Reading Eagle Article

I was interviewed a few weeks ago by Dan Kelly from Reading Eagle. The article is in today - story and picture are on the inside of the front cover.

Florida!

I love living in this day and age - a short 2 1/2 hour flight and I'm transported to the sun and warm temps of Orlando, Fl. I arrived here three days ago for the Synergy Conference. It's been a weekend of meeting new friends - I'm a people person, but going to a conference where I don't know a soul and sharing a room with a stranger, stretched me more than I thought it would. Actually, I think the fact that most everyone here had a few initials behind their names bothered me the most and made me feel insecure all weekend. And you know the game - when you feel insecure, you do and say stupid things that make you feel even more insecure!

And information overload - some new info, some old info said in a new way. Usually when I hear new information, it raises some questions for me and this weekend did that. Words like egalitarian and complementarian were regular topics of conversation - thank God for internet access to do some quick research.

I also attended a few writing workshops - one by Lauren Winner. Now if I can take what I learned and apply it to the rewrite of my book!

Another thing I love about our age is the connections we can make online - I met Janet Oberholtzer (the other one) online over a year ago. This Janet is an Oberholtzer by birth and I am by marriage - but as we connected at Facebook, we were surprised how alike we are, both run, love to read, love coffee and dark chocolate. She works for Synergy, so we connected this weekend and had dinner together last night. She's nice and some of her personality reminds me of Jerry - there's a good chance they are related, because her family moved from PA to Indiana a few generations ago. Someday we will have do some research on our families.

I ran yesterday - 2 miles and felt great! 4.6 miles on April 4th is looking doable! Hope to build up to 3 miles this week and then 4 the next week.

It was a good day.

Finally, we are having warmer temps in southeast PA. Today was sunny, beautiful and about 50 degrees. When a day is like that, it pulls me outdoors. I ran on the Union Canal Trail from Gring's Mill to the Red Bridge and back. It was a good day. I am thrilled with how the strained muscle felt while running. It hurt for about an hour after I was finished running, but now, 12 hours later, feels great again!!

This fine-gravel trail is generally softer than either a road or a treadmill. Today it was really soft - from all the melting snow. Dodging the water puddles and slush was a challenge at times and I didn't always succeed, which means I now have sneakers to clean :) But I didn't mind the splatters - I felt too good to care about them. The sun was bright, the temps were great for running - I loved seeing and hearing the water of the Tully flowing beside me. Did I tell you it was a good day?

Now - I pack my bags and head to the Synergy Conference in Florida for 5 days. I can't wait to run with temps in the 80's! No, I don't mind the heat.

Knee Brace

I walked half a mile and ran a mile and a half on my treadmill today - further than I have since February 9th. The muscle beside my knee is feeling so-so. I wore this brace on it today and it felt a lot better than it has been. But I still had stop before I wanted to because of the pain :(

I signed up 5 teams - 20 people! - today for the Garden Spot Village Marathon Relay! When I decided to try and do a section of the relay, I figured it would be 1 team with 3 of my friends. Well, a number of other women were at a place in their life where they wanted to try running, so Linda and I started a Running Club for Beginners and now we have 5 teams in the relay! And the more, the merrier - Garden Spot is still taking sign-ups (just don't tell the local townships:) so find 3 running/walking buddies and join the party!

Meeting the race director, Scott and driving the course got me excited for race day, but I'm getting slightly worried about my sore muscle and how much running I will be able to do April 4th.

I have to keep reminding myself to take one day at a time!

BACK TO RUNNING

YES - YES - YES!!! I just ran about 3/4 mile!

