Asking for Pain

* Don't forget to sign up for my BODYGLIDE WarmFX Giveaway HERE!  You have until July 15!

I have to remind myself that I asked her to beat me with a sledgehammer.  And, not only that, I paid for the privilege.  Am I some sort of masochist?  No, not at all.  Was it really a sledgehammer?  Nope, not that either.  But being hammered away at by a deep tissue massage therapist leaves you feeling about the same, I imagine.

So going into yesterday's half-hour massage, which actually stretched to about 40 minutes, I was hopeful that this might do the trick on my tight hamstring.  If you think DTM is generally uncomfortable, try having someone work at ONE problem spot for that length of time.  It was seriously torture.  I won't go into the details.  If you have gotten a deep tissue massage yourself, then you know what it feels like.  If you haven't, then you can read about it here.

So, before you start thinking that I am some fancy rich person who can afford massages whenever I like really like this form of torture, know that I was desperate.  Here I am, EIGHT weeks away from my grand Jungfrau adventure, which will have me running a full marathon up the side of an Alp - not just a mountain, one of the infamous Alps.  (See? Follow the red squiggly line; theoretically, that's going to be me!)

I WANT to do this.  I NEED to do this.  However, my hamstring/glute/hip have been wonky the past few weeks, and that has derailed my training a bit.  I needed all the help I could get to get back on track.  DTM may not feel good at first, but a couple days after there is generally a great feeling of ahhhhh and I am hoping that this time is no exception.

As I suspected, my left hamstring and piriformis are both extremely tight right now.  Why?  Probably for all the reasons stated here.  I also suspect it has something to do with my lack of regular yoga as well.  During the school year I had gotten into the habit of yoga twice a week, and I think that went a long way towards keeping me stretched out and flexible.  However, with summer came a serious upheaval in my schedule - what, with the kidlets home and all.  I try to fit a class in here or there, but there is no rhyme or reason to my going right now.  And the DVD I bought turned out to be kind of useless.  Beyond that, I am starting to wonder if I am somehow not running efficiently. I think I am going to sign up for a run gait analysis soon and see if maybe there is something there that I could improve.

For now, though, I am going to ice my bruised leg and continue on my stretching and rolling regimen - but take it to a new level.  I am also going to try to go in for a follow-up massage next week.  (See?  Desperate.  There goes my birthday money.)

I have to wonder if I will ever go in to get a nice, relaxing spa-type massage again. And, if I do, what will the therapist think when she or he sees me cringing on the table in anticipation of being hurt?

Happy Running!

What do you think of massage?  Just for relaxation or therapy?
Have you ever had a gait analysis done?  Was it worth it?

Cryocup Giveaway!

So, in the past couple of months, I have tried to come up with a new name for my blog.

I have failed.

Well, that is not entirely true.  I have come up with a bunch of names that I don't like, or that other people don't like.  But, so far, I haven't hit upon anything that makes me happy, speaks to who I am and what I am trying to accomplish (better than Tales anyway), is original enough, and is pleasing to other people's ears.

Why change the name?  Well, it's a long story, and maybe I'll get into that another time.  What's pertinent here, however, is that it has crossed my mind on several occasions to somehow work "injury" into the title.  You know, something like:  The Injury-Prone Runner; The Wounded Runner; Tripping Down the Trails; or Run, Injure, Recover, Repeat....

Cryocup - Cryo Therapy, Inc.

The fact is that I have suffered from more than my fair share of injuries over the past couple of years.  No doubt there are many clear reasons for that, and maybe I'll even figure them out one day, but in the meantime, I have learned a LOT about how to manage my boo-boos.  One tool that I now find indispensable is the Cryocup.  And, I happen to be giving two away.

When you hurt and you need to ice something, there are a couple of ways to go about it.  One way is the typical ice pack.  They sell them in stores, you can use frozen peas, you can make your own (by mixing water and rubbing alcohol in a sturdy bag), or you can even get one as a freebie in a marathon goodie bag - like this one:

These are good, of course, but their downside is they take time.  You need to have the time to sit for fifteen to twenty minutes to let the icing take effect.

On the other hand, what I prefer (especially if time is short), is the ice massage.  By rubbing the injured area directly with ice for five minutes or as long as you can stand, (you don't want to give yourself frostbite!) you can get a nice icing of the area and a self-massage all at the same time.  With the types of soft-tissue/tendon injuries that I seem prone to, this works really well for me.

So, how to go about doing an ice massage?  Well, up until a month or so ago, I always either used an ice cube wrapped in tissue (so I didn't freeze my fingers) or a dixie cup of frozen water (peel top half of cup down and use).

The problem with these two options is that they are messy, and it's not long before the ice melts away and you are left with nothing.

Then, one day in my PT's office, PT #1 pulled out a Cryocup to ice my patellar tendon area.  Immediately, my eyes lit up, my mouth said "Ooooooooo," and my brain said "Must have."

I ended up buying myself two from my PT's office.  (I don't know why, because - as it turns out - one of these lasts forever.)  And, due to the extreme generosity of the office, they have given me two to give away.

Seriously, I love the folks at Peak Performance Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine.  If you are local to Northeast Wisconsin and have a sports-related - or other injury - I highly recommend them!  (They also do running clinics!)  If you're not local, check them out anyway.  They have some cool videos linked from their website demonstrating various strength exercises every runner should be doing.  They're so easy to follow, even I can do them!

So, back to the Cryocup.  I know you are just sitting on pins and needles wondering how it works.  Well, it's simple really. The Cryocup comes in two parts.  You stack them together.

Fill with water.

And freeze.

Easy.  When you want to use it, you pull it out of the freezer, remove the top half (with the ice on it) and use it.

You might need to run it under water to
loosen and pull apart.

