New doctor review (since I can't run anyway).

I went to a new doctor (Anne Coleman) on the 7th.  If first impressions are worth anything, this lady is the best doctor I've seen yet!  (Trust me here, she's my 4th in less than 4 years.  Not sure if that says something about the previous doctors, or abut myself...)  I was a bit put-off when I read through all the office policies & then had to fill out 8 pages of paperwork before they'd consider me for a new patient appointment.  Thinking about it though, it was best - I knew what they wanted & they knew what I wanted before we even said hi.  The first appointment was a bit lengthy, but the dr actually sat down with me & talked to me for about an hour.  She asked me all kinds of things about my current self & my past.  It was so strange to have a doctor ask things like what I ate as a child.  As far as I was concerned (health wise), I was already impressed with my oxygen level - 100%!  The nurse asked me if I ran or something.  Well, as a matter of fact...  hehe!  That was the first time I saw a true difference in my health from running.  Wow!  I might not be losing weight, but I am doing something.

They don't do blood work there in the office, so I went early Saturday morning & took care of that.  They ended up taking 8, yes, EIGHT, vials of blood.  Fun, fun.  I got the report back today...  You know how you usually get "your LDL is X, your HDL is X, etc"?  I got an 8 page report back (haha, 1 page per vial!).  I know more about myself now than ever before.  Interesting stuff too, like how many calories my body requires just to sit around all day.  Isn't that nice to know?  Now I can truly plan out a diet...  which I guess I need to do, since I was told my optimal weight is 25#s less than where I am.  Ugh!  I hate diets!  I also found out that I am "under-muscled", guess that means I need to hit the weights a bit harder once my back has healed.  The rest of the report was pretty boring, I do have "thick blood", I guess she'll get into that when I see her next month, and my Vitamin D is a little low (totally not shocking), but some of the results she has marked as "too good" so she wants to re-test them to be sure I'm really as overly healthy as the tests say.  Yay me, right?  Luckily, nothing involving blood work is necessary.

The most important result of the visit though...  my blood pressure.  I've been on pills to lower/regulate it since my son was about 3 months old.  She gave me an Rx for a new pill, but said to go w/out any pill for at least 2 days.  I took my liberties there & haven't taken a pill since the day she said that.  :p  I'm on 1.5 weeks of no meds & my blood pressure seems pretty good to me!!!  Another difference running has made!  I will have to keep watching it & (of course) check with her to be sure she's okay with the fluctuations (it does get a bit high at times, but it goes back down w/in 30 minutes, I'd think that's normal), but I am very hopeful that I can stay off the meds.  For now at least. 

Running was hard for me when I started.  I never, ever, ever wanted to be a runner.  I never dreamt I'd have the desire to run.  I never imagined I'd even get to a point of calling myself a runner.  BUT, I'm there now.  I actually enjoy running.  Sometimes it's hard, and I assume it always will be, but it's so...  I don't know...  freeing?  My mind & body seem to release everything when I run.  It lifts my mood, improves my health, & it has helped me gain more confidence in myself.  Now, if only I could figure out how to make it help me lose weight...

I'm Out. :(

No running for 2 more weeks.  Heels to Hills is in 3.  How much does that suck?  A. LOT.  I'm sure I'll be able to do a 5K after a 3 week break, but not at the pace I would be able to do it if I didn't have to take this break.  Plus, I'm just assuming my back will be pain free in 2 weeks.  It's entirely possible that it won't be.  Then, what do I do???

Oh, did I mention...  I have a crack in a vertebra from the wreck I was in a couple of weeks ago.  I did run a few times that week, AND I ran 8 miles last week...  So, in theory, it should be no big deal to do the 5K after 2 weeks off.  Buuuuut, the pain started several days after that 8 miler.  Ugh!  Just when I was getting into the swing of things.  Just as I was learning to (shhhhhhh!) really enjoy running.  Suck.

Oh, my aching back.

I really, really, really was gonna run last night.  I promise.  My back was bothering me a bit, but not too bad, until...

Well, let's start at the beginning.  Let's take a trip back in time to Saturday, March 26th, around 6:30am.  I was on my way to my parents' house to help host a garage sale.  My car was packed down & I was ready to go make some money!  I was driving down a little country road that runs almost the full 30 miles between where I live & where my parents live.  It was dark, remember, it's the "country", so roads aren't lit up like in the big city.  There was a horse.  A dark brown horse.  A dark brown horse running up to a dark country road.  I saw it.  I swerved.  I seriously thought it would be like when you swerve to miss a dog - I'd swerve, miss the horse, and carry on with my day.  Boy, was I wrong!  I don't remember the impact, or the few seconds after it.  It was kinda surreal I suppose.  My car was still driving down the road, and I had no clue exactly where I was, what I needed to do, etc.  I found a gravel drive & pulled over.  Still not knowing exactly where I was, I knew I could call 911, so I called my parents to tell them what happened & that I obviously wouldn't be there any time soon.  Then, I called my husband - straight to voicemail.  GRRRRRR!  I then realized I was standing outside of my car, although I didn't recall ever getting out of my car.  I got back in, turned around, and drove past the horse, whose body was taking up almost the entire road, and pulled over at the first side road past the scene. 

I parked my car, got out, and called 911.  While on the phone with 911, I was trying to get the attention of the other drivers that came down the road, so they wouldn't hit the horse.  Not one - NOT ONE - of them stopped to ask what was going on, if I was okay, etc.  One of the stupid drivers didn't even slow down, just made a big scene of swerving around me & almost plowed into the horse.  Moron.

