Multi-Tasking Momma
SBS doing PT while cookies bake (photo by Phoebe, 8)
Maybe it’s hormones or maybe it’s hard-wiring, but I am convinced moms are unable to sit idle or only perform a single task. While I talk on the phone, I put away laundry or make my kids’ bed. I set my alarm clock and lay out running clothes while brushing my teeth. And there’s always the classic: folding laundry while watching “Survivor.” (Leaving me feeling like maybe having only one pair of shorts, undies, and sports bra wouldn’t be so rough…)
Now I have a new activity to add to the multi-task mix: doing physical therapy exercises. Knock on wood, I’ve been injury free during all of my marathon-training cycles (sorry, Dimity!), but I finally decided it’s time to pay attention to my nagging left Achilles tendon. Ever since I resumed running after the twins’ birth in summer 2005, that spot has been my, well, Achilles heel. It never out-and-out hurts, but it hums and huffs on a fairly regular basis. It had been lying dormant for quite a while, but as I started training for the Big Sur Marathon, it started acting up again. While meeting with a physical therapist for a magazine assignment, I asked him about my heel and he told me of a protocol that has 100% success rate. Sold!
Only hitch in my giddy-up? It involves doing 6 x 15 repetitions twice a day. Each session takes 8 to 10 minutes. I realize that’s not a ton of time, but it means I’m now setting my alarm that much earlier. But in the spirit of mommy multi-tasking, I quickly realized I can mix the exercises (basically, calf raise on my good leg, then lowering myself on the sore ankle, all while perched on a step) with making the kids’ lunches or cooking dinner. Last night, I did two sets of the exercises, then basted the chicken, then a few more sets and put the broccoli in the microwave. This morning I brought in the paper, and then mixed in some much-needed ab exercises. Maybe I should try blogging in between sets…
Something tells me I’m not the only mom being pulled in multiple directions (while trying to stretch!)…
Tough Decisions
For what is such a simple activity that requires a minimum of gear, running certainly eats up quite a bit of my bank account. And I’m not even talking shoes and sports bras, two items which definitely need to be replaced more often than I do. (O.k., maybe not so much on the bras; Lycra doesn’t stretch much holding up mini-pancakes.)
What drains my money is trying to figure out what is going on with my left hute (glute/hip) and knee. At this point–over two years into the condition–I’ve seen two PT’s; one highly renowned orthopedist whose 
biggest suggestion was changing my shoes (oh, so glad I waited three weeks and paid an out-of-network cost for that brilliant advice); one sports chiropractor; one biomechanist; and had multiple sessions of ART (active release technique); one set of x-rays on my lower back (after seeing my arthritic back, the tech asked me, “Have you ever been in a car accident?” Fortunately, no.) and one MRI on my knee; and more deep tissue, definitely not-relaxing massages than I care to remember.
I haven’t added up the total of all that inconclusive care for fear that it’ll cripple me more than my left side does now.
I admit, I haven’t always been the best patient with the best follow-through, but still. We can put a man on the moon. Six qualified experts and countless hours, should, one would think, be able to piece together an explanation as to why, on most days after I run, I feel like I’d be better off just cutting off my left leg than trying to untangle and soothe its ligaments and knotted muscles.
I don’t have to tell you that our country is in a scary place economically, and our family is feeling it as much as most families are around the country. We got some shockingly high insurance bills last week from the sports chiro, the one who has definitely had the biggest positive effect on my body, and my husband and I had a minor domestic over them and, consequently, my running.
To me, running isn’t just a hobby: it’s my mental lubricant, my confidence builder, and, um, as you may have guessed, a significant source of my income.
To him, also a runner, my running has mostly been a financial and emotional suck; after the half-marathon we ran together in Austin over Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t stop the tears because I was in so much pain, and I knew how much sitting for three hours on a plane would slay me even further. (Romantic, huh?) I know he’s sick of hearing me complain, which I totally get–I’m even sick of hearing me complain–and the bills, I think, were the catalyst to finally let him vent about how frustrated he is with the whole ordeal.
And his concerns are rational: I understand money that should be going to college funds (or, better yet, our retirement) is going to my body. But running for me isn’t rational. It’s more religion, and I’m at odds to reconcile the situation.
So I stumble forward. Next to-do on my diagnosis list is a costly MRI of my lower back. I do think this examination might be the one that finally unlocks a few secrets, as I have little power in my left leg and am fairly certain I’ve got some seriously blocked nerves. But will it lead to THE diagnosis? Doubtful. At this point, I don’t think there is such a thing, unless there’s a diagnosis called Dimity Not Natural Runner. And there’s a chance it may lead to a recommendation to stop running totally, which I won’t be able to stomach.
My appointment, which I’m still not sure I’ll go to, is in about 1.5 weeks. I’m taking it easy, running-wise, until then. I haven’t run since Monday, but have been strength training and PT’ing and spinning. I know two weeks of relative rest and rehab won’t cure me, but I’m hoping I feel a slight step in the right direction, and, with that progress, I can confidently cancel the MRI and stay the course. (I’m sad to report, though, that six days of R + R hasn’t produced any marked improvement.) I dropped out of the Zooma half-marathon at the end of March in Austin, which is the first time I’ve picked recovery over racing.
It wasn’t easy to say no–and I’ll still be there cheering obnoxiously on the sidelines–but enough is enough. Time to really focus on a new, more important race with a different goal: to have both my body (and our finances) eventually be healthier, if not totally healed.
Do you have tough decisions, financial, injury or otherwise, you have to make about running?