I've been dealing with a {hopefully} minor injury this week. It completely snuck up on me. Last week I had a great 9.4 mile run with my girls, and after four days of rest and recovery, I met my friend for a 4-mile hill run.............but felt an immediate sharp pinching pain behind my left knee. I only took about 2 steps before I had to stop, at first trouble shooting my knee wrap, and then realizing it was unmistakably my lower hamstring. I'm confused at how this happened, since I never felt even the slightest pain with regular activity and have never dealt with hamstring issues before. It's extremely frustrating to halt my training for the R.I.C.E method less than a month away from the big day. I asked a trainer at the gym who gave the advice of "stretch, stretch, stretch", which is funny, because I stretch more than anyone I know AND do Yoga 3 times a week. (And on another disgusting note....Patrick is sick with bronchitis!!! Right before our 5k!!!....ugh...)
On the upside, there's a couple of little bodies in our household who are enjoying the extra time with me.
The puppies love it when we all get to spend the entire day together as a family.
Sumo's squoosh-face is always a crack-up especially since he has no idea why we are laughing at him.
Callie was in a particularly good mood. She laid next to me upside down and chewed on her toy while I was stretching.
Of course Sumo can't go half a minute without being in Callie's business.
And what's a day of fun without doing a few tricks for treats?? The funny thing is, Callie will come up to Patrick and do her trick without anyone asking her to........She believes in making her wishes obvious and pitiful. Sumo is just along for the ride.
Playing slaps. Remember that game? I always sucked at it; so does Callie.
Oh look....Begging for treats again....
Of course, I can only be trapped indoors for so long before going crazy when the weather is nice, so we headed to the park for a walk....to test out my hamstring and Patrick's lungs. He was wheezing after about 1.5 miles, so we stopped, but it at least gave me a little time to test out my new toy!
Apparently a SpiBelt is a fancy runner's fanny pack that no one will make fun of you for wearing, unlike my real authentic fanny I've sported for years that everyone pokes fun at me for. Oh the irony. It's very compact, but stretches to fit almost anything. Below I'm carrying my huge phone, keys and Chapstick and still have room for more. The entire thing is made of elastic material so it's comfortable, but the best news is it didn't budge the entire time I wore it, which is a huge deal, considering my well known "curve" usually makes everything ride north.
Since "C" in R-I-C-E stands for compression, I bought some compression shorts to see if they would make a difference, which I will also wear on my long runs from now on. So far, aside from the fact that these are presentable to the public eye, I can't tell they're any different from what wearing Spanx would feel like.
P.S. I took Sumo to the vet for some shots, and found out they know him there as "The Yorkie that smiles". Isn't that sweet?
Compression gear opinions or experiences, anyone? Hamstring issues or advice???
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