Irresistible Bliss

About three weeks ago, as I was beginning to increase my running mileage, a dull ache started in my left quad. I figured it was just my body building new muscle as I ran more. I ran 17 miles that week. Only a couple more than the week before, and shy of my goal of breaking 20. The week after, the ache continued. I hit my 20 miles on Friday, relieved that I could take a break for the weekend and rest my now throbbing leg. It felt good and horrible at the same time. Then I remembered about the Twitter Road Race scheduled for the next day. And so I got up and ran 3 miles, making it 23 for the week. That left me with just one rest day. Monday morning came too soon and I walked more than ran a 16 minute mile. I can normally walk a mile in about the same time, so this was extremely slow for a run, but it hurt too much to go faster. Tuesday morning, it occurred to me that I probably should not be running. I walked a mile which took over 20 minutes due to the pain. That was my last mile.

I decided that I should take a week off. If I saw no improvement in a week, I would call my doctor. The next Monday I called, because in almost a week off, it hurt to do any extensive walking. Walking to my classes on the 2nd and 3rd floor was a nightmare. My doctor was booked for a week, so I made an appointment with the new PA in the office. I have seen fantastic PA’s in the past, so I figured it was a better choice than waiting another week. It was NOT the right choice in this case. My doctor is a runner. This woman is not. She actually seemed kind of hateful. Not sure if it had to do with running or if she just generally didn’t like me. The only good she did was to take x-rays of my hip and femur. Knowing that I have no fractures makes me feel better. The problem though? She took this as confirmation that it must just be a muscle, and decided that I have groin strain. The pain? It started in the front center of my quad. And most of the pain is still in my quad. It moves around. Sometimes a little is actually in the groin area. And sometimes it’s at the top of the leg where it meets the hip. But for the most part, it’s right in the center of my quad. I asked her why she would think it was a groin strain and not, oh I don’t know, maybe a quad strain? She said it’s because I didn’t stop running right away, that I must have pulled those muscles too. Does that make sense to you? Because it still sounds completely backwards to me.

She also didn’t believe me that the pain was bad because I wasn’t drugging myself up on anti-inflammatories (and blamed this for it not healing) and I guess because I wasn’t screaming and crying. I’m not sure why she assumed I’d be a crybaby. But after 3 weeks of dealing with the pain, and her exam where she barely even touched my leg and didn’t even have me take my jeans off, I had no tears for her.

So she prescribed me an enormous bottle of prescription strength aleve. And told me to ice it and that yoga would be ok. And she said I can eventually start walking and that I’ll probably be able to run again. Then she pretty much laughed in my face over the other questions I asked her. They weren’t stupid questions. She basically laughed and told me to talk to my doctor about it. Which I would have been doing if I had been able to see my doctor to begin with. She also made some comments that were so out of line that I wish I could remember her exact words. I was pretty much stunned about the whole tone of the appointment. I went home and cried and put ice on my leg.

My appointment with the PA made it even more clear to me that I need to get my degree, because I want this. I want to help people who are hurting. I’m going to take this physical therapy thing all the way, so that I can help as many people as possible.

This week I’m determined to get things moving in the right direction. I have started walking. I apply heat and stretch before walking, then stretch again and ice afterwards. I tried ice cup massage instead of an ice pack the other day and it feels amazing. I’m using the aleve, but I’d like that to not go on for too long. I don’t know when I’ll be running again, but I will be.

I used to make my mac and cheese like this, until I found this recipe, and now I’m making sort of a combination of the two.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of Elbow macaroni or small shells (I use whole wheat elbows and prefer it this way. You can try any type of macaroni you like, but the smaller shapes will be easier to work with.)
• A cup of shredded cheddar cheese (This is approximate. I just pour some in until it looks like enough. When I make this at home I use reduced fat sharp cheddar.)
• Pepperoni slices (I usually use Turkey Pepperoni, and again I just stir the in until it seems like enough. You can use as many or as few as you like.)
• A sprinkle of grated cheese (Kraft reduced fat parmesan.)
• 1/2 cup of flavored Italian bread crumbs
• 2 or 3 tablespoons of melted margarine 

Cook macaroni and drain. Pour into a large bowl and stir in cheddar. Sprinkle in a little grated cheese and stir. Throw in slices of pepperoni and stir together. Spoon into greased cupcake/muffin pans. Melt butter, and stir in breadcrumbs. Sprinkle on top of filled cupcakes. Bake for 12 minutes at 350. Typically makes 12-15 cupcakes depending on how much pasta, cheese and pepperoni you throw in the bowl. I don’t usually measure any of it out, I just pour in what looks right, so it can vary.

You can “flour” the pans after greasing them with some italian bread crumbs. It may help them to stick together better. The longer you let it cool, the easier it is to get them out in cupcake shape. I prefer to eat it hot so they fall apart when I take them out of the pan.

To make a large pan like I brought to the service, I used about a pound and a half of elbows, 2.5 cups chedder and 2/3 of a bag of pepperoni. Then I baked at 350 for about 20 minutes. If you want it to taste exactly how it did for this, use normal elbows, regular pepperoni and full fat sharp cheddar. It turned out well, but I honestly prefer the way the healthier version tastes.

I’m running more lately. I find that I no longer need music for the mile I run with my husband in the early mornings. His company is what keeps me going. Plus I can hear the park foxes and other crazy sounds more clearly without headphones blocking one ear.

But later, when I go back and run alone? It’s all about the music. Without it I would not be able to keep going the way I have been, and I want to go longer and further over the coming weeks and months. So here is my current running playlist that has been keeping me going.

1. Your Love Is My Drug – Ke$ha
2. Blow – Ke$ha
3. Teenage Dream – Katy Perry
4. We Found Love – Rihanna
5. We R Who We R – Ke$ha
6. Last Friday Night – Katy Perry
7. Blah Blah Blah – Ke$ha
8. Firework – Katy Perry
9. Crazy Beautiful Life – Ke$ha
10. DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – Usher featuring Pitbull
11. Party At A Rich Dude’s House – Ke$ha
12. Backstabber – Ke$ha
13. E.T. – Katy Perry
14. The One That Got Away – Katy Perry
15. c u next tuesday – Ke$ha
16. Blind – Ke$ha
17. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes – Ke$ha
18. TiK ToK – Ke$ha

At this point, there are more songs on my playlist than I need. 3 miles gets me through about the first 10 tracks right now. I’ll add new songs in when I need a change, especially when my 11 year old daughter buys new music and shares with me. She buys better music for running to than I typically do. Most of these tracks were hers first.

What kind of music keeps you going during a run or other workout? What have you got on your playlist that I should consider adding to mine?