Friday, July 8, 2022

100-Miler Training : Update #5

Oh my goodness, can you believe I'll be toeing the line of my first 100 mile race ONE WEEK FROM TODAY?! I can't ;)

If you haven't been around my corner of the InterWebs for a while, let's get you caught up because I definitely didn't just make the decision that I'd tackle this incredibly long distance yesterday... There has been A LOT that's gone into this ;)

{I have a terrible memory, thanks to my Fibromyalgia, so these posts are just as much for you as they are for me ;)} 

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I wrapped up the last update sharing I tested positive for COVID and had a pesky cough I was dealing with. I was incredibly lucky in that I didn't have any other symptoms, but not 'that' lucky because, as you will come to find out, the cough wasn't just a little tickle... it was VIOLENT! And, unfortunately for me, it didn't just pack up and leave quietly... 

I don't know if I have ever had to call in sick before... but that all changed with this nasty virus!

So, I published the fourth update on Friday and the following day I had a 30 mile run on the calendar (with a 20-miler on Sunday). Running seemed to be the only time I wasn't coughing, so I was super stoked that I was able to still get in my scheduled mileage. I started my 30 mile run around 3am (I try to get in my weekend miles extremely early so that the hubby and I can still spend time together when we aren't working) and was chugging right along. The run was going amazingly (I actually wasn't even having to take walk breaks that I was doing the previous few months due to a hamstring/ glute/ abductor issue I was rehabbing)... until it wasn't... Around mile 19.5 I felt a little tickle in my throat so I did two or three {what I thought were} insignificant coughs and it stopped me in my tracks. I had an intense pain in my lower left ribs and every breath was painful. As soon as it happened I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish my run. The first thing I did was pull out my phone and get on YouTube to see if there were any stretches I could do in case I had knocked a rib out of place (what I was guessing I might have done). I found some suggestions and was so desperate that I was using the side of a port-o-potty as my "wall" to stretch on. Nothing I was doing helped. At this point it was about 6:30am, so I texted the hubby to see if he'd call me when he woke up. I figured I'd walk until he could come pick me up (because I was worried that if I stopped walking I would start coughing and my back/ rib could NOT handle that). The hubby 'finally' woke up (it was around 8:15am when he saw my text) and was able to meet me after about 7 (slow and painful) walking miles. 

I took walk breaks during mile 12 and 18 to take my fuel, but other than that I was cruising right along...

When I got in the car all I wanted to do was cry but I knew it would be too painful on the rib. I still didn't know what I had done but knew it was extremely painful. (Note: I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia when I was in high school, so I live in a state of constant pain, but I knew this was different.) All I could manage to do was to lay on the ground on bags of ice to try and numb whatever was going on. I also had to do whatever I could to try to prevent any type of coughing because whenever I coughed I had to hold on for dear life. The hubby might have thought I was exaggerating, but I was not.

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I told the hubby that if I didn't feel better on Sunday I'd have to go to Urgent Care. And, if you know me, that's HUGE because I normally avoid going to the doctors at all cost (when we were trying to figure out what was wrong with me {eventually I was diagnosed with fibro} I went to so many different doctors and specialists that a part of me may have lost faith in the medical profession...). Come Sunday morning the pain was just as intense (after a night of not sleeping and some coughing, of course), so I called Urgent Care to make sure they could do x-rays on site and made my way down. 

Because, when there is nothing else to do but wait, why not selfie?! 

After about an hour and a half and a few x-rays, we finally figured out the issue. I had fractured my 11th posterior rib. Yep, evidently you can cough your rib right in half. Thankfully it was a clean break and I was told that ribs normally recalcify within 4-6 weeks. (Apparently they don't do surgery or any type of intervention unless there is more than one broken rib, especially because of the location of my break and how close it is to the lung.) The doctor told me that unless I was having shortness of breath or vomiting blood {which indicates the rib has punctured the lung}, it's a "take it easy" sort of thing.

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Yeah, "take it easy", that's funny... Thankfully I was prescribed a muscle relaxer because come Monday I was back at work and on my feet for 9+ hours a day. (By Monday my cough had subsided, I had tested negative for COVID and I was feeling fine healthwise.) I did decide that for the first week I would not walk commute (I normally walk the 3+ miles to work in the morning and the hubby picks me up in the evenings) to avoid any unnecessary jarring of the rib. I also dialed back my lunch walks (I usually walk 60-75 minutes on my lunch break), going a lot slower and for a shorter amount of time. 

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By the second week I was able to get back to walking to work. I also tried jumping on my stationary bike. Biking didn't seem to bother the rib any more than anything else I was doing, so I decided to bike for approximately as long as it would've taken me to run the mileage on my schedule (i.e. if I had 4 miles on the calendar, I biked for 45 minutes and if I had 10 miles, I biked for 90 minutes). It's definitely not ideal, especially two weeks before the BIG race, but I'm hoping that keeping my legs moving and sticking with a routine of waking up for a workout will be beneficial (even if just mentally). 

Nothing too intense with the biking, just keeping the legs moving while I watch a movie/ show.

Today marks three weeks since my last run... Technically I only missed one last "big" workout week and then I was starting to taper, but I'd be lying if I said not having run a single step in the last three wasn't messing with my head a bit.

Thankfully the rib is no longer painful to the touch (that lasted ~10 days) and really only hurts when I do something that expands my ribs quickly (like coughing, sneezing {because sneezing is gross so hold them in...}, etc). Obviously I haven't tried running yet, so I can't say for certain, but I'm praying the rib is recalcifying and will be strong enough come race day.

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Ha, that would be AMAZING if I felt "awesome"... I'll take "good" at this point ;)

Don't get me wrong, I have always heard the sayings that it's better to be healthy and undertrained than injured and overtrained, but I would have much preferred to be perfectly trained ;) Ha, let's be real, this has been a FAR FROM IDEAL training cycle. I mean, shoot, I was having to go to physical therapy to address a hamstring/ glute/ abductor issue I had technically been dealing with since November and was still walking some of my mileage while we were retraining my body that it didn't need to be "scared" any longer. But, I do have to say, at least my legs will be well rested when I get to the starting line come next Friday morning (and I'm hoping the extra time "off" has helped heal the hammy completely!). 

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In all seriousness though, I don't know if I'll be able to run the race. I'm planning as though I will be toeing the line, but I also know there's a possibility my body won't allow it and I'll simply be a spectator come race day. I am really praying that is NOT the case, but I need to be realistic (and not set myself up for devastation come Friday morning if I can't run). Whatever the day brings, I'll be ready for it with a grateful attitude and a {potentially forced} smile on my face. #HereWeGo

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Have you ever broken a bone?

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