degan's Blog

It's All Over...No Marathon For Me.

degan — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:06:35 -0700

I never thought it would turn out like this. All along, I was waiting for the turning point, and knowing that it would be when my hip started to heal and I could run again. At no point did I think that it was all going to turn to shit. And yet somehow, it has.

Last Friday I wanted to write a post, because I was still radioactive from having my bone scan done on my hip. And although the process was mostly boring, it's still not an everyday thing to be able to say you're radioactive. The fun wore off yesterday, however, when I got home from a roadtrip to my grandpa's funeral and got the results back. Turns out I do have a stress fracture for real and my doctor wants me off of that leg STAT. She made me get crutches to keep my weight off of it, and has ordered a CT scan for me next week. Depending on how far into the bone it's fractured, it means that I will either get to sit on the couch for the next 2 months, or I may have to have some pins put in it.

It also means that I can't go in the marathon, not even to walk it. When my doctor told me that - that there was no way it would heal enough in 6 weeks - the tears were instinctual, but over the last 24 hours it has been slowly sinking in what this exactly means. I'm not sure when the last time was that I worked on something for a year as hard as I did for this, and now it's all for nothing. All that running and cross-training and fundraising and energies spent on running that marathon in Athens are all over and there's nothing I can do about it. I will not be crossing that finish line in the greek stadium, and I'm just devastated by that thought.

At least I will still be going to Greece, and at least the Arthritis Society will still appreciate all the money I raised for them. I'm sure there are some other points that will shine through, but it's going to take me a while to see them. The worst of it now is the waiting. I was throwing everything I had at this, going to physio and accupuncture and the chiropractor and swimming and working out and meditating, and now I have to just sit on the couch. That's something I'm not very good at, I'm afraid. And the knowledge that this will only get better after I am in a really bad mood for a couple of weeks isn't really helping either.

On the fundraising front, I raised $5171 dollars for Arthritis Research, which is 91% of what I needed. The amount I was required to raise was $5700 but I can't imagine that I will feel like asking people to sponsor me now, so I paid the rest of it myself today. If anyone would like to donate, it is still possible (just click the link above), or you can donate to my sister. I'm not shutting down the blog just yet, but I'm not sure how much more I'm going to have to say on here, so if you want to get a hold of me, you can do that at deganb AT gmail DOT com.

Cheers,

~Degan.

A Test...Not Exactly Passed

degan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:48:23 -0700

So I went for a run last night. Just a little one - once around the mulch track at China Creek park - but it didn't go as well as I had hoped. I had been feeling better and, planning this little test days in advance, I pictured myself falling right back into stride as if nothing had ever happened, going on to complete the 6 K at tempo that was on my running schedule for yesterday. Of course that didn't happen. I wasn't really expecting it to. That would have been some kind of miracle.

But I was also not expecting my hip to start hurting - throbbing actually - just 5 strides into my test run. I finished the lap (about 400 m, I think) and the pain never got any worse, but it certainly didn't go away either.

To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. Devastated is more like it. I've been good about resting and haven't ran for a month now, but I was counting on this being all cleared up by September so that I could still have 2 solid months of training and now that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

To make matters worse, I'm not even sure what the next steps are. I'm going to get my doctor to order a bone scan to determine if it actually is a fracture and if it is then all I can do it rest some more. If it isn't then I guess we need to try something new, but who knows what. I'm already throwing everything I have at this and it's going no where.

I also thought that I would be able to meet my fundraising goal by the due date, which is the end of August, but I'm still $850 off. Part of that is because I haven't felt very confident asking people to sponsor my marathon when it's pretty clear I'm having trouble walking.

Blah. At least it's sunny today. And hot. Too bad there is a big storm cloud over my head right now.

Best Ever Hair Elastics

degan — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:18:50 -0700

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and a journey of 26.2 miles begins with having your hair in order. OK, maybe not really. That might be a little extreme, but it is no joke that I would become completely undone around mile # 24 if I had to keep dealing with hair flapping in my face. Thanks to these new hair elastics, I can re-route that energy into concentrating on staying upright.

At the Diva on the Run 10 K we got 2 sample hair elastics in our race package and they were so superb at holding all the little bits of hair in place that I immediately resolved to buy stock in Goody and throw out the 10,000 crappy elastics I have in my bathroom at the moment. Since there were only 2, I was hoarding them, but now I have found them in the drugstore and there are several things that please me even more:

-they come in hair matching colours (blond, brunette, red and black) in 2 shades.

-they have a package that folds back in on itself so that the hair elastics don't immediately start escaping all over the place.

So anyways, they are awesome. Best hair elastics ever.

Training Starts Today

degan — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 08:50:04 -0700

I'm still not able to run, or put too much weight on my right leg, because of the possible stress fracture in my hip, but it also occurred to me that I don't necessarily have to be doing nothing either.

I was doing ok with the rest, trying to accept it and focus on recovering instead of the wasted training days, but this weekend I started to lose my patience. I was starting to get angry that it was taking so long, angry that this had to happen after all the work I've put into it and angry that things might actually not turn out the way I want them too.

Looking at my running schedule, I've actually only been off my feet for 2 weeks (feels like much longer), so that was a pleasant surprise, but there are also only 10 weeks left of training after this one - and who knows how much more "rest" I'm going to need?

So I've allowed myself to be frustrated and angry and depressed this weekend and today I'm moving forward. Even if I can't run, I can work on my core strength, I can swim (apparently the YWCA is open, so I will check that out), I can continue to consider myself "in-training" (meaning getting lots of sleep and eating well) and I can work on my mental preparedness. If my running training is not where it should be, then maybe one of these other things will help get me through the 42 K.

Word From the Doc - it's Likely a Stress Fracture

degan — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:21:30 -0700

Not really knowing what was wrong with my hip, I was trying everything -acupuncture, physio, chiropractor, heat, ice, various anti-inflammatories, whatever, but today the physiotherapist repeated an idea that he had had at the last meeting - that it sounds like a stress fracture. Apparently the main clues to this are that it is common in runners (more on that in a second) and that eventhough it seems to be healing, I still have trouble standing on the injured leg. The clue that would have been clinched it would be if I was woken up in the night with pain, and although that hasn't happened yet, I did get up to pee in the middle of the night last night and could barely walk.

Ugh.

So I've done some poking around the internet today and I have to say he's got something there. It does sound an awful lot like a stress fracture.

A stress fracture is a thin crack in the bone that develops over time, due to repeated impact. It will worsen over time and is not detectable by X-ray, at least at first, and can only be seen with an MRI or bone scan.

Stress fractures are most common in runners, more than any other injury, and especially in long distance runners. And according to e-orthopod, apparently women are 10 times more likely than men to get them.

From the same site, a bit about how it happens:

"Doctors think that putting extreme stress on the bone over and over again causes stress fractures of the hip...Bones can usually adapt to repetitive stress, and any change in the function of a bone causes it to change the way it is built...The tendons pull on these areas, and the bone adapts by building up. This is normal. But extreme stress repeated too often can overwhelm the bone's ability to adapt. This is especially true when someone suddenly begins a new, strenuous, repetitive activity such as running."

The American College of Foot and Ankle Orthopedics and Medicine also has some good information on the cause:

The more you work out, the more impact your muscles have to absorb in order to protect your bones. After a certain amount of time, your muscles become fatigued, and the impact gets transferred to the bone. Repeated stress to the bone eventually results in a small crack that can become bigger and bigger (and more and more painful) if it is ignored.

So what's the cure? Apparently I am already doing it. Rest, rest and more rest. No running, not too much walking or standing, just sitting on my ass waiting for it to get better. And I'm told it will get better - actually it already has this week - but now it's just going to be a timing game to see how long I need to rest and how much cramming I can do before the marathon without injuring it again.

