Can You Run with a Hematoma?

In just 2 short weeks my sister and I will be headed to Disney to participate in the Wine and Dine half marathon. This is the last race on my Run Disney bucket list!

If you've been reading our blog for long, you may remember me mentioning that EVERY Half Marathon I've ever run at Disney I have been injured for. No kidding! I was starting to think that maybe Disney was just not the place for me to be running. It didn't bother me that much though because Disney races are run for fun and entertainment anyway.

Even though I've had a few niggles here and there throughout 2016, there wasn't anything real serious that had me sitting on the sideline for long. I've been feeling pretty strong during my Wine and Dine training. Although I didn't get as many miles in as I wanted to this summer (because of the heat), I still felt good and was in good shape ( no injuries).  I thought FOR SURE Wine and Dine would be the ONE Disney half marathon that I could pull off without injury.

However, as you know I've been struggling with that bruise on my calf. I bought some Arnicare and started seeing the bruise start to fade so I thought perhaps I was on my way to recovery. I felt a knot in the back of my calf the other day and had my PT take a look at it. He confirmed that it was indeed a hematoma and it looked pretty bad.

This is how my PT used Rock Tape to tape my Hematoma to see if it would help during my running.  Take two pieces of tape, cut in the shape of a jelly fish and then criss cross them over the hematoma.

For those of you who don't know what a hematoma is, it is when a blood vessel breaks and blood seeps outside the vessel and pools in one area.  Generally a hematoma isn't cause for concern, but mine is in the worst place possible for a runners.

Of course every time I extend my leg to run, it is painful. What's even worse is that my PT said it could take over a month for it to heal.  SO, in an effort to prevent further damage and promote healing I am taking rest days until race day. I know this isn't ideal seeing that at I've only had 3 long-ish runs. I had one really awesome 8 mile run, a 12 mile walk-run, and most recently a pretty crappy 10 mile run.   Needless to say, I feel like I could just sit down and cry.   So, I'll be off my legs till race day and then I guess I'm just gonna wing it!  -M

We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap...October16th

After running Chicago Marathon on Sunday I started to feel a bit under the weather when I came home. I think a combination of kicking butt at the race and traveling with the climate change left me feeling exhausted.

 Monday and Tuesday were relaxation days.  I knew I wanted to get a massage this week but I was afraid to go too soon because I thought it may hurt too much. 

Wednesday I was feeling better so wanted to go out for a short run. Nothing too long nor intense but I thought it may do me good…..wrong! I only did 3 miles and felt ok during it, but later that night I started to feel stuffed up again and spent the whole next day in my pj’s.

 It was nice to just veg out for another day though knowing that I did not have anything planned. Friday I worked all day, so nothing exciting there. Saturday I slept in.  When I did get up and around I didn’t have anything scheduled, so I decided to test out my legs again on a run. I didn’t have a plan on how long I was going to go, I was just going to go on how I felt. I made it just under 8 miles.  Other than a few tights spots, I felt good during the whole time. After returning home, I finally went and got a well-deserved massage. I think they need to call the place I go house of pain because that is what it felt like. It was good, but I was definitely sore! I am glad I didn’t have anything planned for afterwards.  That evening I came home and relaxed the rest of the night.  

 Looking forward to what this coming week brings! Only 2 more weeks till my next race! -L

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia for their weekly wrap!

It's the Little Things

So, between Lacey recovering from her awesome BQ at the Chicago Marathon and me still recovering from that HUGE bruise on the back of my calf (are you sick of hearing about that yet?) you can say there hasn't been a lot of running going on here this week.

For that reason, I thought I'd take a different twist and mention some of the "little things" that I am thankful for this week because yes, sometimes it is the "little things" that make us smile or just make our day!

Thing 1: This one isn't just THIS week, but has been ongoing. I am extremely grateful for the gorgeous weather we are having. Yes, it rained that one weekend, but other than that, the skies are blue and the sun is shining! I have been able to wear my skirts and dresses every day since school started. In fact, there has only been two days were I even needed a jacket in the morning.  I figured i'd mention this now because as we enter the middle of October I suspect the chilly weather is going to show up.  Although I am loving this weather, i am kind of bummed that I am not out there running in it while it's still nice!

