Tuesday, October 27, 2009

New Experiences

I have to look on the bright side. I've been running consistently for just shy of three years, and before this month I had never been sidelined due to illness or injury.

That's pretty remarkable when you think of it. Ok, truth be told, I had to take some rest days after the Worst Hangover Ever last July. Anyway, I was back to running no time.

Injury wise, I've had the odd ache and pain here and there. I have to ice my knees and ankles regularly to keep myself going. There have been periods in my training when I may have abused Ibuprofin just a little bit. But I can honestly say that none of these problems have resulted in a visit to the doctor or a layoff from running. If anything, they've been minor inconveniences.

Well, things took a turn this summer when I became inexplicably sluggish and wiped out. Turned out I had an iron deficiency. A few weeks of iron therapy and I started to see improvements. I was feeling like maybe it would all work out just fine and I'd be in great shape for a December marathon.

Then, out of the blue, and without warning, a couple of weeks ago I was stricken down with a severe bout of Bronchitis. It was so bad, that when I went to the doctor to have it looked at, he said I was having an asthma attack and send me home with 2 inhalers and a course of antibiotics. I was out of commission for about a week.


What bronchitis does to your lungs

Finally, last Monday, I woke up before my alarm with a spring in my step and took a deep, invigorating breath. I was ready to run! I decided to start conservatively with an easy 3 miler. It was great to be back at it, and I felt fantastic.  My marathon advisor, John, had me run another easy 7 miles the next day, which also went swimmingly! Two days later I was ready for something more intensive.

I headed out for a 7 mile tempo run, with the aim to run an easy 2 miles, speed up a bit for the middle 3, and then run the last 2 miles at a fairly speedy pace. Just a little ways into the last 2 miles I felt a sudden pain in my left leg. I was determined not to fail this time, so I pushed past the pain and finished my run in the desired time.

But by the time I got home I was hobbling and was relieved to be able to lie down on the floor.

I am still struggling to figure out exactly what the heck is wrong with my leg. I can't even really pinpoint where the pain is. When I ran I could feel some achiness in my hip. Afterwards it was more mid-shin. After sitting all day it seems to be at the front of my ankle, where my leg meets the foot.

I'm heading to the walk-in clinic to see my doctor in a couple of minutes, and I'll update this after I see her. I doubt she'll be able to tell me much, but it's a first step...

THE UPDATE: 
Ok, I'm back from the doctor's office with good news.  Doc thinks it's "fascial pain" and NOT a stress fracture.  She thinks the fact that the achiness is migrating around my leg is a sure sign it's a nerve thing and not a bone thing.  This is great news!  The doctor wrote me a prescription for some heavy duty anti-inflammatories which I'm to take 3 times a day with meals.  She thinks the pain should go away when the inflamation dies down.  I am cleared to walk and if it feels ok to try running at any time.  As long as I'm pain free I can keep increasing the intensity.  Best of all, the doctor felt that I should be back to normal in a week!

So I better keep my cross-training up...Sounds like I'll be back to running soon!

7 comments:

Jim said...

Hope that you get back on track....I know where you are with the pain and illness. I am sure you will be glad to get back into your training. GOOD LUCK!

chris mcpeake said...

hopefully you will not be out of action long. Undefined leg pain is the worst. I always seem to have some somewhere, it just moves around from week to week .. LOL

Mark said...

Hope you recover quickly! Great to see your running fervor!!

d. said...

I'm having knee problems right now, so I feel you concerns. My race is the weekend before your is and I'm worried about not making my time goal of under 4hrs. It has been tough having to skip a long run and take most of a week off to focus on stretching. I hope I get this sorted out soon. Good old foam roller is helping lots.

Be patient, you'll be running again soon!

FreakyNick said...

Love your playlist, great running songs.

Hoping you recover quick....

Susan said...

Nicole,

YIKES! Scary. I am so glad it turned out to be something manageable. Keep up the good work!

Susan

lizzie lee said...

take care Nicole. X training will certainly help you to keep you active and ready. I suffer asthma and I know what you mean. I run ALL my 5 & 10K races with my inhaler in my hands. No need for longer races or runs as the pace is more steady...Ah, and one inhaler is always by my treadmill, just in case..

lizzie