Create.

12 miles (including 5 x 2000 meters with 1200 meter easy between)

** Finals are over and I now have a couple of weeks until my internship!!! YES!! Have a couple of pre-internship assignments to get done but nothing too substantial. WAHOO!!! :)

The last few days I have been having some L lateral distal thigh pain. I attributed it to straining my lower back a handful of days ago (compensation &/or nerve) and just tried to ignore it. Now the pain is worsening (stink) and I think I will have to address it. Blah. Going to scale everything way back until I can get it under control. Part of the problem is that it feels better when I run faster. Perhaps my endorphin level rises enough to make the pain unnoticeable (or perhaps I am looking at some connective tissue stiffness that just needs the heat to make it more extensible). Not quite sure yet. It isn't falling into any "this is textbook" issue making the differential a little more tricky. Hopefully some trial and error (less error) will bring things to light. :) 

Fulcrum test: negative, hop test: negative, Ober's test: negative, VL trigger points: latent at best, tightness in L adductors, MMT: quads 5/5 with slight pn, HS 5/5, hip abductors 5/5, hip adductors 5/5, hip flexors 5/5, patella alignment normal, swelling 1+/girth 34 cm (10 cm above femoral condyles). STM: L TFL, gluteus med, VL, ITB and adductors. Ice and sensory TENS to distal L lateral thigh x 30 minutes. 

20 minutes upright bike

75 minutes elliptical

** So, this afternoon on the elliptical I was really trying to concentrate on what I was feeling in my lateral L thigh and concentrated on putting more of the pieces together. If I had to pick one word to really describe the pain it would be an intense burning type pain. So, here are my thoughts: Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve injury/irritation? It very well could be. All my muscle strength is fine and it makes sense. The LFCN stems from the femoral nerve which exits at L2-L4. Hence, the strain of my back could have very well caused something to get pinched along its course. As noted yesterday my L adductor muscles were extremely tight (and my hip flexors were also a bit tight). The LFCN courses under the inguinal ligament and then branches all along the lateral thigh. The pieces are fitting together. Luckily this is often treated with TENS and ice (which I already did yesterday) and so I will continue with that treatment for the time being. Not 100% sure this is the cause, but it is worth exploring. Let's see what the next few days will bring. Who knows. :)

TENS L lateral thigh x 30 minutes (both morning and evening)

Ice x 30 minutes (morning, afternoon, evening)

STM and stretching: inguinal area, adductors, hip flexors. No STM on the lateral thigh. 

Ibuprofen: 400 mg every 8 hours. 

SPROLY AT THE GYM!!! :) :) :) (That is what I am going to call my new triathlon distance which is exactly halfway between the sprint and olympic distances. :) :) :) )

LOVED this workout!!

I definitely could have run today. The pain/burning was greatly improved this morning. However, it is still noticeable and so I decided to play it cautious (and swap running miles for the elliptical) in the hopes of having it completely under control very soon. I am optimistic that I will be able to do a decent long run on Saturday. I may or may  not run a handful of easy miles tomorrow. Who knows. 

Pushed hard today and feel great!

Bike: 30K, 1:01:23 (random/3)

Elliptical: 7.5K, 32:25 (random/3)

Swim: 1125 meters, 25:xx

********* 

STM: L adductors & hip flexors

Hydromassage via jets in the hot tub at the gym concentrating on L2-L4 area x 15 minutes :)

Nerve glides biasing LFCN x 15

TENS L lateral thigh x 30 minutes BID

Ice x 30 minutes  TID

ibuprofen: 400 mg every 8 hours 

45 minutes upright bike

6 TM miles, AP 8:36

* Things felt pretty nice. :) 

*****

TENS and ice 2 x 30 minutes

STM L adductors, hip flexors, L2-L4

dynamic stretching LEs 

ibuprofen: 400 mg BID

20.2 wonderful miles, AP 8:22, mostly on the canal road with JohnnyV and Dave. LOVED running on the dirt and the wonderful company and conversation.  Also, was able to get a little Spartan training with some fence hopping! :) Things felt so much better than I expected. In fact there were several times that I realized I hadn't even thought about any sort of pain for miles. In truth, I never was in pain. Happy Happy Day!!! :)  :)  :)