Here's mine after a good month of use.
Like the way it has shaped itself to my
shin area - where my injury was?

When done, you stick it back in the cup and put back in the freezer.  There is no paper mess.  The ice doesn't all melt away to a nubby nothing during your ice massage session.  And, you can use it over and over again before needing to redo it.  I am in love.

If you happen to be the superstitious sort and think that winning something like this will suddenly make you get an injury requiring its immediate use - well, then don't enter.  I will say, however, that these things work well for all sorts of icing-requiring injuries.  They don't have to be running-related.  So, you can always just tell yourself you are entering in order to win another useful tool for the family's first aid preparedness kit.

So, how does the giveaway work?  Well, like the usual ones, except this time I shamelessly stole some ideas from some other bloggers, so there will be ways for you to enter more than once.

To enter for a chance to win:

- Leave a comment here telling me why you think this might be useful for you.

For additional entries to win:

- Like Peak Performance's Facebook page and leave a comment telling me you did
- Follow this blog and leave a comment telling me you did (If you already follow, then - what the heck - tell me that and I'll throw in another entry just for that)
- Like my Facebook page and leave a comment here telling me you did
- Let people know about the contest via blog, Facebook, Twitter, any other cool sites I don't know about and let me know you did.

That's it!  The contest will close on Monday, May 14.  I will pick two lucky winners via random.org, and I will announce them here on Tuesday, May 15.

In the meantime, happy running!

Picture of the day:

We celebrated E.'s "un-birthday" at school this week
with these beautiful little cupcakes made up by Festival.
Cute, huh?

Coming Out of a Running Rut?

So, lately, racing and/or group runs have been some of the furthest things from my mind, ever since suffering from my weird, enthusiasm-busting shin insult.  (I am now not even sure that I should call it an "injury," since it seems to defy everyone's understanding of acceptable injuries.)  I have shied away from signing up for races or committing to even run with friends, because I have felt I couldn't trust that I would be well enough to run when said events rolled around.  Lately, however, I find myself getting excited again.

I wouldn't say the shin is 100-percent, however I do feel I have a better understanding of how to manage it.  The past couple of weeks, I have successfully gone on eight- and nine-mile runs, done speed work, and enjoyed some group runs without any long-lasting fallout from my efforts.  The shin is still sore afterward, but not lingeringly so.  I can even kneel on the floor without it bothering me.

I don't know what has changed, but a few things do come to mind:

1. I did start that hot yoga class, taking my yoga up to twice a week.  
2. I have been more committed to wearing the calf sleeves while running and for recovery after.  
3. I got the new shoes - the Cortanas - which I am really liking.  
4. And, ... I have discovered the softball.

This is the newest tool in my injury management tool belt.  My massage therapist was the first one to recommend it a while back while she was torturing me soothing my overtight muscles.  She is a huge fan of using a tennis ball or softball to work some of the deeper muscles and thought if I rolled one along my hamstring it might help with everything.  Well, not knowing which would be better - the tennis ball or the softball - I bought both.  As it turns out, the softball worked better for me.  (My dog really appreciated the tennis balls, though.)  I find it has been useful for rolling around on the hamstring - just like she recommended - and the calves.  However, I also find it useful for rolling my shin muscle.

So, rolling a shin muscle with a softball is not easy.  (Kids, you may not want to try this at home.)  However, I am finding that it really makes a big difference.  After my nine-miler on the trails last Sunday, I noticed the sore spot along my shin was really bothering me.  I grabbed my trusty softball (whose other great benefit is that it is HIGHLY PORTABLE) and decided to give the shin rolling thing a whirl.  Now, I didn't come up with the idea of rolling this particular body part myself.  PT #2 actually recommended I try it a while back with a foam roller.  (That was a funny appointment, as she got down on a foam roller to try it herself before asking me to do it.  She had to make sure it was even possible.)  Well, I did roll my shin with a foam roller a couple of times, but I didn't find it that helpful.  Sunday, though, with the softball, it was like magic!  It seemed to release whatever tightness was pulling on my shin (just below the knee), and I felt relief almost immediately.  Even pressing on the sore spot, it didn't seem so sore anymore.

I don't know.  Maybe it is just my attitude that has changed, but whatever it is I will take it.  I am getting excited about runs again!  In fact, I have three in particular that I am looking forward to in the next couple of weeks:

• This weekend, I am signed up for the Scheels Run for Home.  It's a home-grown event that is in its 11th year.  I'll be doing the 10K, but I haven't decided yet if I will do it slowly (a la long run pace) or try to kill it (inasmuch as I can kill anything).  It all probably depends on how I feel Sunday morning.  Being in early April, this race has run the gamut as far as weather is concerned, but this Sunday promises to be in the 70s and partly cloudy.  Regardless of how I run, it should be an enjoyable day.

• Next on tap will be a friend's birthday run.  She's turning 42 and has invited folks to join her for all or part of a 42K jaunt around a Green Bay trail.  I've never run up there and was hoping for ten miles that weekend anyway, so I thought I would go join her for some of her run.  I love celebrating birthdays anyway, and this seems like an awesome way to do it!  (Hmm, I turn 42 later this year as well...)

• Finally, the opportunity fell into my lap to join a team for the inaugural Run Away to the Bay relay event in a couple of weeks.  Originally, I didn't plan on doing it because of my leg, but now that my confidence is creeping up there, I am excited to give it a go.  This 55-mile relay should be a lot of fun, and I am really looking forward to it.  

Happy Running (again)!

So, what runs are you looking forward to in the near future? Far future?

Have you ever tried rolling a body part with a tennis ball, softball, foam roller, anything else?  What works for you?

Have you signed up to follow the blog yet?  If you are a frequent visitor, please consider it!  I would love to know you are out there!   :)