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walk before run: a progress report

Posted on March 11, 2020 by runswithpugs

Walk before run: it’s the natural progression of things. Before running was ever a blip on my radar, I walked. I enjoyed getting out there for brisk strides around my neighborhood, and I always liked walking in cities or downtown areas or even parks for the air, movement and change of scenery.

Now, with my mind and rehab focused on running, walking is back on the table, and I am here for it.

Welcome, to the Runner’s Roundup!

When I had my last appointment with the surgeon, he told me I was clear for the (non-spin) bike, the elliptical and swimming. I was, by no means, to attempt walking for exercise.

As the weeks passed, however, the idea of walking at all became easier and more reasonable. I was able to walk without crutches, then without a boot, and now I can even walk around without my brace. Some days, it’s just incredibly uncomfortable and I feel stable enough without it, so I skip it (the surgeon said that was ok, too).

My PTs and I are working on some fundamentals, but the treadmill hadn’t made an appearance in my sessions yet. I know it’s important not to rush things, but walking has been on my mind.

In order to graduate to a place where I can walk before run, I’ve been spending lots of time on my dorsiflexion (as I’ve mentioned), strength, and balance. I repeat exercises at home to reinforce what I’m learning in therapy, and build as often as I feel comfortable.

On Sunday, we took a family trip to a nearby venue to hunt for Pokemon and get some fresh air. There is a half mile path around a beautiful lake, and Mr. PugRunner forged ahead while little man and I caught critters, visited gyms, and did battle. After one lap, I told Mr. PugRunner that I wanted to go again, but this time, with purpose.

I turned on my Garmin, for the first time in forever, and we set out.

The effort was not entirely in vain. While my pace was dismal, I didn’t get winded (which has been a concern), and paid close attention to taking even steps and not limping or dragging my injured leg. At the time, I was not wearing my brace, so I had to be extra mindful of rocks and twigs. All in all, it was a solid effort, and I felt decent when I stopped my watch.

On Monday, I shared with the PT what I had done, and she said that was just fine. I was extra motivated and felt like I doubled my efforts that day. I pressed more weight on the shuttle, and I finally balanced on my right foot for 23 seconds (they are looking for 30, but 15-17 has been my limit).

Tuesday morning, rather than going to the gym and griping at the elliptical, I decided to try again. I picked a goal landmark and hit the road (brace on, this time). Again, I focused on even weight distribution and not dragging. I could feel my efforts just slightly on the inside of my ankle, as well as in my right hip and my right glute.

But, oh, when I was finished… I can’t quite describe that happiness. I totaled 1.2 miles for the outing, and it was about the best day since the surgeon took off my boot.

Things feel rather real now. I am going to keep this up, as best I can. I’m almost halfway to my goal distance, but I don’t want to neglect the rest of my leg. The atrophy has left it a little weak. There’s an opportunity to relearn my running without some of my bad habits (limited strength training, lack of attention to my weak hip, etc) and I want to take advantage.

Join the Runner’s Roundup!

Link up each week to post your favorite running tips, experiences, race and training recaps, workouts, gear, and coaching ideas. Join your hosts Coach Debbie Runs, Running on Happy, Confessions of a Mother Runner, Mile by Mile, Runs with Pugs, and Fauxrunner each week for the Runners’ Roundup linkup! Your link must be running related. Unrelated links will be removed. You must link back to your hosts — it’s common courtesy and a lot more fun! Spread the link-up love by visiting at least two other #running bloggers! Leave a comment and find new blogs to read! Use hashtags #running and #RunnersRoundup to stay in touch and promote your content!

Have you ever had to relearn how to walk or run?

Do you have any bad habits with running or exercise?

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week 10 (20): women’s day edition

Posted on March 9, 2020 by runswithpugs

Happy International Women’s Day! March 8 is the day of equality and empowerment, and I consider myself lucky to be surrounded by a tribe of absolutely incredible women.

Of course, my Women’s Day hero is my mother. She is just beyond incredible and we are so lucky to have her.

Sunday – gym (bike, elliptical, weighted squats)

I woke up Sunday, feeling fairly refreshed and ready to take on the day. The gym was quiet, and I put in time on the elliptical and bike, then did some weighted squat.

Sundays are for laundry, grocery shopping, and getting ready for the school and work week, and so that’s how we spent the rest of the day.

Monday – physical therapy

I felt super strong at physical therapy. There is a lot I can do on my own, but L pays attention to my form, and then starts adding therabands, or new equipment to keep me progressing. Dorsiflexion is the name of my game right now, so she showed me some moves I can do at home to work on my flex.

Tuesday – gym (bike, elliptical, arms)

At the gym on Tuesday, I had this genius idea to start with the elliptical rather than the bike. For whatever reason, I’m stuck on this idea that I have to warm up on the bike, but honestly, I don’t. I was able to get to 20 whole minutes on my nemesis, and felt so much better than when I do it second. So yay!

I also worked on lunges, as instructed. I’m supposed to do these every day.

Wednesday – gym (bike, elliptical, weights)

I repeated yesterday’s routine and it’s definitely making such a difference. After I finished a total of 40 minutes of cardio, I spent some time with the free weights, and did some inverted rows and deadlifts. My arm strength has lapsed a little, because I get so tired after spending so much time on my lower body, but I’m trying to balance it all.

Thursday – rest

For some reason, I felt awful on Thursday. My ankle was tight and pinched all day, and I just didn’t want to do anything. Delilah snuck upstairs before I got out of bed, so I just snuggled with her sweet self for an hour or so, rather than being productive.

To compensate for my lack of energy, I did my PT moves at home, while the pugs did their best to distract me by whining for food from the kitchen.

In the evening, I stepped up to attend a meeting for Scout leaders. I’m back on that leadership team for little man’s troop, and I am finally in a place where I can get myself to a monthly evening meeting.

Friday – physical therapy

TGIF and happy PT day. While I don’t have any photos of it, I got to do lunges on the bosu ball, which felt like a big reward. Also, I’m starting to track my calorie burn and workouts again.

Since I was feeling great, I did try to do a bit of spring cleaning. Every few months, I like to scrub all the walls with white vinegar and hot water, and mop all the floors with the same. I’m not able to really get down and dirty with the closets and drawers, but I could at least do this. So very glamorous.

Saturday – gym (bike, elliptical, weighted squats)

I had a fabulous gym session. Not only did I manage to go for 20 minutes on the elliptical again, I also increased the resistance a little. It’s these tiny gains that are going to start adding up to something great, I know it. On a side note, the gym was fairly crowded for a change, so it helped me get through some of that anxiety working out with people.

Oh, and little man made waffles for the whole family.

The weather was so gorgeous but we weren’t super motivated to do too much, until little man’s friend invited us over to watch a movie outside that evening. We brought all our warmest clothes and blankets, and had pizza and rosemary popcorn with wine. The kids wanted to do an 80s movie, so we ended up with The Lost Boys. Sigh, memories of the two Coreys. Oh, and the kids thought it was cheesy and hilarious. We are absolutely making it a thing.

Goal-getting

I’m pretty proud of this week. There were ups and downs, for sure. I am almost finished with the medication for my nerve pain, and that’s definitely changing the way I feel just a little bit, but not enough for concern. It’s just something else I need to adjust to.

Beyond that, I don’t have much new to report. This week will be busy as Spring Break kicks off on Friday and we are looking forward to a fun weekend and break!

I am linking up with the Weekly Rundown, with Confessions of A Mother Runner and Running on the Fly! Check them out!

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Will you be joining me at any of the Best Damn Races? Don’t forget to register with my BDR discount code RUNSWITHPUGS to save on any distance at any BDR location! Remember, the code for New Orleans expires FRIDAY, MARCH 13 so don’t miss out!

How was your week in training?

What’s your Favorite 80s Movie?

What inspired you on International Women’s Day?

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POSTED IN: florida blogger, INJURY AND RECOVERY, weekly rundwon

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a super lucky ultimate coffee date

Posted on March 6, 2020 by runswithpugs

And so we head into March, holding on to all the luck we can. This is probably the first month where I’m starting to feel hopeful about things really looking up. It’s taken a while to genuinely get to this point, and I am very grateful.

With that out of the way, let’s get down to our coffee!

Over coffee, I would tell you…

That I have registered for that “comeback” 5K. I believe this is going to be a walking situation, and I’m ok with that (it’s a race that benefits Girls on the Run of Northeast Florida, and is friendly to all abilities). I’m fortunate to have some really incredible support with me for the event, and it’s lucky that the timing for this one worked out so well.

