First Run in Oblivion

Last Thursday was my 4th visit to the PT.  After some stretching, serious scraping that left lots of bruising & some new exercises she told me that I could start a walk/run progression.  YAY!   Here is how the progression goes:

Workout 1:  4 minute walk, 1 min run - repeat 6 times
Workout 2:  3 minute walk, 2 min run - repeat 6 times
Workout 3:  2 minute walk, 3 min run - repeat 6 times 
Workout 4:  1 minute walk, 4 min run - repeat 6 times
Then try a 10 minute run

Start off doing every 2-3 days.  If any pain is felt stop & repeat the same workout next time. 

My plan was to get up Friday morning & do workout 1 on the treadmill in our basement.  I got up at 6:15am, put on my run gear & headed for the basement.   As I walked down the steps I noticed there was a big puddle of water on the floor.  Our home was built in 1948, the basement is unfinished & is not a stranger to water.  It usually isn't too bad & only when we get several days of heavy rains.  I should have been more suspicious especially when I got all the way into the basement & noticed how warm & humid it was.  I managed to justify the water & heat.  We had over an inch of rain in 24 hours & I figured the heat had to do with it being cold out & the furnace being on.  I just wanted to run.  I checked to make sure the power cable was dry before turning the treadmill on.  It looked good so I hopped on & started my 30 minute workout. 

I set the treadmill to 3.8 mph for the 4 minute walk & 6.0 mph for the 1 minute jog.  It felt a little weird to be running again after 7 weeks off.  My hip flexor & periformis felt OK.  Again, not 100% pain free but more like 70% pain free.  No shooting pains just enough to know it was still there.  I actually felt more discomfort in my left leg from not running for so long.  After the 2nd interval I was hot.  In 10 minutes I had worked up a good sweat which seemed odd since I had only run 2 minutes & walked the rest.  Didn't really seem sweat worthy.  About that time I noticed the corner where the water usually comes in was bone dry.  Huh, that's weird.  But I kept going.  I only had about 15 minutes to go & it didn't seem worth stopping my first run in 7 weeks to investigate. 

I was about 20 minutes into my workout when Steve came downstairs.  He immediately asked 'what's with the water & why is it so hot down here?'  I just shrugged & said it rained yesterday.  He  immediately knew something was wrong.  He went back to look at the hot water heater.  He found one of the pipes had a crack & was spraying water all over the wall.  I think he yelled at me to tell me the hot water heater was leaking.  Again I shrugged &  kept running.  It really didn't seem worth it to stop now.  I only had 5 minutes left!  Plus he had already turned off the water to the house and there really wasn't anything I could do. 

I think Steve was in disbelief at how oblivious I was to the fact the water heater was spraying hot water in the next room over while I happily ran in a sauna.  He was pretty mad that the pipe broke but I think he enjoyed telling the story to his work buddies of how his crazy wife was running while all hell was breaking loose in the next room over.  Ah, c'est la vie.

I forgot to take pictures on Friday but here are a couple from this morning.  The water is mostly gone. 

Taken from the dark creepy side of basement where water heater & furnace reside

The good news is today (2 days after the run) I am feeling great.  Currently neither my hip flexor or periformis hurts.  I plan to repeat workout 1 tomorrow morning.  Hopefully, without the added drama of the house falling apart!

I would like to give a big shout out to Christie at Changing from Fat to Fit who is competing in her first half marathon today as well as Swim Bike Mom for competing in her first Half Ironman today!  I am anxiously waiting to read your race reports, I am so proud of you both!!!!  You are an inspiration to many!  Keep up the great work!

Thanks for reading!

Versatile Blogger

Thanks to Christie at Changing from Fat to Fit for tagging me with the Versatile Blogger award!!  This award is pretty cool in the fact that you get to learn a lot about your fellow bloggers & get introduced to some new ones!

Check out Christie's Blog & show her some love.  Christie is will be running the Bit Hit 1/2 Marathon in Louisville this Sunday.  Her FIRST half!!!  Send her some good running juju! 