Thing 2: I am Thankful to Judy from Chocolate Runs Judy for suggesting Arnicare bruise cream. I was able to find it at my local CVS and have been applying it since Monday.  It's always hard to tell if that "something"you apply is actually working or if it's just "time" that is doing the healing.  Either way, the purple color seems to be dissipating and it didn't hurt AS much when I did a jog around town on Wednesday ( even though I shouldn't have).

I highly recommend Halo!

Thing 3:  This seemed to be the week that people were getting sick.  People at work and even in my own household were all coming down with something. I thought for sure I was next. I had the sinus pressure, the sniffling nose, and the sneezing. I nipped that in the bud right away by taking Alka-Seltzer Cold and by constantly spraying HALO down my throat.  I HATE missing work. I think teaching might be the one job where it takes more work and planning to miss a day than it does to actually show up!

Thing 4: If you are a teacher you will know why I am thankful for this next thing.  I got a new student yesterday and his last name is at the end of the alphabet. How convenient that alphabetically he is now the last one on my list.  This means that I can write his name in my grade book without disrupting the sequence of the class.   Like I said, it's the little things! Now if his last name began with an "M",  that would have just stressed me out...haha.

Thing 5: EVERY weekend since school started I have been busy with plans. It's either been birthday parties, anniversary parties, races, traveling, or something. This weekend i am thankful for NO plans. I just want to veg out with Baylee (who seems to be getting over her bronchitis by the way).  Maybe I'll do a little more decorating for fall around my house.

Have a good weekend all!  -M

P.S Since I believe this is the last Friday 5, We want you to know that we will be adding you all to our blog reader so we can continue to read your posts on Fridays! We would love if you would do the same. Lets continue to connect!

My Chicago Marathon Recap!

I am back from all the excitement that was the Chicago Marathon this past weekend and am ready to share. If you'd like to see photos from earlier in the weekend please see THIS POST.

Now on to Sunday which was race day. The morning started very early with a 4:30 am wake up call. 

I got dressed and I was out the door by 5 am to head to the VIP hospitality tent which was a mile away from my hotel. I arrived in plenty of time to have a few cups of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. The race director spoke and told us it was one of the best years for the Chicago marathon’s weather since he has been the director of it for twenty seven years and today would be a great day for a PR.

 Deena Kastor and Joan Benoit Samuelson also spoke saying that it is a great fast flat course but be careful not to go out too fast.  There were also a few other winners from the years past. After they spoke it was soon time to head into our corrals. 

I wanted to find my pace group right from the beginning, but when I signed up for the race (that felt like forever ago) I wrote a time that was above what I wanted now, and the pace group in my corral did not go down to the time I was hoping for.  I felt like I was already behind and the race didn’t even start yet. So I got to the first pacer in my corral which was still 10 minutes and hoped for the best. 

Photo borrowed from MarathonFoto

I started out great like I normally do but knew I was too fast. I was hoping to find the pacer up ahead then I would slow down. But unfortunately I couldn’t find the pacer and knew I had to hold back or I would lose steam. Before the race I found out a way to set my watch so it would alert me if I was going too fast or too slow, and if so it would beep. It kept beeping that I was too fast, so I knew I had to slow down. Also, it was getting very annoying! I finally found a good pace I could hold and set into a groove. My watch wasn’t beeping for a while so I thought I was right in the rage I wanted to be. There was a lady that I came upon around mile 4 and we started running at the same pace for a while. I finally asked her what time she was hoping for. She said anything sub 3:30. I told her my goal was 3:30-3:35 and I wasn’t sure if I was too fast or too slow. She said I may be a little too fast but definitely not too slow. This made me feel good and I was hoping I could keep up with the pace, knowing that there is still a long way to go. 

Photo borrowed from MarathonFoto

There were a few times I wanted to pull ahead and I stopped myself knowing that I wanted to save more energy in the second half.  She stopped at a water stop and so did I and we continued on. We just past mile 9 and I felt my headband slipping off. So I went to adjust it and it fell off. I saw it a few yards back and wanted so bad to turn around, but I knew that would be a disaster and plus I wanted to stay with this lady that was keeping me at a good pace. I thought to myself If I get the time I am hoping for it’ll be worth it ( It was even a cute Run Chicago headband so I was a bit bummed) We were still together at mile 11 when we both stopped at the water station but ended up not finding each other. I knew I was still on pace so I continued on. I was very grateful that I had someone for that long. 

