BACK IN ACTION

All my runs after getting back from the broken toes.

For the first time in a very long time I feel like I am back running without issue. It is exciting! The whole toe situation has dissolved into a non-factor. The swelling in the toes is continuing to go down, and while they aren't quite all the way back, they don't bother me in the least. So that worry is completely over and I'm sure within a month all the swelling will be gone and I'll basically be as good as new.

As for the knees, they feel fantastic too! Almost ready to declare them a non-factor. Now I have to pay attention to whether any "not so fresh" feeling in them is just caused by fatigue or a case of my arthritis flaring up. I went back to running pretty quick and the response so far has been great. After my five mile run they did feel tired... that was my longest run since the Miami Half Marathon in January. For a second I was like "oh no" when my knees started to fatigue but then I realized the sensation wasn't the inflammation I was used to, it was the "tired" feeling I was used to back when I was actually running. The feeling that got better the next day and didn't cause a flare up. And sure enough I bounced back.

So everything is feeling almost back to normal. It's kind of weird. Battling shit and starting and stopping has been the status quo for almost two years. I almost want to swing a hammer into my calf or something just to keep that going. Kidding. Anyways, like I said, it feels good. I've built up enough fitness now I can actually go on enjoyable "easy" runs again. I can sign up for races. I can go to my running groups and see people on the regular. All exciting things!

My next race is the Boring Half Marathon is just over a week. I'm going to run six miles this weekend in preparation for that. I figured if I can get almost halfway there then I can bullshit the other half on race day. And then the next race after that is the Warrior Dash 5k with Brandon in early October. I'm excited for that now that I can actually run, jump, climb, etc! Although it will give me ample opportunities to hurt myself and start the cycle over, so I'll have to watch out for that, hah! First time doing that race since 2012. I really enjoyed it the first time and always wanted to do it again, so here I am five years later.

FINAL AT 30

Four weeks later. Assured by doctor this was normal, the
new bone is so light it barely shows up. Healing correctly!

Well tonight I ran for the final time as a thirty year old. Thirty was definitely was worst year running since I started, but it was mostly due to things out of my control. Namely, my psoriatic arthritis diagnosis that took far too long to get. Once I was being treated, it was another couple of months before the treatment really kicked in.

Looking toward 31, I think it will be a much better year. Since giving the methotrexate injections a couple of months to build my arthritis is feeling much better. Almost to the point of being gone. It hasn't been an issue once in the last two months. I can go on four mile runs now and my knees don't feel a thing. Before, during, or after. Earlier on the blog I was giving my knee pain a score out of 10, at worst now it is 1/10. And frankly it almost feels 0/10. So that's super encouraging! That is what I was hoping for! The next step will be to see if it is sustainable. And can I ramp up to a modest amount of activity while keeping those same results?

So that will be the question moving forward. I actually have a half marathon in two and a half weeks. Yikes! It is the Boring Half Marathon. I agreed to do it with a friend a few months back and didn't imagine taking a month off to deal with my broken toes. So I am not quite where I want to be fitness wise. The goal will to be something like Miami earlier this year... run most of the first five or six miles and then try to jog/walk it in. Somewhere around 2:45 time wise. Assuming all goes well with that, my next major race would be Miami in January 2018. Assuming I'm feeling good, maybe I could try to run that entire one slowly. We'll see.

But yes, tonight I did run. It was my fourth run back from my broken toes. Fourth run in eight days. And my body is feeling pretty good! I'm surprised my cardio held up as well as it did... the first run back was definitely a challenge, but I feel much better a few runs in. Was able to run an 11:00 pace for four miles tonight without stopping and it wasn't even much of a challenge. Not a walk in the park but not super easy either. I'm just slowly trying to build up mileage. My runs back have been 3, 3, 4, and 4 miles. Hoping to one six mile run under my belt at least before the half. However, I'm going to be cautious and ramp up slowly.

