The Emotional Side Of Injury

"Relish the bad training runs.  Without them it's difficult to recognize, much less appreciate, the good ones."  - Pat Teske

Apparently I'm now in full "relishing" mode of my bad training runs and emotionally trying to handle the discouragement that comes alongside injury.  It's not an easy road.  Not for me and not for anyone that's close to me and has to hear me b*tch about the frustration that comes along with it!  The moments of sheer madness when I can't complete a run or when my pace is over a minute slower than it was the same time last year.  It sounds silly to some but if you're an athlete you understand that not being able to perform to your potential is a very hard emotion to "just get over."

Mackenzie Lobby from Runner's World wrote an article (http://www.active.com/running/articles/how-to-cope-with-the-5-stages-of-injury-grief) comparing a running injury to that of mourning and tragedy that happen in other forms in our life.  She wrote how runners go through the same 5 stages of grief when suffering from an injury.

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

I look at my own injury and realize how I've gone through all of these steps.  Some I've spent more time on then others, but at the end of the day I've gone through (and continue to do so) all 5 stages.  After today's run and my sheer frustration when I got home, I realized that there's no point in dwelling in the "poor me" stage of depression.  I've accepted that I'm not where I was or where I want to be but I do know that I will get back to that level and then exceed it, I just need to give it a little time and be smart about everything!  So after my 30 minutes or so of frustration, I realized what I get to focus my time on now while I'm continuing to actively recover from this injury.

1. After a recent trip to Seattle and spending time with my childhood friend Shannon, I found a new passion for rock climbing!  My first time ever and I was going up pretty difficult runs and smiling all the while.  It's a great new found way of stress relief and is definitely a workout!
   
2. Golf!  With numerous charity events looming over me I've had to set some time aside to take lessons and then practice my newfound knowledge out on the course.  This was at a Children's Hospital charity scramble in Seattle where our team won first place for our course!
   
3. When living in a place as beautiful as Colorado, I have friends and family making the trip out to experience this bluebird life we have out here!  Most recently my brother Shaun and his girlfriend Ali came out to Colorado and we found ourselves hiking in Boulder one day and then running the stairs at Red Rocks the next.  
   
   

There are definitely plenty of ways for me to stay active and enjoy my fitness based lifestyle in Colorado without doing the trail runs I was so accustomed to before.  The above 3 are just the first set of examples of how I will find my stress relief and workout fix!  But more importantly than all of that is the one thing I've been able to really notice and appreciate now that I'm less focused on me.

I have two very close friends (Jennie & Pamela) who used to be my workout buddies...who would look to me for encouragement and support and who are now kicking my butt with their running!! While both of them are training for their first ever half marathon, I couldn't be happier and more proud of them!  So during this running down time for me, I'm very excited to cheer them on from across the country while they set out to accomplish one of their goals! 

So while they are finishing up their last few weeks of training, I want to leave both of them (and all of you) with one final thought...

"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

Success Can Be Found In Numbers

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."  - Vince Lombardi

It's so amazing to me how in every walk of life we can find such greater success when we work alongside others.  We all like to think we can do things on our own, and to some extent we can.  But when you take a step back and lean on others you realize you are capable of rising above any goal you had originally thought unachievable!  It's in these moments where we find our deepest strengths, our smiles and a new found love for success!

This past week I have been a guinea pig and have given up my normal workout routines to try out a new program.  My friend Cory Skillin has been hard at work creating a workout program that helps people simply move.  It's fun, it's creative, it gets you down on your hands and knees and offers up many moments for a smile.  It's challenging but not to the point where you can't move the next day.  It gives you that feeling of accomplishment and yet has you craving more.  It's filled with movements I used to do as a kid (I mean seriously, when was the last time you did a crab walk?!!), it gets your heart rate up and yet at the same time forces you to slow down a bit and really work on some stabilization, strength training and stretching.  In my opinion it's a very good, well rounded workout that can fit any fitness level or inhibiting schedule (in fact I did this in a hotel room one evening...no excuses).

For everyone that knows me on a personal level you know I'm slow to endorse anything unless I truly believe in it...this program I feel so confidant in that I offered to teach it to a few friends and old coworkers while on a business trip in Virginia last week.  I have to give my friends Mary and Michell all the credit in the world...not only did they get up early to meet me for a 6am workout, but they had to deal with my bubbly little morning personality, which for some can be a lot to handle before a cup of coffee!  In 45 minutes we completed one of Cory's workouts, we all broke a sweat, shared quite a few laughs and had a GREAT time simply MOVING.  

