Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Tibioflibular Joint Instability!

That's right - this morning I drove across town to see a Sports Medicine Specialist.  He spent nearly 40 minutes with me (wow - that's a lot of time) and he has come to the conclusion that I have superior tibiofibular joint instability with a second degree pelvic dysfunction.  That's a mouthful now isn't it?  So in layman's terms, if I got this right, the joint where the tibia and fibula meet underneath my knee and attach to the hamstring is unstable.  Which in turn is causing my pelvis to tilt which in turn makes my legs different in length.  And all of that is what is causing the area above my hip and around my pelvis to hurt.

What's the cure?  Well, crazy enough, he did this strength exercise which I failed miserably, then he put a little piece of KT tape on and I passed with flying colours.  Yip, I know - CRAZY and if I didn't see it with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it.  A little 2 inch by 4 inch piece of tape!  So I'm now wearing a wrap brace around my leg just below my knee which will keep the joint stable.  AND I have to increase my glute and core strength as well as work on my hamstring flexibility.  Good ole Doc says I cannot run for 2 weeks and then he wants me to start running.  He's given me to green light to spin and swim - given I wear the brace 24/7 (or the KT tape while swimming).

This Saturday it will be 6 weeks since I was first injured.  Let's hope this Doctor is right and I'm running again by the time we hit Florida for our February vacation!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

3rd and Final Day of Juice Cleanse

This has easily been one of the longest days ever.  Seriously, it seems like morning was forever ago!  I'm hungry tonight.  It's taken just about every bit of me not to eat the kids dinner tonight.

Today I have - dropped kids at school, gym for spin, home to shower and ice the hip, pick JJ up from school, get gas, run him out to my inlaws, back to home, find out my second mom while growing up has stage 4 lung cancer, pay off vet bill, pick up friend, drive to hospital down-town where other friend was going into emergency surgery from complications on her reconstruction after mastectomy, 5 mins late to pick CA from school, drop her at art, home to call car shop because truck is running bad and smells like gas, call to get broke refrigerator fixed, drop off 2 bottles of wine to friend who just found out her dad has cancer, back out to pick JJ up from inlaws, realize truck is LEAKING GAS, drive back to the Beaches, get gas again, pick CA up from art 30 mins late, home, pick up take out from Tino's for the kids (love love love the Greek place at the top of my street), home to feed, wash and bed the kids.  Add a few times crying in there and that is what I have done from 8:45 - 8:00.  A pretty long, crappy day.

Today I did not - get to the grocery store, make CA dentist appointment, ride on my trainer, eat a single thing.

I did drink my juices.  And while I longed to put something in my mouth and chew it slowly and savour the taste - I don't think I was hungry during the day but tonight will be tough.  I am definitely looking forward to a nice bowl of fruit and quinoa tomorrow morning!  All in all this was a very successful 3 day energize cleanse.  Total Cleanse delivered.  I will definitely do another cleanse someday and I might even find away to budget for some juices to supplement my training nutritional plan.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Juice Cleanse Day 2

I slept great last night after day one of my 3 day juice cleanse!  Was not hungry and fell asleep quickly.  Awoke a little groggy this morning and had 1 1/2 cups of strong black coffee.  Drank my Green juice around 9am and hit the gym.  Just a Group Power workout - my muscles felt tight and a bit weaker than normal but nothing too bad.  Grabbed my second juice (lemonade) around 11 and enjoyed it a bit too quickly.  Keeping right on schedule I drank another Green at 1. I didn't feel hungry but the rumbling and the grumbling in my tummy would make you think othewise.

Life got in the way and I was a tad behind schedule taking my favourite Berry Juice and it tasted just a good as the one yesterday.  Overall I was feeling pretty good and looking forward to my last 2 drinks of the day.  I made sure I drank loads of water and tea all day so besides running to the bathroom everything was pretty much normal except I felt cold inside and out and had trouble warming up.  The sound from my tummy are pretty amusing too!

Just after 6 a I popped open juice #5 for the day and I really enjoyed the taste again. I had a bit of heartburn and think the acid in the juices might be a bit much for my stomach.

Grabbed my last juice of the day - Cashew Milk - I'm not kidding - It tasted like a vanilla milkshake tonight!

I have to say I am missing food but feeling great! Tomorrow morning I spin ... that will be a true test!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Juice Cleanse Day 1

While I was still on holidays in Florida I decided I needed to try something drastic to kick start my new year and the year of IRON training.  Since I have been sidelined with this TFL injury and I'm not into full swing training, it was a good time to try a Juice Cleanse.  After almost committing to Blueprint Cleanse I found the Canadian version Total Cleanse.  While on the pricey side (around $50/day), the convenience of the juices being delivered right to my door was too much to pass up.  So I signed up to start my cleanse on Monday the 9th - the day the kids when back to school - which happens to be today.


To prepare for the cleanse, four days ago I tired to eliminated dairy, sugar, wheat, meat and alcohol.  I ate loads of quinoa, veggies, oatmeal, and sushi.  Besides the way too much wine on Friday night I was quite pleased with myself.  I really cleaned up my diet!


So this morning, as promised, there were 3 cooler bags on my porch each packed with 6 juices.
why yes, 5 does come before 4! Opps!