My toes feel great! Nary a compliant during or after the run. Seems to not really affect them. One toe is still swollen but I think it's slowly going down. So really they are a non-issue, which is great. The IT band thing that was challenging me early in the year is still there. It hasn't really struck yet, but I can feel it lurking. I think it may have to do with my pace. It is so much slower than usual and I remember trying to run this pace when I was in shape would really hurt my knees. So I almost wonder if it is related. If it fades as I get faster, that would be awesome. Best case! If not, maybe I invest in one of those IT band straps. Who knows.

That ended up being quite the ramble. My birthday is tomorrow and I turn 31. I remember an unspoken (I believe) goal of doing a 50k (31 miles) when I was 31. That ain't happening, lol. Maybe I'll do a 5k and just enjoy it 10x as much?

WARNING: GROSS FOOT PICTURES

Clockwise from top left: Two days after, one week after,
two weeks after, and three weeks after.

Thought I'd give a little update on how my foot recovery is going. Pretty well! Day by day it gets better but it is slower than one would like. Now that I am able to wear normal shoes and walk without a limp you'd think I'd be almost back to normal. Not the case though... any prolonged walking, jumping, weird toe bends, etc. and my foot is not happy. My toes are still decently swollen, especially the one next to the pinky toe. It is still a Vienna sausage pretty much.

Hey, remember those earthquake kits we made in elementary school? Mine always had Vienna sausages. It was fun at the end of the year when you got it back and could eat the stuff. I don't remember those in middle school at all. Was it just a ploy to teach us about earthquakes or a legitimate strategy to survive if a big one hit when we were at school? Do they do it now? So many questions.

Anyways, I think in about a week I'll be able to walk for fitness again. A few miles at a normal pace. Nothing crazy. And then hopefully slowly start jogging again toward Labor Day. I think in about two or three weeks my toes will be almost back to normal... too much bending or stubbing them will be bad, but otherwise fairly functional. So the 4-6 week timeframe is looking about right assuming the progress I've been seeing continues.

TOUGH BREAK

This is my left foot (mirrored for some reason).

Well, thought I should finally update you guys. I think most who know me are aware, but in case you haven't heard or you an internet stalker, I've encountered bad luck again. Well, I created this bad luck, but still, it has stopped me cold on the running front. I broke two toes on my left foot pretty bad in what we'll all a "small motorcycle" accident.

It happened two weeks ago today actually. Just as I seemed to be breaking free of my IT issue and maybe finding a groove this happens. Recovery time is 4-6 weeks so I'm probably looking at early September before I can run again. Don't want to push things... it's not worth it. It has gotten a lot better in the last two weeks though, I've gone from limping badly in a walking boot to almost being able to walk normal and in regular shoes.

Two of my toes were going almost 90 degrees the wrong direction. It was pretty gruesome. At the time it didn't hurt at all, my body was full of adrenaline so the whole time to the ER I was pretty low key. The thing that hurt the most was the four shots into my broken toe. A big needle and a lot of painkiller going in there. Holy hell, probably the most painful thing in my life so far. They then cracked the toes back into place. If they painfully numb you up for that I'd hate to feel that crack sober.

At this point it is just a waiting game for my foot to heal. So that sucks, but the last week or so it's been really hot, so going outside wouldn't be pleasant anyways. Once I can walk comfortably maybe I'll go to PRC and walk on Mondays. Need to try and stay somewhat active despite the foot. It's going to suck starting over again running, but by this point I'm used to it. Hopefully I'll have much better luck this fall. My knees feel hunky dory at this point with very little being asked of them.

RUNNING UPDATE

Just thought I'd post a quick update on my running progress. When I only post once a month it's easy to gloss over the continued mission and struggle to get back to semi-regular running. My goal is to get back to running three times a week... nothing crazy, maybe four or five miles at a time. Just enough to stay in shape and have a baseline of fitness.

One improvement is I don't get super sore every time I run now. I've ran enough to shock my legs back into compliance there. However, I'm still getting weird things after runs. Yesterday I ran three miles and earlier today my right hammy was complaining. Now my right calf is feeling a bit weird. Nothing major, they'll be fine tomorrow, but it would be nice to get past some of this stuff. I kind of remember a bunch of crap like this back when I was first running, so I'm hoping once I'm back in the rhythm my body will not freak out so much.

