Training - Week 5!

Week 5 is in the books!

On Tuesday night, I was completely overwhelmed though. I worked a long day and attended a fundraising kickoff with the Disney team from 8-9. I ate dinner at 9 at night and had so many thoughts swirling in my head, that I couldn't turn off my brain.

I'm behind at work, and I need to log on early to catch up.

I'm behind in fundraising, and they had so many ideas I have to research.

I have 4 miles to run tomorrow, and I'm so tired.

I need to build a scarecrow.

I need to update my website.

I need to make a few more shirts for when it's short sleeve weather.

I need to do this, that, and the other thing around the house...

So, like any over-anxious person does, I went to bed, couldn't fall asleep, couldn't stay asleep, and got maybe 3.5 hours all night. Eventually I got out of bed at 430 to work on some fundraising ideas. I got tired and went back to bed at 600, just to lay there again until I finally got up to run at 700. I thought I was going to crash at work mid-day, but I powered through, took a muscle relaxer that night for the strain in my neck (that I probably got from stress and being tense), and slept like a baby the next night!

I still haven't missed a workout, and I'm still feeling pretty good. I ran just over a 5k on Friday and just over a 10k on Saturday. It's like the first 2 days of Dopey! I feel good increasing the mileage again, and Saturday's 6.67 miles was the most I've done since April 3rd!

I'm also halfway through knee injections. Me? The one who is terrified of injections is willingly getting needles? I know, I know...

So, in May, I was in Austin, Texas for work. From the first Uber leaving the airport that slammed on his brakes and honked his horn too many times, to the last Uber returning me to the airport that drove on the shoulder of the highway to get there faster even though I was in no rush, the driving was abysmal. However, the one car that just about did me in, was a tall white car. I was in a crosswalk with the white WALK light, when I realized this car wasn't slowing down. It either didn't see me or didn't care, and even though it had a red light, it was not going to stop before the crosswalk. I screamed, put up my right hand (as if I could freeze time) and jumped out of the way. He stopped, and my hand hit his car, pretty far up his hood. Inches. It was mere inches from my body. He said nothing, waited for me to take a few more shaky steps, and turned right on red. I could tell I was hurt, but since it didn't hit me, I didn't think I was that hurt. Until I woke up at 4 in the morning and couldn't walk to the bathroom. I was in so much pain, I was in tears. Looking back, I should have gone to an urgent care. But I was just trying to shake it off. I was in a new city, I had a ton of work to do, surely the next day is the worst and then it starts getting better, and I was on day 2 of 11 straight travel days. I was in Austin, then Chicago for Sam's graduation, then a national park and Milwaukee for a long weekend, then Nashville for work again. I just didn't have time to be injured.

Except, it didn't really get that much better. Going down any step brought jarring pain, and I didn't really have time to just rest it. I couldn't put weight on it, I couldn't lock my knee, I couldn't lift my leg straight out if I was sitting. Just before Memorial Day, I had an appointment with an Orthopedic Specialist. She's been Sam's knee and shoulder doctor for years, but this was the first time I was the patient. She said I had sprained my MCL and gave me a knee brace and physical therapy exercises. I took a few weeks off from running. I'm not a patient person, and at one point I got so down, I had convinced myself I needed surgery and would never be able to run again. The anxiety and stress was all-consuming, knowing I needed to gear up for an announce Dopey, but afraid I wouldn't even be able to start training. By my follow-up 7 weeks later in July, I had regained most of my range of motion, but was still having some discomfort. She's not thrilled at the stress this Dopey plan will put on my knees, and recommended 3 weekly knee injections of, basically, WD-40 for my joint! I hate needles more than I can begin to describe, so she also prescribed a Valium.

The first week was awful. So many tears, so much pain, so much anxiety the room started spinning, and I almost passed out. But the second week was much better because I was distracted by them checking out my left knee and hip. Running with the brace changed my gait a little bit and my left side has been a bit cranky. They recommended a hip shot and knee shots. "I can't believe these words are coming out of my mouth, but I'll agree to the left knee shots." (I'm not quite ready for the left hip shot, but I haven't ruled that out just yet.) That was before I got my second right knee shot, which was so much better! Almost no pain at all. Friday was Week 3. Less tears than Week 1, but more pain than Week 2. It can take 4-6 weeks to feel the full effects, but my right side isn't giving me any trouble running at all right now. Recovery is pretty easy. We stop for donuts on the way home, and I nap for a few hours. My knee feels... squishy, but I can run the next day. Oreo is fascinated by it each week, and always wants to check it out!

I'm on a break for a few weeks while they go through the insurance process for the left knee, but I'm hopeful it helps get me through the next 20 weeks! Only for Disney. Only for Dopey. Only for this crazy goal that means so much to me would I willingly get shots 3 weeks in a row - twice!

Week 5: Run 17.29 miles + Walk 1.25 miles = 18.54 total miles

Cumulative: Run 78 miles + Walk 8.86 miles = 86.86 cumulative miles