I heART!!!

Holy enchilada, Active Release Techniques--aka ART (R)--is frickin A-mazing.

Turns out my malady is a tight left hip flexor that is creating a domino effect of tension and pain on the rest of my left leg, hip and back. After a little ART on the flexor and hip, I can move without pain....and touch my toes again! Yay!

My homework is to do yoga (ok, yes, I admit that skipping yoga the past two months was a very, very bad idea), stretch my hip flexor, more ART on Friday...and yes, in all likelihood I can run the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon on Sunday.

I Got Schooled by a Flying Frenchman

I ran on Saturday with 3 guys. The plan was that three of us were doing a 13 mile loop on the trails, and the fourth guy was just doing an out-and-back 6 miles. After taking Thursday/Friday off for my back pain last week (hoping it would magically disappear), by Saturday it wasn't really better but wasn't really any worse, either...I was stretching a lot and I figured I would try the run; it would either make it better or worse. I wasn't sure which.

The four of us had agreed to run a 9:30 pace for the run. But though probably in his 60's, the Flying Frenchman (not to be confused with a Flying Dutchman , of any variety...) is a pretty fast runner (like a ridiculous 3-hour marathoner) and as soon as we started, after we chatted about what our goals for RMHM are next week, and what we ran on our 1-mile time trials, he determined that we should be running faster. I knew this was probably a bad idea for me but I succombed to peer pressure because I felt fine, back was ok, and I could keep up (plus I was NOT going to be the pu$$y-ass girl that couldn't hang with the guys).

That lasted for the first 9 miles. It was preetty warm by then and the remainder of the run was uphill...not impossible, but I started getting tired...my form went to crap...and the back started aching. I finally threw in the towel to walk with about a mile and half left, when the pain nearly forced tears. One guy ran ahead and since I knew my way back to the start, I figured the Flying Frenchman would go with him. Not so.

Instead, as we walked, I was treated to a leeeeennnnnggggtttthhhyyyyyyy discourse on All Things Running. Now, I am not new to running and most of it I already knew...but since he is a fairly nice man who probably meant well, and I don't know him that well (and quite frankly his sexay French accent was entrancing), I just let him blab and feel like he was educating me.

As for the back, I now fear it is actually piriformis strain....and I am still in serious pain. So I guess I am off to the doctor tomorrow to determine if I can be fit to run a half marathon by Sunday. Yay.

Ow.

I am in complete pain today from a flare up of a recurring back/hip injury sustained while preggers with Shorite1 (tip: don't try to move the bedroom furniture alone when 7 months pregnant). I woke up at 5:00AM to run and, seeing that I could barely walk, then decided that it might not be prudent...I need to be able to make my 13-miler tomorrow morning, my last long run before RMHM next weekend. Even after two extra strength tylenols (which always do the trick for me when horse tranquilizers are out of the question) I am hurting. :-(

In case anyone else in also in need of Friday afternoon-my-God-I just-want-to-go-home-already-and-start-my-weekend-preferably-with-a-big-fat-glass-of-red-wine-or-beer-pick-me-up, I thought I would share my Top 10 Non-Running Blogs today that I regularly find to be hilarious and laugh-out-loud funny. Happy Friday afternoon!

10. http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1775015
9. http://www.theonion.com/content/index (not technically a blog, but too funny to leave out)
8. http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/monologues/6oregontrail.html
7. http://failblog.org/
6. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/
5. http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/
4. http://lmnop.blogs.com/
3. http://itemnotasdescribed.com/
2. http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/
1. http://www.textsfromlastnight.com/