Tuesday, February 2, 2016

FAI/labral tear surgery

I had hip surgery.

I have been meaning to write this post for some time now but have kept putting it off. But here I am to tell you about what's been going on.

April of 2012 I ran  my first marathon. It was a doozy but I managed a not too shabby finish. I knew around mile 17 that something in my hip just wasn't right but pressed on. Fast forward to the following weekend when I ran at beautiful Cades Cove (11 miles of fun hills). Something was still bad. So off to the dr I went. He sent me to a physical therapist who suspected a labral tear in my left hip. 4 weeks of PT then a visit to the ortho, an MRI/arthrogram to confirm with several more weeks of therapy.

I ran and ran and ran some more the next 3 years in and out of PT hoping to put off surgery for forever (or at least through a 3rd marathon), but definitely until I was 50. But alas, I started going  backwards in PT. No fair. But that is life my friends.

I had lots of PT. I did lots of running. I even went to get a cortizone injection in my hip. It worked for a couple weeks or so then right back to big issues and lots of pain. I have a high tolerance for pain, which is good and bad.  When my PT sent me back to my ortho the ortho asked if I wanted another shot but upon learning that I was no longer sleeping at night and the first shot only gave me a couple weeks of pain free life it was decided that surgery was now the answer. We had simply been dealing with this injury too long.

October 22nd was surgery day.
I hate needles, doctor offices, surgery... all of it. I am not a good patient but my hubby and my doctor along with his amazing surgical staff took such great care of me.
The surgery lasted maybe an hour, which was an hour less than the dr had told my hubby.

The procedure-
 Basically they put me to sleep, the dr put my leg in traction and with his spiffy tools got down deep into my hip joint. Confirmed the labral tear and the impingement (CAM type). I had too much bone on my femoral head. He shaved off a significant amount of bone and cleaned up the labral tear and POP went my hip back into the socket. Fun stuff.
I have two very tiny scars that are pretty much invisible now that I am 3 months out.

Post op pain-
I was not in a great deal of pain when I came home. I took my meds as prescribed so that I wasn't faced with tons of pain if I missed one. I took a week off work as I was told to do and took it very easy. I was on crutches for 2 weeks and since I wasn't very graceful on just my own two feet before surgery I tried to stay off those pesky beasts as much as I could. Thankfully things weren't too bad when the dr got into my hip joint so my time on crutches was limited to the 2 weeks!

Physical Therapy - 
I started PT after my 2 week follow up and I've been there since. That's all I have to say about that for now. It's going well. I'll post some weekly updates maybe. :)

Life in general is pretty good. I need to be better about posting these things rather than whining to friends and family all.the.time about how I feel about all of this.

That's all for now.







Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Fall Break Vacation

We don't usually take a fall break vacation but decided to this year to celebrate a dear friend's 40th birthday. For me this meant relaxation from everything... home, work, KIDS! And while I had every intention of working out daily while on vacation that just did not happen.

We left last Tuesday afternoon to travel to Orlando, FL where we would spend all day Wednesday at Magic Kingdom. So, if you count the 11-13 miles we walked around that park between 1:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. I guess I did work out that day. And it was a LOT of fun doing all the things we had set out to do, like seeing our favorite princess, Ariel.


The next day we headed to Port Canaveral to board a ship headed to Nassau, Bahamas! The goal aboard the ship was to workout both mornings when we had time. I made it out the door one day for 35 minutes on the elliptical and about 15 minutes of weights. And to my surprise when I walked out our cabin door my friend and I were dressed alike. Great minds!!!



We had an amazing time with our friends celebrating! We swam with stingrays, hung out on a private beach, went to a comedy club on the ship, lounged by the pool, ate and drank a lot and had great conversations. Despite the lack of working out and all the food/drink over the course of the 4 days I came back only up 3 pounds on the scale from what I was when we left. I can deal with that.

Now I am back to work and trying hard to get in the last few workouts and runs that I can before my surgery next week!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Life Now

When I restarted (for the millionth and 7 time) my blog last week I initially was going to play catch up with race reports, weight loss (or gain or both) and general ramblings of what's been going on, but I guess instead I'm going to start with the now.  I'll still touch briefly on the in between (Columbus and now) so the now part makes total sense.

3 years ago (March 2012) I ran my first marathon. Shortly after I took a brief hiatus and got very acquainted with physical therapy due to a hip labral tear and some impingement. Hiatus over, great racing season, PR.
Hip flared back up and the cycle repeated itself for most of 2014.

March 2015 was suppose to be my goal (SUB 2 hour) half marathon at Shamrock. Set back, the goal became to finish, which I DID within minutes of my PR (I should've pushed hard despite the pain, I shouldn't have stopped to pee since I really didn't need to). Anyway, another set back once that was over with months in PT, AlterG (anti-gravity treadmill) running, no speed work, more PT, no racing... you get the cycle.

And now.