When I arrived at mile 13 I knew my pace and time was still good so I was hoping to maintain it. I was told that Marcia and Wendy were going to be around that mile, not exactly sure where so I took one of my ear buds out just in case they saw me and would yell for me. But unfortunately I didn’t see them with the huge crowds that were spectating. 

 The next few miles were kind of a blur.  I was just jamming out listening to my music and keeping an eye on my pace. I had a time I wanted to get to by mile 20, and I made it. After that, I knew I was on the home stretch and still continued holding my pace. By mile 24 my Ipod died but the energy of the crowd was huge and music was playing so I just took it all in and enjoyed my last few miles.  I kept seeing signs that said 800 yards, 400 yards, 200 yards, then I finally saw the finish line and gave it all I had to the finish. When I finished I knew my watch was about ten minutes behind the clock. But still wasn’t sure my exact time.

 I knew I PR’d but by how much? Did I BQ? I may have, but was I under enough? I received my medal and continued down the finishing shoot to head to the VIP area.  I received my complimentary massage and it felt heavenly! While I was getting a massage my friend came over and congratulated me.  In addition to a 15 minute PR. I BQ’d.....Yay!

 I needed a 3:35 and I came in at 3:332:03. I definitely am not a squeaker; I just hope that it is enough. I guess I will find out in 10 months. Until then I can just enjoy my accomplishment!  

After my massage, I grabbed some lunch then I had to head back to hotel because check out was soon. After I showered and packed, I checked out of the hotel, but luckily they were able to hold my luggage. My friend and I walked down to the Nike Store because they were doing free medal engraving.

 Afterwards we walked to Ghirardelli for a post-race treat, an ice cream waffle bowl that was delicious! Then it was time to head to airport.  It was a great weekend in Chicago!  There were so many other things I would have liked to do, but not enough time. I’d love to come back when I have more time to enjoy what the city has to offer.  -L

Hello From Chicago!....Photo dump

Hello From Chicago!  I truly had the most amazing few days here in this city.  I can't wait to talk about the race but for today thought I would just share a few photos from Friday and Saturday.

 Friday I headed to the Expo, which was one of the best I've been to.  I bought this shirt with the Chicago skyline on it and a matching Sparkly Soul headband that says Run Chicago.   I also bought some Nuun because it came with a Chicago Water bottle!  I also bought an obligatory race magnet (not pictured).

I had this shirt made at the expo.

But this jacket is my favorite purchase of all. I just love it!

Oh, and this was the Race shirt. A little bright but okay.

I was so happy to meet up with Running buddy Pam (From Two Runners Travel).  It's so nice to see familiar faces in an unfamiliar city.  I met up with  her again Saturday and had lunch with her and her husband.

Friday night I was invited to a VIP cocktail party/ Happy hour.  Sorry no pictures but it was pretty dark in the room we were at.

On Saturday, I met up with Alaina from The Simple Peach.  This was my first time meeting Alaina. She is super sweet!

Later that afternoon I took my own tour of the city by going for a run. 

                                              I finally got to see the famous bean!

That's all for now.  Please visit back later this week when I share about race day!  -L

We'll be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap Oct 9...Race Day

Hello everyone! Today is race day for everyone running the Chicago Marathon.  As you know, Lacey is there running it.  I can't wait to hear how the race was.

Until then, I'll wrap up my less than stellar week.

It is less than 30 days from my own race day and I don't know if I'm quite ready or not. Mentally I am ready and I know I can do it. Physically, there are just too many niggles that have been coming up lately. I'll be running a Disney race so of course an unexpected injury is par for the course, right ( insert eye roll here)

Sunday I hiked the PA Grand Canyon.

Can you see more from my Friday post here.

Monday I took a rest day from the gym and from running. This has started to become a trend because I'm always so exhausted from the weekend. However, I DID take Baylee to the island to walk since I felt like I didn't give her enough attention over the weekend.

Wednesday I went to the gym and then attempted a long-ish run afterwards. I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather.  Turns out I couldn't go more than 2 miles. I didn't think this bruise would affect my running but it has.

My plan was to skip my long run planned for Saturday and just let the bruise hopefully heal. I thought about waiting till today to run but my calf still hurts so I don't think I will attempt it. I looked up how to heal bruises and I came across an article that mention getting Dermend Moisturizing Bruise Formula Cream from CVS.  It is said to increase blood flow and reduce inflammation.   Most articles I read on bruising where more concerned about the visual factor of covering up the bruise rather than helping it heal.  I'm more concerned about the pain aspect of it.

