3650 Miles in the Hurtlocker

Sucker Punches (Read 1095 times)


Walk-Jogger

    <sigh> I found myself laying in bed last night wide awake all night long. Didn't sleep a single minute, as far as I could tell. Which was a bit ironic, because I was in a hospital bed, undergoing a "sleep study" to determine why I rarely sleep for more than 1 hour at a time and 2 hours total on any given night of the week any more. Last night had suddenly become bad timing for a sleep study, after undergoing a routine physical the day before and being told I need to go see a urologist about a lump on my prostate. Might be nothing, might be the beginning of the end, or something in-between; who knows. Just worrisome enough to ensure that I would have something to think about while not sleeping in a strange bed and hooked up to 2 dozen wires and monitors and such for a night.

     

    Anyway, in the middle of the night, I suddenly realized how much I was missing being able to run. I haven't really run at all since my mile race on June 7th, because of this apparent stress fracture in my heel. We've had some great hot and sunny weather these past few weeks and I've really been enjoying riding my bike for 1-3 hours at a time, on our lovely bike trail. And I've done a bunch of serious incline treadmill tempo type workouts, and made some speed/strength improvements there. But, I really miss the feeling of running. No bike or treadmill needed, just shoes, shorts and someplace to run.  I really need to run another mile race - all out, primal, and leave 100% of everything on the track. I'd probably do one of those crazy screams at the end too, like the guys on the American Ninja Warrior show when they make it to the top of the warped wall and finish the course.  Anyway. Just venting a little. Nothing much to see here . . .

     

    Retired &  Loving It


    Just a dude.

      <sigh> I found myself laying in bed last night wide awake all night long. Didn't sleep a single minute, as far as I could tell. Which was a bit ironic, because I was in a hospital bed, undergoing a "sleep study" to determine why I rarely sleep for more than 1 hour at a time and 2 hours total on any given night of the week any more. Last night had suddenly become bad timing for a sleep study, after undergoing a routine physical the day before and being told I need to go see a urologist about a lump on my prostate. Might be nothing, might be the beginning of the end, or something in-between; who knows. Just worrisome enough to ensure that I would have something to think about while not sleeping in a strange bed and hooked up to 2 dozen wires and monitors and such for a night.

       

      Anyway, in the middle of the night, I suddenly realized how much I was missing being able to run. I haven't really run at all since my mile race on June 7th, because of this apparent stress fracture in my heel. We've had some great hot and sunny weather these past few weeks and I've really been enjoying riding my bike for 1-3 hours at a time, on our lovely bike trail. And I've done a bunch of serious incline treadmill tempo type workouts, and made some speed/strength improvements there. But, I really miss the feeling of running. No bike or treadmill needed, just shoes, shorts and someplace to run.  I really need to run another mile race - all out, primal, and leave 100% of everything on the track. I'd probably do one of those crazy screams at the end too, like the guys on the American Ninja Warrior show when they make it to the top of the warped wall and finish the course.  Anyway. Just venting a little. Nothing much to see here . . .

       

       

      Yikes. Sounds like there is a lot to see there.

       

      Wow.

       

      Typing something trite like hope it all works out seems inappropriate. I do hope things get figured out for you though...

       

      -Kelly

      Getting back in shape... Just need it to be a skinnier shape... 

        <sigh> I found myself laying in bed last night wide awake all night long. Didn't sleep a single minute, as far as I could tell. Which was a bit ironic, because I was in a hospital bed, undergoing a "sleep study" to determine why I rarely sleep for more than 1 hour at a time and 2 hours total on any given night of the week any more. Last night had suddenly become bad timing for a sleep study, after undergoing a routine physical the day before and being told I need to go see a urologist about a lump on my prostate. Might be nothing, might be the beginning of the end, or something in-between; who knows. Just worrisome enough to ensure that I would have something to think about while not sleeping in a strange bed and hooked up to 2 dozen wires and monitors and such for a night.

         

        Anyway, in the middle of the night, I suddenly realized how much I was missing being able to run. I haven't really run at all since my mile race on June 7th, because of this apparent stress fracture in my heel. We've had some great hot and sunny weather these past few weeks and I've really been enjoying riding my bike for 1-3 hours at a time, on our lovely bike trail. And I've done a bunch of serious incline treadmill tempo type workouts, and made some speed/strength improvements there. But, I really miss the feeling of running. No bike or treadmill needed, just shoes, shorts and someplace to run.  I really need to run another mile race - all out, primal, and leave 100% of everything on the track. I'd probably do one of those crazy screams at the end too, like the guys on the American Ninja Warrior show when they make it to the top of the warped wall and finish the course.  Anyway. Just venting a little. Nothing much to see here . . .

         

        I thought I was awake most of the night when I had my first sleep study done. NOPE! I had fallen asleep within 5 minutes of starting it. CRAZY!!   Hope the lump is nothing and that you get to the bottom of what's going on with your sleeping!

        Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head." - Joe Henderson


        Walk-Jogger

          I thought I was awake most of the night when I had my first sleep study done. NOPE! I had fallen asleep within 5 minutes of starting it. CRAZY!!   Hope the lump is nothing and that you get to the bottom of what's going on with your sleeping!

           

          Isn't that crazy? The technician told me I was "micro-sleeping" throughout the night, even thought I felt like I was 100% awake the entire night. Micro-sleeping apparently can be a fraction of a second up to 30 seconds, and is the same thing as dozing off in front of your computer for a second or two, or while driving. I don't count that as "real" sleep, because I don't feel like I got any sleep at all, plus at any given point in the night I felt that I was fully cognizant of my surroundings and what was going on. The results from the study will be available in a week or so, and it will be interesting to see what the sleep specialist have to say. My GP had me give up coffee and stop taking naps and no TV in the bedroom and all the other usual suspects, but none of that helped.  What was the outcome of your sleep study? Were you dealing with chronic insomnia, and was there any effective treatment?

          Retired &  Loving It

             

            Isn't that crazy? The technician told me I was "micro-sleeping" throughout the night, even thought I felt like I was 100% awake the entire night. Micro-sleeping apparently can be a fraction of a second up to 30 seconds, and is the same thing as dozing off in front of your computer for a second or two, or while driving. I don't count that as "real" sleep, because I don't feel like I got any sleep at all, plus at any given point in the night I felt that I was fully cognizant of my surroundings and what was going on. The results from the study will be available in a week or so, and it will be interesting to see what the sleep specialist have to say. My GP had me give up coffee and stop taking naps and no TV in the bedroom and all the other usual suspects, but none of that helped.  What was the outcome of your sleep study? Were you dealing with chronic insomnia, and was there any effective treatment?

             

            Am curious myself to hear what they find or what suggestions they have.  How's the heel doing BTW?  Does it feel like staying off of it is helping?

             

            As far as sucker punches go, I'm out for a while.  My hamstring is no good.  Got through the tri this weekend with a painful run as my hamstring went tight and numb about 200m in.  Backed off to a steady effort and felt it the entire way.  It was probably stupid to do but I have a hard time stopping/quiting unless I physically can't go anymore.  It's still sore and tender to the touch two days later.  We'll see if I can't keep things going with the swim and bike in the meantime.


            Feeling the growl again

               

               

               

              As far as sucker punches go, I'm out for a while.  My hamstring is no good.  Got through the tri this weekend with a painful run as my hamstring went tight and numb about 200m in.  Backed off to a steady effort and felt it the entire way.  It was probably stupid to do but I have a hard time stopping/quiting unless I physically can't go anymore.  It's still sore and tender to the touch two days later.  We'll see if I can't keep things going with the swim and bike in the meantime.

               

              Have you ever gotten that hammy looked at?  Isn't that what keeps going out again and again or was that your Achilles?

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               


              Feeling the growl again

                 

                Isn't that crazy? The technician told me I was "micro-sleeping" throughout the night, even thought I felt like I was 100% awake the entire night. Micro-sleeping apparently can be a fraction of a second up to 30 seconds, and is the same thing as dozing off in front of your computer for a second or two, or while driving. I don't count that as "real" sleep, because I don't feel like I got any sleep at all, plus at any given point in the night I felt that I was fully cognizant of my surroundings and what was going on. The results from the study will be available in a week or so, and it will be interesting to see what the sleep specialist have to say. My GP had me give up coffee and stop taking naps and no TV in the bedroom and all the other usual suspects, but none of that helped.  What was the outcome of your sleep study? Were you dealing with chronic insomnia, and was there any effective treatment?

                 

                Sorry to hear of your issues.  Hope the lump does indeed turn out to be nothing, I went through the whole process with a family member a few years ago and it was no fun not knowing and worrying.

                 

                I'd be interested what they do with the sleep study; I'd seriously considered getting that done myself until a few weeks back.  I went many months without being able to recall a single night where I slept all the way through.  Typically I slept 3-4 hours straight, then would wake up every 5-15min for the rest of the night.  I'd be in bed 8-9 hours and wake up as tired as when I went to bed.  Life and running especially were tough.  My vacation seems to have gotten me back to a reasonable sleep cycle, we'll see.

                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                 

                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                 

                   

                  Have you ever gotten that hammy looked at?  Isn't that what keeps going out again and again or was that your Achilles?

                  It's been a combination of both.  Achilles got me in 2007, 2009 and 2010.  The hamstring seems to the weakest link over the last couple of years.  The few times with the hamstrings, it's been 10-14 days, then I'm good to go.  Hamstring caused a DNF in a 10-miler a couple of years ago and caused me to pull up at about the 10-mile mark in a half earlier this year.

                   

                  In February of this year, I went to a PT around here that focuses on runners after the hamstring issue in January as I wanted to be good to go for Boston.  His analysis was that strength and flexibility were adequate- always room for improvement on the strength end around the hips and glutes.  He even put me on the treadmill and did an analysis on form and found nothing glaring.  The hamstring started giving me issues the week of June 30 and I guess I just kept punishing it enough until it said no more.  I'll try giving it a good two weeks now.