There are a few basic RULES with this award:

You have to thank the giver and provide a link to that persons post

Share 7 random facts about yourself
Award 15 other newly discovered blogs the same award

1. I have 1 kidney.  In 2001, I worked for a contract design company & one of our projects was the Kidney Transporter.  After finishing the design but before it went to clinical trials I was diagnosed with a defective left kidney.  This is a real sore spot for me.  All through my 20's it was misdiagnosed as back pain due to my scoliosis.  As it turned out I had been having kidney infections all those years.  After a few more tests it was determined that my kidney was functioning at about 15% but due to all the infections we decided to take it out.  NO MORE BACK PAIN!
2. My dog Karma has 1 kidney too.  About 3 months after my surgery in 2001 the medical device that I worked on went to clinical trials at University of Wisconsin.  I had to go for engineering support & when I showed up I saw that the trials were on beagles.  Full disclosure, I knew that the clinical trials would be done on animals, dogs in particular.  Being an animal lover, I chose to block that all out of my mind.  I had to.  Otherwise, I would have been a weeping mess for the entire project.  After that afternoon at UW I told the vet that I would be interested in adopting one of the dogs.  It just seemed like the right thing to do.  In March of 2003 I brought home Karma.  She has one kidney and the one that is in her has been run on an external machine for 72 hours & transplanted back in.  The other kidney was removed to see if she would survive and she has.  She was 1 year old when she had the surgery.  In March she will be 11 years old.  She has been the best little buddy ever!  
3. In grade school I had the biggest buck tooth & wore some serious coke bottle glasses.  I was made fun of a lot.  Although it did give me some thick skin as an adult.  How else could I work with mostly men for my entire career? 
4. I rarely cry.  Seriously, I recently (like last week) had a melt down in front of my husband but the time before that?  I think it was in 2008.  I have been dubbed black heart, cold heart, etc, etc.  I will occasionally tear up at random things, like a wedding, a memory of my Dad or the like but a good old fashion bawl fest?  Not so much. 
5. I got my tattoo in Christchurch, New Zealand on the Queens Birthday, 1998.  It is the Yin Yang symbol with 2 dolphins swimming around it.  I chose it as a constant reminder me to strive for balance in my life, have fun & to be compassionate.  I have never regretted it although I have hidden it from people that I thought would disapprove.    
6. My first car was a 1967 Baracuda.  My Dad brought it home from the junk yard in 1976, I think, & completely rebuilt it.  In 1986, he gave it to me when I turned 16 but not before he swapped the engine out to a Slant 6, 225.  Boy, did we have some fun in that car!
7. From 1980 - 1985 I was a HUGE Loverboy fan.  I had forgotten about them until I heard one of their songs on the radio tonight.  Imagine my surprise when I did a Google search & found that they are still together & touring!  They even have a facebook page!?!  I mean really, how can you not like a band that has this for their album cover?

Now on to the 15 blogger tags.

LexRunLadies - This is the new ladies running group in Lexington.  A lot of these folks I am just starting to follow myself & look forward to getting to know them all better. 

Make Me A Day
CopyNoll  
SkinnyEmmie
A Wondering Spirit
Inhabit The Beauty
My McDonald Meal
Questions for Dessert

Tri Ladies that I love to follow

SwimBikeMom
Average Moms Wear Capes
Miles, Muscles and Mommyhood


Tri Dudes

Steve in a Speedo?!  Gross!
Dangle the Carrot

Team Aquaphor Peeps

Living the Tri Life
Double Jogger Diaries
SBR All Day

How Not to Make Your House Smell Like A$$

Don't bring cauliflower into it.  EVER.

I picked up the Paleo Comfort Food cookbook & noticed it had several recipes for cauliflower in place of potatoes & rice.  So while at the grocery store on Wednesday I picked up a head of cauliflower to try out a couple of recipes.  One was the mashed 'potatoes' & the other was 'rice'.

I cut up the cauliflower into 3 different portions.  One was to steam for the 'potatoes', one was to 'rice' & the other was just put in a Ziploc for later.   I threw out the unused cauliflower in the garbage can.

While getting the water ready to steam I put some cauliflower into my food processor to 'rice' it.  Sure enough after a few seconds the cauliflower looks similar to rice.  I put the new 'rice' into a container to store in the fridge to use another day.

