I Almost Really Hurt My Foot (Workout Recap)

I almost really hurt my foot Wednesday night and it was the scariest runner feeling as many of you who have dealt with injury know. This was the closest I have ever been to an injury that threatened to keep me off of my feet but luckily, I am okay!

So what happened?

Let’s see. I randomly vacuumed my house Wednesday morning which lead to me randomly banging the darn vacuum into the left side of my left foot. While it hurt for a second and I wanted to cry, I went on with my day like no big deal.

Later in the evening after sitting on the couch for about an hour, I stood up and somehow stepped down wrong with my left foot, cramping the right side of the arch causing crazy pain.

Between the left side which was hit with the vacuum combined with the radiating, cramping sensation that would not release in the arch, I was in severe pain for about FOUR hours. I could not walk or lay down and I panicked like you can’t imagine.

It was the quickest turn of events because I was just fine! Yet suddenly, I could not walk and my foot hurt so super bad for so long that I realized I may be injured and this sudden injury may keep me from running.

I texted Laura for guidance (I am forever grateful for my friendship with Laura. If you aren’t reading her blog/considering her as your running coach, please think again) while calling my best friend/next door neighbor/savior in life Meaghan at 10:00 pm.

Meaghan arrived with a Lidocaine patch and checked out my foot as I sat there in my pajamas saying I CANNOT be injured and no, I am not going to the emergency room.

I prayed to the Running Gods to PLEASE MAKE MY FOOT OKAY. Please let me fall asleep and wake up feeling so much better. I promise not to run in the morning and will take a couple of days off even if it feels better, just please make it better!

Thankfully the dull muscle aching pain went away and I was able to sleep.

I woke up and felt 95% better. I was able to walk and there was no swelling to be found. Although relieved, the panic and fear of injury left me even more incredibly grateful for my ability to run like I do each day…and also scared to try to run without seeing the doctor.

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not run to doctors, in fact, I am way behind on my check up appointments. But my feet are another story. They must be looked at if something isn’t right!

The pain had been so sudden and severe that running on it, even if it felt better, scared me. I didn’t want to further hurt myself if something was really wrong.

The Foot Doctor squeezed me in Thursday afternoon.

He examined my foot and said it was okay! He took X-Rays anyway to ensure things were kosher and then told me what he thought may have happened:

I do not drink enough water for the running that I do. Cramping is often caused by dehydration. I know this, have had this problem before and have been thinking about it lately as I drink more coffee than water.

This time of the month can also be a factor. Changing hormones change our needs as well as how we feel and react to regular routine. We also require more water at this time of the month – both during PMS and during our periods.

Without enough water combined with changes in hormone levels at this time plus the amount of running that I do, the cramping can be more severe. Ever notice some months your menstrual cramps are worse? You are probably a bit dehydrated. Drinking more water on a regular basis absolutely helps to lessen those terrible uterine contractions.

The bang with the vacuum may have caused me to alter how I was walking. While the vacuum didn’t injure me, I may have been compensating for that spot on my foot which may have caused me to step down differently.

My muscles are very tight. He told me I must start stretching again with my stretching tube thing before I run.

Also, Pure Barre (and yoga) while both amazing for the body, can be cramping (lots of on the toes work in Pure Barre) especially if I am running the same day and not drinking enough water.

He told me I could return to running on Saturday and yes, I listened.

No way was I messing with the chance of really hurting my foot. I felt 100% Friday morning but was not going to be stubborn. It is absolutely not worth risking a real serious injury!

What a relief to be better! It all happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to think this post through any sooner but I am happy to be able to share it with you now. 🙂

As for the rest of the week in workouts, let’s take a quick look:

Monday – 7 Easy Miles & Quick Pure Barre

Pure Barre Tone in 10: Arms & Abs

Tuesday – 8 Miles (fartleks)

It was super humid and warm for 6:00 am (already 70 degrees) but a few miles in, I hardly noticed. I ran 5 fartlek miles, speeding up and slowing down randomly between lamp posts on my running path.

Wednesday – 5 Easy Miles & Pure Barre

Pure Barre Tone in 10 Combo:

• Full Body
• Thighs & Abs < – hardest one every single time!
• Seat & Abs

Thursday – Rest!

Friday – 50 Minutes Elliptical, Free Weights & Pure Barre cool down

I didn’t want to jump back into a full Pure Barre routine just yet so I chose the Tone in 10: Back & Cool Down workout which is more stretching than anything.

