Tag: finish line physical therapy

A Most Welcomed TGIF and a Giveaway!

It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Thanks to everyone who reached out to me about Kennedy; it hasn’t been easy, but like I said in my post, getting to spend 12 years with him was a true treat. I miss him every single day.

I thought I’d attempt my return to sporadic blogging with a Friday Favorites post! That’s lighthearted and fun, yes? After my sad last post, and current events, a little fluff could be nice. Also a winner because it includes a giveaway! Aw yeah. Skip down to the end if you don’t care about the favorites and just want to enter the giveaway. But in the meantime, here’s what I’m loving lately:

Finish Line Physical Therapy
As most of you know, I started visiting Finish Line after I was diagnosed with a stress reaction in my femur back in March. And as most of you know (or figured out), once again I didn’t run a fall marathon. That’s another post for another day, but I do want to spend a little time waxing poetic about physical therapy! I’ve been to a few different physical therapy places in my day (a place for shoulder tendinitis when I was in high school, a place for my IT band issues two years ago, etc.), but none of them were runner-specific. I have to say, going to a place that not only understands and caters to runners is a bonus, but having physical therapists that are also runners really brings it to the next level.

Finish Line has everything a runner could need when it comes to both rehab and prehab. Alter-G treadmills! Normatec compression sleeves! Vibrating foam rollers! And aside from all the ‘gadgets’ they have a really knowledgeable and friendly staff. I’ve been going every few weeks to see Caroline, and I always look forward to my appointment. Not only is she super friendly and someone who I would want to be friends with outside of PT, but she knows her stuff. I can e-mail her and run things by her, get her advice about my shoes, mileage, cross-training, and more. Even though I’ve had some setbacks during my return to running, they’ve been minimal and mostly due to my own stubbornness.

Going to Finish Line has opened my eyes to the importance of having a physical therapist in your corner for a proper prehab routine. This is definitely something I’m going to continue to invest in for my future!

The Skimm (and Skimm Ahead)
I’ve been an on-and-off reader of The Skimm for quite a few years now, but as of the last few months have been reading it daily. I think a big part of why I’ve been so dilligent in reading it in part due to their new app, Skimm Ahead!

For those of you not familiar with The Skimm, it’s a daily e-mail that comes straight to your inbox in the morning, Monday through Friday, with a brief overview of what’s going on in the world. It includes the latest top stories and headlines broken down into just a few paragraphs each, in digestable and easy to read (and funny) language. It’s the perfect thing to read on your commute, or when you first get to work and aren’t quite ready to start your workday.

The app, Skimm Ahead, includes the daily e-mail in the app, along with a lot of other fun features. Here are just a few:

  1. They’ve created a bunch of different calendars that you can easily integrate into your own so you can stay on top of important upcoming events (or you can just view it in the app without adding it to your personal calendar).
  2. There’s a section of top reads that don’t necessarily make it into their e-mails, but are worth reading,
  3. A list of best sellers and suggested reading is also available, which I actually love.

Needless to say I’m all about TheSkimm these days. If you aren’t subscribed, you really should!

Top Shop’s Black Ripped Jeans

If we’ve ever talked about clothing (in real life or on the internets) you’ve probably heard me complain about my super long torso and regular length legs. This often presents itself as a problem when it comes to finding jeans. As I’ve gotten older (and they’ve come back in style), I’ve learned and come to embrace high-waisted jeans as my friend. The higher, the better! Anything low-cut (or not specifically designated mid-rise or high-rise) seems to give me a muffin top, have me constantly pulling at my pants, and just generally not feeling comfortable or good about myself. Oh, and I definitely need ‘ankle’ jeans, because apparently I have short legs, too. Go figure!

So, when I saw these Topshop Destroyed High Rise Ankle Skinny Jeans (that was a mouthful!) at Nordstrom, I knew I had to give them a try. They are AMAZING. They hit right below my belly button, have just the right amount of stretch so they aren’t restrictive, and are distressed which is totally on-trend right now. I wish they had them in more colors because I’d buy one of each. I’m actually considering a second pair…

Go Macro’s new Thrive Bars – GIVEAWAY!

For some of you, this is why you’re here; the Go Macro Thrive Bars! I was sent a few to sample about two months ago, but wanted to wait until I had a chance to try all of the flavors before writing about them. I’ve been a Go Macro Bar fan for quite some time, so when I heard they were coming out with a new bar that included all I loved from the original bars plus some ancient grains for a little extra fiber I couldn’t wait to try. The new Thrive bars “contain plant-based protein, essential fatty acids, and prebiotic fiber to fuel your body and mind.” As with all of Go Macro’s products, they are USDA-Certified Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, Kosher, Gluten-Free certified, 100% Vegan, and soy-free. AND they’re currently available to purchase online and in Whole Foods as of October!

