See Diva Run

It’s Take it and Run Thursday at The Runner’s Lounge. This week our topic is “Running Super Powers”

Anyone with the hubris to refer to herself as “Database Diva” better have some skills to back it up. Before I assumed the identity of “Database Diva”, I was “the Unix Goddess”. When it comes to problems with computing systems, my super power is the ability to find and fix the problems. My reward is that everyone wants to leave their problems at my doorstep. Hey, if it was easy being a super hero, everyone would do it, and I would be just another boring database administrator.

Alas, while I may have super powers with computers, the powers fail me when it comes to figuring out what on earth is wrong with me, and how to fix it.

Things I know:

• I have plantar fasciitis in both feet, but it only bothers me on the right side
• My legs are nearly the same length (less than 2mm difference), but my right hip is higher than my left
• Usually, stretching my hips & hamstrings, and working them over with The Stick makes things much better. Occasionally it makes things worse.
• I find myself leaning to the right when I sit
• I think I swing my right hip when I walk
• Treating the plantar fasciitis isn’t doing anything to help my hip and back pain, and it doesn’t always help the plantar fasciitis
• Treating the hip and back problem (by stretching) does help the plantar fasciitis
• I spend way too much time on my butt

If I had this much data for a problem at work, I would have it figured out by now. Instead I’m just as puzzled as I was when I first started whining about this months ago. Since I lack the power, and I’m only having limited success with RunDoctor, I’m thinking about seeing a chiropractor who specializes in sports medicine. He came very highly recommended. I think maybe he has superpowers. I hope he does!

This subject for Take it and Run Thursday at the Runner’s Lounge this week is weight. Now I’m not much of a runner any more, but weight is a subject I was prepared to give a lot of advice about, until I realized that we weren’t talking about how to gain it.

I was never a big fan of breakfast, but knowing that eating breakfast is important to prevent weight gain, I’ve made a habit of grabbing a bowl of Cheerios in the morning. After I started running, I discovered that I wanted my morning carbohydrates. When it got to the point where I would wake up with hunger pains in the middle of the night, I started eating a small bowl of cereal before bed. According to Consumer Reports, Cheerios is one of the best cereals marketed to children, based on low sugar and relatively high fiber content. According to the report, cereals like Honey Smacks and Super Golden Crisp are more than 50% sugar. Ewwww.

Sometimes I want something a little heavier than Cheerios, so I go with one of the Nature’s Path Organic cereals. Favorites include the Multigrain Flakes, Heritage Flakes, Optimum Power and Optimum Slim. I also enjoy their granolas, but am more likely to eat them as a snack, or even a dessert. The peanutbutter granola is like eating a bowl full of peanutbutter cookies. Yum!

On my last trip to Target, I noticed that both Quaker Oats, and house brand, Market Pantry, are offering lower sugar versions of their instant oatmeals. I used to eat oatmeal every day when I worked in an office. I’d go to the cafeteria for a scoop of oatmeal and sprinkle a little brown sugar and a lot of cinnamon. There was something about smelling the cinnamon all the way back to my desk that made my day just a little better. I bought a box of the reduced sugar instant oatmeal, but haven’t tried it yet. I bet it is good with a lot of cinnamon!

I have been engaged in mortal combat with “The Fascist” since last December. The Fascist is the evil dictator who overthrew my plantar fascia last year, and has been perpetuating a “rein of terror” ever since. In fact the entire right side of my body seems to be engaged in guerilla warfare, as I’ve got pain from my hip to my foot, which brings us to the actual subject of this post — topical analgesics and anti-inflammatories.

After whining to 3 different doctors about “it hurts even if I don’t do that”, I decided to stick with the RunDoctor, because he was highly recommended by Shelby at Run 26, and because he seemed a bit more thorough than the previous 2. RunDoctor suggested an aggressive treatment plan that included anti-inflammatory medication. He prescribed something called Daypro, and said it was the equivalent of a boatload (OK, I forgot the actual amount) of Ibuprofen. I said that much Ibuprofen would make you sick. He smiled and said “this will make you sick”. It was both evil and endearing. I knew he was the doctor for me.

