I don’t have much to report about my life so I figured a fitness update was in order (and there really isn’t much else going on):

  • When I increased the intensity of my running workouts a couple of months ago, I started noticing a sharp pain in my left thigh. The pain would usually only occur when I was running and go away after I stopped running. At first, I thought it was because I needed to get some new running shoes but my new shoes didn’t help. I then figured it was just normal soreness from challenging my body so I ignored it. The pain got so bad last week that it started lingering for a few hours after my running workouts. I decided that this couldn’t be normal so I took a break from running for a week hoping that it would heal on its own. When the pain didn’t go away after a week’s rest, I went and saw my doctor. It turns out that I have sciatica. The good news is that my doctor doesn’t think it is back/disc related and she seemed pretty optimistic that I’ll be back to my normal running workouts in a few weeks. From my understanding, it sounds like the cause of the problem might be lack of proper stretching. The muscles around my sciatic nerve are tight (which apparently happens when you exercise) so they’re causing pressure on the nerve. For now, I’m taking a week off from anything that triggers the pain - running, walking, hiking, and bike riding. I can still exercise but my options have been pretty limited this week - elliptical (not the crossramp kind since that also triggers the pain), swimming, and resistance training. I’m also supposed to take Advil 3 times a day (to alleviate the inflammation) and do the piriformis stretch. That stretch, by the way, is literally a pain in the ass - although it doesn’t seem as hard to do now as it did when I first tried doing it Monday night. Starting next week, I can get back to running (YAY) but I have to take it slow - I’m only supposed to do half of my usual workout for the first week or so. If the pain doesn’t go away after a few weeks, I have to go back to see my doctor for more intense treatment. I’m hoping that it’ll heal up sooner rather than later.
  • I’m back to taking swim lessons but with a new instructor. I’ve only had two lessons so far but I really like my new instructor. She seems to really know how to work with adults and I’m seeing a huge improvement in my skills. Her availability seems pretty limited, though, so I’m hoping I can continue to work with her over the spring and summer. I was started to get really down about my swimming skills - like I’m never going to get any better because I didn’t learn as a kid. It’s nice to be excited about swimming, again. And its been great timing since I can’t run right now.
  • After the whole sciatica thing, I started thinking that I really need to learn more about running. For the most part, I feel like I’ve been running blind. I knew enough to find a running plan online so that I could actually slowly progress to running a 5K and I knew enough to go to a running store and get proper running shoes for my feet but other than that, I really don’t know much else about it. I decided to buy a running book so that I could learn more about proper training and stretching. I looked through a number of books at Borders but settled on this one. Even though I’m not very far into it, I’m really loving reading this book! For one thing, since I can’t run right now, it is nice to at least think about running. The book is really positive and very encouraging. I looked at other books and some of them seemed to have a condescending tone - like spending a whole chapter lecturing you on how to get motivated. Umm . . . given what I’ve accomplished the past few years, I’m not sure motivation is my problem.