Meanwhile, the water was ready so I put some cauliflower in to steam to make mashed 'potatoes'.  (Mind you, I have vague recollections of my Mom making steamed brocolli & cauliflower back in the '80s and a not so pleasant smell but I wasn't thinking about those memories at this point.)  As the cauliflower steamed it put off a not so fresh smell but nothing too terribly bad.  Maybe that was because I was in the house & couldn't tell how bad it really was. 

Once the cauliflower was soft I took it out & added some cheese, milk & butter & mashed it up like potatoes.  I also added a little garlic salt & black pepper.  I then tasted it.  Wow, not bad.  I actually thought it was pretty edible.  Steve on the other hand about threw up when he tried it.  Thankfully he didn't though.

I put all the leftovers in Ziploc containers & put them in the fridge.  It wasn't until the next day the real nastiness started.  

The next day I got home after Steve so he had already let Karma out to do her business.  When I got out of the car Steve was all mad because Karma made the whole house smell like $hit.  He couldn't find any $hit so he said she was probably just farting a lot but regardless the house smelled B.A.D.  The moment I walked in I knew it wasn't Karma.  It was that darn cauliflower!  It smelled like P.O.O.P!

We figured it was the stuff that I threw in the garbage can so we took that out to the bin.  I started tho throw out the stuff in the fridge but Steve said no.  He doesn't like throwing out perfectly good food.  Afterwards, we lit some candles & aired the house out. 

Now the next day we come home & again the house smells like a$$.  Seriously, how can one vegetable be so smelly?!?  I pull the stuff out of the fridge.  Steve again starts to say don't throw it out but at the same moment I open the Ziploc containers & he got a nice whiff.  Let me just say I really wish I had a video camera to record his reaction.  His face got all contorted & then he ran off to the bathroom.  I about peed my pants from laughing so hard!

So the moral of the story is don't bring cauliflower into your home unless you enjoy the smell of a$$.

I Miss Sweating

This is my second surprise of this recovery.  I am longing for a good sweat fest!

I am in week 6 of not running & week 3 of Physical Therapy for my Hipflexor & Periformis issue, aka the Pain in the Butt.  Thanks to not running, deep tissue massage, pain patches & strengthening exercises I am feeling much better.  Not 100% better but at least I no longer feel pain 100% of the time.  Now I only feel pain when I do certain movements.

After this weeks session my PT told me to go on a 30 minute test walk this weekend.  Yay!  Although, if I am being honest, I was planning on going on that walk regardless with the new ladies run group in Lexington.  I am going nuts without being able to run.  I was hoping to be running again by Halloween but now I am thinking it may be closer to Thanksgiving.  Ugh, can it really only be a month until Thanksgiving already?!

From the Iron Horse Facebook page

It bums me out that I am not going to be able to run in the Iron Horse this weekend.  I will be volunteering at the second water stop with some peeps from work.  Tonight I picked up Steve & my race packets.  I know some say that you are not supposed to wear a race shirt from a race that you didn't actually run in.  Well, I say screw that!  I paid for the darn thing, I am wearing it!  The shirt is awesome!  It fits great & the logo is cool.  Not to mention, I like when race shirts don't put all the sponsors on the back of the shirt.  The shirt looks so much cleaner.  I will proudly wear this race shirt that I DNS (did not start) in fact, I am wearing it right now!

Best of luck to all the racers this weekend!

Calling All Central Kentucky Runner Chicks!

There is a new run group in town!  LexRunLadies is the brain child of fellow blogger Krissie Bentley.  It is a place for runners, walkers, run/walkers or people who would like to run but don't know where to start.  So far the run paces are in the 10 min/mile - 15 min/mile range.   

Having run with other groups that have left me in the dust I was super thrilled to learn about this group.  I met a few of them last night at the meet & greet.  Really nice ladies from a wide running background.

Interested?  Contact Krissie at LexRunLadies@gmail.com and she will send you more info.  You can also like them on Facebook or follow on Twitter. 