So I headed to Target pharmacy with prescription in hand. The pharmacist handed me a bottle of horsey-sized pills. The directions say take 2 tablets, once each day. He looked at me, shook his head and said, “you better start off with one”. So I started with one per day, and I tolerated it OK. The Fascist was particularly nasty, so I bumped the does up to 2 tablets. After about 3 days of this, I was so sick I could barely crawl out of bed in the morning. Fortunately I work from home (in the room where I sleep), so I could crawl if I had to. According to the instructions, I should have discontinued use immediately, but I was hoping the drugs would kill The Fascist before they killed me. To be honest, I don’t think The Fascist even noticed, but I was so sick, I didn’t notice The Fascist. After a week of this, friends & family were worried, and strongly encouraging me to stop taking the Daypro. Desperate to overthrow The Fascist, I agreed to cut the dose back to 1 tablet. It helped some. Now I was only sick for a few hours every day, instead of around the clock. Just hours before the Expedition Everest Challenge, I was drinking Sprite and praying I wouldn’t have to throw up in the Corral. The Fascist was undeterred by all of this, so after 3 weeks, I gave up.

I told RunDoctor that I couldn’t handle the Daypro, and that at this point, I wouldn’t be able to take any NSAIDs for a few weeks. That is when he told me about the Flector patch. The Flector patch is kind of like a giant bandaid that is loaded up with anti-inflammatory medication. I took my new prescription and raced back to Target, eager to take my next shot at The Fascist. I stuck one to my right foot before bed that night, and the next morning there was a noticeable reduction in the bruised sensation. The Fascist had been hit! I’ve been using the patches for about a week, and while the inflammation isn’t gone, The Fascist is losing ground. If you have a low tolerance for NSAIDs, but need an anti-inflammatory for a sports injury, ask your doctor about the Flector patch. It totally beats being sick all of the time.

I’ve been thinking that if I could mummify myself in patches at night, I might get over whatever the heck it is that is wrong with me. Failing that, I’ve been taking the edge off my hip pain with Salonpas patches. Other topical treatments that have worked for me (depending on the problem) are Biofreeze and Jones Formula 23. I discovered Jones Formula 23 at the PF Chang’s expo, when I was already battling the fascist. It eased the pain in my foot, but The Fascist is determined, and soon I had pain up and down the right side of my body, which is where this post started, so I guess it must now be done.

Three days after hiking up a real mountain with Michelle, we were on a plane to Florida for the Expedition Everest Challenge. The challenge is a 5K race followed by an obstacle course and a scavenger hunt. We signed up for it last spring, and just to keep thing interesting, we decided to team up the girls against the guys. It was Krista & I vs. Mr Diva and our son. We stayed at the Coronado Springs resort, which was very nice, and spent our days “hiking” the parks. It was a whirlwind, and I spent way more time on my feet than anyone who hopes to ever recover from plantar fasciitis should! After closing the parks Friday night, we headed to Downtown Disney to visit Pleasure Island before it closed. Earlier in the day we visited the Blizzard Beach water park, and somewhere in there we visited the race expo to pick up our packets.

The Diva men model their shirts at the Expedition Everest base camp

Saturday morning we slept in, then headed over to the Animal Kingdom, which is my favorite of the Disney parks in Florida. We went on the safari, and then wandered over to Expedition Everest for fast passes. They were putting the finishing touches on this ride when we were in Florida for the 2006 Goofy Challenge. We got to run by it then, but it didn’t open for a couple more weeks. I’m a big fan of all the Disney mountains (Splash, Space, Big Thunder), but I’ve got to say that this one is my all time favorite.

We headed back to the hotel for a little nap, then we changed into our running clothes and boarded the shuttle bus back to the Animal Kingdom. We were surprised by the number of people who were there. The race had a wave start. The first wave was individuals. The second wave was the men’s teams. The third wave was women’s teams, but there were 9 more waves after ours. They weren’t all coed, so we weren’t sure how that worked. We just knew that the guys were getting a 5 minute head start. It was hot and humid, and I swear I was starting to chafe just waiting in the corral. Fortunately, the sun set shortly after we started running, which cooled things off.