Once the 911 operator was sure I was okay & knew help was on the way, we hung up & I called our neighbors.  No answer.  I tried our neighbor's cell phone.  No answer.  I tried my husband again - straight to voicemail again.  I gave up, I knew eventually my husband would find out what happened & there was really nothing he could do for me.  In all honesty, having my 3.5 year old son at the scene would've been a bad idea anyway.  Maybe it's good that he never answered & the neighbors weren't home.

A fire truck showed up, followed by an ambulance.  The paramedics had to be assured that I was okay (I totally was!, just a scratch on my toe), then they left & the police arrived.  By this point I think the adrenaline surge had passed, but I was still really calm about the whole thing.  I was actually feeling a little broken hearted for the horse & the horse's owner.  The police found the owners of the horse & got their info, along with my info.  I got a copy of their accident report, was asked again if I was okay, then was sent on my way.  The owner hadn't even dragged the horse out of the road yet, but I was happy to leave.

I went ahead & drove to my parents', even though I was closer to my own house, 'cause I had so much junk piled in there & it was all covered in glass.  I just couldn't see taking it back home, you know?  I got there, sat through the sale, tried calling my husband a couple more times, and gave up.

Finally, a few hours after the accident, my husband pulled up.  I met him at his car & I'm pretty sure my exact words were "why the hell haven't you answered your phone?!", or something to that effect at least.  ;)  He was shocked (of course) when I told him what happened.  We walk over towards my car for him to see the damage and - I. KID. YOU. NOT. - a huge gust of wind blows through at the moment we get to my car, slamming a bookcase into the other side of it.  ~sigh~  Yes, that was my day.  Really.

After well over an hour on the phone w/the insurance company, things were falling into place for repairs.  Oh, and I was informed the horse's owner has already filed a claim - against me!  Seriously?  Seriously?  You have got to be kidding me?  Seriously?  Ugh.

A few days later, I was in a rental car, things were moving on, life was becoming normal...  and my back started to hurt.  It wasn't horrible, just uncomfortable & in places I had never had back pain before.  Bummer.  Oh well, I had a chiro appt for 4/6, & no free time to spare before then, so I figured I'd wait it out & get adjusted then.  By Wednesday night my back hurt enough that I could hardly walk.  I'm talking PAIN, worst ever.  I cancelled my running plans for the evening, and sat on my butt on the couch all night, making arrangements for a mini-vacation I have coming up.

Yesterday (the day of the oh-so-needed chiro appt), I got a call on the way to said chiro appt from the adjuster who was working the claim from the horse's owner.  Turns out, Texas is not an open-range area, so the horse's owner not only didn't have a leg to stand on...  he's not liable for the damages.  Thank goodness that's a problem for my insurance company to has out though; I'm kinda doubting we'll ever see a dime, but who knows, right?  Still, it was a relief that I wasn't liable for anything.  Yay!  The chapter has almost ended, I just need my car back, & we'll move on.  (Yep, it's still in the shop.  They had to repair/replace pretty much the whole passenger side due to the damage.)

I get to the chiro & tell her what happened.  Then it all became a bit of a whirlwind.  You can't just tell them about something like that & just get adjusted it seems, they have to fill out forms & blah, blah, blah.  I had no intention of using my PIP 'cause I really thought I was just sore & it was no big deal.  They tell me the have to do a re-eval though, and x-rays.  Oh, joy.  They get done & my dr looks at the film.  She calls in one of the other chiros to look at it.  They ask another round of questions, seeming a bit puzzled that my answers are what they are.  So, the other chiro pushes on a particular spot - OMGOSH, I thought I was gonna die.  I jumped & managed to not fly out of the chair.  That seemed to confirm their thoughts, so they ordered another x-ray.  Sure enough, there's a small crack in the winged part of one of my vertebra.

I was told that as long as whatever I'm doing doesn't hurt, I can keep doing it...  but if there's pain, I have to stop.  That means, while I'm feeling this pain, I can't go run.  I know all that jolting will make it worse.  I never in my life thought I'd say this, but...  I'm really, really bummed that I can't go run.  I haven't run since Saturday.  I'm hoping by the weekend I'll be ready to go again, but we'll see.  Meanwhile, I'm gonna sit around & feel sorry for myself.  That's okay to do, right?

Man down! Man down!

Until this week, I didn't realize how much motivation my wonderful running partner provides for me.  When I'm out there, I don't need her to talk to me, although when we do talk, I enjoy it.  When I'm out there, I don't need her to be right beside me, although I also enjoy that (curse her for being faster & having a higher endurance level!).  Just having here there, knowing she's sucking wind & facing her own obstacles is enough to keep me going.  Even when running is a team sport, it's still completely "me" centered, it's you vs the concrete (or dirt, or asphalt, etc, etc)...  Buuuuuut, having someone out there with you is just somehow calming, motivating, & just plain nice.

My dear Denya hasn't been able to run with me this week, and guess what?  I haven't run once yet.  I got to run 8 of her 9 miles with her on Saturday (what?  ...yes, I did!  I probably only ran 6 of those when you factor in my walking breaks, but, yes I did!), and I haven't hit the ground since.  sigh

Tonight, I will put on my big girl panties & run alone.  Maybe I'll stick a picture of her in my pocket & pretend she's there.  This week, I have learned, SHE is the reason I have come so far.  No doubt she will be the reason I [one day] accomplish more than I can even imagine doing now...  Maybe I'll even join her in a half one day.  ...maybe.