No training=Unhappy Rachel

So I have not blogged in a while due to the lack of training I have been doing. This makes me a very sad person but I know in the end the down time will be worth being healthy...or at least that is what I keep telling myself.

So I have been in physical therapy for about 3 weeks now and have been making progress...so we thought. The first 2 weeks were tough and I was still having pain in my left knee but it was getting better. We did stretches, exercises, icing and stem therapy (oh how I love stem therapy!) For the first week I rode a stationary bike for 15-20 minutes and let me tell you how much I hated every moment. I hated it because for someone that had been putting in 10-15miles a week going to just exercises for 20mins didn't even seem worth it. But I was a good little injured girl and did what Chad told me to do :) The next week I was able to put some weight on my legs and moved to the elliptical. Aww this was kinda like running so it made me happy. So far still just a little pain but not at all like I was having before. Chad thought I could ease myself into running last weekend and I was overjoyed with the news. I could not WAIT to get my shoes laced up and get back on the road. As much as I wanted to just go after it I followed instructions to do 5 min jog, 1 min walk for 20 mins. And... it went very bad!

First 5 min jog was good, my legs were getting loosened up and I didn't have much pain in my knee so I thought "oh this is awesome, I am getting it back" then the next 5 mins came and there was the lovely pain I remember! Not only was I having pain in my left knee my lower right leg was so tight and felt like someone had wrapped a thousand rubber bands around the bottom of my knee. The pain just kept shooting down the back of my leg. Oh no was my first thought, then my second was "I bet my legs are just sore from not running and I just need to loosen them up." So naturally I kept going...can you see my competitive side...or stupid side I don't know which. Anyway, I made it back to the house and iced my legs and did the exercises I was told to do and went on about my day. My legs were tight and I was having some pain in my left knee but I was able to push through it.

Monday I tried again...and I failed miserably! I could barely walk to get back to my office and when I got there I just broke down in tears. I was so upset and in so much pain. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have PT that day but thought about going in anyway to see if they could help, but I didn't. Chad called me on tuesday before my appt to check in because he was not going to be there when I got there and I broke down in tears again. Told him all about my weekend and he just listened and didn't even laugh! He told me he would call Dr. Chase and get me in right away because something was wrong and we needed it looked at. So Thursday came along and I hobbled over to see Dr. Chase and he confirmed that I have patellae tendinitis in my left knee! Great I thought, but he said it is not a big deal, just do some different rehad, some strength training and get a patellae band and I would be back on my feet soon. As for the right leg below is our conversation...

DC-"I don't want to assume anything but I am going to put this out there...I guess on Saturday you didn't exactly take things slow as in slow jog did you? I bet you went at your normal pace and pushed through the pain."

ME-(laughing)"why would you think I would do something like that??"

DC-with a very scowler gaze"Rachel, you HAVE to think back to when you just started this journey and remember the time you put in. You can't just pick it back up or you will do what you did and stain your calf muscle. You are lucky you didn't tear anything."

ME-(no longer laughing)-"I know, I am sorry. I will start slower next time, and work through recovery and not try to get back in so soon."

We shook hands and it's all good..I think. So I am back to PT, starting a strength training regiment with a personal trainer, and trying to get healthy. That is the running update...stay tuned for an actually Schafer family update soon!

Set back...set back...set back

*If you don't want to hear about my horrible running lately you might want to skip this post. I am logging all my feelings because I am hoping that at some point I will be able to look at what all I had to overcome to achieve my goals, including the very depressing times...which is where I am right now.*

This is all that is running through my head and it stinks! Every time I get excited about something I have done...like 6 miles then something else just hits me like a tons of bricks to bring me back down. I can't wait to have happy post! I am sorry for being such a downer lately but my knee trouble is really making things hard for me.

Saturday I went out excited to get another 6 under my belt and it was AWFUL! About 1/2mile in my legs would barely leave the ground and I thought I was just scooting along the road. I didn't think 6 would ever come or if I was even going to make it. Pretty sure about mile 3 I was near tears because I was so frustrated! Oh well, I finished and that is what matters.

Not 30 mins after thought I felt like I couldn't walk. My knee hurt so bad that I could barely put any weight on my foot without cringing in pain. I took alleve, iced it and everything and the pain was excruciating. I just laid in bed the rest of the night. Sunday morning I woke up and tried to walk and couldn't. My knee was not swollen or bruised so I just figured it was tight and would loosen up, it never did and when my husband had to help me up the stairs he said that was it and took me to the ER. I was certain I had torn something, but in the end it looks like nothing. The NP told me that this is common in female runners and there isn't much that can be done besides, rest, ice, pain reliever and some PT. I just can't seem to get the motivation now to keep going, I feel like this isn't for me and I should have NEVER set these types of goals. Who am I kidding, me really running 13.1 miles! Ha it seems like such a joke now when I can barely walk without pain, much less even think about training. Ugh I hate this!

Oh the joy

of running! I totally love it, I just don't like the pain that follows some times. So I have been having some knee pain lately and kept putting of going to the doctor for a couple reason, 1)I am stubborn like my dad and think it will just go away, 2) I didn't want to doctor to tell me to stop running because that would have made me SUPER upset and I probably would have cried, 3)I thought I was a tough girl and could deal with it. Well I caved and went to an Orthopedic yesterday, and made a fool of myself by telling him he was my new best friend because....HE TOLD ME I COULD STILL RUN!!!! I was so excited I wanted to jump off the table and give him a big hug, but I didn't. He would have been totally funny if I did though. HAHA

And my friend Suzy was so awesome because she was waiting for me when I got to the doc that morning to make sure I was ok. Having such great running buddies is totally AWESOME! Thank you Suzy!

So anyway, I don't have major problems in my knee just some inflammation or something like that. He didn't do an MRI just an X-ray because he didn't feel like I needed it yet but if it gets worse we will have to do that. He told me that I have plenty of space between my joints around my knee cap except for 1 area but the tissues was healthy so he didn't want to mess with it right now. That was great news! So now I just have to do some PT to strengthen my muscles...umm what I am not that strong??? Whoa what a blow to the ego :) and then ice after every run and take alleve everyday until the pain goes away. I am one happy runner knowing that I can still go out and do crazy things like run 13.1 miles in a few weeks!