Philadelphia Marathon here I come!

I did it! I finally signed up for a marathon! 

This is something I honestly never even thought I would come close to doing so it should be an interesting 29 weeks of training (assuming I am cleared to run by May). I realize there is a high change I will not be able to complete this race. There are so many questions marks right now- will be knees hold up for 26.2 miles? will be hip stop being sore by the time I need to start training? will I be cleared for running in time to start training? will it be too much from starting at ground zero? At least signing up gives me the option to try. 

I had some ups and downs this weekend. The up: adding miles, time, and speed to my recumbent bike ride.

It felt great. Planning on doing the recumbent bike three times this week, 15 minutes each. If things go well then I will keep adding time. I am also going to try out the spin bikes at the gym. If I want to get into cycling I think I need to see how I hold up on a spin bike first. Now the down: I walked .3 miles from my friend's house to a restaurant, sat for 4 hours then walked .3 miles back to my friend's house. The walk to the restaurant felt fine, but I could tell I was getting to my limit. The last .3 miles really did my hip in. It felt sore and needed to be rested into the next day. It is very frustrating to know my muscles could handle the .6 total miles but my hip is not there yet. With the bone healing I had a timeline, but with the soreness I just have to wait and see. This all just makes me very nervous about my race I plan to walk at the end of April. I downgraded to the New Jersey Half Marathon relay and will be walking 6.4 miles.... or at least I hope to be. I know I can prepare my muscles in time, but the wildcard is still the hip.

Plan for this week: research bicycles, decide on October race, look into road bike races in the mid-Atlantic. 

Another big week of firsts

This week has brought two big firsts- walking unassisted and driving! Completing both means I am fully independent now :) I have a slight limp although when I concentrate and don't walk slowly I think it goes away. The limp has decreased during the week. The PT suggested wearing supportive shoes and keeping one crutch around in case I get tired. Frankly, it is more tiring to use the crutches than it is to walk on my own two feet!

The PT also thinks I should progress really well since I am in shape (very out of shape for me!). Another PT who hadn’t seen me in a month saw me walking around and was very impressed. It is little things like this that make me feel like my hard work is paying off.

Walking unassisted was my next goal in the recovery process. There are a number of smaller goals I want to achieve to get to my next big one: running. There is no magic week for me to get back to running. The PT said it will depend on how my body responds and progresses. I wish I could have some number to aim for, but for now my personal goal is to start running sometime in May. I decided running 9 miles for the Hibiscus 15k was not going to be possible so I switched to the 5 miler. It is a much more realistic goal,

I also am assuming by summer I will be running and able to train so I signed up for my first half of the fall! Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Philly.

I really wish I could do a marathon in November, but is it too much considering I just started walking at the end of March? Pre-injury my knees were acting up on longer runs. The weeks of rest could have helped heel my knees as well…. Since I did not get into the Marine Corps Marathon (I hate race lotteries!), there are two Marathons I am looking at: Philadelphia Marathon and the Harrisburg Marathon. The good thing about the Philly Marathon is that I might be able to down grade to the half if I feel like I would not be able to complete the full. Has anyone done the Philly Marathon? 

Every day I'm shuffling

The orthopedist said over the next seven to ten days I need to ease weight onto my leg. The first couple of days I used two crutches to put some weight on but not quite an even amount. I started practicing using just one crutch and by Thursday I was only using one crutch. The switch to one crutch has really improved my life. I can shower by myself and carry things with my free hand.  This means I can organize my laundry, wash dishes, do basic cleaning, etc.

There are still a lot of challenges. When lying on my side, I can barely lift my leg. My inner and outer thigh muscles are pretty weak right now. My leg gets stiff after keeping still all night. I have very little flexibility twisting my leg. Somewhat disappointing considering one of my favorite stretches is the yoga position pigeon. 

working hard in PT

The next phase in my recovery is to be to walk unassisted. The PT said we will try this on Monday. Each day has been easier and easier to walk so I am very optimistic that I will be able to achieve this. The doctor did say I am cleared for no and low impact exercising so I managed to *slowly* do the recumbent bike as well as some arms and abs exercises. It was amazing to feel somewhat normal. 

gotta start somewhere

This has also motivated me to look into triathlons. I can work on cycling and swimming to get me back into shape and train. I have NO experience in either so I started searching for the smallest triathlon I could find. Here are some I am debating:

Maxon Dixon Sprint- .5 mile swim, 18 miles bike, 3.1 miles run

PA Warrior Tri & Du- .4 mile swim, 12.5 mile bike, 3 mile run (also optional 3 mile run instead of swim)

Keystone State Triathlon Super Sprint- .25 mile swim, 9 mile bike, and 2 mile run

TriRock Philadelphia Triathlon Sprint- 800 meters swim, 15.7 miles bike, and 3.1 mile run

7 weeks down...

Taking baby steps (literally)

Happy St. Patrick's Day indeed! Today was the big day. I had my six week checkup with my orthopedist doctor. After a few x-rays, he confirmed that new bone had formed and I was cleared for weight bearing on my right leg. I am suppose to ease into putting more and more weight on my leg, but this is a huge first step. The healing phase was a long one, but now I can focus on walking again. I am not cleared for running or anything with impact for awhile, however, I can start walking and exercising. 

Once I was at home, I started putting *some* weight on my leg. I put half my weight once to make sure I did not have any sharp pains in my hip (something the doctor said to look out for). For now I am using the crutches to slowly start putting more and more weight on that leg. My foot is very tingly and sensitive, but with more movement and less swelling I imagine that will go away soon. 

I am not afraid of working hard or being sore. Hopefully the PT will push me as hard as she can that is still safe. Ready to start phase two of my recovery!

Quick update

A brief update- I am almost at a full 6 weeks since the accident. My hip feels great with minimal discomfort. I can sneeze, cough, and laugh without any issues. My rib still is sore and has been acting up a bit. My back however is not much better. There is swelling in the lower back which I have been icing a few times a day. I tried longer hours at work and with ice, kept the lower back pain to a minimum. Monday is my big appointment with the ortho. I imagine x-rays will be done and then he will determine if I can start putting weight on my leg. PT has really been helpful with my muscles so I am very hopeful I will be walking soon :)

Will update more on Monday when I know more!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

Blog posts are slightly irregular since there is not much to report while I am still healing. I’m at 4 ½ weeks into the 6 to 8 weeks. PT has been really helping. Yesterday while laying down I was able to move my leg to the right and back. It was a huge accomplishment since previously I could barely move it to the side without any pain. My muscles definitely feel sore from being used. My foot is still sensitive. I rarely if ever put a shoe on. It still looks a couple of shades darker than my good side.

(sorry, not the most attractive feet!)

It is a weird feeling but I can tell the bones are getting better. Coughing does not hurt (although I can still feel it in my hip). My pelvic bone doesn’t have any pain when getting up and down. It does not hurt as much to flip onto my stomach to sleep. I still feel like I’m sitting on something so there are definitely a couple of weeks to go. It just gives me some hope that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I was able to go back to work for a couple of hours. It felt great to get out of the house and get some sense of normalcy. Unfortunately working a full 10 hours a day does not seem possible yet. My back muscles get sore after a few hours. I wish I knew how long that phase would last…

With everything going on I hope to do the DUI Victims Memorial 10k in May. I feel after my experience it is important to do.  I highly suggest doing a run for charity. It is a different kind of motivation.

find more info at http://padui.org/

Counting down the days until I get back to running!