Hey everyone. Looks like we missed the August posting. Hope everyone had a great last month of summer.
For me it wasn't too bad. Sciatic pain is still there but I've gone to massage therapy and am going to a chiropractor now as well. Was hoping to avoid both of those but know that they are what I need to do when it gets as bad as it was. The pain is still there when I drive and sometimes if I sit at my desk too long but I have been able to get most of my runs in over the past two weeks (including a 7 mile race on Cape Cod) with minimal to no pain. Have an MRI scheduled for next week. After talking to my chiropractor we are going to try to find the root cause of this so first step is to check the hamstrings and hip. If that doesn't show anything, we move into some scans of my lower back.
But overall I am feeling better and trying to get some more runs in. At this point I'll never make the 1,500 miles for the year. I ran 3.5 miles today and honestly I feel like I've lost some cardiovascular fitness so it's going to be a slow build back up to where I used to be.
Hope you're all doing well.
Thanks for the update JeffD. Been wondering how you were feeling. Keep chasing that Bunny! I doubt I'll make 1500 as well, partly because I want to get some hiking in and that means sacrificing a run day.
Went to see Mt St Helens last Monday for my birthday. I'd never been, so it made for a memorable couple days. She is massive! The area has a dramatic landscape when you are familiar with the history of it. There are 3 different educational centers in the area, 2 of which show different movies with live footage and photos and so much detail of the eruption and aftermath. Plus all kinds of exhibits and staff available to answer any question you might have or fill in any gaps in your knowledge. It was a lot to absorb and quite fascinating. (tried inserting a photo, but so far unsuccessful - looks like a link is the best I can do
https://link.shutterfly.com/BPEcKBlp0sb
Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done.
Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.
Glad you're feeling better Jeff.
HappyFeat - Great photo!! Coincidentally my wife and I were at Mt St Helens last Thursday! We were itching to do a post-summer camping trip so we decided the week after Labor Day was a good day to start. We drove from San Jose to Mt Rainier Nat Park and camped and hiked for 4 days. So awesome, I'd never been up there. On the way back we did a hike at Mt St Helens from the Johnston Ridge Observatory (looks like that's where you took your photo?). Hiked out to the end of Harry's Ridge and back, about 8 miles or so. Beautiful hike, there are blueberry bushes all along the trail towards the top. You can just grab them and eat as you hike, very sweet too!
You are right, it is really amazing to see the scale of what happened out there in 1980. Besides the scoured canyons and the blown out part of the mountain one thing that amazed me is the forest as you are driving up there. The trees were all knocked down by the blast yet there is a very large forests now. All planted by the evil corporate landowner, Weyerhauser. The trees were planted from about 83 to ongoing, I think. But since the entire tracts of the forest were planted at the same time it kind of looks like a giant Christmas tree farm or like someone photoshopped all the trees into the landscape since all of the trees are the same age. Very odd to see.
I have had an injury to the top of my left foot for a few weeks so no running for me. Not sure if it's a stress fracture or a form of tendinitis but it is slowly getting better. I may try running next week.
A photo of my wife and I at Mt Rainier (High Skyline Trail):
Thanks, yes the sciatica is healing up nicely now (knock on wood).
But of course, I'm old, so now I have some plantar fasciitis I'm dealing with. Mostly just painful when I get out of bed in the morning and doesn't really affect my running. Just need to roll it out and ice it and it should heal up.
JeffD It's all about damage control at this point. It's frustrating because we (me at least!) still think I have the same body as I did 30 years ago; but it continually argues the point!
So kcam, when you went to Rainier did you camp in one spot and use that as a base for your hiking? I've never been to Rainier and it's on The List, so - curious where you camped and if you'd choose it again? What a great photo of you and your wife!!
Harry's Ridge Trail was recommended to me as a "must do," but it was mid-90's that day and the ground was radiating such intense heat we lost interest in that idea. We came back the next morning and hiked a different trail with about 50% shade as it was still in the 90's. We intend to go back in late April when it should be cooler; so we'll catch it then. Plus there's a whole 'nother side of the mountain to explore as well.