I do so many of the Pure Barre at-home workouts that I think the girls on the screen are my friends by now.

Saturday – 10 Easy Miles

I felt like I was tip toeing during the first mile! My foot felt 100% normal but I was nervous anyway. It was nice to be back outside!

I listened and stretched before my run and got back to yoga with  Yoga for Runners: Post Run.

Sunday – Yoga

I am taking the stretching thing seriously!

[bctt tweet=”I almost really hurt my foot! Plus workout recap #running #injuries #hydration #PMS @Pure_Barre #yoga #fitfluential” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Have you ever almost injured yourself?

Do you have a nice water bottle that you love? Which one is it?

Best thing you have eaten so far this weekend?

Thinking Out Loud – PMS Week

 

I really appreciate the cuff over mittens on my lululemon Race Your Pace 1/2 Zip top for keeping my fingers warm while I am running as the temperatures begin to dip — that is until I am in need of the bathroom and proceed to go flying through my front door unable to peel the blasted cuff over mittens off of my hands fast enough to pull my pants down to avoid an accident.

And now that I am thinking about wetting my underpants, can we talk about underpants for a minute? I am always so busy telling you that I hate when my jeans or black pants fit differently while lately, I swear it’s my underpants that are fitting me the worst!

They are bunching up, sitting in the wrong place, rolling down, moving around and making me crazy. The only kind I like at the moment are the lululemon Light As Air and I only own two pairs which means it’s time to seek out the sale pairs and stock up.

They are pretty pricey ($18 each) but on sale they are $9 and that’s really nothing when I think about the fact that my sanity has no price tag.

I don’t care how sunshine and unicorns life is, if I am not comfortable in my clothing, the day is just doomed.

I went shopping the other day for tops because I hate every top hanging in my closet < – can anyone else tell that this a PMS week?

Purchasing one out of the six tops is considered a good shopping day these days.

My son doesn’t understand when I tell him to feel bad for his mother because she has nothing to wear and that’s why she is often wearing his sweatshirts.

Go buy some new clothes he hollers at me, as if buying new clothes is simple? Do you see that was a typical male response?

His male-infused response reminds me of a past Thinking Out Loud post when I was dying of menstrual cramps (seriously, I am surprised I lived) when he looked at me and said, “What is YOUR problem?”

Oh it’s so simple for boys to get dressed. Just pick a random pair of Adidas pants, some sort of t-shirt, maybe a sweatshirt or even better, just wear what the woman of the house laid out for you. No big deal.

Yes, I understand that I work from home so I don’t really need to care how I look but suppose I run out to the store and run into the president? Or worse, an ex-boyfriend? It’s happened to me you know, the whole run-in with the ex-boyfriend when you least expect it.

At the grocery store. In front of the cauliflower.

Uh huh.

I planned hypothetical run-ins with this particular ex-boyfriend FOR MONTHS…what I would say, how it would go, never imagining that it would happen on a random Friday afternoon at the grocery store in front of the cauliflower where all I could muster up was something about brown spots on the cauliflower and too bad since I would have liked to roast some.

True story people, true story.

And I wish I had a great sequence of late night texts from my son for this week but all I have is evidence that he uses me in place of his own personal To Do list and alarm clock.

Kids today claim to be so tech savvy so I can’t understand why he texts me his lists at ungodly hours (yes, 10:30 is obscene in my mind) instead of making use of his phone alarm clock and google calendar.

He must like when I shout orders at him in the morning. He tells me my voice is the worst thing he has ever heard when I am telling him what to do in the morning but clearly he likes it.

[bctt tweet=”PMS Week and I hate everything in my closet #thinkingoutloud #lululemon #motherhood #dating #PMS @runwithspoons”]

Don’t forget to check out what everyone else is thinking about today 🙂

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Have you ever run into an ex-boyfriend when you least expected it? Did you at least like what you were wearing?

Do you use an alarm clock? Is it your phone alarm or regular clock? I have never used an alarm in my life!

PMS week- what do you crave?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Race Photos, Trader Joe’s, Next On My Race Calendar

 

I would discuss my weekend with you but I don’t even need to put the effort in for such a post because the post I published exactly one year ago today recaps it just fine.

How ironic that I ate the same foods at the same places exactly a year apart? Or I just need more variety in my diet.

Instead let’s look at some race photo samples that are covered in dots/not all that clear.

This is from the 10k I believe…

Don’t I look nice covered in dots?

10k finish line where I grabbed both the 5k and 10k medal.

Can you see I am smiling during the half?