The ACFAOM also gives a word of caution that was useful to me, since I found myself in the same situation just today:

It’s natural to want to get back to your normal activities as soon as possible. Stress fractures will begin to mend relatively quickly, as long as the patient is resting the injured area. As soon as the bone starts to knit, the pain will become noticeably less aggravating. Many people, upon discovering that their pain isn’t as severe when they stand or walk, will immediately want to do just that. Remember that as long as you can feel pain - any pain at all - the bone is still fragile in that area, and is susceptible to a repeat of the same break, in the same place...You won’t heal a fracture by adding to the stress on the bone. That was how it broke in the first place.

So I took a cab home today and skipped the yoga class I was going to attempt. On the one hand, I feel better knowing that I have a direction to go in, some kind of idea of what might be wrong (and why), but on the hand, it's just depressing news and I'm not pleased with the diagnosis.

But I am nothing if not an optimist and I faithfully sent off my marathon registration this week anyways. I may be doing it a lot slower than I originally thought, but I'm still doing it.

A Round-up of Updates

degan — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:42:57 -0700

The Hip Update: I am entering week 3 of this pain in the ass - I mean hip - and no running and even though I have now been to both the Acupuncturist and the Physiotherapist and they were encouraging, I am still kind of depressed to be losing this much ground on my training. There is still a dull ache in my hip at all times, which turns into a sharp pain when I walk too much or climb stairs or sit too long or get in and out of the car. I am still hobbling around like an old granny, and I still can't run. The physio asked me to jump up and down on my sore leg and I just looked at him in horror, since at the moment it takes a serious amount of bracing just to put my sock on in the morning.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, I guess. I went to acupuncture last Thursday and it was my first time trying it, but I have to say, I was quite enthralled with the whole process and I like that this type of medicine looks at more than just the injured part. Andrea is also lovely so encouraging that I left feeling quite hopeful that everything will be OK come November 4th. She recommended a bunch of homeopathic remedies for me to take to reduce the inflammation in my hip, so I've been taking those religiously and I'm going back tonight for a second treatment.

Physio, I went to on Friday and although I felt like the guy helping me was more than qualified, I could have done with a little more enthusiasm and fuller answers to my questions. But, he did give me some strengthening exercises to do and I am going back there the day after tomorrow for session #2. He thinks it may be a stress fracture, which introduced a new worry...what do you do then? But for now we're working on the muscle and if it doesn't heal, then we will get a bone scan to check out the possibility of a fracture.

He also told me that I am way out of alignment in my hip and back, which may have contributed to this pain in the first place, but when I asked him if I should go to the Chiropractor, he was against it, because he thinks the muscles should learn to align themselves on their own. Rightly so, but I don't see why I can't put myself back into alignment *and* teach my muscles at the same time, so I booked an appointment with Leanne's chiropractor. He works in Guildford, so it's going to be a pain in the ass to get to, but apparently he's really good and also runs triathlons himself, so I trust him to not screw me up while I'm in training.

Ugh. I hate that I have a whole bunch of new business cards on my desk, all to do with a stupid injury, but there's nothing left to be done except throw everything I can at it. I'm really not the "sitting around and despairing" type.

The good news? My X-ray came back from the doctor as free of any conjunctive abnormalities in my hip structure, although I can't really say that I was expecting otherwise.

The Fundraising Update: Good news in the fundraising update! I've now reached 84% of my fundraising goal! That means that I have only $904 left to raise, which is a significant amount still, considering the final due date of $5700 is only 2 weeks away, but it's also down to under $1000, and I am just so excited about that! The end is near friends!

We had a fundraising pub night party on Saturday and even though it was an awful lot of work, I think it worked out well. There was a good turnout and people got some really good deals on silent auction stuff. And it was fun! Next time though, I think we will have a bbq at Jericho beach. A little more casual and a little less prep work.

Anyways, next up we have another liquor store to canvas on September 1st - at Peninsula Village in White Rock - and then a bbq at M&M Meats in Langley on September 22nd. Please come out and say hello if you're close by!

You can go here to see my fundraising progress, or if you would like to contribute.

thanks!