I selected their gentlest cleanse consisting of 2 green (first and third), 2 Lemonade (second and fifth), Berry (forth) and Cashew milk (sixth).  I drank the first juice at 9am - Green Energy (Cucumber, celery, kale, lettuces, parsley, lemon, apple, romaine lettuce) and while the color is quite icky, the taste is pretty good - I mainly tasted the cucumber and at nearly 200 calories it should fill me up and get me to my next drink in a couple of hours.  I took me about 45 minutes to drink the 500ml of Green Energy juice and I see why other  have said they don't always drink the entire juice.  It filled me up and did not make me want for more.


Between my first and second juice I drank a couple glasses of water with lemon and a large cup of green tea.  Next up was the Lemonade. Can I just say YUM!  At only 108 calories I wasn't sure if it would get me through to my next juice in 2 hours so I sipped it slowly.  The Lemonade is quite sweet with a touch of spice.  It contains Lemon, cayenne, maple syrup and filtered water.  It is definitely a drink I will enjoy and it went down a lot quicker than the green!


About 3pm I realized I had missed the timing for my 3rd juice - another Green.  I had a couple cups of green tea and loads of water in between and that must have kept my hunger down. The second Green Juice went down a bit slower - I think my body likes more variety in it's daily food intake and I actually thought - ugh - 2 more days of this!  I'm happy there are only 2 greens a day!


5pm and tummy was rumbling - so I grabbed Juice #4, rejoiced there would be 2 more "meals" and YUM! At nearly 250 calories and made of Strawberry, pineapple, blueberry, apple, lemon.  I feel like this juice would have been better as #3.  It goes down smooth and tart, not sweet like I had feared.  I was wishing for another Berry juice shortly after finishing the first!

I grabbed Juice #5, another lemonade, shortly after 6pm and it tasted as good as the first Lemonade did.  Finally at 8pm I realized I hadn't had #6 and I would be going to bed soon so I grabbed the last juice of the day - Creamy Cashew Milk made from Cashew nuts, vanilla, honey, filtered water and packing a whooping 308 calories!  That's a lot of calories for me this late into the night but I think it will settle my hunger and let me sleep!  At first sip I didn't think I would be able to drink it all but my body drank it down quickly so I think I needed some fat!  It is quite tasty!

So that is that - I finished my first day of the Total Cleanse Energize Juice Cleanse!  I didn't cheat and I felt pretty good all day long.  While there were times I thought of grabbing a handful of nuts, I made it!  Tomorrow will be the test when I got to work out in the morning.  
empty bottles lined up in a row

Saturday, January 7, 2012

The One and Only Goal of 2012

It's the first weekend of 2012 and I haven't committed my goals to paper the Internet.  My intent of this blog is to create a record of my training.  In 2012 I am planning on training for something larger than I have ever done - the IRONMAN.  What do people say when I say I'm  training for the IRONMAN?

Mom: You're crazy
SIL: You're nuts
Brother: Ha
Dad:  Doesn't say much, just smiles and shakes his head
Nephew: wow cool
Dr. Will: Good for you

I'm going to try to remember and record what people say because I find it quite amusing.

I digress ... back to the 2012 which of course is going to be all thing IRON all the time right?  Of course that is intermingled with raising 2 kids and a husband.  IMFL is 10 months out.  It's the 7th day of 2012 and I haven't run a bit.  We think we've got this left hip pain figured out.  My visit to Dr. Will (Chiro) was very encouraging - first when he said "Good for you" I knew we would get along fine.  And instead of telling me NOT to run long distances, he said "let's get you back on the road".  I think I will be seeing a lot of this guy over the next 10 months!

What's the big diagnosis?  It's my TFL - that's Tensor Fasciae Latae - seriously why does it have to have such a fancy name?  In case you don't already know what your TFL is - apparently it is the small muscle that attaches to your hip and the IT (Iliotibial) Band as it goes along the outside of your thigh and attaches at your knee.  He showed a bit of concern that I have been completely resting it for 3 weeks and it is still bothering me as much as it is.  So we are now specifically stretching the TFL, icing it 6 times a day (really where am I going to find time for that?!?), advil twice daily.  He's fine with me spinning and lifting as long as I have no pain.  I can get back to running at 50% as soon as I feel no pain and build back up from there. Yeah - that sounds promising right?

So my one and only goal for 2012 is to finish the Florida Ironman.  I don't want to put a time on it. Hubby says 13 hours which I find laughable.  I'm thinking more like 15 hours.  But really I don't care if it takes me 16 hours and 59 minutes.  If I can run across that finish line with a smile on my face and hear those words ... I'll take it!

Of course to get there I will have many little feats along the way like  run a marathon and finish a half distance.  Wassaga Beach Oly is something i REALLY want to do again too.  But I don't want to label these as goals because if they in anyway get in my way of finishing the Ironman then I won't do them.

First up is the A1A Ft. Lauderdale Marathon. That's 6 weeks out.  Considering I haven't run in exactly 3 weeks today, this is looking more and more like it's going to be another half.  And I'm OK with that because it is not my goal for 2012.  I don't have to run an official marathon before IMFL!

Next up -  Buy a trainer. Convince Hubby to buy me a new bike. And most of all get my TFL healthy! So I'm off to ice!