Long Haul

Running has been steady for me lately, it feels natural even though I have a big weight on my arm. The cast has really gotten beaten up. The cotton is very dirty and ripping around areas that get a lot of movement, especially around the thumb. I've been cutting off hanging pieces and trying to stuff other pieces back in where there is raw cast against my skin. I briefly considered calling the doctor about getting a replacement one but with only two weeks left I figured I could wait it out. The smell has gotten to be bit much however and after every run it stinks, even though the rest of me is washed clean.

THE LINK TO MY WEBSITE:

is 

fileserver.art.utah.edu/~jstrenio/

Exploring

Now that I'm somewhat back into the full swing of running, things seem a little different. Over the summer I was pretty care free and running was something I enjoyed. I've been running since mid May now. I still enjoy it but between school, work and other responsibilities it is getting to be a little more difficult to find time to do it. However this has made me realize that I need to get more creative with it, change it up, keep it interesting. Since I've been running the same routes since school started I decided I wanted to find something new, but when you live on a hill it's hard to find new ways to go. Last night I found out I have a test in one of my classes later this week and I don't have the study guide. My friend who is also in the class was leaving his house to go pick a copy up from another guy, then head home himself. I decided to go with him to pick up the study guide then run home. I added a few twists and turns to make sure that the run was still long enough, and since it was already past 11 and because it was going to be a new route, I decided to keep the distance at three miles. The run was great! It felt like one mile, and i was able to push it pretty hard the entire time. I've decided that I'm going to keep trying to run new areas to keep it fun.

getting back to normal

Even though I was sore last week, taking a day off seemed to help. I'm feeling very normal again and my patches over my hip have come off so I've finally been able to actually see my wound. Not only are the stitches gone, absorbed into my body, but the wound has fully healed over. Running has been going well but I haven't been overly pushing myself. I've just been running 3 and 4 mile loops lately, running almost always 8 minute miles. Though my hip has healed over it does get sore on the inside and I think it's because the bone itself is still healing even though the skin is fully healed.

Getting ahead of myself?

I'm now at just about the two week mark from surgery, almost a week since I've been cleared to run and I'm honestly a little sore... but not from running. 

After running the two mile with Tyler I stepped it up to three miles the next day and thought I would stay there for at least a week. I started to get ahead of myself however and ran a 4 miler the next day. Now I know an extra mile isn't that much more but when you're running up the steepest hill you've ever run on, it gets a little intense. To give some perspective, I had been running 4 and 6 mile loops over the summer everyday switching off between the two. When I moved to my new house I figured that I could do any 4 miles I wanted, regardless of the hill since I also had been running 6 mile loops. However the first time I ran it, I began dry-heaving near the top of the hill. I've since adapted to the hill, but in retrospect, it was pushing it a little early I think. I stuck with it, but biking to class and skating is oddly what seems to make me sore. I think the impact of skating has made me the most sore because the only thing that seems to hurt my hip anymore is when I sneeze or my abs are flexed for any other reason. Running doesn't seem to do that much but whatever it was, my hip is very sore. I'm not one to whine but I don't want to risk my stiches opening back up so I've decided to take a day off. Hopefully it will feel better tomorrow!

back on my feet

So yesterday at the one week mark from my surgery, I went in to the University Orthopedic center for my check-up appointment and to get my wrist casted. After being told before surgery that it would be atleast a month before I could run again, I was excited to hear that my hip had healed enough that I could carefully begin running whenever I wanted. My doctor was very friendly and helpful. I also finally got to see my stiches on my wrist. It looked very puny and weak but it wasn't too bad. After being casted I hurried home to go off and run. I decided that since I had beat my expected recovery time by three weeks for my hip that I would start small because it honestly was still a little sore. I did my mile, it was a little akward, half because I hadn't run in a week, half because my stiches were tugging a little bit. I ran it in a modest 8 minutes.
I currently just got back from my second day's run and I decided to tack on a mile. It was nice, I had my roommate Tyler, a runner in high school, come along. My hip felt great right off the bat and with someone to run with we were able to turn up the pace. We ran two 6.5 minute miles. The only thing that worries me now is my cast getting smelly, I can't wash it for five weeks!

No Pain No Gain

I had my surgery and it went great. The whole procedure took under two hours and I left the hospital with a completely numb lifeless arm. Unfortunately the whole in my arm was large enough that they had to take bone from my hip so I've had trouble walking the last few days. I've been trying my best not to take any pain medication because I'm just not a fan of drugs in general.
The day of surgery actually wasn't too bad. With the numbing agent still at work my arm didn't hurt at all and I was actually able to make my night class. The following morning and afternoon however was very painful. Walking and getting up hurt my hip and my wrist just throbbed constantly.
Currently I'm feeling real good; I have an appointment on Tuesday where I will get my cast on and hopefully my hip stiches out. I was originally told by my doctor that it would be a month before I could run again but I'm going to try to shoot for two weeks. I'm going to talk to my doctor about it when I go in. For now it's rest and trying to take pleasure on my little break from all healthy activity.

Running entry 1

For my blog entry I've decided to write about running and my surgery recovery. I decided to write about running because it's something that I've constantly been working on over the past two summers.

I've always considered myself somewhat of an athletic person but I discontinued my participation in high school sports after my freshman year. As an avid skier and skater I felt that I still maintained my healthy stature, but around the half way point of my senior year I began yearning for my pulse to pump at it's maximum capacity and my muscles to whine and burn. I decided to go for a run and it felt great. That spring, with the end of skiing I immediately began running daily and the summer after I graduated from high school became the summer that I became a runner. I ran 3 miles or more a day everyday for just over 100 days, and I didn't miss a single one. As fall came I slowly began running less and less until ski season was in full swing and so I stopped.

This past summer I started up strong again but began experimenting more and more with my running. I did a 13 mile run early on, then later in the summer began timing my runs to try to increase my speed. My personal best six mile run was in 43.5 minutes. When I visited home in Vermont the lower elevation increased my stamina and I was able to run 27 miles.

That brings me up to my current state. I've been running 3-6 miles almost everyday and tomorrow I am scheduled for surgery, which is going to put me out for two weeks if I don't need bone taken from my hip, 4 if I do.