Last night I did a second variation of this workout with Cory and a group of his friends/clients that have all signed up to test out this program as well.  We were outside in a beautiful park and together we represented various ages and fitness levels.  To see the encouragement that each of these participants gave each other was incredible.  They cheered each other on, helped each other out and really pushed each other to achieve their own personal level of success!  They laughed, they sang and they had a GREAT time simply MOVING.  At the end of our 1 hour workout, there were high fives all around and a beautiful sunset for us to all gratefully appreciate.

It's not that we can't workout alone, a lot of us do (myself included at times) but this past week has made me truly realize the additional benefits that come from working out with others.  Cory's program is one that you can do with friends, with colleagues, with your spouse and even with your kids.  It gets you up and moving, gives you a challenging, yet rewarding workout and makes you smile.  You wake up the next morning with a reminder of what you did the day before (haha a few sore muscles) but you remember what fun you had, the bonds you formed with others and the encouragement you both gave and received to reach the next level and you want to jump right back into it.  This is what fitness should be about...FUN mixed with a little hard work and discipline!

I challenge you to try something new...to find your support system who not only encourages you but also celebrates your achievements with you.  And if you are looking for some help with a program, looking to try out this new program I've been doing or have any fitness/wellness related questions, I encourage you to reach out to Cory at Coryskillin@yahoo.com.  It doesn't matter if you are here in Colorado, across the country or halfway around the world...if you're looking to get moving and have fun while doing it, a simple email is the first step down that path of success. 

"As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration.  Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your own.  Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life."  - Amy Poehler  

After all, isn't this what life is all about...working hard and then celebrating/enjoying those moments of success?!  

Mixing It Up

"The only way that we can live, is if we grow.  The only way that we can grow is if we change.  The only way that we can change is if we learn.  The only way we can learn is if we are exposed.  And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open.  Do it.  Throw yourself."  - C. Joybell C.

It's amazing how quickly we can all get stuck into a routine and not really be too adventurous on branching out of it.  Be it with work, our personal life, our exercise routine or just everyday life...we get into the rhythm of a routine and that's how we see the world...through our tunnel vision.  Well this past weekend I decided to change up the workout routine that I've been doing for the past few months. To try and challenge myself in new ways and to try and bring some excitement back into my workouts.

On Friday, I drove down to Manitou Springs with my friend Cory to do the incline.  Now it's been months since I have last done this and given the setback from my injury, my level of endurance is nowhere near where it used to be!  About a third of the way up I could already feel my hamstrings becoming increasingly tight and it felt like someone was standing on my chest.  Haha to say it was rough, is a HUGE understatement!  By the time I made it to the top, I was happy of the accomplishment, but was so beyond exhausted!  The good part of doing this and mixing it all up a bit was to enjoy a view such as this...

After Friday's crazy workout, I was able to enjoy an outdoor yoga session in Denver on Saturday morning.  Yet another new turn in the workout schedule that I'm finding is increasingly important to mix back into my workout routine.  Taking 1 hour out of my day to just be grateful and reflect on what was and is going on in my life was a great reminder to slow down a bit.  What was also a great reminder was realizing just how tight and sore my muscles were and how important deep stretching is.

Sunday...the day of "rest" was anything but that!  I woke up early and took my first ever golf lesson.  With a handful of charity golf events looming in the near future, I felt it was time to step up my game a little and learn the proper techniques.  In that one hour, I learned SO much about form that it was unbelievable.  After hitting approximately 200 balls, my session was over but not without me wanting to test out my new found knowledge out on the course.  So 5 hours later, Cory and I made our way back to the golf course to play 9 holes.  I learned a few key things out on the course that afternoon...

1. Golfing at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon is never a good idea...it's too busy!
2. Walking 9 holes and golfing in 90 degree sunny weather in Colorado exhausts you faster than anything else!
3. I need to buy a ball marker...lol nothing says "rookie" like a penny marking your ball on the green!
4. I clearly need to learn how to hit a ball out of a sand trap.  If strokes counted that day, I think I racked up about 4 just trying to get my ball out of the sand!
5. Hip mobility is something I seriously lack...time to start working on that!

It was for sure an eventful weekend...one full of new challenges and now sore muscles that I never knew I had!!  It's great to have a routine and it makes us feel good when we know we can excel at that routine because we do it so often.  But how do you grow if you constantly just do the same thing over and over again?  Growing oneself is about challenging yourself to do things that you might not have once deemed possible.  So get up, get outside and try something new...who knows, you might find something you absolutely love and with a little time, practice and patience....something new to excel at!!

"Listening" Pays Off

Persevere (verb) - to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.

Yesterday morning I woke up bright and early and was able to see another glorious Colorado sunrise. It's mornings like those that make me realize how blessed I am and how every morning is another chance to shine.  How we should never take the little things for granted...how there is such peace in an early morning when most of the world is still sleeping.  It's a time for reflection, a time to plan for the day ahead, and a chance to be thankful for the day that has past.