Speaking of running, I had my 2nd physical therapy appointment today.  After some serious stretching & deep tissue work I got a few more exercises to do over the next week.  I can still spin but no running this week.  She did mention depending on how I feel, I may be able to start a run/walk plan after next weeks appointment.  Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Feeling Optimistic

Copyright Lisa Montag Brotman

Even though there was no running or cycling for me again this week I am cautiously optimistic that I will be running again soon & I even plan to spin next Tuesday!

Here is how last week went:

Sunday = 2100 yard Swim - Started to feel the old shoulders complain toward the end of the workout.  I was not surprised at this since I have been swimming more to offset the no running or cycling.   I decided to back off on the swim this week.

Monday  = Rest day - I tried out a couple of new recipes in honor of fall.  I made Pumpkin Cornbread & Pumpkin Chili.  They were both really good, even Steve said so.  The cornbread was on the sweet side which is exactly how I like it & you couldn't taste the pumpkin in the chili.  I think it helped make it a little thicker.  Check out the recipe HERE  I made no mods to the cornbread but did add one can of beans & some cayenne pepper to the chili for a kick.  YUM.

Tuesday = 7AM Pilates which included 200 squats which I felt every single one of them until Friday afternoon.  My legs are strong so I didn't have a problem doing the 200 squats but when it comes to planks and the other endless core exercises....forget about it...I am a big weakling.  I am loving this class and it is really loving me back especially the next AM when I try to get out of bed.  I feel those exercises when I try to sit up out of bed.   Maybe I am crazy but I love that sore feeling!

Wednesday = First Physical Therapy at UK Sports Medicine - This is why I am optimistic.  The PT worked with me for an hour.  The hour included analyzing my walk gate, lots of deep stretches, some serious manual therapy, put on a pain patch for my bum and gave me a list of exercises & stretches to do at home.  She said I could spin as long as it didn't cause any acute pain. 

Regarding the manual therapy, WOW, this was crazy, crazy painful but I think this is exactly what I needed.  I do the foam roller at home but I can't get that deep or inflict that much pain on myself.  She worked on my hip flexors first & then used these hard plastic tools to work on my piriformis.   I have some serious bruises on my bum & down my leg BUT I have more mobility in my hip then I have had for a long time.  I go back next Thursday.  I am optimistic that I will be running again by the end of the month.   Fingers crossed.

Thursday = PT exercises, stretches & 7AM Pilates - Yep went back for some more.  The combo of Tuesdays class & Wednesday's PT made me feel like I had been run over by a mack truck! 

After work I picked up our new Run Kentucky t-shirts & met a few fellow runners.  It is always fun to meet some of your imaginary friends in real life!  The shirts are great.  Super soft material.  These are the same type of shirts that you will get if you sign up for The Run the Bluegrass half marathon in the spring.  The logo will be different but shirt will be the same. 

Friday = Rest Day - I was planning on doing Power Yoga after work but at 4:50 I received a text from Steve that he & Karma were sitting on the patio having a beer.  Yep, that's all it took....no will power today.

Saturday = PT exercises & stretches. 

Steve & Stephanie from Indy

Steve & I volunteered at Leg 34 of the Bourbon Chase.  What is the Bourbon Chase you ask?  It is an overnight relay on the Bourbon Trail consisting of over 250 teams.  Each team is 12 runners who run 3 legs each for a total of 200 miles over 2 days.   It was fun watching all the #bourbonchase tweets all day Friday & Saturday!

Some teams decorated their vans.  Guess that helped them locate their van amongst the hundreds of other white passenger rental vans!

Also, I found out I won a giveaway!  I won the Non-Runners Marathon Guide for Women from Christie at Changing from Fat to Fit.   I am looking forward to reading it.  It feels like an eternity since I have run and I think the motivation will do me some good!  Christie is less than a month away from running her first half marathon!  Yay Christie!!  You can check out her blog HERE

Have a great week y'all!  Thanks for reading!

CASA 5K Race Report

OK, so most folks raced this one but not me.  I was more in a leisurely walk mode thanks to my not so fun piriformis issue that does not seem to want to go away.