August 17, 2015 was my last visit with my PT and the day I was advised to see my orthopedic doctor again. So, I went to see Dr. M on August 24. It was decided based on my history 3 years ago and my most recent (this year) x-rays to move forward with scheduling arthroscopic surgery on my hip since I had done PT, had a cortisone shot and nothing was working to really relieve my pain besides complete rest (NOT an option!!). We scheduled it for late in October (22nd) because we are going on a cruise to the Bahamas at the early part of the month and with the recovery time just did not feel it was best to schedule before. NO need to be hobbling around a cruise ship or the Bahamas on crutches.

So a timeline (more for me):

April 2012 - injured
May 2012-  began PT
Between July 2012 and July 2015 - lots of PT, PR races and easy running.
August 2015 - Visit w/ Dr. M to schedule surgery

What exactly IS my condition? 
Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) -
a condition where the bones of the hip are abnormally shaped. Because they do not fit together perfectly, the hip bones rub against each other and cause damage to the joint. The hip is a ball-and-socket joint.

Labral tear -  A hip labral tear involves the ring of cartilage, called the labrum, that follows the outside rim of the socket of your hip joint. The labrum acts like a rubber seal or gasket to help hold the ball at the top of your thighbone securely within your hip socket.

Basically Dr. M will go in arthroscopically and shave the defunct bone, clean up the labrum. 


I am trying really hard in the time I have free between now and surgery to workout as much as possible and not think about the procedure itself. I know in the long run I need to do this to get back to running (and maybe a PR or two). I plan to document the process here to help cope with the whole not running/working out thing.

That is... life now. Well, life as far as running and my complete lack of blogging about it.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

When almost a year goes by....

Wow. So, I logged onto my blog because I mentioned to a friend that I blogged once...

Has it really been almost a year since I've been here? Duh. I know that answer to that.

Now is the perfect time to change that.
I never wrote my recap for what happened in October 2014 at the Columbus Half Marathon. It was an epic weekend for the most part. I traveled with great friends, met another friend there, worked the Expo booth for the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon, ate some great food and PR'd my race. Crazy how almost a year later I can remember that.

The race was a charity for the Children's Hospital in Columbus. A very touching race. Each mile was lined with survivors, their parents, and supporters. The atmosphere was amazing. I would go back in a heartbeat.
Mile 11.. (or it could've been 12), I remember a slight hill that ate me up and spit me out. But I remember most that it was lined with white... in remembrance of those children who lost their lives. Touching as a mom. I fought hard to fight back tears of pain (my darn body) and for those aching hearts.

I started out slower than my goal pace. I settled into what would've been an easy pace. When my husband passed me I knew I wouldn't hit the goal of sub 2, so I coasted in. 2:02 and change.
It was a PR and with that I was happy... hey I rang that PR gong!!!

Other memories -
My dearest friend got her BQ!!!
My hubby ran a super fast half, PR and sub 2! PR gong for him as well.
The medals were not available at the finish but there was a great redemption by the team to get them to us. And it was worth the 15 minute wait.







And that, my friends, is a race recap almost a year later as well as a blogging comeback!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Track Tuesday

Yesterday was my last track workout before my goal race (Columbus Half marathon) this weekend. I always think I'm prepared for what will go down on the track but there are those days when I'm thrown off by what my coach tells me to do. This particular workout didn't have the pace goal listed on my schedule. TBA was there instead, which means Coach will give me my pace/splits at the track.

We start at a local gym, warm up a quarter mile in the parking lot and come in for drills (well, yesterday we came in since it was pouring rain). At that time coach goes around and talks to everyone to discuss their workouts. We all usually have different workouts based on what our training goal is at the time.

Here is convo between coach and I yesterday:

Coach - What's your workout today, Kim?
Me - 4x200, 1 mi, 4x200
Coach - Ok, aim for 50-52 on the 200s. For the mile, just pray.
Me -

I knew once I got to the track the mile was going to be an all out effort. I ran my 2 miles with the group, in the rain to the track. Got to the track, changed my shoes and hit all my 200s within range (actually a little fast). Then this conversation took place....

Coach - Kim, J and A are going for an 8 minute mile. I want you to start with them, in front of them. Guys, if she hits the 200 faster than you, let her go. Kim, all out.
Me - ok.

It was pouring, y'all! Pouring rain. The back light on my Garmin hasn't worked in a year. The track wasn't very well lit. The first lane of the track was basically one large puddle of water. Coach was calling out my splits as I came around to his side of the track. And somehow I was still ahead of my friends. 4 laps done.

7:44

and I finished my last 4 200s. We took a break in the dry for a minute to all talk, coach took a pic and we were on our way to cool down and get in a warm shower. With .25 left in the cool down I got into a bit of a fight with the sidewalk.






I have NO idea exactly how it happened. These falls while running seem to always happen so very fast! I felt sick immediately and took a few minutes to get up but I am grateful for all of my friends that I was running with. They stayed with me and made sure I was good. We walked back, I iced my elbow a little and showered. Once I got to work I decided to call the dr and have the elbow checked out just in case. It was still quite a bit swollen and throbbing 3 hours after the fall. Luckily there are no fractures, just a big ol' bruise. I'm still swollen and sore today but that won't stop me from kicking butt this weekend at my race!

