Whitney

What’s really wrong with me

So, I went to the doctor last Thursday for a follow up. The verdict isn’t as “cool” as I thought it would be. My legs are different lengths, but the difference is so negligible that it’s not the culprit of my problems. From what I can discern, my problems lie in an excess of scar tissue around my tendons in my ankle and both sides of my left calf. To fix this, we’re doing some ASTYM:

The ASTYM System is the form of augmented soft tissue mobilization (ASTM) that allows the clinician to stimulate the body’s own capacity for healing in patients with soft tissue degeneration or fibrosis and chronic inflammation. This leading edge, non-invasive treatment is performed with ergonomically designed instruments that initiate the healing process necessary for tissue remodeling.

Source

Basically my PT, who is awesome, by the way, uses some tools to stimulate inflammation in my muscles to get them to heal normally and break up all that scar tissue. Pretty cool, eh? I had my first treatment today, and it hurt a little, but I’m sure it will help. And the good news is that I get to resume running this week if I slow down or stop if I feel pain. I’m overjoyed, really. Maybe I’ll knock out about 3 tomorrow. I know I won’t be in the best shape for the half in a month, but I’d rather be able to run it and walk some than not run at all. Wouldn’t you agree?

10 Running Questions

So these questions (originating at anothermotherrunner.com) have been floating around the runner-blog world, so I thought I’d just go with it and post my answers too.

Last year's AF Canyon Half — Me and The Husband after a race we ran together last year.

1. Best run ever: It’s hard to nail a run down as “the best,” but I went on a 5-mile run with The Husband a couple weeks ago that was pretty dang awesome. We kept each other going the whole time and stuck together. The run was really special to me because we normally run our separate ways on Saturday mornings. I hope we can have more running dates in the future.

2. Three words that describe my running: Fun (mostly). Liberating. Empowering.

3. My go-to running outfit is: A Nike Dri-Fit shirt, capris, SmartWool socks, and my Saucony Mirages/Brooks Launches.

4. Quirky habit while running: I don’t know how quirky this is, but I pump my right arm higher and faster than my left. Maybe I think it makes me go faster or something.

5. Morning, midday, evening: I love mornings, but when I’m too lazy to get up, I run after work.

6. I won’t run outside when it’s: Dark. I’m too terrified to run alone outside in the dark. I might go if I have a running buddy, though.

7. Worst injury—and how I got over it: Well, I’m still getting over some moderate left-foot pain due to some plantar fasciitis and bad tendons, which might not be my “worst” injury, but it is definitely my longest-duration one. Now I get to go to physical therapy for some ASTYM (basically stimulation of the body’s healing process). (I’ll go into more detail later.)

8. I felt most like a badass mother runner when: Well, I’m not a mother runner–yet–but I feel most badass when I run further than I ever have before.

9. Next race is: Provo Halloween Half Marathon on October 27–I can’t wait. AND I’m so excited to be running it with my dear sister-in-law. 🙂

10. Potential running goal for 2013: No injuries! And to finish a few more halfs–and maybe a triathlon!

How would you answer the above questions? Copy these and paste them to your own blog post and share a little bit of yourself with the runner community! 🙂

Two Truths and a Lie

I’m a neat freak.
One of my legs is longer than the other.
I desperately want a cat.

The lie is #1. I’m definitely not a neat freak, though I’m completely different at work than I am at home. My desk has to be organized, otherwise I can’t take it. I’m more flexible at home. I really do want a cat of my very own. (I can’t have one because we live in a place that won’t allow pets.)

Anyway, the other truth up there manifested itself today, when I went to the doctor. After some X-rays that ruled out a fracture, I found out that one of my legs is longer than the other–at least that’s what the doctor thinks. And this is helpful to know because it might be the cause of my many ailments with my left foot–the strains, sprains, pains, and so on. So, I hope it’s an easy fix because I really want to be able to run my half marathon in 5 and a half weeks. At this point, I’ll hopefully be able to run/walk it.

Also, we made barbecue chicken pizza tonight that was probably the best I’ve ever made (and I forgot to take a picture of it because I’m a bad newbie blogger). I made homemade crust and used fresh ingredients–except for the barbecue sauce. FYI: The best thing you can put on a barbecue chicken pizza is cilantro. Try it. It will change your life . . . well, at least it will enhance your pizza. 🙂

AND I’m really excited for a few packages coming my way from PRO Compression, Road ID, and Running Warehouse. I’ll try them out and write a review soon.

Do any of you have one leg longer than the other? How do you deal with it when you run? An orthotic?

What’s your favorite type of pizza?

p.s. Here’s a coupon code for $1 off at RoadID.com: ThanksWhitney18322813. And right now, you can get $20 off calf sleeves at PROCompression.com; just enter the code SLEEVES at checkout.