We stayed at Cougar Rock campground near the Nisqually entrance the entire time. At this time of year it's first come first served. I was nervous about getting a spot but it was no problem, plenty available. If you go in the summer it's a difficult reservation. Very quiet campsite though they are close to each other. No hookups, we tent-camp so we are used to that. I would absolutely stay there again. We did hikes in Paradise and thereabouts. Plenty to do there and I think that's considered the main part of the park. You really need multiple visits to enjoy this park. I had wanted to go around to Sunrise but Stevens Canyon road is closed right now so it would have been a big detour and I wasn't up for that. We'll definitely be back again to visit other areas. My wife loved Rainier. We may go again in the spring and visit Olympic with just a couple days at Rainier.
Harry's Ridge is not an easy hike for sure, and we went when the sun was not strong and temp was probably 50s to 60s. We were cold up on Harry's Ridge.
kcam I really appreciate all the extra info on Rainier! Super helpful! I think I'll be looking at May or June - whenever the roads are clear of snow and wildflowers are out, but not the hoards of people. ha ha That might be a tiny window.
Was able to get in an 8 mile run yesterday with no sciatic pain at all. I still get some pain here and there when driving or sitting at my desk for too long, but hope is on the horizon. Had an MRI on Friday so hopefully my doctor will see something and we can figure out the cause so we can treat that instead of just treating the symptoms every time it flares up.
JeffD That is AWESOME!! So happy for a pain-free run! It will be interesting to see what the MRI shows.
I've recently discovered the motivation in chasing Garmin badges. I see there's one now that will earn me 4 points if I run a 10-miler by Friday (well technically 15k or 9.33 miles). Most are just 1-pointers, so I really want those 4 points! I can do it if I take it easy, so I've reworked my game-plan for this week and off I go! I feel quite tired actually, but sometimes I find that's not really the case once I get to running. Hoping that plays out today.
It's nice to have little goals. I haven't really looked at the Garmin badges but maybe I will now.
Since I've been able to run a bit more the last couple of weeks I've gotten back into using citystrides.com which links to your garmin and tracks all the streets you've run in a particular city. I've done another 87 streets in two different cities in the last month. I think I had 5 cities that I had completed 100%, but then suddenly when I looked yesterday they are all at like 99.24% because magically there is another street in the city that I apparently haven't run. But it is fun and also I like trying to plan out a route at night for the next morning - seeing how many streets I can get in during a 5-6 mile run. The harder part is when I am out there and trying to remember the very specific route I had planned - and since I'm now into towns I don't typically run in, I've gotten lost a few times.
JeffD Chasing down the city streets does sound like a fun challenge! Did you get your MRI results yet?
I was going to post about Citystrides as motivation but it looks like Jeff beat me to it! Huge fan of Citystrides and adding new streets motivates me heavily. I use it on my easy days, find a new neighborhood, map out a reasonable run and then go run it. To map the run and then execute it I use an app called RunGo. Turn-by-turn navigation that works really well.
I have no cities that are 100% but I don't live near very many small cities. I've been using it for years but I'm missing thousands and thousands of miles from the early days. Anyway, here's my lifemap:
https://citystrides.com/users/2543/map#37.2638324,-122.02301460000001&11
It can be fun - the last couple days were challenging when running it because when running it uses the GPS to pick up nodes that it sets on all the streets. But for some reason my GPS location seemed to be off by about 20 feet to the right of where I was running so on some streets it missed some nodes and didn't mark the street as complete - no big issue because you can go in and log it as run manually for when that happens.
I did get my MRI result - went to the Chiro on Tuesday and the MRI shows a "bilateral hamstring tendonosis" which makes me think there might be some hope to get rid of it completely somehow. He suggested continuing the laser therapy and also recommended shockwave therapy. He gave me a chiropractor that does that (he doesn't have the machine) but also told me that it is not covered by insurance so I'd really have to see how expensive a treatment is.
I'm also calling a Physical Therapist today to bring my diagnosis to them to see what they can do for it as well, and I actually have my yearly physical in two weeks so I'll see what my primary says as well. I'd love to be able to fix this completely because I miss running fast and I also miss playing soccer and would love to get back to doing both.
I hope that therapy is affordable Jeff. At least you know what's going on.
I am currently at an appointment for my foot. Top of foot pain has kept me from running for 4 weeks now. I believe it's some sort of tendinitis but others think it may be a micro-fracture. Had a doctor's appointment 20 mins ago, now waiting to be xray'd. If it turns out to not be a fracture, I already have a physical therapy appt setup for an hour from now. All in the same hospital complex I love that these guys move fast once you get em off top dead center! Hope I can run again soon.