Over coffee, I would tell you…

That I’ve been doing really well committing to real life things again. Injury is very isolating, and I’ve been the hermitiest of hermits for months. Last night, I went to my first Roundtable meeting for Scouts (it’s meeting of the key leaders in the local troop sand Packs) – after some time off, I’ve stepped up as Committee Chair and it’s time to really start doing my (volunteer) job.

Over coffee, I would tell you…

That I’m thinking about a YMCA membership. We have a great community gym, but I’ve kind of exceeded its limits at this point, and I’m at the point where I definitely need some more equipment (hello, leg press). My membership at 9Round has been on hold, and much as I hate to admit it, I think I’ll be ready to run long before I’m ready to kickbox again. Little man has asked to start going to the gym (he’ll be 12), and it’s lucky there’s a brand new facility right by our house, so it might be something we can do together.

Over coffee, I would tell you…

That I finally got a Shamrock Shake! I kept seeing them on Instagram, and couldn’t hold back! Lord knows why I love them so much (what IS that flavor anyway?), but I have one every year. I’m so lucky that Mr PugRunner was kind enough to swing by the drive-thru for me.

Over coffee, I would tell you…

That I am so grateful for this space and the support I’ve had from so many amazing bloggers through the years. I know I’ve had some bouts of whining and sadness, which is never fun, but I appreciate everyone letting get it out and work through it. It’s not my nature to be incredibly negative, but sometimes life has other plans, and I’m lucky to have somewhere to be open about emotions and fears.

Join us for this month’s Ultimate Coffee Date. After reading here, head on over to visit Coco and Deborah, our awesome link-up hosts.

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What would you tell me over coffee?

Have you been lucky lately?

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POSTED IN: INJURY AND RECOVERY, running thoughts, ultimate coffee date

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using pt to reach your {running} goals

Posted on March 4, 2020 by runswithpugs

Happy Wednesday, and thanks for joining us for another Runners’ Roundup! We have been so glad to welcome so many voices to this weekly community!

I’m not doing much (any) running at all, these days. Instead, my calorie burn comes from twice-a-week physical therapy, gym cardio and weights, and at-home pt exercises. It’s hard to envision running evolving from the series of stretches and flexes I do every day, but that’s the end game.

Be clear about your goals.

There were no questions that my goal, apart from recovering from two broken bones, was to run again. Specifically, to run half marathons, and maybe one spite marathon. Everyone in PT has different goals, whether they include getting back to functional life or going on to a competitive level of activity, and it’s important that everyone is on the same page.

Ask questions, but also trust.

The other day, we tried a new move: lunges on a slider with a thera-band around my ankles. I repeated the move a few times, and felt absolutely nothing. Thinking I was doing something wrong, I opened my mouth and asked what I was supposed to be experiencing and how it would help me. My PT came right over to adjust my form and show me where I needed to concentrate my efforts and why. It still doesn’t feel like I’m getting a ton from this particular motion, but I also trust that the (runner) PT, knowing my goals, is using them to help assign exercises.

Push yourself.

Again this week, I got on the shuttle and my PT set the resistance. I tested it with a single leg press, and it was not quite easy, but certainly not challenging. Instead of letting it be, I asked if we could try a slightly more difficult setting. The PT obliged and asked me how that felt. I was honest when I said I wasn’t happy about the increased weight, but I could do it, and so I did. It was hard, but I can do hard things. While I don’t want to aggravate anything, I’m not going to get anywhere without challenging my comfort zone either. It also explains why I leave PT in a full sweat, every time, without fail.

Ask for recommendations.

Obviously, not every home is equipped with a full suite of PT equipment, and not every patient has access to a gym, so it can be difficult to replicate exercises independently. Your PT can show you ways to modify things for when you’re not in their office. I have used towels for straps and paper plates for sliders. Tall, plastic, drinking cups can fill in for cones and throw pillows can replace foam mats. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. As an added benefit, these are all stretches and workouts that will continue to help me when I am running again.

Do the work.

Friends, I don’t even want to tell you how many hours I spend doing PT exercises at home. Some days, it feels like that’s ALL I do. The fact is, the more consistent I am at home, the better my sessions at PT will go, and the more I can build and improve. If I only do PT moves while at PT, I lose entire days of fitness, strength and improvement. I’ve worked too hard to get to this point, and while I can’t rush healing, I can certainly help it along so I can get back to what I love.