Such a good time.

I know you are wondering what’s next on my race calendar.

I am too.

I wanted to tell you about some of the races that I am considering for my 2015 calendar but then realized I haven’t done a post detailing my grocery shopping in a while.

Funny how two totally different topics are actually tied together today.

I almost didn’t get these pictures taken.

• Frozen blueberries
• Frozen asparagus
• Honey Crisp apples
• Butternut Squash
• Carrots
• Brussels Sprouts
• Romaine Lettuce
• Cruciferous Crunch Mix
• Bananas
• Avocado
• Chicken Breast Tenderloins
• Shredded Light Mozzarella Cheese
• Fat Free Ricotta Cheese
• Whole Wheat English Muffins
• Carolina Gold Barbeque Sauce

As I stood in Trader Joe’s, right after I asked on instagram if anyone had tried the new Quinoa Cowboy Veggie Burgers, I came close to abandoning my cart mid-aisle.

Have you tried them? I didn’t buy them because I am waiting for someone to tell me they are worth it.

Right there in the frozen aisle I was hit with some serious cramps because yes, that time of the month.

I made it through the check-out and somehow drove home but had zero intention of unloading the groceries from my car.

When you are ready to curl into a ball and die a slow death because your insides are in worse turmoil than what you are seeing on CNN these days, the last thing you care about is the chicken that may defrost in you trunk.

Thank goodness for my next-door neighbor/close friend/savior for being home and offering to bring in my groceries so they didn’t go bad.

She is truly the Kate to my Allie. Please tell me you know the television show I am referencing here.

So how does my pain relate to my race calendar topic you are wondering?

You may remember that I learned the hard way that I cannot run a race during this time of the month.

Since dropping out of that half marathon in the middle of the race due to the dizziness and overall I-am-not-okay-enough-to-race feeling, I now have to carefully plan which races I run which really means, I cannot plan too far in advance since my internal calendar is not always perfect.

How could I ever register and train for a marathon should I ever decide that I wanted to do so?

It stinks.

But I will take it, accept my limitations and embrace it.

Remember my notes from the Meet and Tweet? We covered the Female Athlete Triad which included a long discussion about amenorrhea and how it is NOT normal for you to NOT get a regular cycle just because you are a runner/athlete.

I hate cramps and feeling bloated as though I am some sausage ready to pop out of my leggings and I despise the fact that my internal calendar may conflict with my race calendar  but all of those circulating hormones are a decent sign of good health.

No one wants to be inconvenienced by cramps and what comes along with it but it sure beats raising your chances of stress fractures, injuries, a slowed metabolism (from disordered eating/not eating enough), the risk of infertility and a host of other health problems.

As for the races? Here are the ones I am looking at and as they get closer, I will be better equipped to make the decisions:

NYC Runs Winter Series 10 Miler – Hot Cocoa plus a free mug!

Fred Lebow Manhattan Half – Thank you Michele for pointing this one out to me

Hot Chocolate 15K – because chocolate

Hershey Park 10K  – clearly I travel for chocolate

Fitness Magazine Women’s Half

Long Island Half Marathon

Runner’s World Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival

Who knows, maybe I will get lucky enough to be able to run all of them!

***

What’s next on your race calendar?

Did you buy anything new this weekend at the grocery store?

Veggie burgers- buy the frozen or make your own?

 

 

 

 

Three Tip Tuesday – Vegetarian Diet Plateau

I was so glad and amused to hear yesterday just how many of us neglect our printers. I was starting to think I was just lazy  but as it turns out, most of us fail to replace the ink, fix paper jams or figure out why our silly printers stop functioning.

Like my new Tuesday design? Look at me getting all techy with Pic Monkey.

Anyway, today’s tips are going to be a bit more subtle than usual. I don’t know that I have three specific tips for you to take away from this post. Rather, I have been wanting to discuss my recent “vegetarian diet plateau” and from my experiences, I am hoping that you can take away some diet/nutrition/lifestyle tips to apply to your own little worlds.

So what exactly is a Vegetarian Diet Plateau? I am not sure it is even a legit term; it is just the phrase I have been using to refer to what has been going on in my life these days.

Plateaus happen. Be it a weight loss plateau, a fitness plateau or, as I have decided, a vegetarian diet plateau, sometimes we reach a point in our routine where we are no longer experiencing the positive effects of a “plan” we have been following.

Becoming a vegetarian was never something I considered, thought about or entertained.

For 33 years, I lived on chicken and turkey as my main protein sources to the point where I wondered if I would begin to cluck instead of speak.

