Rest, Recover and Regenerate

There is a saying.......

Well, that's exactly what I need to do.  I've said many times over the past years to others and to MYSELF how important rest days are to recover.  Did I always practice those rest days? NO .... I practiced them about 40% I'd say.  What I mean by that is after a big race I might take off 1-2 days, but never more than 4-5 days.  So now I'm having to start from scratch and it's HARD.  Sometimes writing things down help me focus so maybe this post will help me get back on track.

What is rest, recover & regenerate to an athlete?  Yep, let's talk about the 3 Rs.  I've talked about rest in some of my past blogs.  This past week someone told me that my blog really helped them which made me very happy.  I'm no expert and most of what I say is just my opinion or thoughts I gather from stuff I read. 

How much should a runner (athlete) rest?  Well, I believe that all depends on the individual.  Some say you should incorporate at least 1-2 rest days every week.  I was very busy last May through April this year basically.  I started last May with an 18 week training plan getting ready for Ironman 70.3 Augusta.  If you've trained for a TRI, you know what I'm talking about when I say it's hard to fit in all 3 activities (swim, bike, run) into a week training plan and have 1-2 rest days.  Monday was what I called my "rest" day.  But it wasn't actually a down day because I did a light swim on Mondays.  I was so concerned about the swim for the Ironman that I made myself swim 3X a week.  The only way I found time to do that and also get in my bike and run miles was by doing a light swim on Monday.  Maybe this hurt me, maybe it didn't.  Only God knows the true answer.  

Some people have said to me that I shouldn't have done so many races between September -  May.  I did 2 Ironman 70.3 (well one the swim was canceled so it was technically a 69.1), 3 marathons (which including dopey 48.6 challenge), 3 half marathons, 1 10K, 1 12K, 1 20K, 2 sprint TRIs and a couple of 5ks.  It was a very busy 8 months of races for me.... well maybe I should say 12 months which includes the training leading up to the races.  Would I do it again? YES, ABSOLUTELY!! I had a blast at all of the races.  What would I change?  REST DAYS!!!! 

There is also a saying that "you don't lose that much in taking a week or two off in running".   This is what I should have done after each big race.  But I didn't and now I'm paying for it.  I would take like 1-2 days off and then go right back into my training.  Yes, my brain played tricks on me telling me I had to get those training days in no matter what.  I remember after the Ironman and Dopey challenge that I was so sleepy for like a month.  My body needed rest and instead I kept pushing.  I was on a high.  I was accomplishing so much.  I earned the right to be called a marathon maniac, a double agent, an Ironman 70.3, and Dopey.  Kind of funny that "Dopey" is one word... because I was truly Dopey in every sense by not resting properly after each big race.  

Maybe God thought I needed to be knocked down a notch.  Maybe I was getting too big for my britches as some say. :>)  Which I don't think God acts out as a mean God.  He's a loving God, however he never promised us no heartache.  Read the book of Job and boy you'll get a real good sense of heartache.  Job lost everything, but he never turned from God.  I believe we learn from trouble times.  And believe me he's really teaching me how important those rest days are for my body.  

During proper rest your body recovers and your body regenerates.  It allows the athlete to recover, both physically and psychologically.  The body needs time to adapt to the stress associated with exercise, time to replenish muscle glycogen (energy stores) and time for the body tissue to repair.  So I encourage each of you to find those REST days and TAKE THEM.  And don't forget SLEEP.  Sleep is so very important for athletes.  This morning on the way to work the radio was talking about all the kids going back to school and how important it is for parents to get those kids in bed by 8:30 pm.  Kids do well with proper sleep and it also makes for a much happier & healthier mom when kids go to bed early so that the mom too can sleep.  Our body needs sleep so that we can perform our daily task without added stress of no sleep.   I might need to have a talk with my grand pup.  My daughter saying all of a sudden he's getting up 3X a night and with school starting back the teacher needs rest. :>) 

I've been off any type exercise program since the middle of May fighting Bursitis which was caused mainly from NOT RESTING PROPERLY.   At first I quit running &  biking and was only swimming.  The hip continued to hurt so doctor recommended stopping everything.  Finally after weeks of nothing the hip is better and the doctor has said I can start back slowly.  

