Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Power Stick....


So some of you may remember about two years ago when I went totally crazy and got fully obsessed with running….doing 5-6 miles a day 6 days a week and crying if I missed it …mostly because it meant I had to reign in my calorie consumption for the day which is the main and only reason why I ever exercise…so I can eat more….because for anyone who knew me well this new habit seemed totally batshit because prior to this obsession I was a pretty sporadic gym-goer (at best) since my graduation from college. But for some reason that April basically overnight I decided to become a daily gym rat, waking up at 5:45 and at the gym by 6 every morning before work…and this went swimmingly until around mid October. Feeling particularly fit Chrissy and I joined a bootcamp which met in Washington Square Park two weeknights and early Saturday mornings (which to this day is the only time a homeless person has looked at me like I was the crazy one, doing squat thrusts and burpees and lugging huge water bottles around the park very early on freezing cold Saturday mornings when I had a perfectly nice bed I could still be sleeping in). At some point during the course of that bootcamp, though I can’t ever remember a point where I actually injured myself, my right hip began to ache…badly….but of course being crazy I told myself I could keep running through it because after a mile or so I got used to the pain…yeah you’re thinking…bad plan…and you’re right….it got to the point that I was forcing myself to run and then unable to walk normally…limping in pain…then running 6 miles…yeah where was my head??? Fast forward to me crying (literally this time) in the office of the head of orthopedic surgery at the now defunct St Vincent’s hospital as he read my MRIs…two tears in the cartilage around my right hip…no running and no physical activity other than physical therapy for at least 6 weeks…so I went and I went diligently and it took longer than 6 weeks but my hip healed…but of course it was now freezing cold out and I was used to sleeping in…and my routine was gone…I was still doing yoga and heading to the gym occasionally but nothing like what I had been doing, and when I tried to run every once in a while it was so hard and awful and I got into the mindset that I would only run when I had to i.e. if I was being chased by someone with a machete . And then at some point late this winter I got the itch to run again, and told myself ok I’m going to do this the right way…I joined New York Road Runners and signed up for their beginners running group, I went a stretched diligently and took things slow (I have a tendency to rush headlong into things which is a prime way to injure yourself) and things were going well…and I was starting to enjoy running again (not gonna lie the first 4 weeks were pretty miz running is a pretty unforgiving sport to get back into when your remember what you used to be capable of) and then it happened…I felt that familiar ache…that I can run through this it’s not so bad…and this time it wasn’t in my hip..which I had been so careful with…now my right Achilles has decided to join the pain party….either from overstretching or tight calves or just general lack of elasticity from wearing heels to much (which everyone knows I am guilty of…usually the north of 5 inches variety)…and I am beyond frustrated…I am finally starting to enjoy this again…but know deep down I should probably take a couple of days off to let this rest…and when I go out again it’s gonna be a struggle sigh. But my co-worker who runs a lot recommended “The Stick” pictured above…and it’s pretty funny…the options offered for the product which you pick using “The Stick Selector” include “The Big Stick”, “The Power Stick” or ”The Stiff Stick”  among many others…hmm wonder which “The Stick Selector” will select for me?? But I am willing to give it a shot…and let this thing heal…instead of running through the pain (which I did last night..stupid)….I am going to try my hardest not to get discouraged….anyone ever suffered from this…have any suggestions??