I loved a great medium rare steak (a delicious skirt steak or sharing a steak for two) and I couldn’t get enough of my favorite chinese boneless ribs.

Yet after I came down with a horrendous stomach virus almost two years ago, I gave it all up.

I opted for stomach friendly comfort type foods and realized about 7 days later that I had yet to eat my usual protein sources.

And I had never felt better.

A diet that was heavier on complex carbs and plant-based protein offered me immediate positive effects.

My muscles felt fueled and always ready for a run. Not only were they ready, they allowed me to move faster for longer periods of time and recovered quickly.

My stomach was satisfied without feeling weighed down. I hate the full stomach feeling.

I decided to stick with this new-found diet change indefinitely. I continued to feel benefits:

• PMS? Completely gone. Not one symptom.
• Reduced length of period
• Reduction in cramps…It was as if I didn’t have it even though I did.
• Seasonal allergies all GONE.
• Slight eczema at different times of the year GONE.
• Lingering shingles nerve pain? GONE!

I began reading up on the subject and learned that my experience is well documented.

It was all making sense.

Lately though, I have been noticing a change. And not for the better.

Like anything else, the body learns to adjust and adapt to the foods we eat, gets all too comfortable and reaches the dreaded plateau.

Over the last few months, some PMS symptoms and menstrual cramps have made a return. While not as severe, they are there and I really got used to having none.

My muscles are still thriving but my appetite? Well, sometimes I am just too ravenous all of the time and I attribute it to a lack in protein.

So many times I would eat bowl after bowl of veggie laden, plant-based meals feeling as though my stomach may explode yet my brain still wanted more.

Most of my diet consists of plant-based proteins with the occasional dairy product and fish thrown in; not enough satisfying protein at the moment if you ask my opinion.

Remember last week when I said I was shaking things up a bit? How I stopped eating as many vegetables?

No no, don’t get any ideas in your head – I am not saying that I have or will start eating meat and poultry again. I haven’t craved it at all since giving it up therefore I have no intention of introducing it back into my diet.

What I have done is changed things around a bit, making protein more of a focus in my diet by increasing my intake of eggs and dairy products.

Right now, just increasing my consumption of eggs, greek yogurt and cheese (hormone/antibiotic free of course) is working quite well for me. Will it continue to work? Who knows.

Interestingly, through my research over the last few years, I have read the positives and negatives associated with dairy consumption.

One of the major NEGATIVES, besides the claims that dairy is a major stress on our system, involves the terrible effect of dairy on PMS and the menstrual cycle.

And, on the other hand, I have read several articles stating that consuming dairy has a POSITIVE effect on alleviating PMS symptoms and mitigating cramps.

So how the heck do we figure out which foods to avoid, which study to listen to what type of meal plan to follow?

I don’t have the answer  because no one person, research study or diet plan in a book can tell YOU exactly what YOU should eat everyday for the rest of your life.

My best advice is that like anything else in our lives, it is all trial and error.

Tomorrow I will give you a closer look at what I have been eating.

I crack myself up with these ecards.

Have you ever reached a “plateau” in your daily diet?

What are your main sources of protein?

 

 

 

Three Tip Tuesday – Girls Only

Well hello! I am here to report that yesterday’s run went pretty well: 4.25 miles at an easy pace.

Well, easy until I spotted THAT GUY running ahead of me on MY PATH.

He didn’t appear in my sight until I completed the third mile, and, when I spotted him about a quarter-mile ahead of me, I told myself to ignore that he was even there.

“Listen, he can’t see you, you are behind him, there is no need to outrun him today while you are trying to keep the pace nice and easy. Let it go!”

I let it go… for about 45 seconds…when suddenly the gap between us got smaller and smaller.

I quickly assessed if I had enough power in me to not only outrun him but keep up the pace long enough to ensure he would continue to eat my dust.

And then I went for it.

As I passed him, with flying colors I might add, I not only startled him as I flew by his right side, but heard a snicker uttered in between his gasps for air sounding something like, “she’s fast”.

And that friends, is the reason we chick.

Speaking of chicks, the rest of today’s post is for girls only. I know I have many male readers and while you are welcome to continue reading, I am giving you fair warning that you may not like today’s topic.

Has anyone noticed that not enough is said about our periods in the healthy living blog world? I mean, the subject is touched upon but not often enough and I have a lot to say about it as well as have a ton of questions for my readers.

In fact, I have so much to say on this topic that I think today may just be part one.