Well .... let me just say this...... after weeks of sleeping in since I didn't have to be up at 4:30 or 5 am...I can BARELY get up!!! They say you can do something for 30 days and it becomes a new habit.  Well, after 60+ days... this sleeping in became a HABIT.   I use to never set an alarm.  My body was always awake.  And also probably due to my husband being gone going on 5 weeks now there was no noise to wake me.  He usually has TV turned on by 5:30 am watching news and drinking coffee.  It's been so QUIET at the house and my body has become accustom to sleeping in the mornings.  So I had to revert back to setting an alarm, which I haven't done in over 20+ years. ha  But so far that hasn't helped.  I hit that snooze like a crazy woman being taking off meds. :>)

 Hopefully my husband will be back later this week and that will help me get up in the mornings.  It's hard to sleep when he turns on that TV in the bedroom. hee hee

Let's not even talk about how hard the training is going.  It's SLOW.  I'm doing a jog / walk program and getting 4-5 miles feels like I've done 13 afterwards.  Saturday I did an easy 20 mile bike followed by an easy 2 mile jog/walk.  Then on Sunday I did an easy 4 miles mostly walking with my dog to loosen the muscles.  I was toast the rest of the day Sunday.  Almost feel asleep in church!  I could barely hold my eyes open the rest of the day.  Which I do think the grass mowing and weed eating also played a role in my tiredness.  Since my husband has been gone I've had to do it all... yard, house, etc.   I'm so READY for him to be home. :>) 

SO YES..... THE MAIN THING I'D DO DIFFERENTLY IF I HAD TO DO IT OVER AGAIN IS REST.  

After the big races, I should have taken 2 weeks or maybe 3 weeks off between each one to recover.  After you're trained, you're ready.  No need to keep pushing your body to the limit.

I've been down before when I had my neck surgery and wasn't allowed to run for 12 weeks, so I know I can get back up.  It's just going to be HARD.

 But as with most things that are hard in life, we learn something and we grew from it.  Maybe it's just that we grew closer to the God.  Or maybe it's that plus something else.  I pray that you know that any time you are going through something hard, God is always there.  Seek him and you'll find peace.  

Yep... One step at a time and I'll be back, but hopefully this time I won't listen to my crazy brain saying I don't need rest. :>)  Don't be like me and not take those REST days!  I'm a work in progress.  Always learning.  

D

Girls beach trip 2017

I love trips with family!  yes, not a run post. ha  Actually I haven't ran in 6 weeks! In the middle of a run vacation..... :>)

 My sister and I have not been off together in several years.  Life gets busy with your own family and then you realize how much time has went by since you've spent some quality time together with siblings.  My sister's oldest daughter graduated high school this year, so I decided it was time for us to get away for a few nights together.  We were worried that mom was not going to get to go after we had made the arrangements because my dad developed some heart complications.  But about a week out from the trip things turned around and dad felt well enough for mom to go with us.  We were so EXCITED!  I knew mom needed a little down time.  She had been taking care of my dad 24/7 and sometimes he's not the easiest person to deal with... hee hee

Now that we were all going to get to go, I decided to rent a mini van so we could all ride in the same vehicle.  It was an additional $350 I had to fork out for the trip, but being in the same vehicle was priceless.  The van even drove like a charm.  I use to own a mini van when my kids were small. That was the days I was a regular taxi driver! For my kids! :<>)   Brett even asked me when I brought it home the night before I left if I as switching back to a van.  I told him heck no.  However, it sure was nice having a vehicle big enough for all of us! Here's a picture...  Our vacation mini van..  :>)

And Here we are loaded:

Can you see the EXCITEMENT?? 

Since we were only going to be able to get away for 3 nights, we went to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  It's an easy 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive depending on traffic.  One of my friends owns a 3 bedroom condo on the beach in which we stayed, so it worked out perfectly for all of us! EXCEPT.. just 2 bathrooms.. some girls take a long time.. ha  I told my sis I couldn't complain about her girls hour long showers because I had a teenager just like them once!  Erin has come a LONG way since she became a school teacher.  She can get ready in 30 minutes flat and sometimes even faster now. WOW  

Here's our view.. It was a tad hazy so it's hard to see the blue water:

Since we arrive a tad early to check in the condo, we went straight to the Hangout for lunch and a couple of pictures:

My was like... this sun is killing me.. hurry up with that picture.. ha 

I had decided before hand to try to book us something special to do.  I had read some reviews on a dolphin excursion and decided to book it.  It was FABULOUS!  We saw many dolphins and the sunset cruise ended with a wonderful sunset!  Here are a few pictures from our adventure;

I love seeing my mom and daughter SMILE> 

The DOLPHINS were so cute!!! My nieces loved watching them play in the wave the boat was creating. 