Pain and Dread

degan — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:41:18 -0700

After hurting my hip during last Sunday's long run, I attempted and aborted a 6 K run, skipped a 10 K run, and moved the 8 K run to the treadmill and instead of going away, it is getting increasingly more painful. Where it used to only hurt well into a run, now it aches all the time and I have trouble with stairs and chairs and balancing on one foot. Running is out clearly and I've now moved into Level 2 of worrrying.

Level 1 is where you ice it and rest it and take plenty of advil, perhaps also your girlfriend's prescription anti-inflammatory and ignore the pain hoping and expecting that it will go away soon. During that time you also solicit opinions from everyone you know and they tell you to get new shoes, get a trainer, run barefoot, go to the doctor, go to the sports doctor, go to the acupuncturist, go to the chiropractor and to stop whining.

Level 2 is where you bring in the experts. And since my Running Room-supplied trainer is on holidays and I've never had a sports injury before, I started with my family doctor. She made me get an x-ray (in case I have a congenital hip problem) and referred me to physio. On the way back to the office I also made an appointment with the acupuncturist, because I figured it couldn't hurt, and I'm thinking of throwing the chiropractor in there for good measure as well.

Normally this is strange behavior for me. I don't like doctors and their ilk, and usually I put off going until I have exhausted every other option, but with a strict training schedule to keep on top of, I need to get this thing licked RIGHT NOW and I'm willing to go to whatever lengths necessary so I don't fall any further behind.

The worst thing is that I can't even do swimming as cross-training because the pools are all closed!

Achey Breaky Body

degan — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:37:22 -0700

Yesterday was a bad day for my body. I had a reasonably good day, but my body didn't really, and I am still aching today. I started off with my 16 K run yesterday AM, early. It was going super well because I bought a new watch (yes, I am in full shopping mode these days, at least in terms of running things) that has linked timers, but then when I was about half way done, I got a terrible pain in my hip that I couldn't stretch out, no matter how hard I tried. And I did try hard. it seemed to me like it would feel better if I could open my hip at a 90 degree angle, so I hooked my foot into a park bench and kind of hung upside down in a twisty position. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I fell on my ass a few seconds later and to add insult to injury, the pain in my hip did not go away.

I tried to run on it anyways, but it became kind of excruciating and I was limping, so I ended up walking a lot of the way back - something I was REALLY hoping to not have to do, considering that I'm already behind in my training, but anyways. And now that it's still hurting a day later, I don't actually think it's something that can be stretched out. It feels like it might be on the joint or something. I want to say my rotator cuff, but I'm pretty sure that's not in your hip. Anyways.

In the afternoon we went to a bbq at the dog park for Sofia's dog class and I got attacked by some weird biting insect that seemed to love me, so we left there and went downtown, where the sole came off of my shoe and I landed flat on my ass (second time in one day) on the sidewalk, legs ungracefully splayed and skinned knees and feet bleeding. Ack!

Somewhere in there I also had a nasty headache.

So today I am stiff, achey, itchy, limping, bleeding, scratching and thanking my lucky stars that this is an "OFF" day on my training calendar. The most beautiful word in the English language...

A Bit of Advice, for Women

degan — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 08:34:57 -0700

OMG, DO NOT EVER DO BENCH PRESSES AND CHEST EXCERCISES AND THEN THE NEXT DAY GO FOR A RUN! DO NOT DO IT! NOT EVEN THE BEST SPORTS BRA IN THE WORLD WILL BE ABLE TO HELP YOU!!!!

ouchies.

Running and Running and Running and ... Fundraising

degan — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:49:14 -0700

Now that I've found my running schedule, I figured I may as well post it. Then I can have a good look at it every day and make sure I'm on track. Today is an "OFF" day (what glorious words) but because I'm in serious catch-up mode I went to the gym AND a yoga class. Running will resume tomorrow. Phew, that was close.

In fundraising news, I have the weekend off to visit friends, but my sister will be working the Spirit of Edmonds in Burnaby. There's going to be a street party, car show and sounds like some other fun stuff and she's going to be giving away freezees with a donation to our worthy cause that you all know all about by now. So hope for scorching hot weather and stop by and get a freezee if you're in the neighbourhood.