The articles I read say that when the bruise is starting to turn to a yellow/brownish color that it is healing.  It's been over a week now and mine in still purple.  Even though I have been icing, there doesn't seem to be any healing going on and the pain seems to be getting worse.  I've also read that I should have bandaged it right away to help with blood flow and I didn't do that so perhaps that is why it is still purple.

Okay, so I didn't realize this post would turn in to all about my bruised calf, sorry.

In other news, I had to make an emergency vet visit with Baylee on Thursday.  Turns out she has Bronchitis. Poor Baby.  The frustrating part is that I knew something was wrong and mentioned it to my vet months ago. She just chalked it up as the dog's air ways getting more narrow as they age (which can be common).

 X-rays were finally taken on Thursday to determine the diagnosis. I generally have a hard time getting her to take pills but this time I am crushing them up and putting them in Vanilla Ice cream so she seems to be happy about that!  The vet said that this is now a chronic condition and if the pills do not work, Baylee will have to have an inhaler. A dog on an inhaler, can you imagine?

Even though my calf is hurting and Baylee is under the weather, it was still a great week. I am thankful that things with Baylee weren't worse than they were or life threatening. I am also thankful for the beautiful weather we've been experiencing but bummed I haven't been able to run while it's still so nice. Perhaps I'll get a walk in today.   Enjoy your day folks!  -M

We are linking up with Tricia and Holly (who is also running the Chicago Marathon today) for their weekly wrap!

The PA Grand Canyon

On Sunday my friend Heather and I traveled to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. The reason for our visit was to check out the course for the Grand Canyon Half Marathon.  We thought fall would be the perfect time of year to check it out because of the abundance of colorful leaves.  Turns out Green was the most abundant color, but I'm not complaining, it was still beautiful.

Here are 5 things I'll share about out trip.

1.  So yes, there is a half marathon/ marathon  through the Grand Canyon, or there use to be anyway. I knew that the race had been cancelled earlier this year, but I got word from someone in that area's running club that their local Chamber of Commerce wanted to continue the event under a different name. So in that case, we decided that we would still go check it out so we were prepared if we wanted to run.

2. There are two ways to enter the Canyon. One is through Leonard Harrison State Park (off of route 660) known as the East Rim. The other is through Colton Point State Park (off route 6) known as the West Rim.

                                                            We entered on the East Rim.    


3.   On the East rim there are only 2 trails. We did not know this at the time.  The first trail we hiked was a short loop called overlook trail.

 It was down hill and stopped at Otter View and then looped back up.  It's only about .6 miles but it's pretty steep on the way back up.

The second trail we hiked was called the Turkey Path. This path was 2 miles down and back and was estimated to take an hour and a half.  This trail was the one that would actually take you down into the canyon. It was no doubt challenging.

We were close to the end but didn't actually hike all the way down to the creek.  We didn't know how long it would take us to hike back up the canyon and we worried about it becoming dark. Because of all the tree covering, we couldn't tell how much daylight was still left. We made it to this waterfall before hiking back up.  Turns out it only took us an hour not an hour and a half that was estimated. My Garmin recorded the total elevation for this hike 799 ft.

4. Now THIS is something I wish I would have known BEFORE we went to the Canyon. It turns out that the West Rim of the Canyon has 7 trails and over 14 miles of hiking path. THIS is the side we should have visited because this is where the Grand Canyon Marathon and Half Marathon took place. I didn't know this until we were ready to leave the East rim and by then it was getting late.  We would have had to get in our car and drive over to the East rim and it was quite a few miles away in the opposite direction of the way we would go home. I guess I'll have to check it out next time.

5.

The canyon is actually called Pine Creek Gorge.  The reason I was confused on how to get here is because it actually spans several state parks.  In additional to hiking other activities include biking, camping, horseback riding, fishing, and boating.  I also saw a sign for covered wagon rides through the canyon.  The day we were here there were actually people in the water kayaking and canoeing.

There is also a rail trail that spans 62 miles. As we were trying to find our way to the  canyon ( we stopped at the wrong trail head at first) we met a group of bikers who were biking the entire rail trail over the course of the weekend.  I definitely want to make a return visit next summer with my bike and check out the rail trail (or at least part of it).  -M

We are linking up with the gals from the Friday 5.