The dolphin cruise was so much fun!  I highly recommend it!  

We chilled for the next 2 days on the beach.  The weather wasn't perfect.  It was double red flags and the water was way too rough for the girls to get in most of the time.  We were glad we had the 1st day of the trip where the water/waves wasn't bad.  It even rained a couple of times, but we still had a blast! I took the girls down to the Florida / Alabama line and we took a few pictures.  They thought that was cool. 

Laura Ann... the graduate.  She's as pretty on the inside as the outside! 

Brooklyn found this shell on the beach during her many shell searchers. 

Brooklyn, Laura Ann, Cherie, Mom, Erin & me! 

My awesome sis and her 2 girls!

One night we had supper down at the Wharf and walked around.  The lights at night were so pretty. 

Our last night we decided to go play goofy golf.  Erin had been bragging how she was going to beat us all.  Well for the first 5-6 holes....she was beating us badly.. but then things changed.  I told her it was all that smack she had talked... hee hee  It was my sister's girls first time to play.  We had a BLAST! 

This is kind of when it all started going down hill for Erin. LOL 

On our last day we decided to go to the zoo.  Actually when I mentioned it to Erin before telling the others, I was surprised that she really wanted to go to the zoo.  I know she loves animals, but going to the zoo wasn't something we typically did when we went to the beach.  Sometimes I wish I could start over with my kids as babies.  I'd take them on more educational trips!  Yes, the beach is awesome but going every where sitting on the beach for days doesn't teach them much.  We normally ended up at the outlet mall on the last day.  Of course, Cherie's girls were super excited.  They LOVE animals.  The Gulf shores zoo had more animals than I had expected.  It's a nice zoo.  We didn't really get to finish or hang around long because a monster rain blew in and according to the radar it was going to be there all day. :(    so we loaded up and hit Lambert's for a late lunch before making our way back to home.  Here are a few pictures from zoo:

Brooklyn & Erin 

OMG these rolls are HUGE and you get way too much food!  I think I gained 10 pounds just on this meal!

I LOVED every minute of spending time with the girls!  I really wish my WHOLE SELLERS family..guys too could get together for a couple of days!  I see other big families do it.  We've just never been able to get everyone together.   Maybe one day........

Cherish your family.  Spend time with them.  As I get older, I see more and more why it's so important!  We aren't guaranteed tomorrow.  So do it now. :>)  

I leave you with a picture of me and my 2 kids recently at a wedding acting crazy.... :>)  I wouldn't change a thing about them! LOVE

No one really wants to hear about anybody's else injuries... .RIGHT? Cause who doesn't hurt somewhere!

No one really wants to hear about anybody's else injuries... .RIGHT? Cause who doesn't hurt somewhere, right?  We ALL tend to have injuries of some kind.  I try to be one that doesn't go on and on about all my aches and pains.  I know from time to time I fail at this and I'm so sorry for whoever had to listen to me.

For probably a good 6 months now my right hip and down my leg has bothered me off an on.  Then all of a sudden for the past 2 months it's gotten much worse. So bad that I can't sleep on my right side, which just happens to be my favorite side to sleep on.  :(  Driving, sitting, standing, etc. just kills me. I'm like a fish squiring in my chair at work all day.  I finally gave in and called my normal doctor at the Bone & Joint clinic for a checkup.  However, they didn't have an opening till August!  So I requested to see a neuro doctor in Jackson who is supposed to be really good and I lucked up and got in to see him within a couple of weeks.  With my history I figured it most likely was coming from my degenerative disc disease.  Well shocker after 3 MRIs... it's not! They have now diagnosed me with a severe case of BURSITIS.

Originally the doctor thought just like me that one of my disc had to be herniated so he ordered a MRI of my lower back and one of my neck because he says usually within a 10 year period of someone having a disc fusion the disc above or below the fusion will fall apart and need surgery.  I must say this got me SCARED! It's only been 5 years since my neck surgery and I waited almost too late when I finally went to the doctor for it.  When they did my surgery the doctor told me I was at a major risk of being paralyzed.  He said of all the tons of disc surgery he has done over the years he would put mine in the worst top 5 he's ever seen. :(   So, yes at this point I'm beginning to worry.  I started thinking back on how long my hip has been bothering me and wondering why I didn't just get it checked earlier...  Probably cause I'm STUBBORN.  Even some of my close friends were surprised when I told them how much pain I was having because I had not said anything about it being so bad. That's just me.  I tend to hurt and not talk much about it in detail.  Then when it gets to the point where I just can't take it any longer that's when I break and go to the doctor.