Breakfast with Ry. :) :) :) 

*********

TENS x 30 minutes (120 pps, 100 microsec pw, high sensory, modulated), BID

Ice x 30 minutes, TID

Light static stretching (adductors, hip flexors)

STM: L2-L4 area

ibuprofen: 400 mg, TID  

Update: 11:00 pm, feeling good still. In fact, it was kind of hard to force myself to do the interventions because I felt much better than I expected. But better safe than sorry. Very optimistic. :) 

6 miles, AP 7:43 then 200 meter repeats with 100 meter jog between until I hit 7 miles. Even though this was not a bad run I wasn't able to really find a good rhythm. Something just kind of off today. No pain, but it never felt great or carefree either.  

60 minutes recumbent bike 

I need to pick up my strength training and start prepping better for the Spartan and XTERRA. Perhaps I will watch some youtube videos tomorrow of those races to give me a little extra motivation. :)

*********************

Ice and TENS (120 pps, 100 microsec pw, high sensory, modulated) x 30 minutes, BID

Ibuprofen: 400 mg, BID 

SPROLY at the gym with Annie -- LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!!! :) :) :)

Bike: 30K - 63:03 (3.5 miles on the recumbent and the rest on the upright/random/3) 

Run: 7.5K - 35:32

Swim: 1125 meters 25:xx

SO SO SO MUCH FUN!!! :) :) :)

later

ST: Upper Body, 20 minutes

************

Ice and TENS (pps 120, 100 microsec pw, modulated) x 30 min, TID

STM: adductors

Ibuprofen: 400 mg, TID 

8 miles, AP 8:34

ST: legs

**********

ice x 30 minutes 

Uphill tri training today. My legs are now pretty dead tired. :)

bike: 46:30 (10 miles/Kilamanjaro/level 10)

run: 6 miles all at 10:00 pace. 3 miles @ 4% incline, 2 miles @ 5% and 1 mile @ 6% 

swim: 800 meters, 17:xx 

bike: 45:00 - 11.2 miles (random/3)

run: 35:48 - 4 miles

swim: 16:xx - 800 meters

*Did not push anything today, just enjoyed myself. 

*************

I am getting addicted to these mini tri things I have been doing at the gym. I probably should be running more miles, but ... since Ogden is not a goal race for me and the XTERRA is (granted it is not until September) I keep saying to myself: Have at it! You love this! Enjoy your workouts! :) 

10.6 miles, AP 7:53 with JohnnyV on the JRP bright and early!! :)

***********************

The most exciting part of the day was the kids' track meet in Park City. My kids have never officially run track, they have just run around the block and throughout the neighborhood with me and done some running at their elementary school. Ryan was looking at the USATF website one day and noticed that there are track meets for kids that anyone can enter (after paying a minor due and entry fee). Our 3 youngest wanted to give it a go. So we went! We had no idea what to expect but it was AWESOME!!! I was worried that my kids were going to be a little intimidated because most runners were with a team: singlets, spikes, with a coach, etc. My kids (who mostly are basketball junkies) showed up in their basketball shorts, cotton tees, and regular nike general athletic type shoes. They all did great but Oliver really ended up killing it!!! After talking to a coach there we are considering having him workout with one of the teams three times a week and just seeing how he likes it. In a nutshell this is how it all went down:

Livvy: Had a great time (did not place in any of her events but had fun). :)

Sophia: Took first in the 1500 meters for her division (no other one in her division though). She ended up racing with the older kids (both boys and girls) and finished in the middle of the pack which in my book was AWESOME!!! She also got invited to join one of the teams for a relay event because they were a runner short. They ended up taking second. :)

Oliver: Entered three events (long jump, 100 meters, and 200 meters) and came home with three ribbons! His division had lots of runners and so he had plenty of competition. He had never done a long jump before so that was a surprise. The 100 meters he almost blew by stopping right at the finish line instead of running through. By the time the 200 meters came around he knew better. :)  

** Note to self: These track meets are an ALL DAY affair!!! :) :) :) 

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day! :) 