As a little background, you should know that I dread my monthly visitor with a passion ever since I was a young girl. I suffered tremendously prior to the birth of my son in the form of horrendous cramps that lead to nausea, vomiting and sometimes even fainting.

PMS, cramps, tampons. Not fun.

BUT- Getting our cycle every month is a sign of health. When something goes wrong in our cycle, be it spotting, arriving too early, too late or not at all, one needs to pay attention and figure out the problem.

I have suffered from secondary amenorrhea two separate times in my life, which, in nonmedical jargon terms, is simply the absence of your period for at least 3-6 months.

My body is extremely sensitive- if I don’t balance my calories properly for the amount of exercise I do, I don’t get my period.

I will admit that the two times this little hiatus occurred, I kinda enjoyed it. I mean, I knew something was wrong but how the heck could you not welcome the opportunity to live PMS, cramp and tampon free?

Please note that just because I am being honest does not make my way of thinking OK.

It is not healthy to be without our cycle. Not only do we need it to be able to have children, our periods are nature’s way of telling us that everything inside is pretty much working according to plan.

Amenorrhea often occurs as part of the Female Athlete Triad, which is a syndrome of three conditions that are interrelated: Energy Deficit/Disordered Eating, Menstrual Disturbances/Amenorrhea and Osteoporosis.

For more in-depth info on the Female Athlete Triad, click here.

Without regular menstruation, our estrogen levels drop increasing our chances for bone loss and stress fractures as well a host of other health problems due to the complete disruption of our body’s hormone levels.

If you have been without your monthly cycle for three months or more, and know you aren’t pregnant, it is time to look into what is wrong.

So. While it may appear super fun to be free from the Tampax, it is crucial to fuel our bodies properly to ensure we suffer each month in order to know all of our systems are functioning properly.

But do we really need to suffer?

I have learned over the last few years that consuming certain foods can help mitigate the negative side of menstruation.

Slices of chocolate fudge cake and bags of salty chips are lovely when our PMSing brains instruct us to eat them but they do nada to make our uterus stop cramping.

The tips below are based upon what has worked for me. The doctors never informed me that eating or not eating certain foods would alleviate my period problems.

In fact, medical professionals are very quick to offer you some hormones in the form of a pill.

My opinion, for what it is worth, is that treating cycle issues with a pill ill only mask the real issue and will not solve the actual problem.

THREE DIET TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR PERIOD BEARABLE

1- VEGETARIAN DIET:

I learned by accident that becoming a vegetarian would work wonders for my menstrual cycle.  The cramping we experience comes from our prostaglandin levels. Some people have higher levels than others. I assume I am one of those higher level people.

Our body produces these series two prostaglandins from the essential fatty acids found in animal proteins. By eliminating or simply reducing our intake, we automatically lower our prostaglandin levels.

Within a couple of weeks of not eating meat or poultry, not only did my PMS symptoms become nonexistent, my cramps were basically gone and the need to change my tampon every hour was no longer necessary.

Increasing Omega -3 Fatty Acids will also help. Omega -3’s are found in cold water fish such as salmon as well as in our favorite little Chia Seeds and Flax Seeds.

2-FRUITS AND VEGETABLES:

When I became a vegetarian, I naturally gravitated towards increasing my fruit and vegetable intake. The anti-inflammatory properties of fruits and veggies as well as the abundance of nutrients they contain all play a role in the reduction in cramping, PMS and at least for me, a reduction in the flow.

My lunch yesterday at Whole Foods – I am all about any excuse to load up at the Food Bar.

3- NON-DAIRY CALCIUM:

So here’s the thing – calcium has been known to assist in the reduction of menstrual cramps yet dairy products have been associated with increasing the pain.

What do you do?

Enter non-dairy calcium sources.

Who knew it was so simple to get calcium without having to drink milk and/or eat cartons of yogurt.

Please Click here for more in-depth info on this subject including a more complete listing of the essential foods to eat and to avoid.

There is so much more I have to say on this topic but it will have to wait for another day as I have a little boy to wake up and get ready for camp.

Remember, without our annoying monthly visitor, we can’t have children. Let’s keep that in mind every 28 days.

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I have a ton of questions:

Do you suffer from painful cycles? How do you handle it?

What are your PMS cravings?

Have you ever had to run a race while having your period? It is my biggest fear!

Which tampons do you use? Do you find some work better for you than others?

Have you ever experienced amenorrhea? For how long? What did you do in order to bring your period back regularly?