I have to say that I think part of the reason I am not feeling worse post hard workout AND fall is because I took a nice dose of AdvoCare Nighttime Recovery at bedtime. This stuff makes a world of difference even after a hard workout with muscle soreness. So, I think it helped me to feel even less stiff upon waking up and getting out of bed this morning. If you are an athlete and haven't tried it - let me know! You will LOVE IT.



And the best part of all is that I kicked butt on the track. It's funny how sub 8 use to feel SO far away and now I'm hitting it more and it's not feeling as taxing. Hoping all my hard work pays off on Sunday!

Monday, October 13, 2014

The Mile.

We've all ran or walked a mile before. Some of us have many under our belts. I've certainly done my fair share of mile repeats on the track but it was not until last month that I actually Raced the mile. Imagine my surprise on Thursday when I received an actual race plan from my coach.

A mile race and I received a very detailed race plan. I studied it a lot over the course of the days leading up until my race. I knew exactly what I was capable of (yet still doubted myself) and knew I'd have no issues at least doing my very best.

My very good friend is the race director for the Hal Canfield memorial Mile fest that takes place on Labor Day Monday in September every year. It is a USATF certified course and very fast out/back mile in one of our favorite areas to run - Cherokee Blvd in Knoxville, TN.

I got up that morning, did exactly as my coach told me to. Walked around the house, did a quick jaunt down the road and came back in to have my breakfast. The fist wave of runners started at 8:00am. The race was broken up into several heats. My heat wouldn't take off until after 8:30am. I had plenty of time to get in my 2-3 mile warm up and use the bathroom one more time.

sidenote- Here is my AdvoCare pre-race fuel routine-
Spark and Catalyst as soon as my feet hit the floor.
O2gold 60 minutes before race time.

We lined up and I was completely intimidated because I was literally ON.THE.LINE.. first with the fast girls. I joked that all my fast friends stayed home. I knew I'd place if I managed to stick to my race plan just based on looking at who was in the heat with me.

My plan had me going into this race not as a mile but broken down by 200 meters at a time. When I initially went over my plan I knew that the goal was sub 8, which I have only ever done once in a workout and that was well over a year ago.  I had a friend run with me for about half a mile of this to give me a little boost, some pep talking. But I was running this for me.

I started fast and knew it so I slowed a little in order to be able to kick it up a notch in the last 200. Once I got near the finish line and could hear people cheering I heard my coaches voice and, "You can get sub 7:30 if you kick hard." Eh.. I did not have it in me but here is how I did finish....


7:39 

I was stoked, out of breath completely, but STOKED!! PR and sub 8 and FAST!! I finished 3rd in my age group and took home a sweet $30 gc to a local health/food shop where I racked up $30 worth of GU. 
Racing a mile is hard but I was happy to have done this race and really put myself out there. I gave everything I had that day and it showed how much my hard work has paid off. In June I was averaging around a 8:36-8:44/mi for repeats on the track. That's almost a minute faster in just a matter of months. 

  


Friday, October 10, 2014

She is back!

Whoa Mama!
Who has been away from this dusty ol' blog for far too long??
You guess it - this girl!

How many times in the last year have I even said that!? Too.darn.many.

One of my goals for the year was to blog regularly again and obviously I have failed.  But let's look at what has been going down in my town (or really my life!haha) during my blog hiatus.

-- That lil AdvoCare 10 day cleanse and 24 Day Challenge thing brought both me and my hubs great results. Like really really fabulous results. Neither of us has ever felt better. I'm down roughly 17 lbs since June and my man is down an amazing 40 pounds!!! I will post some  progress and updated pics soon.
And I love love love AdvoCare SO much that I'm working it a little on the side. That said, if you read here and wanna hear more - I would LOVE TO HELP YOU get back on track with your weight loss goals, gain more energy and feel more A.L.I.V.E and coach you up on how YOU can be the very best healthy version of you without some fad diet and weight loss quick fix.

-- Whew.  Football season, y'all. It's like a year long thing at my house but we are in full swing. And it has been fun. The team my hubby coaches for is doing well so far this season and my lil guy (who is not so little at 8 yrs old anymore) is waterboy this year. So.much.fun!! I have loved watching the team when I make a game and loved the excitement in my son's face to be out there with the boys.

-- My son (the 8 yr old mentioned above) spent a lot of this year (well June until recently) sick. First it was a parasite, then it was "we don't know," and it was test after test after test, meds after meds after meds, until our final follow up appointment with the GI dr a week ago to find out the poor dude has stress/anxiety related IBS. No bueno and no fun. at all. What caused this? The parasite was likely the start of it, but he also expressed to us some concerns with school and repeating 2nd grade. All is well now or at least on the upswing. The kids have been out of school for fall break so we shall see what happens next week.

RUNNING!!!
Y'all my 10th half marathon is a week away!!! I've ran some races and had some amazing PRs since I last posted. I cannot wait to share all that. And if all goes well the next two weekends (goal half marathon AND Ragnar Relay) I will be taking a short base building break before training for marathon number tres!


Stay tuned and hey - I am back!!