Hip Update

Good news: I don't have to use crutches.

Bad news: At least 1 more month without any running or walking (other than the amount of walking required for my regular daily activities). The ortho also said many times this can require surgery and without surgery, it can take even up to 3-4 months to fully recover. BUT he said, "I have to completely shut you down for the next month to give you your best chance to heal on your own."

"Shut me down?" I said, having a little trouble following...

"Yes."

"Does that me I can't do ANYthing?"

"Maybe a little core work...What did you have in mind."

"I do Pilates two or three days a week. It's a mat workout...mostly core work...not really any weight-bearing except if we get on our hands and knees for back and butt work." He didn't look like the type to have done pilates in the past...hence the need for excessive explanation.

"That might be ok as long as you don't feel anything in your hip."

Darn, it really started hurting last week, about halfway through the class. My pilates instructor is going to think I'm dead. I haven't missed a month worth of class...ever. "What about a stationary bike?"

"No."

But that's not technically weight bearing the last time I checked. I guess I better just shut up, I'm starting to sound desperate. "Okay then. I can do it...absolutely nothing for one month."

"Good. Sorry this happened to you."

Not as sorry as I am. "It's alright. As long as it's something that will heal eventually, I'll be alright."

If I don't go crazy in the mean time.

Then he said something like: we'll see ya in a month and oh-by-the-way make sure you're diet is sufficient and get at least 1500mg of Calcium and 1000IU of vitamin D.

So, I hobble my way to the desk, make my appointment, and head back to the office. I immediately run into Dr. Burnett, "How's the broken hip?" If you know him, you're probably laughing a little now. I told him all about it and he says, "You need to get your vitamin D checked..." and oh-by-the-way "It looks like I'll be running a marathon before you!" and he laughs...and if you know him you are probably laughing even harder now. I was (his laugh is contagious). And he's probably right. He's hoping to do a marathon in January...His first at age...well I'm not sure exactly, but he's been a physician for over 30 years, so you do the math.

So I head to the lab have my arm poked for the second time today for my vitamin D level. I had already gotten lab this morning because one of my fellow NP's thought that I should have a routine set of labs, because apparently, young healthy people aren't supposed end up with a broken hip. I knew he had a good point, plus, I haven't had my cholesterol checked in a few years or anything else for that matter.

I got the results this afternoon. Total cholesterol was 148...boo-ya! And all my other labs were great. The vitamin D level takes a few days, but I started a calcium+D supplement today, just-in-case.

So, I looks like I'm a perfectly healthy young woman...with a broken hip. But you never know what may come out of this. Maybe I'll find a new fun hobby that will help pass the time. Any ideas?

Marathon Training: On Hold

You may have noticed that I didn't even post a plan for last week. That's because the week prior I still wasn't able to run, and I didn't see that changing anytime soon...and I was right.

This past week was my 3rd week without any training. I was getting pretty worried because any injury I've had in the past has healed with just one week of doing nothing, let alone 3 weeks. So, my doctor thought it would be a good idea to get an MRI...which I did on Friday. It showed a stress fracture of my right hip. I had a feeling that's what it would be because of the area that was hurting and the long amount of time it was taking to heal, but I was hoping it wouldn't be that serious. Now, all training is on hold for a while.

So what now?

Good question.

I have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor on Tuesday to find out my exact treatment. Typically, stress fractures involving the femoral neck (which mine does) require several weeks of completely non-weight bearing activity, which means crutches..and a lot of sitting around...

But all that will depend on how bad (or not so bad) the ortho says it is when he looks at the MRI himself.

So, for now I'm just waiting. I'll keep you posted on what I find out Tuesday. But for now, marathon training is on hold which makes me sad in so many ways, but mostly just sad because I miss running. I miss the sense of accomplishment after a good run. I miss the peaceful solitude of a solo run and the energy and camaraderie in a group run. I miss rhythm of feet on the pavement....the complete exhaustion after a looong run...the energy it gives you for the rest of the day...the stopping to watch the sunrise or sunset...and I could go on.

I'm definitely missing it all, but I realize my body needs rest for now, so that is what I'll give it...how much rest it needs is still to be determined.

Marathon Training: Week of 8-16-10

This is my 3rd post today! You can tell I've had a lot of down time this weekend. ;)

As you may remember, last Sunday, I was stopped in my tracks by hip problems. The plan was to start running again on Wednesday. I was feeling pretty good and pretty confident that I would be able to pick up where I left off. Well, I tried. I made it one mile before the hip was screaming again. So, I stopped, consulted a physician...and haven't run since. It's likely a strained/sprained/stressed tendon and I was told to rest the remainder of the week, which is something I knew was needed, but didn't want to admit. I am now at the end of the week and was hoping to start back with an easy run tomorrow, but I'm still limping just as much as I was Wednesday morning before I tried to run.

