"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."

The quote above was one of the first New Year's Resolution quotes that I found on Google, and it spoke to me instantly.  I am a lover of goals, and started making New Year's Resolutions as a young child.  As a runner, I enjoy making running goals that coincide with the start of the new year. 

Let's take a look at last year's goals...

1) PR in the marathon--Nope.  I did run my 2nd-fastest marathon ever in April, but injury kept me from an attempt at a PR in September.  

2)  Qualify for Age Group Nationals for the triathlon--Yay, this happened!  I didn't actually compete there, but I was really proud to qualify.  

3) Keep up with Body Pump and spinning classes at least once a week (for both)--I think that overall, I did a good job with this.  When I was injured, I obviously wasn't able to go to classes.  But otherwise, strength definitely remained a key part of my workout schedule in 2018.  Spinning, not as much...

4) Incorporate my PT exercises back into my life--Ugh, I need to do better with this.  I always say that!  I am currently doing them about 4 times a week, but that's because I am still rehabbing from an injury.  They need to be there even when I'm not injured, but I find that they're usually the first thing to go.

I will give myself a C for my goals 2018.  I'm pleased, but not obviously there is some work to do.  I was looking over my goals from years' past, and many of them center around running marathons.  I love marathons, I truly do.  But I'm just not so sure my body is willing to let me run them, at least not at the pace that I desire to run.  

1) Start trail running.  My friends (several of whom are ultra runners or trail runners) will be ecstatic to read this one.  Don't get too excited, ladies!  I am going to wait until the weather's a bit better... not a fan of icy cold trails.  And I'm not promising any races.  I'm just thinking that I'd like to give running in the woods a shot.  

2) Run a race (or do a triathlon) with Team Heart and Sole.  Another thing that several of my friends have done!  I really want to do a triathlon with them, but I will settle for a race if that doesn't work out.

3) Do a 5K open water swimming race.  There are several of these later in the summer in neighboring states, and I know I can convince my friend Amy S. to join me on a road trip!  We had a blast last month traveling to a Master's swim meet in Dayton.  Swimming is definitely where my talent lies, and I am starting to think I should embrace it more.

4) Do an Aquabike race.  I loathe running in a triathlon, so I figure, why not cut out that part and just do the swim/run portions?!  I've been wanting to try Aquabike for awhile, so this will be the summer I actually compete in one.  

When I look over these goals, they excite me, but not in the same way that trying to run a marathon PR excites me.  It's a goal that will never leave my heart, but for now, it's going to sit on the back burner.  

Your friendly update

In the last blog entry that I wrote, things were kind of left hanging, and a few of my running friends who I don't see often have mentioned that to me.  So, before writing my traditional New Year's blog, I figured I ought to update on how things are. 

I saw Dr. Tom Ellis, hip doctor extraordinaire, on 11/13.  I could tell immediately why his waiting list is a few months long.  This guy knows his stuff, and his bedside manner is pretty amazing.  He showed me my MRI films, explained exactly what was going on with my hip, and in general was just a cool guy.  All doctors should be like this!  He agreed with my hypothesis, that the fracture in my hip likely occurred long before the November MRI showed it, and said that as long as it didn't hurt, I was allowed to run.  He recommended an MRI in a month to make sure the fracture had healed.  Originally I thought I'd wait until that MRI before running again.  Well, no surprise, I lasted all of two weeks before deciding to start back up LOL.

First run back, with my BFF Tamara.  We were both so happy!!!

After about a month of being back at it, I am up to being able to run 5 miles (with a couple short walk breaks thrown in), or 3 miles without any walking.  My pace is fairly close to what I was able to run at prior to my injury (9:20-9:40).  However, I still feel very much out of shape.  My legs get tired easily, and mentally I want to tap out after a mile or two.  Also, after most runs, my hip/glute area is sore.  Thankfully, it doesn't hurt while I'm actually running, and ice and stretching after my runs help a great deal.  I'm also seeing Dr. Young (my Airrosti/voodoo medicine doctor) weekly right now.  Whatever she's doing, it's helping tremendously, so I plan on keeping up with those appointments.  

As for that repeat MRI to check for healing... apparently Dr. Ellis's office isn't quite as adept as Ohio Health at getting my MRI's approved and scheduled.  Still waiting on insurance approval and a date.  What I expect for them to see: the labral tear, possibly inflammation, and that's about it.  Will I be shocked if the fracture is still there?  No, because at this point, nothing really shocks me when it comes to my body.  

Other things going on:  my foot numbness is at an all-time high.  I am so confused by it!  There are runs when I literally cannot feel anything in EITHER foot by mile 3.  Those are the worst ones.  The only way to make it go away is to stop and stand still; walking doesn't work.  A good run is when the numbness is only in one foot, and only affects the toes and top of that foot.  I tried out some new shoes (Hoka Clifton), but they weren't the magical cure.  The custom-made inserts from the podiatrist don't help either.  So it's back to the drawing board.  I am going to contact my podiatrist to see what she thinks would be the next step.  I've been reading about getting steroid injections for neuropathy (the clinical name for what's going on), and I'm totally willing to go this route if she's willing to try.   I know that I can't train for a race until the problem is taken care of, because at this point, 100% of my runs result in the numbness, and I don't want to be forced to stop during a race.  I mean, usually I can run through the numbness, but sometimes it's so bad that I can't.

One last update: I did compete in a Master's swim meet on 12/1 in Dayton.  What a fun day!  I am not in quite as good of shape as I was a couple of years ago when I trained and raced in two Master's meets in the spring, but my times were within a second in the 50's, so that's not horrible :)  I ended up winning the sprint pentathlon division (50 of each stroke + 100 IM) by winning all 5 races.  My trophy was a super-cute bobblehead swimmer!  

The best part of the day was spending it with Amy S. (a super amazing former club swimmer from Central OH) and Amber (who raced in her first-ever meet--SO COOL!).  We carpooled together, hung out together, etc.  I hope to do another meet in the spring! 

Post-meet: Happy Swimmers!!!

I haven't been in the water much at all over the past 3 weeks... okay, I've been in ONCE.  Just haven't felt drawn to it.  But I do plan on changing that, as I have the Lifetime Indoor Triathlon in less than 4 weeks!