Three weeks of no running - but lots of ice, walking, ice, exercises and stretching - did I say ice? I hardly felt any pain from it the last two or three days, so I felt safe trying to run today. I warmed up by walking for 10 minutes, then slowly, slowly began jogging - I was scared for the first minute, then I was thrilled, because I had no pain. No pain for the first 2 minutes - then I walked a minute to make sure that muscle was stretched out and then ran 3 minutes. At that time I felt a slight pull in it, so I walked for another minute. Then I run 3 1/2 minutes two times, walking a minute in between because I could feel some pulling/pain in the muscle. I was hoping to run more, to run a full mile, but I knew it was enough for the strained muscle today. (plus, Jerry kept saying don't you think that's enough about a hundred times) The rest of my body felt great and I wanted to keep going ... really wanted to keep going! But I did the sensible thing and quit before I re-injured it. I'm icing it now and it feels fine.

Happy Runner!

Yes, the stained muscle is on my right leg, not by 'bad' left leg. But the right leg was also severely injured. The femur was shattered - a 15in rod is permanently in the middle of it. And the inside of my knee was bruised so bad that it was black/blue/red/purple for months.

Looking forward to seeing how far I can run tomorrow!

Running tomorrow

I walked about two miles yesterday and I'm feeling good!! I plan to walk 2 to 3 miles today. The pain of the strained muscle is almost a memory - I only feel it slightly every now and then. I am tempted to run today, but my dear husband is saying wait another day or so. Guess I listen to 'Dr. Jerry' - he was a great nurse for me for months and continues to take good care of me, so I'll trust his judgment.

Which means I'll wait one more day :) so I will try running tomorrow!

I'm anxious to get back to running because April 4th is coming ... I will do the 4.6 miles in the marathon relay even if I have to walk most of it, but I would like to run more than walk, if my body allows me to.

Optimistic Again :)

My strained muscle is feeling much better - and therefore I am feeling optimistic again :)

Through a neighbor, I met Monica, a massage therapist, last fall. I connected with her instantly - you can't help but like her sweet personality and feel her love for everyone. Plus there's some similarities in our lives - she's the mother of 2 boys, she has hope in God, she used to be a runner and she received severe injuries in an accident that changed her life forever. Yes, we have connections and I like her! And to top all that, she gives great massages. Yes, I really like her!

I've been getting massages once or twice a month from her recently and had one yesterday. I explained my strained muscle to her - she gave me some great advice and then she massaged it - deep tissue MASSAGED it! Thought I was going to lift off the table a time or two, but yet I trusted that she knew what she was doing.
Last night I was 'cursing' her - the muscle was sooo sore from her 'unknotting' the lumps. The lumps were probably caused by both the severe bruising that area of my leg took almost 5 years ago and the strain of running downhill too fast too soon about 16 days ago. I iced it a few times and went to bed wondering what the morning would hold.
Today I'm thrilled with her - my muscle feels sooo much better than it has for days. This afternoon I walked 1 1/2 mile and did a 30-minute Dvd workout with my new exercise ball (to strengthen my core) To be on the safe side, I modified a few exercises to make sure I don't twist my knee while putting pressure on the muscle, because I knew that could hurt/aggravate it.
After walking and exercising, I iced the muscle and now (two hours later) I have no pain. When I press on the muscle, it's still sensitive from Monica's powerful touch yesterday, but no pain at all while walking or sitting/bending it. I almost want to go for a run on the treadmill tonight, but I know that won't be wise - a few more days of no-impact workouts will give it time to heal more completely.

This weekend - running is in my plans again :) Thank you Monica!

walking - stretching - icing

No running yet - I stretch and ice the muscle on the inside of my right knee a few times a day. Yesterday I thought it was feeling better - today I'm not sure. I ran a few errands this morning and was in and out of the car a few times. My chiro said that I need to be careful when getting in and out of a car because I could easily strain it more. I thought I was being careful, but it's so freaking cold and windy here that I was hurrying and might have put more strain on it than I realized.

I did walk at my local mall about 20 minutes when I was out - the muscle felt good at the time, but is aching now, so the ice is on it!

