Waiting

Not gone. Just waiting.

I finally got in for an MRI yesterday, but I won't know the results till Tuesday or so. The orthopedic thinks it might be a meniscus fracture (a very easy and mild surgery to fix it). He can push on both sides of my meniscus, and it hurts real bad! If it's not a fracture, the meniscus simply isn't getting enough circulation/oxygen for some reason and so is inflamed. The cure? Oh, two or three weeks off. I resisted the urge to yell at him that it's been five months. Let's just see what the pictures say, first, shall we?

Interestingly, Tim has a fractured meniscus in the opposite knee. Think there's any chance of a two-for-one deal at the surgery super-store?

Erin Concedes

Gait analysis reveals I don't pronate. Great. Fantastic. Back to the drawing board.

The chiros think it's one of two things:
I really messed myself up running hard in shoes made for pronators--they correct for a problem I don't have. Or, I'm still sort of altitude sick and cannot heal until I go back down. Still, after a year and a half at 10,000 feet, I'm still doing that high-altitude breathing thing. This could be causing nerve damage because I'm not getting enough oxygen. The second explanation makes sense when we consider that my injury changes by week and we just seem to chase it around my leg, never getting to the cause and never fully getting rid of the pain.

Sooooo.....time for the MRI. I'm going to see a knee specialist. See if he has any other ideas or agrees with the chiros. But mostly I want to see what's going on in there--see if I have any real damage or if there are clues to the cause.

If the cause really is altitude, it's something I'll just have to continue to struggle with until we leave in June.

Bye-bye, marathon.

Gait Analysis: Last Ditch Effort

Tim and I are going to DC this week for his cousin's wedding. While there, I'm making one last attempt to heal in time to train for this marathon. I'm looking for a store where I can have a gait analysis--I'm worried I've got pronation issues and either need orthotics or different shoes or both.

When we get back from DC marks the date that I can still begin the training plan with enough time before the race. Currently, I'm running about 3 days a week, swimming two. My knee hurts me off and on, but not during running, which makes me think I must be re-doing something while running, and it hurts later because it gets inflamed. For about a week before I started running again, it was totally fine--didn't hurt at all. Now it seems to be coming back. That's why I think I may be re-injuring with my foot-plant and shoes.

At this point, I need a miracle cure--and shoes/orthotics might be it. If not, I'm going for that MRI to see if surgery is the only option left.

I'm getting to a point where I'm okay with what's going to happen. I don't think it's permanent--it can be cured. And while I might not reach my 30th birthday goal I set for this year, there's still plenty of things I can do in my 30th year of life (and beyond)--including the Intercontinental Marathon in Istanbul in October. I can run from Europe to Asia in one race. And that's rad. I also still plan on doing several shorter races in Colorado this summer. I can certainly get my fix that way too, and just work on the distance from there.

I still have hope and a good outlook. I'm thankful for what I'm able to do with my body and so I can be patient with whatever hiccup it's having right now. It'll be okay.

4 on the 4th

This post is happening now because that's how excited I am about getting back to Colorado for the summer, as soon as possible!!! I have missed Colorado, like I've missed skiing--like something has been misplaced. Like my leg.

Anyhoo, if you will be in the Boulder area on July 4th, you are coming to run Avery Brewing Company's 4 on the 4th with me! Don't worry, it's just a 4k and there's free beer. You can register at Active for, I think, $25.
This is not a suggestion.
This is what you are doing.

Erin Can Run!

Not very far, and not very fast, but I can do it! I ran two days in a row and don't hurt! Well, okay, my butt and hamstrings are sore, but my knee is not. Oh happiness. Eyes are back on the prize, but I am taking it easy and sticking to two days a week in the pool. And not just running in the water. I'm going to swim. It's been nice getting back into swimming. I thought I'd be incredibly bored but there's something so zen about cool water, muffled sound, and just counting, 1, 2, 3, breathe, 1, 2, 3, breathe....

Getting back up to my favorite place in Quito, Parque Metropolitano, was like a homecoming. Oh how I missed it so. And so, here is my ode to Metropolitano:

Parque Metropolitano, how I love thee--
Let me count the ways:
I love how the bad weather stops at your backside,
covers up Guapulo, but you keep it from swallowing my house.
I love your eucalyptus tree leaves
that rustle like the paper I separate before printer insertion.
I love you when the city is smoggy
because you are not.
I love your endless possibilities,
your miles of deserted trails that wind
connect, separate, disappear and reappear.
I love it when you give me a tan.
I love it that you're like a vacation.
I love it when the sun shines through you leaves
and the patterns and smells remind me of spring time in NC.
I love it that the citizens love you,
donate tax money to keep you clean,
and that they come in droves to celebrate you on the weekends.
But mostly, I love it that you give me a taste of home--
dirt trails, clean air, a beautiful place to run.
Thank you Parque Metropolitano,
for being a mere 5 minutes walk from my house.

Knee Progress

I just had a great appointment with the chiropractic team yesterday and we finally got to the root of some major problems. Turns out I've been carrying perma-cramp around in my calves for who knows how many years. Plus, the muscles in the back of my legs are so tight and so much stronger than the fronts, that they fight with my lats making my left leg tighten up to the point of being shorter than the other. So additionally, what's been going on in the back of my legs pulls my fibula out of it's rightful place--part of what pulls my knee-cap off where it's supposed to run. All of that causes me to walk and run without moving my hip. I almost swing my leg around because the back is too tight to allow follow-through. Crazy the things you learn about yourself.

So we had a long session of breaking down the muscles, putting bones back into place and some walking re-training. Seriously, I have to train myself how to walk properly. And when I walk the right way, I have zero pain in my knee. Freaking miracle. So, I'm first going to try a long walk in the park, and then, this week....wait for it.......I'm going to attempt to run on land!

I learned that I can swim and run in the water with no pain. So that and some core muscle work and stretching is about the extent of what I've been doing. I was so glad to learn that I can swim and run in the water without pain--Because that means that I can do part of my training in the water while I'm still healing up. I mean, it's not ideal and boring as all get-out, but at least I can do some form of running.

I think we're also on the verge of having our future figured out, so that will cause way less stress and tightening. My inability to relax may really be my biggest problem.

In Which Erin is Shit-Canned After Two Glasses of Wine

I've hit an all new tolerance low. Cheap drunk? Sure. How about, can't hang and has to be put to bed at 9:00 after what's a normal dinner for most? Yikes. My reputation is ruined. They'll no longer call me "Booze." They'll call me "Snooze."

In celebration of a full-week of strict diet, I went ahead and had that second glass. Wouldn't you? The good news is that it totally prepared me for my entire PINT of beer for Super Bowl Sunday. I am sooooo living on the edge.

But in all seriousness, I feel better than I have in years.

Additional pluses: I can swim AND deep water run without it hurting my knee. And the pool is walking distance. And I have a friend to go with so I don't bore myself to drowning.

Also, my knee has felt markedly better the last two days. And I was getting slightly hysterical. But things seem to be healing up in there.

Also, in the past, when I've been injured or was on some running hiatus, I wouldn't change how I was eating and would of course gain a good bit of weight which would in turn make me uber depressed and I would eat more. I am now officially avoiding that cycle.

I was right in the last post. I could almost see this being a life-style sort of thing. Now that I'm used to it, it's easy to only eat what I'm supposed to. I don't crave anything. I give this whole enterprise my stamp of approval.

Now, when the time comes, perhaps I will be able to train with the same sort of discipline my diet has required.....