Thursday, September 16, 2010

Piriformis Syndrome

In layman's terms piriformis syndrome is (a) pain in the butt. 

After not running for 4 days and treating my sore "hamstring" with heat and ibuprofen I was feeling better. That is until I ran a whole bunch of errands and spent a lot of time sitting in my car. The all-too-familiar pain returned with a vengeance. I did some online research and I think I have piriformis syndrome. Because I don't have, and have not had, any lower back pain, I don't think it is actually the sciatic nerve that is the problem. 

I did some online research and came up with lots of information on how to treat this problem. It is going to require lots of stretching and then strengthening of the hip area. I also found some great info in my book, Running Well

I am very frustrated right now. First I had the summer heat to deal with and now this. I just want to run! 




Thursday, September 9, 2010

Christmas in September

Distance: 3.04 mi.
Time: 36:44 min. 
Pace: 12:05 m/mi.
Time of Day: 6:45 a.m.
Weather: 60°F, cloudy, cool, overcast


There I was pounding the pavement, planning future sewing projects, not really listening to the music playing in the background. Here is what went through my mind.


"What song is this? I don't recognize it. Oh, I guess it must be an Il Divo song. Hmm, the voice sounds a little shaky for Il Divo but I guess it must be. (pause & listen) A Christmas song? How did that get on my playlist? Oh, it's the choir at Bev's church. It's kinda nice actually. Reminds of the glory of God. (pause & listen to the song) Yeah, kinda nice, but definitely not a running tempo. Need to remove from the list."

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Holiday Weekend Recep

Monday, Labor Day
Distance: 1.57 miles
Time: 19:54 min.
Pace: 12:41 m/mi.
Time of day: 8:30 a.m.
Weather: 65°F, sunny, warm, breezy


I had a weird morning and all before 8:30 a.m. I didn't sleep well, maybe 3 hours max. I had to get up early to go donate platelets at my local Red Cross at 7:30 a.m. Yep, that's right. Seven-thirty a.m. on a holiday! I am a regular blood donor but this would have been my 1st time to donate platelets; not that I hadn't tried before. I used to be anemic and get deferred. I've corrected that issue and I was pretty excited that the Red Cross had called me yet again to donate platelets. Unfortunately, the Red Cross scheduling office made an error and, "Oops, I'm sorry. We don't need your platelets at this time. But we appreciate you coming out so here's a coffee mug." What?? I was back home by 8 a.m. and desperately needing a run to help my mood. 


I hit the road sans music, off to just enjoy the run and soak up the sunshine. For once I didn't care about my pace or how many miles I needed to log. I just ran. It would have been totally awesome if I had remembered to pee before I hit the trail!


Sunday - rest

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Add Distance Slowly

Saturday, 09/04


Distance: 3.88
Time: 48:57
Pace: 12:37 m/mi.
Time of day: 10:35 a.m.
Weather: Absolutely fabulous! Mid-60's, sunny, bright, breezy


I was really looking forward to running Saturday. It was an absolutely fabulous day! A forecasted high in the low 70's meant I could run any darn time I wanted to. So while The Love was out getting a haircut, I was out running. 


I did pretty well. I upped my mileage from 3 to almost 4 miles. Probably I should have done just 3.5 miles, because I did have 2 1-minute walking periods. Not terrible, mostly an indication of too big of an increase. The good news is I felt great afterwards and all day. 


A bit of good news. I weighed and checked my body measurements. I have had a really stressful summer and with the heat & humidity keeping me from running I knew I had gained a couple pounds. The good news is that my body measurements stayed the same and the weight gain truly was just a couple of pounds. Although the stress is still with me, I believe I can manage it better with running thus eating less. I sure hope so anyway. 

New Pace Record

Friday, 09/03/10


Distance: 3.03 mi.
Time: 35:53 min.
Pace: 11:50 m/mi.
Time of day: 6:16 a.m.
Weather: 62°F, cool & damp from the rain last night. 


Wow! I was pretty fast today. I don't think I have ever broken 12:00 m/mi. It must have been the cool weather. As I was running I kept thinking, "Man, this is tough today." Hmm, not tough, just pushing myself. Way to go self!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Resting Again

Today is my regularly scheduled rest day. Rain in the forecast for the next 10 days, but I seriously doubt if it will have any kind of impact on my running. The last 2 times it was supposed to rain-nothing!