We started in the parking lot, and ran down a service road, and then up to the front gate. We passed the first mile marker shortly after entering the gate. The next 2 miles were in the park, then back out to the parking lot for the finish. I didn’t get to run with Krista at the Iron Girl, so I was very excited to run with her in this event. I think she got tired of hearing how proud I am of her. The finish turned out to be a couple of flags. We thought that each event would be timed separately. We were wrong. From the 5K finish, we kept running until we got to the first obstacle, which was a series of beams we needed to climb over. I lost time climbing up onto the first one, before I figured out that I could swing my leg that high and vault over. The next obstacle was a cargo net, which I thought was pretty easy, once the people ahead of me got out of the way. The balance beam looked like a good way to break my brittle old bones, so Krista walked it while I held her hand. The final obstacle was another cargo net, but instead of climbing it, we had to crawl under it.

After completing the obstacle course, we had a long walk back to the main gate. Along the way we were handed our clue book. We had 4 answers to find, hidden in different parts of the park. We quickly learned that there were 12 different versions of the clue book, so following other people wasn’t necessarily helpful. We were getting tired from all of the running and walking. We jotted down our fourth answer and ran for the finish line, where we received our totally cool compass medals.

The guys were waiting for us at the finish line. They had been waiting a long time. They had a good run and had less traffic at the obstacles. They zipped through the scavenger hunt and finished at least 30 minutes ahead of us. We snacked on a banana and a bagel, and got our pictures taken. Now it was time to party in the park! We rode Expedition Everest 4 more times. We also rode the Kali River Run and the Dinosaur ride. We straggled out of the park minutes before closing, and caught the last shuttle bus back to the hotel. Another great adventure. We slept in the next morning, and then dashed from park to park, making sure we squeezed as much Disney fun into our trip as possible. It was exhausting, but also a ton of fun. We are already making plans for the Tower of Terror 13K next October!

Link to official event photos

Sometimes when I’m not blogging, it’s because I have no stories to tell. Sometimes it is because I’m out having crazy adventures so I will have something to write about. Much of the time it is because I’m busy with work/school/family and running the doggy hospice. Lately it has been all of the above.

A few weeks ago my friend Michelle called and asked me if I would join her for a hike on the first day of fall. My friend Michelle isn’t exactly what you would call an outdoor kind of girl. When I took up running, she reacted as if I’d joined a cult. We refer to it as “that thing I do”. We occasionally get together to walk her dog, Maverick, but we are more likely to get together for lunch, or tea.

Michelle’s dad was Congressman Lloyd Meeds. He passed away in 2005. Last year they dedicated a memorial to him at the Snow Lake Trail Head near Alpental, in honor of his dedication to preserving wilderness areas. The plan was to visit the memorial and then hike the trail up to Snow Lake.

The weather didn’t look too promising that morning. I don’t have hiking gear, but I have running clothes that I’ve used in some pretty cold, wet, miserable weather. Yahoo Weather predicted a high of 58 that day, but that was in Snohomish, not up in the Cascades! When we stepped out of her truck at Alpental, the temperature was in the high 30s. Better get moving to keep warm! We headed to the memorial to pay our respects and take a few pictures, then up the mountain we went. The further we climbed, the rougher the terrain got. I had been expecting a more groomed (and flatter trail). So had Michelle, but she was a trooper. Soon we were crossing small streams and scrambling over rocks. It rained for most of the first mile. It stopped when we got above the snow line. So there we were, soaking wet in freezing weather. We kept going, but we really weren’t dressed for the weather or the trail conditions. When we got to the switchbacks, I realized we were still at least half a mile from the lake. We agreed that we should come back in the summer, and that we would buy hiking boots for the occasion.

I was concerned that a 5 mile hike on uneven ground might not be the best therapy for my plantar fasciitis, but it didn’t bother me too much. I felt really good out on the trail (except for being kind of cold). I would definitely like to do more hiking. I’m looking forward to going back in the summer, as I hear the lake is quite beautiful.