Chasing the Geriatrics

Probably the only time my rib cage will be so prominent.

If I remember correctly that's the L5 vertebrae. Fan-freaking-tastic. Time for some complete rest; no more upper body either. Good bye man-shoulders and the ability to do pullups! I will have to start all over on those. But, if it means being able to run in the future (near-future preferred) it's a sacrifice I am willing to make. I'm told this is capable of healing itself (with rest) and that all the upper body work probably kept it from getting better sooner. In addition to resting, I'm spending a few minutes a day on an inversion table - talk about nauseating.

The 'funny' thing is the medical doctor who took this x-ray said it looked fine and diagnosed me with piriformis.... and you wonder why I was reluctant to go do a doctor 4+ months ago!

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An Update and a Giveaway

It's been 6 weeks since my last post. I never thought I'd be one of "those people" who A) got injured for months on end or B) disappeared from the blogosphere. But here I am, crawling back and begging for your attention. Can you believe I missed National M&M Day?!? Horrors. I made up for it by overindulging in M&M's on and off, don't worry. I hope you all remembered to celebrate without me.

So what's new? (not much)

I'm still injured. Sucky-suck-suck-fest. I am soooo tired of not being able to run and could definitely do without the set of spare tires I've accumulated around my midsection.

I've spent a good chunk of money trying to figure out what's wrong and how to fix it at various doctors, weekly massages, and newly-started PT. I've gotten 4 separate diagnoses (although 2 of them are related as far as naming body parts) and so far nothing has helped. I've taken fish oil for inflammation (can't take NSAIDs), tried Kill Cliff for inflammation (it tastes a heckuvalot better than fish oil), I've iced, I've heated, I've rolled, I've lacrosse-balled, I've tried to stretch it, I've tried to Jane Fonda-exercise it, I've gone to the chiropractor (though I should have been going more frequently), I've taken almost FIVE MONTHS off of lower body exercise... with absolutely NO IMPROVEMENT. I did get a stand-up desk at work though, so one minor victory in this mess?

Ok, so I could still cash in my life savings and get an MRI or CAT done, but I'd rather spend that money on M&M's (and no doctor has mentioned doing one yet).

For all you google-certified-physicians (like myself) or actual-health-experts, here's a brief recap:
- Pain is in glute; hurts when standing up after sitting. Lower back won't stand fully straight right away.
- Sharp/shooting pain when sneeze while sitting.
- Get a sharp pain in glute when bending over (ie: to tie shoe). Yes, hamstrings are tight but I assume mostly from not being used in months; pain isn't in hammies).
- Current/latest diagnosis is something in SI/hip (I don't remember the exact term/location) is aggravating the piriformis which is possibly irritating my sciatic nerve.

On a lighter note, I have something to giveaway! Whoop whoop! I was contacted by tshirtprinting.org and offered a shirt with my logo on it as they were looking to promote their new business/tshirt printing services. They are a UK-based business but shipping was quick coming across the pond.

They were kind enough to send an extra shirt with my new Africa + foot + Kenya flag logo on it to giveaway! (It's pretty sweet if I do say so myself.) It's a women's medium (Gildan softstyle, 90/10 cotton/poly) but you men can still enter for your wife/girlfriend/sister/daughter/friend (or if you wear a women's medium but I don't think I have any 10 year old male readers).

Just mention in your comment below that you would like to be entered to win the t-shirt and be sure to check out tshirtprinting.org for your custom shirt needs!

(And I'd love it if you later sent a photo of you doing something fun/awesome in the shirt!)

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CrossFit Games: Gimpy Style

Although I've been dealing with my OI injury/gluteal bursitis and avoiding lower-body activity, I was still easily convinced to sign up for the CrossFit Games. It's not like I'll even get a good idea as to where I stand amongst the CrossFitters of the world because I can't (/shouldn't) do the workouts as prescribed.

Nevertheless, I paid the $20 and signed up. Then I paid another $20 to buy the t-shirt...

Bathroom selfie for the win

The "main" part of the Games is the Open. These are the first 5 weeks (held March-April) with 1 workout each week. Anyone who wants to participate can. The top 60 in each Region move on to more advanced stages of the Games but with 4,000+ ladies in my Region it's safe to say I won't need to worry about that level. The workout is announced each Wednesday evening and you can submit your score (typically # of reps) by Sunday evening.

13.1 - No, not a half marathon. As many reps as possible (AMRAP) in 17 minutes of:
40 burpees
30 snatches (45 lbs for women)
30 burpees
30 snatches (75 lbs for women)
20 burpees
30 snatches (100 lbs for women)
10 burpees
AMRAP snatches in time remaining (120 lbs for women)

My score: 2 (burpees)

I was smart and didn't push it. Technically I could have gotten at least 100 reps but loading up my glute/hammy in all those burpees and snatches would not have been wise.

In the days following I was envious of my friends who got to fully attempt the workout and see their ranking. (Insert suspenseful music) When the next workout was announced I was ecstatic - the first exercise was upper-body (the rest was stuff I shouldn't be doing). You can probably guess what happened next...

13.2 - AMRAP in 10 minutes of:
5 shoulder to overhead (75 lbs for women)
10 deadlift (75 lbs)
15 box jumps (step ups were allowed thanks to one of the top competitors breaking her foot)

My score: 209 (not smart)

one-legged rainbow bright

I probably irritated some of my friends by scoring just as well as they did with my one-legged deadlifts and step ups, but my left leg was spaghetti at the end of those 10 minutes. I've been in some new kinds of pain these past few days. 70 one-leg deadlifts when you haven't worked out your legs in 3 months? Not the brightest idea.

Here's hoping there are upper body moves in the three workouts to come!

I know Kovas and Bob Harper are also trying their hand at the Games, anyone else?

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