Anyway those 2 MRIs came back ok.  He said my degeneration was still there, but he didn't think it was pressing enough on my spinal cord nerves for me to have so much hip pain so then he said we needed to do a MRI on the hip.  He said, "I want to see what's cooking in that hip area".  Yep...you guessed it... SCARED ME AGAIN!  All I could think of was my friend that use to run many marathons until he had to have both hips replaced and now he no longer runs.

I had to wait another week for the appointment for the hip MRI and then a couple of days for the results.   They FINALLY called me Tuesday with the results!  He said he was actually looking for a stress fracture to show up which he says is common in women runners.  The test showed no stress fracture.  Thank you sweet Jesus!  He says I have a bad case of BURSITIS.  He wants to do a shot next week and then start me on some PT.   If you don't know where hip bursitis hurts...well, here's a picture:

I had even begun to diagnose myself with piriformis syndrome before he told me Bursitis.  Which he says I may still have some of that going on along with my Bursitis because my butt muscle seems to be so tight and sore.  Here's a picture of the piriformis syndrome.

Let's just say my hip hurts all around my front, back, side and all down my leg.  GRRRR  I had gave up running a little over a month ago hoping it would go away.  I've been walking.  But after I walked the half marathon in the Gulf Coast Half Ironman race in May, I knew I had something bad wrong going on inside my hip.  The pain was excruciating.  

Now you know what I've been doing since I got the call on Tuesday... web surfing for info on runners with bursitis.  He can't do my shot till next Friday so I can't stand waiting till then to ask him a million questions about it so I've been researching.  I know it's probably not good to do that because you can get some wrong info.  However, there are a few running websites that I've usually found accurate info on that I've found some info concerning Bursitis.  I'm also anxious to start PT to find out recover time on this dang thing!  From what I've read on many sites, they say you don't need to run or do any type of exercise that cause pain.  It's best to rest it until you are pain free for several days then only do 5-10 minutes of exercise and see how you feel afterwards.   All this is very discouraging to me!  Running is my stress reliever!  Even on days I don't want to run, once I get that first mile in I feel so much better.  Even walking is currently causing me pain so I stopped that this week.  I keep reminding myself that when I had neck surgery I was not allowed to run for 3 months and I survived.  As they say.. This too shall pass....  

But it's hard! Seeing others running and you can't.  And it's not just the running you miss... it's the socializing with friends that I miss most! 

I've been also researching exercises for Bursitis (yep.. I like to search..ha) .. found this:

I began these exercises last night and will continue unless the PT tells me to not do any of them once I start PT.  I sure hope that I'll be ready for that half marathon in Vegas come November and I'm glad I held off registering for big races from June - November.  I may have to take off a month or two to get this problem fixed, but that would still give me time to be ready for November even if I have to just walk the half.  

Oh and I did ask him on the phone when he called me with the results how someone gets bursitis.  He said it could be a fall on the hip (guess what?...this the hip I landed on when I had my bike wreck before Augusta and the more I think about it this hip has hurt off and one since then).... or it could be simple biomechanics of a woman's makeup.  Our hips change during childbirth.  A runner needs to do strengthening exercises for their hips and glutes he said to maintain proper running form.  

So today my prayer is this:

Father, With all my pain, struggles, & temptations, remind me this is not my home.  Help me to keep pressing on to the real goal.  I want the power that raised Jesus from the dead to flow in me and through me, enabling me to run this life race with strength, hope and joy.  I want to let your glory shine in me.  In Jesus' name, amen. 

If you are in the same boat as me struggling with an injury of some sort...... don't put off getting it checked and take the time to recover.  Rest and recovery is important even when we hate it.  Yep.. we tend to be a tad crazy.  We feel guilty when we take rest days.  Maybe that's the sign of a true runner.... you miss it badly when you can't.  I hope to look back in a couple of months at this blog post and smile knowing this did pass and I'm back running.  And come on next Friday so I can get this shot that he says will help with this dang pain!   At least now I know what is causing my pain and can move forward with therapy.  Stay tuned in for a post on my girls beach trip soon.  Had such a fabulous time with my mom, my sis, my daughter, and two of my nieces.