Bike: 20 minutes (5.1 miles/kilamanjaro/5)

Run: 5 miles (1 easy, 2 threshold, 1 VO2, 1 easy)

Swim: 800 meters (17:xx) 

Happy Monday! :)

************

ST: Bosu Ball

SL balance (dome up): 3 x 1 min each leg

Lunge kick back (dome up): 3 x 10 each leg

Lateral squat hops (dome up): 3 x 10 each leg

Pushups (dome side down): 3 x 15 

5 miles, AP 8:20

800 meter swim, 17:xx

********** 

ST: Bosu ball

V-ins: 3 x 15

Russian Twists: 3 x 15 (each side)

Crunches with leg raise combo: 3 x 15 (each side)

Side crunches (each side):  3 x 15

Started my run and my leg was giving me the cold shoulder. Two miles into it I figured I'd switch to the elliptical. With Ogden on Saturday (even though it is not a goal race for me) I figured to err on the side of caution.

20 minutes elliptical

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ST: Bosu Ball (adductor and abductor exercises)

Standing side leg lift: 3 x 12

Stability sequence: 3 x 12

Scissors: 3 x 12

Side lying stabilize and lifts: 3 x 12

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my BOSU ball! One of the best Mother's Day gifts EVER!!! :) 

***********

Ice x 30 minutes, TID

Probably should have done some e-stim/TENS 

Taking the day off. May end up going for a swim at some point.

Big fat zero.

Pretty sure I strained my sartorius muscle. STUPID me!!! Probably trying some funky super fast lunge hop-type exercises (that I was geniusly - is that a word- making up) on the Bosu ball yesterday. Babying it like crazy! :) 

The run down is this: I am super happy with my time! A 56 seconds distance PR and exactly a 4 minute course PR. :) I was worried sick about my legs but am pleased with how they held up. Limping now, but totally worth it (and my kids found me an awesome walking stick in the woods)! Ironically my left leg (that I have had problems with for a couple of weeks) did spectacularly, but my right leg (sartorius) gave me a lot of trouble. I was very worried in the beginning but the pain didn't get much worse until about mile 20ish. By then it was like -- oh well (trying to adopt JulieC's toughness). Once again the course really kicked my butt the last few miles taking my AP way down ... but that's just because I stink at toughing out the last few miles! :)

Couple more items of business:

1. LOVED taking the bus from Eden and getting the extra sleep!

2. LOVED seeing my family at the halfway point and the finish line!

3. LOVED seeing my SSF (Smooth) at the finish line! She is a trooper!!! :)

4. LOVED spending time with the coolest SIL (andrea27.fastrunningblog.com) in the world (who yes, I wore twinsy outfits with -- cheesy? Perhaps ... but dang we looked good)!!! :)

5. LOVED how well so many raced today!!! Congrats to you all!!! :) :) :) 

Happy Saturday!!!  

(And why does Ogden always measure long???)

Nothing.

Pain, swelling and some bruising. A little worse than I had anticipated but I am still glad I ran Ogden. :) 

First day of internship. Embarrassing: not being able to walk without a significant and very painful limp. 

60 minutes upright bike, very easy.

Still limping. 

30 minutes upright bike

800 meter swim

Still limping. 

Sproly:

30K bike, 7.5K elliptical, 1125 meter swim

Still limping but seeing and feeling some improvement. 

1 mile swim

Needed this desperately. :) 

Less limping, can even fake a sorta normal gait at times. :) 

Sproly at the gym with Annie :)

30K bike, 7.5K elliptical, 1125 meter swim

Improving, but was hoping to be able to run this weekend. Not going to happen.  

morning 

Sprint at the gym with Annie :)

20K bike, 5K elliptical, 750 meter swim

I LOVE having such a cool SIL/friend!!! :)

afternoon

75 minute mtn biking with Ry at Corner Canyon (BST)

SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Leg continuing to improve. Pn and swelling decreasing. Have high hopes that I will be able to run a little this weekend. :) 

bike: 20 min

elliptical: 20 min

swim: 800 meters 

bike: 60 minutes