We are spending the weekend at a mountain lodge in central PA with our neighbors. It's supposed to be very cold, so I don't think I will be outside at all. I plan to be under a blanket with a book and a hot drink most of the weekend! I will be stretching and icing and hope that come Monday, I can go for a 30 minute walk again.

At this time, I plan to wait to run for another week or so. I'm not sure what this will do for my plans to run/walk in a marathon relay on April 4th, but I'm still optimistic! I might be walking more than running, but I still plan on doing it.

Strained Muscle

A strained muscle on the inside of my knee - ugh. According to my chiropractor that's what is going on with my right knee. As he was telling me the care for it - my memory slowly came alive and I remembered that I dealt with an injury like this 15 years ago - the first time I started running. Why didn't I remember that sooner, than I won't have run downhill so fast, so soon?!

Yes, it's probably caused by running downhill.
Running uphill puts tremendous strain on my left calf, so I've been talking it easy going up hills, because I didn't want to injure that compromised area. I slowly jog on slight upgrades and walk any major hill. But downhill, that's another story - it doesn't pull on my left calf at all, so after feeling wimpy when going up hills - running downhill helps me feel powerful again :) I can feel the wind in my face and (almost) forget about my injured body.
Well, apparently I was forgetting too many things when I ran down hills - forgetting that MANY knee problems arise from beginning runners going down hills too fast! It's not really a knee issue - it's that the muscles around the knee aren't strong enough yet and they get pulled/strained from the force of running downhill.
To avoid knee injuries when running downhill, I should have taken tiny steps and not increased your speed. I did the exact opposite a few times - I increased my speed (it made me feel strong!) and I took longer strides (I don't know why)

So now what - walking is okay, no running until the pain subsides, hopefully only about 2 weeks or so. Also gentle stretching throughout the day helps it heal. A strained muscle wants to contract all the time - but if you walk and/or bend it when it is contracted it only irritates it more. So I need to stretch it gently first thing in the morning and anytime I've been sitting for awhile so it moves without straining itself more. Ice for 20 minutes after stretching is good for it and anti-inflammatory meds as needed.

I'm disappointed with this interruption in my training - but yet with this body of mine, I'm glad its only a strained muscle. Strained muscles do heal. In June, 1994 I was a brand-new runner and I strained a muscle beside my knee (don't remember if it was the left or right one) because I was running downhill too fast too soon. I now remember for it to heal - I quit running for a week or so. Then I slowly started running again - I would jog out the road until it hurt, then I would stop and walk home. Slowly the pain was gone and I was able to increase my running. In the 10 years that I ran (1994-2004) it never bothered me again.

Praise God - strained muscles heal! Time to go gently stretch ...

This stretch?

No wait, this is the one ... very gently!

Today was odd ...

Today was a mixture of odd emotions. I am happy and scared that my story might bring hope to others through an article in Reading Eagle sometime in the next few weeks. I had been interviewed by the reporter by phone on Tuesday. Then today I had pictures taken of me running. I am happy to share my story if it encourages others to never give up, even when life looks overwhelming. On the other hand, it feels odd to be talking about me and having pics of me taken by a photographer.
I met Ryan, the photographer at Gring's Mill around 1pm. The wind was nasty at the time, but thankfully as we walked over a bridge to the trail, the trees blocked some of the wind. After looking around briefly, Ryan told me where and when to run along the path as he shot pictures. I was excited to run again, since I haven't run the past 2 days because my knee has been hurting. The knee felt good this morning - but as soon as I took about 20 steps, the pain was back! I wasn't happy, but determined to run when/where Ryan told me to, so I ignored the pain and ran as relaxed as I could. Thankfully, he had the pics he needed in about 10 minutes, so I survived.
Tonight my knee feels okay as long as I sit still (I've been icing it periodically) but I feel light pain when walking and severe pain when doing steps and/or bending my knee.
I'm not sure what this pain means, but I'm focused on taking one day at a time - that's how I've gotten to where I am and I know that's all that God asks of us - deal with this day and trust him for tomorrow.