                  Walk-Jogger

                     

                    Am curious myself to hear what they find or what suggestions they have.  How's the heel doing BTW?  Does it feel like staying off of it is helping?

                     

                    As far as sucker punches go, I'm out for a while.  My hamstring is no good.  Got through the tri this weekend with a painful run as my hamstring went tight and numb about 200m in.  Backed off to a steady effort and felt it the entire way.  It was probably stupid to do but I have a hard time stopping/quiting unless I physically can't go anymore.  It's still sore and tender to the touch two days later.  We'll see if I can't keep things going with the swim and bike in the meantime.

                     

                    MBehr, sorry to hear about your hamstring problems in your Tri. Was that an Ironman distance tri? I know how you feel about how hard it is to stop once you start a race.

                     

                     

                    My heel - well it feels fine for the most part, most of the time, unless I try to run a step or two, and that's all I need to know that I should still not run on it. The pain is not intense but is immediate, and  I'm not willing to try running around the block on it again. So I haven't run more than a few steps across my living room floor for a month as of today. I've been doing a lot of biking up to 3 hours to maintain aerobic conditioning, and hard incline treadmill workouts at a steep angle to get my pulse up to the 95% range a few times per week. Hopefully that will be enough to maintain my over-all conditioning close to where I was on June 7th, the last time I raced.

                    Retired &  Loving It


                    Walk-Jogger

                       

                      Sorry to hear of your issues.  Hope the lump does indeed turn out to be nothing, I went through the whole process with a family member a few years ago and it was no fun not knowing and worrying.

                       

                      I'd be interested what they do with the sleep study; I'd seriously considered getting that done myself until a few weeks back.  I went many months without being able to recall a single night where I slept all the way through.  Typically I slept 3-4 hours straight, then would wake up every 5-15min for the rest of the night.  I'd be in bed 8-9 hours and wake up as tired as when I went to bed.  Life and running especially were tough.  My vacation seems to have gotten me back to a reasonable sleep cycle, we'll see.

                       

                      Thanks Spaniel.If I could still sleep 3-4 hours straight at night I'd be thrilled. I did manage to sleep about 3 hours straight last night, and probably 5 hours total, without a sleeping pill and for no reason that I know of, and that  is the most sleep I've had without  taking 30mg of Temazepam in over a year, possibly a couple of years even.  I've never slept all the way through the night without at least one pee break, but since my 30s I would typically wake up for a while in the middle of the night, an hour or two, but didn't ever consider that a problem. One horrible thought that I have is that running might at the root of my sleeping problems, since I tend to be so pre-occupied and obsessed with running, getting faster and competing, that I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it 24x7 and that speeds up my pulse, so thinking about running at night is likely counter-productive to sleeping.

                       

                      I just realized that I will be on vacation all next week so won't be able to get the results form the sleep study until the following week. Hopefully a few days hiking on the Washington coast (and spectating at the senior games where I was originally planning to compete) will have the same effect as you noticed with improved sleep quality.

                       

                      Heading home for lunch now and then off to the urologist for another DRE. My GP who did it last week  is a woman, with smaller fingers. This time it will be a man, probably with big fat fingers - ugh.

                      Retired &  Loving It


                      Feeling the growl again

                         

                        I tend to be so pre-occupied and obsessed with running, getting faster and competing, that I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it 24x7 and that speeds up my pulse, so thinking about running at night is likely counter-productive to sleeping.

                         RE. My GP who did it last week  is a woman, with smaller fingers. This time it will be a man, probably with big fat fingers - ugh.

                         

                        Heh.  That would make two of us.  But somehow I seriously doubt that this would be the root cause.  Which is good, because you wouldn't want to have to quit thinking about running, right?  Wink

                         

                        Have a great vacation, relax, and have some fun.

                        "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                         

                        I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                         

                          Two days in a row last week I got sucker-punched in new and different ways:

                           

                          - Running down the street, something flies into/lands in my mouth. Before I can get it out, the critter (never saw what it was) bit me on the tongue. I say "bit" rather than "stung" because it hurt like hell but didn't swell up....THAT would have been a problem.

                           

                          - A couple of days before that, I run under a tree branch and think I cleared it with room to spare. Wrong....I don't notice a small but very sharp little stump sticking out of the branch. I stop, yell, stumble around, bleed like a stuck pig, decide I'm not going to pass out, and finish my run.

                           

                          I thought that moving to the city, my biggest concern would be traffic. Turns out I'm still more of a threat to myself.


                          Walk-Jogger

                            PSA test = 19, DRE results indicate nearly full prostate involvement. MRI first thing in the morning, biopsy on Thursday, vacation on Friday for a "relaxing" week and then back for results and a bone scan. Dammit. Chronic insomnia suddenly seems rather trivial.

                             

                            Retired &  Loving It

                              Hope it turns out OK, Cecil. We'll be thinking about you.

                              TeaOlive


                              old woman w/hobby

                                Hope it turns out OK, Cecil. We'll be thinking about you.

                                 

                                Yes.

                                steph