After a lot of travel over the past 6 weeks and being completely out of my workout regimen, I was a little nervous to go to the PT yesterday and hear what he had to say about my hamstring and my road to recovery.  I had followed his guidance and had cut way back on running, had been working on my strength training and stretching as often as I remembered.  Like everyone, I have goals...some I have vocalized and some I have not.  Playing soccer this fall, running the stairs at red rocks...those are goals for sure, but ones that give me a little bit more time to heal.  The Manitou Springs Incline closes this weekend for the remainder of the year as they do some much needed trail maintenance.  For those that have been reading from the beginning, you know my obsession with this thing and also how I haven't been able to do it in months because of my leg.  Secretly, all I wanted was a green light to attempt the incline one more time this calendar year.  And this brings me to yesterday's appointment...

First off Marty Levine, my physical therapist at Push Fitness (http://www.pushfitnesscolorado.com) is so amazing!  Not only is he super easy to talk to, but he explains everything that's going on with my body.  Because of my background he gives me a very scientific explanation as to what's happening and why and what I need to do to try and fix everything.  He always makes sure I fully understand what he's said and then walks me through the next set of exercises I'm allowed to put back into my workout routine.  Yesterday was no different.  After explaining to me that my medial hamstring on my left side is still weak, we went through several exercises to help strengthen that as well as work on my glute strength.  Because your glutes act as both a stabilizing muscle and a source of power/strength...working on them has been a key component in my recovery.  After some work on the PT table, we then found ourselves on the gym floor working on a few new things.

After our session was over, Marty asked me if I had any questions.  After I hesitated for a minute, he knew something was up and I was deciding whether to ask or not...so I bit the bullet knowing that he could possibly say no and then I would be disappointed.  Me:  "What do you think about me doing the incline?"  Marty:  "When are we talking?"  Me:  "This week."  Marty:  Silence.  After a bit of a sly little smile on my part, he knew that this was something I really wanted to do and knew that the trail was closing, so....he agreed, but not before he gave me some tips on how to do it and not lose everything I've worked on for the past 6 weeks.

So...with that being said, the incline it is this week!!  Marty couldn't help but smile when I walked out of his office because he for the first time saw my genuine smile...the smile that was brought on by LISTENING to him and others regarding my recovery, by my own perseverance to not let this injury stop me from my goals, and by me finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel!

It might not seem like much of an accomplishment by many, but being given the green light to go ahead and do the incline was monumental to me yesterday!  Like Martin Luther King Jr once said, "If you can't fly then run.  If you can't run then walk.  If you can't walk then crawl.  But whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."  So moving forward is what I'm doing, and later this week...moving up as well...about 2,200 feet up that is!!!

Accountability - No Excuses

"You must take personal responsibility.  You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.  That is something you have charge of."  - Jim Rohn

It's pretty amazing how fast time can sneak by us.  Be it the hours in a day, days in a week or weeks in a month.  Somehow life keeps moving and we sometimes fall behind in the things that we have comitted to doing.  It took two separate people yesterday sending me texts saying that they missed the blog posts and wondered what had been going on.  Well I can sit here and say that I started a new job, have been traveling a lot and just purely did not have the time, but those are excuses...there's always an additional 10 minutes that I can find to help motivate the same people that motivate me on a daily basis.  So here it lies...me being held accountable.

In preparation for this week, I spent yesterday catching up at home.  I set up a very OCD organized home office, complete with a wall system that allowed me to use my newly purchased electric screwdriver (haha that's a completely different story, but lets say there might be a few extra holes in the wall given the serious power involved in this)!!  I finished laundry, cleaned up a bit and set my weekly goals so that I could wake up this morning and start fresh.

Because I'm still not able to sleep, I woke up at the crack of dawn and started in on some work stuff.  After spending the past week in Seattle with coworkers I had a lot to try and figure out.  Thankfully I have a pretty amazing team and they have helped me work through this transition.  At about 7am, I put on my sneakers and hit the ground running.  Although still on a very strict running regimen, I decided to do a run/walk mix for 3 miles.  In 28:34 (at a pace of 9:30), I finished those 3 miles.  Definitely not where I want to be BUT it's a step down the road of recovery.  Post run, I did all of my "at home leg workout" stuff that the PT has me doing.  Lunges, dead lifts, leg lifts, etc..I threw in a few abs and some push ups and there it was...my workout completed.

It's true that life can be an excuse at times as to why we are not doing certain things, but I am no longer making excuses...I'm holding myself accountable and am looking forward to both my recovery and some serious personal progress.  In fact, it appears that on 8/1 I will be part of a trial group for a new exercise program designed by a close friend of mine...I can't wait as it should be fun and a great experience.  Even better, I can't wait to share my results with everyone afterwards and have the opportunity to sell you all on this wonderful program!  Stay tuned...many updates to come on all of it!  In the meantime, please join me in holding ourselves accountable for our own personal successes and failures!