The IT band thing seems to be improving. After four miles at PRC on Monday it only was feeling a little weird. Not really at all during the run and then afterward just a bit of complaining. The next day on stairs it was a little tender but nothing bad. I didn't feel it at all before or after the three mile run yesterday. So that's good. I seem to be keeping it in check. However, if I were to do anything more than four miles right now I'm not confident it wouldn't act up. Once I can do four miles without a peep from it I can try to go farther, but until then I am going to be cautious.

The other item of note was being able to run 10:20s yesterday for three miles and not have it kill me. It was slightly above "comfortable" pace but I was still able to mostly chat and not feel totally winded. That was pretty encouraging. I'm hoping to get back to a 9:30ish easy conversational pace. Don't want to feel like I'm holding others back. So being able to run three yesterday at a faster clip than I've been running and feeling pretty good during and after was definitely a step forward.

As for the knees... they aren't flaring up. The inflammation seems to be tamped down and the running doesn't seem to move them one way or the other. While they aren't normal knees, I don't feel like they are the main obstacle at the moment... that seems to be this IT band thing. Anyways, I had to reschedule my rheumatology appointment so unfortunately I don't see my doctor again until late August. Fortunately, since the treatment seems to be making progress, I doubt she would have changed anything during the visit.

ONE MONTH LATER - BETTER, BUT NEW ANNOYANCE

People who know me know I don't squat. Notice the right arm braced to control my revolting leg muscles and stop me from
toppling over the edge of the cliff.

Okay, I figure it is time for an update. I am taking a very wait and see approach with this whole deal. I will say I think I am in a better spot than I was a month ago. In fact, I am pretty confident in that!

My knees haven't really acted up in a while. The last "flare" was when I stripped the deck to stain it. My knees have been feeling pretty good since I started the injections. They aren't back to normal, but they are definitely better. I did some hiking around Iceland during my recent trip and they weren't ever really an issue. There were a few times where I could tell the power and flexibility of old wasn't quite there, but they felt improved even compared to the Memorial Day hiking of a month or so prior.

On Monday I even went to Sky High Sports, a trampoline park, and bounced around for two hours. And you know what? My knees felt fucking fantastic. Not an issue at all. I was quite surprised. I know for sure that wouldn't have been the case two months ago. I'm sore from that, being out of shape and all, but two days later and my knees still are fine. So I don't think I'll flare from it. And before that would have been a guaranteed flare. Another note of progress was kicking the soccer ball around. It was just in the parking lot, no hard shots or anything, but I was able to pass and stop the ball and do things with nary a complaint from down below. Even some really brisk passes that would have hurt before felt fine.

So that's very encouraging! Unfortunately, I've seemed to develop an IT band issue in my left knee. I was able to run 4 miles last Monday just fine but when I stopped it flared up. I had a small issue with this before the Iceland trip and it did rear up a little during our longer hike there. Nothing that completely hobbled me, but definitely uncomfortable. It's very frustrating. Just when I felt like I could get going again this appears. So I'm going to try to take it easy and hope that can just resolve itself. I think I might be turning my foot inward when I walk/run... this is new, I didn't do that before. I haven't confirmed for sure, but that might be the root cause, or maybe a symptom of something else messed up. Weak left hip? Who knows! Anyways, I'll need to solve that puzzle before I can really make an effort to get going again.

Oh, one more thing to mention. I started to be really nauseous most of the time. Just a general ill feeling. I was pretty sure it was connected to the methotrexate. It was frustrating, just as I seemed to be feeling much better joint wise this thing popped up. I was used to the feeling once a week when I took the medication, but all the time? Hell no. Well, then it popped into my head, I got REALLY bad about taking the daily folic acid supplement. This is prescribed in concert with the methotrexate because it has been shown to greatly reduce the side effects. I started taking it daily again (instead of maybe once or twice a week when I saw it sitting there) and within a few days I felt back to normal. So a lesson there for sure!

Anyways, that's the update from the last month. Focus this month will be quashing this IT band thing and getting back to being active and non completely out of shape.