Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The post about running in a snow storm, running after a snow storm, and visiting the orthopedic surgeon

My very slow LSD this past Sunday.


  • This past weekend we got a storm system from the States that left us with a bunch of snow and frigid temperatures.
  • It was a tough weekend for running. Saturday's run was done during the snow storm. I ran 4K in -15C temperatures with blowing and drifting snow. I saw one other runner out. It was pretty treacherous to say the least, but I had to run. Gotta stick to the training schedule. There weren't a lot of cars or people out during the storm. It was after 9am by the time I ran. I ran by a dude at the bus stop who yelled "I have to be out here, what's your excuse?" I turned and yelled back, "I don't have to be out here, what's your excuse?" Smart ass reply, and he likely thought I was crazy. And maybe I am, maybe I am.
  • Saturday afternoon I deserved my wine date with Elin. I ran through a freaking snow storm!!!!
  • Sunday was the fun run. I ran 7K through the streets of downtown Hamilton. It was lovely, with a foot of newly fallen snow that hadn't been cleared yet. So I ran through deep snow, over snow banks and ran on the road as much as could. Even that was tricky though because even though the plow had been by, the snow was packed down hard and it was super slippery. My pace on Sunday was over 8min/k. I ran a similar pace last winter with my half marathon clinic after a snow storm. It's tough to run through snow. And I was a bit sore on Sunday and Monday. I was using muscles I don't normally use for running.
  • Even this morning's run was tricky. It snowed...AGAIN! It was real pretty though. Very quiet and peaceful at 5:15 when I left the house to run. But also very slippery and slow. I am not going to complain about having to run in this weather. At least I can run...and I get to classify myself as bad ass and hardcore. 
  • On Sunday we finally dug ourselves out and headed out to Ikea to purchase our $20 Christmas tree. They are all bound up when you get them, so we had no idea what it looked like. It turned out to be quite nice. Much shorter than what I normally get, but I can live with it. It's nice and full!
  • I did manage to get the house decorations up on Sunday. And I had to go to the laundromat because my washer finally bit the dust. I cannot get it to work anymore, and I'm okay with that. I'm sure it's from the 80's. It's about time we got a new one.
  • This evening was Julien's Christmas concert at school. The little kids were adorable as always. Julien did an admirable job singing Frosty the Snowman. The bigger kids? Well lets just say, there really isn't a singer or a dancer among the group. But they do get an "A" for effort.

This is what I did tonight. Lay on the couch with Baby while watching Ellen
and willing my Christmas tree to trim itself. It didn't work:( I promised Julien
that we will decorate the tree tomorrow.

  • Diana sent me a private message and asked me my daily eating habits. Well Diana, I eat Paleo. And since I am training again, I will follow the Paleo Diet for Athletes once my mileage increases. It's basically the same as the Paleo Diet, but there are no limits on amounts of foods. Except nuts. There always has to be limits on nuts. Especially for me. And it focuses more on how to eat during training instead of everyday. Paleo is a very basic diet. It's protein (meat, fish, eggs), vegetables (no white potatoes), fresh fruit and nuts that can be eaten raw. That's it. No dairy, no refined sugar, no processed carbs, no legumes, no processed foods. I'd have to say that protein is my main staple, then vegetables, then fruit, then nuts. I keep fruit to 1-2 servings a day and nuts to 1 serving a day. The meat and veggies, I don't measure. I eat until I'm satisfied. I drink water and coffee daily, and red wine on the weekends. If you're wondering what I eat for each meal, I always have hard boiled eggs for breakfast with a piece of fruit. Chicken and veggies for lunch and whatever my husband makes for dinner. But it's always meat and more veggies. And I usually have two snacks during the day. One of either fruit or raw veggies, and one snack of nuts. It's real basic and some people may argue boring, but it works for me! Hope this answers your question.
  • Today I went to see the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Catre. Very nice man. First off, he looked at the medical history I filled out and said, "I am looking at you right now, and I cannot believe that you ever weighed 300 pounds". And I said, "Well believe it Dr. Catre. In August 2011, I weighed 297 pounds". He told me I looked fit and he could tell I was an athlete right away from my body shape. Then we started to talk shop. First he confirmed the diagnosis of Morton's Neuroma. Dr. Catre is not just an orthopedic surgeon, he also specializes in sports medicine. We talked about my feet. He played with my feet (ewwwww). We talked about my feet some more. I was a bit freaked out because I thought he was going to tell me that I couldn't run anymore. I told him I had to run and he said he understood completely. He said he used to be a runner until he destroyed his knee, so he totally got where I was coming from. 
  • Surgery was off the table right away.  He told me that there was no guarantee the surgery would work, and it could prevent me from running.  We talked about steroid injections, and he said that it could help to shrink the neuroma but it would also eat away at the fat cells on the soles of my feet, and once those were gone, I wouldn't be running anymore. So that option was out. We talked about orthotics and I told him about my $600.00 orthotics that have been adjusted 6 times and still do nothing for me. He suggested that I bring them back to the chiropodist that I got them from with all the imaging I have (x-rays, ultrasound, MRI), and see if they can do something very custom for me. The best advice he gave me? To keep on running and continue to work on my running form. That is where I have had the most success. He said that I will become a stronger runner and will be able to run longer distances without getting fatigued later in my runs.  That is how I will be able to run pain-free. Once I condition myself to comfortably run the 1/2 marathon, then I move onto 30K, then move onto the marathon. So this means that I may not be able to run a marathon for a couple of years, but that's okay. Makes total sense! And he agreed that I have to try to run at least one marathon. Loved meeting him. He gave me some hope and made me feel like a bad ass athlete.
  • The 15th installment of the Anniversary Series of videos. This one is called Nice Touches and the Girl... Irene mentioned from my last post that she hoped that since hubby and I were out of the car and in the room, that this installment wouldn't show "literature".  Bahahahahahahahaha! No chance Irene! No one needs to see that and I wouldn't want to make you all blind;)