And again. I was beginning to hope (oops, I mean worry) that they were going to just cancel it. After two hours of weather delays, though, we finally got started! Granted I was still in the parking garage when the actual horn sounded, but I wasn't exactly "racing" anyway.

I got to the start line maybe 15 minutes later and started out with a slower-than-grandma-who-just-had-her-hip-replaced pace. Because of the rain, and the rising temperature, it was HUMID. I was literally drenched in my own sweat by mile 4. And all the people around me, oh my word! Thousands and thousands of runners, weaving in and out, elbow to elbow, tripping, jumping, sprinting, walking... it was insane and wonderful! I've never experienced anything quite like it.

Around mile 6 I knew I was in trouble. My legs were already so tired. My ankles and hips were getting stiff and painful.  I decided I would walk when I reached mile 7, but somehow I missed that mile marker and ended up getting to mile 8. That's when my run/walk combo began. Run a mile, walk a half, run a mile, walk a quarter... oh my hips were DYING. I ran the last two miles (although I'm not sure you could call it running...) and finished with a time of 2:45:39, about 30 minutes slower than my first half! But considering I wasn't exactly prepared... I am pretty proud of myself.

However, this I vow to myself: I will NEVER EVER EVER run a race without training for it EVER again. EVER. While I did survive, and I was able to run about 11 miles of it without passing out... I paid for it BIG TIME for an entire week. My right hip needed replacing, I'm sure of it. HA! And my ankles felt like there were grapefruits stuck inside them, dying to explode. And then there's my shoulder. It just seems so WRONG that running hurts all over! The night after the race, when I finally laid down in bed, I couldn't fall asleep because of the throbbing in my shoulder, of all things!

The best part about my day was probably after it was all over. LOL I went to IHOP by myself afterwards and drank coffee and ate pancakes. Then I had to drive two hours to meet my parents in order to pick up my son. We met at a convenient store and I told my dad I really really wanted a Mt. Dew and a peanut rounder. Mmmmmmmm... so he went in and came out with a paper bag that I assumed contained my goodies. After we said our goodbyes and they drove off, I opened the bag. My dad does NOT disappoint. Inside was a LITER of Mt. Dew and TWO peanut rounders. You better believe I drank the entire bottle and ate both those little suckers.

Nearly three weeks later, I feel pretty much normal again... just in time for the Super Spartan which is in TWO DAYS. What can I say? I just really like torturing myself.