Get Outside

"Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity." - John F. Kennedy

It's amazing how much time you can actually spend outside being active when you just "live."  After having a close friend's 10 year old son drive with me from NYC to VT for a few days, I realized just how exhausting, yet rewarding it is having a child around.  Not only did I find out that I am my own mother...crazy tendencies and all (neurotic seat belt checks, chew with your mouth closed, don't drag your feet...those kinds of things) but I realized that I'm going to be one active, constantly on the go mother one day.

Noah and I were so jam packed with activities so that he could truly experience Vermont, that I don't think we stopped for much more than quick meals the entire time he was here!  From a visit to the State Capitol building, to a Ben & Jerry's plant tour, fishing, boating, jet skis, hiking, morning runs, baseball in the front yard...you name it and we did it!  There are SOOOO many opportunities in life to get outside and play with your children, there should be no reason to not take full advantage of the days when they are young enough to make an impression on them.

Hiking with Noah and my two little cousins in Vermont!

Noah was a trooper on our morning runs!

Working on our pop fly catches in the yard!

Granted, these few days I was on "vacation" and wasn't working full time, but Noah was also here full time and not in school so we were truly able to maximize all of the day together.  But even if it means you wake up in the morning and do a quick walk as a family and then eat breakfast together during the week, it's setting a good example for your kids.  If the mornings are too crazy, play outside with them when you get home from work.  It's just so important for children to understand the meaning of "play" and that being active can and should be fun!  And truthfully, if you're like Noah and I, you do these things and have a blast while you're doing them!  And the best part...after a crazy, action packed day, you're able to enjoy moments like this in the evening! 

It was very obvious during this time spent together that Noah's parents have raised him the same way that I was raised.  He doesn't sit in front of a TV playing video games and doesn't sleep in late...he gets up early and wants to spend as much time as he can outside and being active.  His parents are the same way and are constantly being active as a family.  From an outsider's point of view, it makes a HUGE difference on the life of a child.  As Alan Thicke once said, "Fitness needs to be perceived as fun and games or we subsequently avoid it."  So get outside, play and have fun!!!

Thrill Seeking

"Sometimes we are so stuck in a past that we cannot change, or so afraid of a future over which we have limited control, that we don't really appreciate the present - the very moment before us.  We worry about what happened or what will happen, and we forget about what is happening.  We squander the one thing we have for certain - now."  - Sandy Eisenberg Sasso - God's Echo

For all of us, I'm pretty certain that I can safely say we are guilty of not always living in the present but worrying about what's to come next or what has happened before.  We get caught up in these thoughts and lose sight of how precious the moment we are in is.  Today's adventure was about forgetting everything that has happened or what lies ahead of us in the coming weeks, but instead living in the moment and laughing all the while.

Today we found ourselves down in Idaho Springs, CO with the Arkansas Valley Adventures company (http://www.coloradorafting.net/) for a full day of white water rafting.  After arriving at AVA we found ourselves gearing up...fully covered with wet suits, bootie socks, PFD's, splash jackets and helmets.  The woman in the store let us know that the water was a balmy 38 degrees!!  In fact, the runoff from the mountains literally had ice coming into the river!!  After we were all geared up and listened to our safety training, we were in the van on the way to our drop off point.  We went over a few paddle commands and from there we were in the water and on our way down the river!

Our guide Kevin was truly amazing!  Not only did he answer EVERY single question that we had but he kept us laughing (and safe) the entire trip!  Now the first half of the trip I was fortunate enough to sit in the middle section behind my friend Brett.  To say he helped break the impact of those waves on me is probably an understatement.  After going over some pretty crazy class III and class IV rapids, we found ourselves "eddying" off and grabbing a terrific BBQ lunch.

After lunch we geared back up and headed back down the river for the remainder of our trip.  Now, the second half of this experience I was not so lucky and ended up sitting right up front.  I got CRUSHED by the waves...CRUSHED!  And although those wet suits are great, they are definitely not waterproof. Teeth chattering and all, fully soaked from head to toe in 38 degree water, we continued to paddle our way over some amazing white water.  Ducking under bridges (because the water is at record highs and moving UNBELIEVABLY fast) we found ourselves going over not one, but 2- 10 foot drops!!  

The trip was incredible!  From Kevin, our guide, to our driver, to our safety kayaker the team at AVA were amazing!  Nobody fell out of the boat, we laughed all day, and walked away with another Colorado experience checked off of the bucket list!  For those 5 hours, I can safely say that none of us thought about the past or worried about the future...we just truly enjoyed the moment and held on for dear life!