They’re just under 200 calories and are dense without being too much. They’re a perfect snack for anytime. And most importantly, they’re delicious! I received a sample pack, and it was no surprise that my favorite is the chocolate, nuts, and sea salt. I also really enjoyed the caramel coconut, and the chocolate peanut butter chip. I didn’t, however, enjoy the blueberry lavender… but that’s just my personal preference. I generally prefer to smell my lavender, not eat it!

The kind people at Go Macro offered a giveaway for my readers! They’re giving away a Thrive Assorted Tray to one of you! All you have to do is tell me what your favorite quick go-to snack is in the comments below and mark it as complete in Rafflecopter… and there are other options you can complete to up your chances! The giveaway will end on Wednesday 11/23!

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Let’s Try This Again…

“Is this thing on?”

Well hello there! I know, I know, once again I popped in to say hello and tell my latest sob-story, and then I disappeared. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, haven’t I?! I know I’m well overdue for an update but I didn’t want to speak too soon, like last time. So let’s take a step back, shall we?

Last time I blogged was April. I’d run a pretty solid 5k while dealing with some weird non-specific quad discomfort, that after getting checked out resulted in an inconclusive assumption I had a femoral stress reaction. This latest injury put me at number three in the run/injure myself cycle since fall 2014. I’d gotten numb to the disappointment and frustration of a running injury, so I once again put away my running shoes and carried on as best I could. This time, however, was slightly different since it was a pretty clear-cut (and slightly serious) injury which required a more diligent and cautious rehab approach than my previous weird ankle and IT band issues. After the diagnosis I immediately got in touch with Finish Line Physical Therapy, and started seeing my PT, Caroline, about two weeks after the initial diagnosis.

Originally my doctor told me I could continue with any cross-training that didn’t include high impact to my legs (so no running, jumping, etc.), while holding off on running for a solid 3 weeks. It sounded a little short, but I figured it would be fine. When I went to physical therapy, though, Caroline wanted to take a more cautious approach… So I waited a full month before trying anything running related. While I wasn’t running, I kept going to Refine Method (and modifying any type of jumping with other, equally difficult exercises), took a few spin classes, and started taking hot yoga. My last run was on March 22nd, and my first short and slow run/walk outside was on April 23rd. After that initial run/walk outside in April, I switched over to the Alter-G for the next 5ish weeks (about 2x a week). [Side note: I am SO thankful Finish Line has an Alter-G! It was a mental game changer for me this injury go-around.] I continued with the run/walk approach, but rather than doing just two or three minutes at a time, the Alter-G allowed me to bump up the amount of time I was spending doing continuous running, sooner. This was all while going to PT once a week and getting some great soft tissue release on my quad and doing stability exercises for not only my legs, but also my glutes and core. By the time I hit the end of May, I was ready to tackle a continuous 15 minute run outdoors… two full months after I stopped running.

I thought the first run back was going to be terrible. Now don’t get me wrong, it was pretty uncomfortable and awkward, but I was running! And I didn’t have any pain during or after the run! There were — and still are — some aches here and there along my quad, but that’s just everything getting back in business and I’ve been reassured is totally normal. Since that first 17 minute run on May 30th, I’ve gotten up to a 16 mile week, including my longest run of 5 miles since March. I’m trying to keep a day in between each run as I ease back into things to give myself a little break, and I’m not running more than 4 times a week right now. There’s no point in pushing myself too soon, because I’ll wind up with another injury. I mean heck, with my history even if I don’t run much there’s still a chance I’ll get an injury. So slow and steady is the name of the game for me right now… which is fine because it is, of course, hot AF in the northeast. Yay for humidity!

So where does that leave me? What are my plans? Well, I went to PT this morning and was told that I’m progressing really well, and if I’m diligent and careful over the next few weeks, everything should be back to normal. Which means… I’m going to run the Chicago Marathon!! I deferred last year because of my weird ankle and foot issues, so I have an entry for this year that’s either use it or lose it. I made a tentative training plan and reviewed it with Caroline and she gave me the go-ahead. The race isn’t going to be fast or pretty (I’m topping out at an 18  mile long run with a max of 35 mpw), but I only have 13 weeks between now and race day and my number one priority is to get to the damn start line without an injury! If I can keep myself healthy (how many times have I said that here in the last two years? I’m a broken — almost literally — record…) and get over this injury cycle hump, I’ll feel a lot more confident to actually tackle racing a marathon. But right now I’m setting my sights on just getting to the start line in one piece. There are no goals for race day except to finish in one piece, so I’m hopeful I can at least accomplish that.

So here we go, again…