Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New Year - New Pain in the Arse

Literally.  New pain in the ass.
Why no new posts about running in so long?  Can’t post about it if you’re not doing it.  My two main goals in my second marathon were to go under 4 hours, and not end up back in physical therapy.  One out of two aint bad.

As I progressed in my self-directed therapy to get my knee back in working shape, I was noticing increasing soreness on a daily basis in my right hip.  More accurately, I was having issues with my right butt cheek.  Most accurately, now I not only am a pain in the ass, I have a pain in the ass.

Spent some quality time with my favorite orthopedist today, and it appears I’ve added piriformis syndrome to my collection of running ailments.  A true pain in the ass in more ways than one, and it means I get to spend more quality time with my therapist buddy Jeff trying to get humpty dumpty back together again.  I had considered another Spring marathon this year, but instead I’m going to focus on properly rehabbing my assorted leg issues, cross-training and weight training my legs throughout January and February, easing back gradually into running, and hopefully be back building a mileage base again by March as the weather warms up.  Not going to let it get me down.  I shall return.

Thanks to my ailments I got my lazy on in a big way to close out the year.  One major upside to being out of a training cycle while on holiday vacation is lots and lots of sleep.  It’s a whole different world when you’re well-rested.  I haven’t gotten up before 5AM in nearly 2 months, and I’m not complaining.

In a strange twist of fate I managed to win the fantasy football title in my rookie season.  I don’t think the rest of the folks in the league are very amused by this, since this is their 11th year as a league.  Apparently I earned some cosmic karma points by dragging my liquor-logged self out for my running workout the morning after the draft/drink/drunk day back in September.  I owe a fair share of the glory to Jeri at JerBear Shares, whose undying confidence in Greg Jennings and the Green Bay Packers convinced me not to trade him after a rough start to the season, and he was a stud down the stretch.  Another plus for the running blog world – fantasy football mojo.

I’ve been badly out of the loop in the blog world, not just in terms of posting but in terms of following.  Non-cyber life got a little too hectic as the year came to a close, but I’m looking forward to catching up on my virtual friends.  Planning to live vicariously through the Spring marathoners, and try to get out and spectate/volunteer at a couple of the Spring races.

Run swiftly my friends.

16 comments:

  1. I am sorry to hear about your injuries but I understand completely! I spent most of 2010 injured and it was very difficult but with perseverance and lots of therapy (both physical and mental) I am finally coming out on the other side!

    Heal soon and Congrats on your fantasy football victory!

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  2. I've done the piriformis thing - not fun! Wishing you swift healing!!

    Congrats on the fantasy football season!

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  3. I've done the piriformis thing added with bursitis and IT band. I hope your PT helps!

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  4. I have that same pain in the ass syndrome (piriform-ASS) and I'm not even a chocolate rabbit. What???

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  5. Glad to see you back in the blogosphere! Hope those injuries are healed up fast. Sleep is good!

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  6. Those bunnies made me laugh ... I forwarded it to my wife. Good luck.

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  7. ahh the good old pain in teh arse excuse...no really that does majorly suck I've been there. a tennis ball and a chiro helped a lot

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  8. oh, how fun it is to knock off the vets (fantasy football). I like randomly showing up to poker nights and beating guys that stop by on a regular basis.

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  9. just finished my last FF season after 5-6 years doing it. I won it all one year and finished 2 or 3rd the other times. this year i gave up after week 4.

    poor chocolate bunnies!

    yeah try a tennis ball or baseball. you are sure to get some interesting looks from your family doing it. :) trust me.

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  10. OMG YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Way to pull off the W in fantasy football. I swear I'm more happy for you than if I had won myself (ok, not true, but pretty gosh darn close!).

    And I feel you on the butt pain. Seems like a natural progression only mine went hip then knee then piriformis. Luckily my butt only hurts every minute of the day spent NOT running, small victories I guess.

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  11. Holy Guacamole, you won! I thought you posting about sucking in the league. Nice job. Welcome back too. I, for one, missed your snarky and witty posts.

    BTW, Colin the Resurrected Runner has been on the DL for months too and decided that he'd work on his core and get a 6-pack. And, he's doing it. Just saying.

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  12. Ouch!!!! Hope you are feeling better soon. Sleep is definitely NOT overrated!

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  13. Kudos on the FF championship! My team sucked(again)...... I carry a tennis ball in my gym bag because of that pain in the arse!

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  14. I'm So sorry to hear about this - have suffered from this on and off in the past. (It has been suggested to me that this is a karmic injury but I disagree). As for being behind - I think we ALL are.

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  15. Take care of that arse. Hope the pain goes away quickly. Congrats on the big fantasy football win.

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