Let's talk about running, or in my case, lack of running, due to a pesky little hernia that I chose to have repaired about 4 weeks ago. It's funny, everyone knows what a hernia is, or I should say, has heard of a hernia. But a lot of people, me included, don't really know what a hernia IS or looks like. I found out one morning about a year ago. I was lying in bed and I looked down and saw a bulge on the lower left side of my abdomen, above my groin. It kinda scared me. I'm a bit of a wuss and when anything is abnormal on me, my first thought is "I'm dying". Well, I felt it to see if it was a life threatening tumor of some sort, but it wasn't hard or anything and it didn't hurt. In fact I was able to kind of push it back into place..... Hmmmmm, I thought, that's weird. We learn lots of new things about our bodies as we age. We start feeling all sort of parts we didn't know existed. I mean how do you know you have an appendix if it never hurt before. Anyway, I got to work and asked my buddy Chris, if he knew what it could be. And, as luck would have it, I asked the right guy because Chris had the same thing and lived with it for 4 or 5 years before having it repaired about a year prior. It wan an inguinal hernia. Not life threatening just annoying and if you think about it, kinda disgusting. The muscle in my stomach had weakened and torn enough to allow some of my innards (intestines) to bulge out.
How does this happen? I guess it can be genetic, my Mother had a hernia and that could explain it. That, along with my allergic episodes, where I can rattle off a good 50 sneezes in less than five minutes. I am sure it was only a matter of time before I would get a hernia and find myself stuffing my guts back in to my abdominal cavity every half hour or so. Sure, it usually popped right back out, in which case I could immediately push it back in, but how would you explain what you are doing to people? So every 30 minutes seemed like a good compromise. It wasn't really that bad. It rarely hurt, I was more concerned that it would get worse in which case it could strangulate. With all of the training that I do, I knew that I needed to get it taken care of, it was just a matter of when. And, of course I would be scheduling around races.
I discovered it a couple of months before IMAZ. Obviously it would have to wait till after the Ironman. I did some research and from what I could gather, recovery could take anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months. But when they talk recovery, they're most likely talking about returning to normal activities. I'm talking about running.... WHEN CAN I START RUNNING AGAIN? Or more precisely, how long do I have to STOP running?
One month of no training? I had to find a spot in the calendar, between races, where not only could I stop training for a month but have the time to ramp back up for whatever race I had next. After IMAZ I did an Ultra almost right on top of it and after that I was training for the Long Beach Marathon in October. The Surf City Marathon is becoming a tradition, so that training would come on the heals of LB. All races after that were up in the air and I had not actually registered for anything, so the beginning of February looked like the perfect time.
I went in for surgery Feb. 9th. It was an outpatient surgery and the Doctor put a mesh over the tear. The procedure took about an hour and a half. That was the easy part. The last month, however, has been a bit more of a challenge.
Oops! I just realized I blew right past the Surf City Marathon! I guess I should talk about it. After all, this is a running blog.
I did run Surf City. But like last year, I ran the half. Mainly because it was the same day as the reunion and I didn't want to be too tired. I went into the race hoping to do under 1:50. My PR is 1:48:19 which I ran last year on Memorial Day in Laguna Beach. I have always felt like it was a fluke and that the course was a net downhill. That along with me being in the best possible shape coming off of IMAZ. According to the McMillan running calculator, with a 1:48:19 half marathon time, I should be able to run a 3:48:26. My Marathon PR is 4:07:02. So, you can see where I would be happy with a 1:50. I ran the race in 1:49:53! Very cool, it was the perfect start to a perfect day.
I also had a lot of friends there as well. Some where running, some (due to injuries and other circumstances) where not. Julie has been training for her first 5K for the last 3 months. She has been doing the Couch to 5K program and doing very well. Based on her training paces I estimated a 31-32 minute finish time for her.
She finished in 31:37! It was a GREAT first 5K and she is training now for another 5K and a 10K in the next few months. She plans to do The Long Beach Half in October and if all goes well, do her first full marathon at Surf City next year. There is nothing better than watching someone find the joy of running. And even better to be a part of it.
My friends Lori, Marisol and Paul also came out to the race. Unfortunately none of them were able to run this year. Lori had a sprained ankle, Paul broke something and Marisol is 6 months pregnant. They were there to cheer everyone on and after the race Julie, Lori, Mari and I went and had a great breakfast.
Ok, so where was I? The pain from the surgery wasn't too bad. It was what I expected. It was hard to stand all the way up and if I was laying down, it was uncomfortable to roll over or sit up. Pretty much what you would expect. I had the surgery on Friday and on Sunday I went to the mall and walked around the entire thing without too much pain.
I went back to work on Tuesday, and Wednesday I went to the gym for the first time and (very carefully) did about 30 minutes on the bike. I figured the bike would be easy and that running would be the thing that would hurt the most. I was actually afraid to start running. What if it hurt really bad and I realized I would not be able to run for an extended period of time? I am not sure I could handle that. It was the following week before I planned a running day. It was surprisingly easy. I felt no pain in the area of my hernia. What a relief! Physically this was going to be a piece of cake. And it has been except for one problem. I keep getting sick. My resting heart rate has been running about 20 bpm higher than normal. That is usually a really good indication that you are fighting something. I went to the Doctor and he said that everything looks fine with the affected area and that I am most likely battling a cold, flu or whatever is going around right now. And I imagine that de conditioning is also partly responsible. This last week has been better. I have been able to run more consistently and have kept a better balance between training and rest. Ahh, rest, man that is hard to do sometimes. Looking at the big picture and realizing that the best training that you can that day is NO training. In any event, regardless of having a valid reason, looking at my numbers for the month of February is really depressing. I feel fatigued, fat and cranky and it is because I don't have my drug of choice.... endorphins!
What would I do if I had to live a sedentary life? What did I do for all those years before I trained? Sometimes I think, no wonder we have all the disease and illness that we have in our society. I can't imagine feeling half as bad as I have this last month, on any sort of regular basis. And I remember feeling like that all the time. And, I know that is how a lot of people feel these days, with the lack of physical activity that comes with a desk job, commuting by car and then sitting on a couch. Thank God I have found the life that I have and I hope that I will be blessed with the ability and desire to do it as long as I am alive. Because this last month, I have gotten a glimpse of the alternative and it wasn't pretty.
Paul
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