This race was the Lexmark Women @ Work quarterly volunteer with an executive event.   Cathy I. picked the CASA 5K/10K as her volunteer organization & I volunteered to organize a run / walk group to train for either the 5K or 10K.  With help from the Runner's World & Hal Higdon websites along with the local Central Baptist run you first 5K plan we had 8 week walking, run/walk & running plans for both the 5K & 10K.  We had about 15 Lexmark'ers competing on race day. 

This also ended up being my 6th race for Team Aquaphor this season.   We still have 2 1/2 months left on the season but with how long this injury is taking to heal I am glad I was at least able to meet the race minimum commitment.

A cold front came through the day before the race so at 7AM it was down right cold!  I had to dig out my cold weather gear the night before & I am glad I did.

Around 7:50AM we took a Lexmark group picture.  There were a few more that raced but aren't in he picture below.  Sorry we missed you!

At 8AM the race started.  Joy & I walked the 5K.  Like I said it was pretty leisurely yet I could feel that nagging injury with every step I took.   *sigh*  We did manage to come in about a minute before Steve.  Oh never mind that he went twice the distance!

A few people in our group were running their first 5K.  At least 3 folks won age group awards.  One of the first time runners even placed in her age group!   Cathy, our executive, also placed in her age group!  Let the running addiction begin! 

Overall, this was a great success!

My 5K Walk Time = 47m22s
Steve's 10K Run Time = 48m55s

CASA of Lexington is this quarters Good Karma non profit of choice.  What is CASA?  From their website, the CASA mission is to provide the child victim of abuse or neglect with a trained, supervised volunteer who will advocate for the child's best interest.

The CASA 5K/10K is one of their annual fundraisers.  If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to CASA please go HERE.

Learn more about CASA of Lexington HERE 

And the Snake Oil winner is.....

Out of the 5 Snake Oil entries Random.org picked entry #2.

Christie B of the Changing from Fat to Fit Blog!!!

Christie said...

I'm also now following you on Twitter!!

September 27, 2011 12:58 PM 

Congratulations!!  Christie - send me an email (andreawilson70@gmail.com) with your info & I will get your prize out this week.

BTW - Christie is holding a book giveaway until October 5th - check it out HERE

Good Karma

Today I am announcing a new feature for Bluegrass Tri Chick.  This new feature will be called Good Karma.

So what is Good Karma?  For those that know me, this isn't a post about my awesome beagle.  Nope, this an opportunity for me to highlight each quarter a different Lexington, KY non profit.  Anyone that has ever done fundraising or worked with/for a non profit knows just how difficult a job this can be.  My goal is to spread the word on different organizations that exist in our community.  Some organizations are local only, some are local but have national chapters as well.  So even if you don't live in Lexington, KY still check out these fine organizations because they may have a local chapter close to you!

I will have a donation link on the left side of my homepage under the Good Karma heading as well as a page explaining more about the quarterly featured non for profit. 

So who is this quarter's pick?  Drum roll please!!!

CASA of Lexington.  This organization was the Lexmark Women @ Work quarterly volunteer with an executive event.   Cathy I. picked the CASA 5K/10K as her volunteer organization & I volunteered to organize a Lexmark run / walk group to train for either the 5K or 10K.  Working with Lyndsey at CASA during the past few months really helped us get to know who CASA is & what they do for Lexington's smallest residents.  

From CASA of Lexington's Facebook Page

Founded	1986
About	Court Appointed Special Advocates of Lexington provides trained, supervised volunteers to advocate on behalf of the best interest of children in the Family Court system due to abuse, neglect, or dependancy.

Company Overview	CASA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We provide volunteers who serve children in Family Court due to abuse and neglect.
Mission	To provide trained, supervised volunteers to advocate on behalf of the best interest of children in the Family Court system due to abuse, neglect, or dependancy. CASA is respected by the court system and community as an organization of qualified volunteers who help ensure that each child is given the chance not only to survive, but to thrive.

Please take a moment to read more about CASA of Lexington.  Check out their website HERE

Check out the National CASA website HERE. 

Like I said in the Tri 4 Freedom post, there are endless causes to get involved in and they all need your support.  Pick one that is meaningful to you & get involved.  You won't regret it!!!

And for those of you that would like to see the inspiration for the Good Karma feature.....

Karma the beagle, mostly good, occasionally bad