So this week is supposed to look like this:
Monday: ?? maybe hop on a stationary bike at the gym and see how I feel
Tuesday: 3 miles easy, and pilates
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: pilates
Friday: 9 miles
Saturday: rest
Sunday: 16-18 miles

I have a bad feeling that it won't look like that. But, hey, I would be happy with even half of that, ANYthing is better than nothing.

Mediterranean BLT...and more

Ryan and I have had a very relaxing weekend (thanks to him finishing all the housework on Friday!). Yesterday, we went to the Farmer's Market and picked up some fresh produce. We used some of the tomatoes to make BLTs today. I put a little Mediterranean spin on mine...brush the bread with olive oil, add a few kalamata olives, and feta cheese and you get a delicious new spin on an old favorite!

We also wandered into a couple organic/health food stores yesterday...one on the square, and the other is called the Truck Patch which just recently opened. I LOVED them both! I didn't even realize we had anything like that around here. We found a wide variety of fresh spices at one of the stores...including real vanilla bean. I couldn't pass it up. So today, I made vanilla bean cupcake tops (with a muffin top pan) with vanilla bean icing.

It's like vanilla heaven.

I ran out of butter so I had to improvise another icing for the remaining cupcakes. I used some fresh almond butter that we had picked up yesterday.

These were a little warm when iced, so the icing got all warm and melty...I'll just let your taste buds process that for a minute...

1/2 cup almond butter

1.5 cups confectioner sugar

and a splash of milk

These vanilla cupcakes were yummy enough to eat plain, but the vanilla bean buttercream icing and almond butter frosting made them over the top! I have plenty of leftovers if anyone wants to come sample some!

More Sunsets

It has been too hot, lately, for the fish to bite, so I've been doing more lounging around with my camera than actually fishing on our outings. Here are a few pretty sunsets from last week.

Marathon Training: Week of 8-9-10

Last week, I began feeling an ache in my right hip. Sunday, about 6-7 miles into my long run, the ache became a sharp, stop-me-in-my-tracks pain. I limped/jogged 3 miles back to my car. All day yesterday, I could barely walk, no matter how much ice, ibuprofen, rest, anything! I thought I really messed up. Well today was a new day, my hip had gradually felt better through the day. I will probably take one more day off from running, but looks like I should be back on track by Wednesday!

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest, maybe pilates and/or a short, easy jog if my hip continues to feel better and better.
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: Pilates
Friday: 7-8 miles
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 14-16 miles.

This is a bit of a recovery week. If my hip starts acting up, I'll end up cutting back a little so I can come back stronger next week.

Peach Cobbler

Last weekend, we got some fresh peaches from my parent's peach tree. I found a great recipe for peach cobbler. It has a perfect balance of fruit and crust...and it's from Paula Deen. Need I say more?

This recipe makes a 9x13 pan. I cut the recipe in half and used a square pan...but I'll go by the full recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You'll need:

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (if you don't have the self-rising variety, add about 1.5 tsp baking powder and a pinch or two of salt for every cup of all purpose flour)
1 1/2 cups milk
Ground cinnamon, optional

Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

It will look like this.

Place the butter in a 9x13 baking pan and put in the oven until melted.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping.

Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir.

Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

When you pull it out of the oven, it looks like this.

Mmmm..

But you can't eat it until you add this...ice cream!

Today, all the peach cobbler is gone. I may cry, or dream of robbing someone for more. OR you could make some and invite me over :)...Hey, a girl can dream!

Marathon Training: Week of 8-1-10

Last week got a little mixed up because I realized I was doing week 5 of my training plan and should have been doing week 6...oops! They are pretty similar except the long run is a bit longer, so I did about 14 miles this morning to catch up. That put me at a total 33 miles for the week.

The coming week looks like this:
Monday: 5 miles easy
Tuesday: Pilates
Wednesday: 6 miles, Hills or speedwork
Thursday: 5 miles, Pilates
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: rest
Sunday: 16 miles

Total: 39 miles.

I stopped putting the pace goals because I've consistently been running a bit faster. It's hard to estimate my pace on different routes until I get home and punch in the numbers on Daily Mile. But I guess that's a good thing...hopefully I can keep it up as the miles add up!

P.S. Today was a big milestone for me...Since I have only run up to a half-marathon before (13.1 miles), today marked my longest run ever! It will be a new longest-run almost every week from here on out!

Fruits of Summer

Today is August 1st. The first day of the hottest month of the year. By this time of the summer, with heat indexes of 102, and 2 drops of rain in the past 2 weeks, most of us begin to resent summer and beg for the milder fall temperatures. But here's a reason to remember that summer is a darn good time of year.

This is a yellow-fleshed Cave City watermelon.

So sweet and sooo juicy.

You can't get this sort of thing in January...or September through May for that matter. Same goes for garden fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peaches off of Momma's tree, and well, you get the idea.

Enjoy it while you can!