WHERE OH WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

I know, I KNOW! June?! Seriously? That was my last post? My apologies. Life has up and taken me away on so many adventures (both good and bad) that I just have not had much time or energy to post here.

Today, I decided to change that and give you (whoever is left anyway) an update on what the heck has been going on.

First the good news! If you follow me on social media then you already know that I have joined the Engine 2 Team as a blogger! Can we say DREAM COME TRUE!? I get to write about plant-based eating, traveling, running, living and come up with recipes! Hopefully you will follow them on Instagram and/or Facebook so you’ll get word when a new post hits their site. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity.

So writing for them has been keeping me plenty busy. In addition to that, I still work full-time at my regular job and occasionally I host Plant-Based Challenges for any employee that wants to participate. Last challenge blew me away.

In June I had 25 participants and overall we lost a total of 114 pounds in just 10 days! Some people reduced or dropped medication and all of them realized how beneficial plant-based eating can be not only for their body but also their heart and soul.

Now on to the not so great news. 🙁

If you remember I ran the Marin Ultra Challenge 50 miler in March followed by the Quicksilver 100k in May.  Both were successful, challenging races that I completed and was thrilled with each finish.

What I did not share way back then, is that post run (race or training) I had been having some nagging pains in my hamstring, my high hamstring to be precise.

After Quicksilver I promised myself that I would take a month off and I did. Nothing improved, if anything, the pain got worse.

Fast forward with a visit to a sports therapy doctor, an x-ray and an MRI later here I am. So what happened? Back in February I was doing a trial at a pilates place near my house. While in the reformer, the instructor had us open our legs into a V formation. Well, I wasn’t properly warmed up and that pull was a bit too much for me and I felt a pop. I pushed it aside as a normal “oh the body pops and aches all the time” but from that moment on, my hamstring hurt but only after I finished a run or when I sat for long periods of time. It wasn’t excruciating at first, it was more of a gradual pain until after Quicksilver when it wasn’t so gradual anymore. It hurt.

As it turns out, I most likely created micro tears in my high hamstring from that not so graceful pilates move.  My MRI showed some stressed and damaged muscle indicating there was some trauma to the area. Awesome.

First I had Shockwave Therapy done. That’s painful and usually quite effective but unfortunately, your high hamstring is so embedded in your bum, that it is REALLY hard to reach that muscle. Trust me when I say having this procedure done on this part of your body leaves you in a most unflattering position.

My next option was some physical therapy. Now I have been blessed to be able to visit the Kaiser Golden One Center Sports Medicine Department.

This place rocks in terms of therapists and the equipment available. I did a few weeks of PT without much improvement so my  next option, in order to try and “speed things along” was PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma.
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Click on the link above for a full description of what exactly PRP is but the gist of it is this: A doctor drew blood from me and put it in a centrifuge.  He removed all the platelets from my own blood and inserted them into a HUGE needle. He then took that needle and using an ultrasound as a guide, injected the platelets straight into the micro-tears inside my hamstring. Yup, that was fun.

The thought behind this process is that platelets are what heals our body so by injecting them directly into damaged area, the area should heal faster. Think of it this way, Platelets are the glue and the glue is being injected into the damaged muscle in hopes of gluing it back together.

I was on crutches and off my leg for 3 days following the procedure. The procedure itself didn’t hurt (for me) but the days following were VERY uncomfortable.

So here we are now. Next week will be six weeks post procedure and technically my window to start running again. Since the procedure I took two weeks off completely. That meant NO stairs, NO hills and NO stress on the hamstring (which is really hard when you think about it). I then resumed PT after those two weeks and have been progressively improving with each PT visit. So much so that my physical therapist says I am “ahead of schedule” with my range of motion and my ability to bear load or weight (I attribute this to my plant-based diet 😉 ).

So here we are. I am doing my daily PT homework and making strides in the right direction.

I do think my return will be slow and even though I am hopeful that I will be 100% some day, I am not having the highest of hopes as I am still in a lot of pain when it comes to sitting. My hamstring does not like that one bit.

I miss running. I miss the woods and the trees and the dirt. I know that I am doing the right thing right now and I am listening and following all the orders that the PT gives me. Trust me, that’s hard as I don’t generally follow direction well. 🙂

Vans has been great and has been patient with my moodiness and allowing me to go on long ( PT approved) hikes on the trails in our hood. We even took a special trip to Tahoe one weekend to see Dave Matthews Band AND spend the night WITHOUT the kids (thanks to some family that was in town visiting and who are awesome).

I am very grateful for all that has happened though. I have a great doctor, I have a great physical therapist, a patient husband and a healing body. I can’t ask for much more. I just have to wait and be patient and let the magic happen. Soon though, soon I will be back on the trails with the wind in my hair and the dirt all over my shoes and it will be that much sweeter when it happens.

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma