The Hardest Work of All... REST.

A few weeks ago, on the morning of the semi-finals of the Boston competition, I woke up with a horrible, itchy rash all over me from the neck down to the mid-thigh.  Here's a small sample of what it looked like.

Fortunately, many amateur pianists are also doctors.  They thought it looked like contact dermatitis, and I *had* been using a different soap for the past three days, so it seemed logical that that was all it was.  However, there was also this problem, which looked like something completely unrelated:

Long story short:  I was given prescriptions for prednisone and Augmentin.  I figured in a few days, I'd be fine.

Well, now it's over two weeks later.  The rash has faded quite a lot but is still there, and still itchy (although the itchiness might be a little better each day.)  The things that looked like infected bites on my arm are also faded somewhat, but still there.  

One possibility is that I contracted some virus that caused my rash.  However, throughout all of this, I have felt fine... until this past Friday.  I woke up not feeling right, like I was fighting a bug.  I couldn't really put my finger on it, and I wondered if maybe it was just anxiety, worrying about why my rash wouldn't go away.  I didn't run that morning.  I just walked instead.  Saturday, I felt better.  I did a shorter run of only 4 miles.  Then by Sunday afternoon I was not feeling well again, and this time I had some stuffiness/runniness in the left side of my nose.

I woke up at 3 AM today with a stuffy/runny nose and a headache, and now here I sit at the computer.

What's the first thing I think of?  My exercise.  I've been doing really well this spring and summer, getting back into shape.  I've got a SparkPeople "streak" going.  I don't want to break my streak.  I'm doing the local fitness challenge and I don't want to see my mileage stand still.  I've got a 5K this Saturday (the 6th race in a 7-race series), and I want to continue to work toward my goal of running every race in the series as hard as I can.

The logical part of my brain tells me, "Girl.  Stay home from work today and rest.  Call the doctor.  Go in and get some tests done so they can figure out what's going on."

The goal-driven part of my brain tells me, "It's still probably something totally non-serious that they can't do anything about, anyway.  You probably just caught a cold on top of whatever you have.  You'll be fine.  Go for an easy run.  You always feel better when you run.  You have obligations at work today and for your volunteer gigs tomorrow.  You've bothered your doctor enough.  Don't be such a wimp.  You are Wonder Woman!"

I know what I need to do, but I'm finding it really hard to do it.  I'm sure I'll get support from the SparkPeople community in the comment section, and that will help.  My guess is my mother will be one of the first to chime in!

Unexpected Ups... and Ups...

I raced a 5K this morning.  I checked out (what I thought was) the course map.  Nice and flat along the bike trail.  Great!

I lined myself up in the middle of the pack.  The gun went off.  We entered the bike trail and then... what??  We're turning right?  We're running up this steep hill?  

"Well, at least we are getting this hill out of the way at the beginning of the race," I thought.  I realized I must have looked at the wrong course map.

We looped back down to the flat trail.  I felt quite good, so I pushed the pace to where I was working a bit harder.  Little by little, I edged ahead as I passed people.  Finally, we got to where I could see the final big bridge overhead and I planned to really push it to the end, as the finish line wasn't that far away.

As we approached the bridge, I realized with a shock that the course was turning LEFT to do the hill again.  What the heck??  I had to climb that hill - unexpectedly - for the second time.

I pondered what I should do, as I was feeling quite tired.  I decided to walk up the hill.  I had pushed myself hard enough to where running up that hill would result in a side stitch and I didn't want to spend the last few minutes of the race feeling miserable.

We often encounter unexpected hills in our journeys to better health and fitness.  Some are bumps in the road, others are short but steep, and others are a long haul up a mountain.  We have to assess every situation as it presents itself and decide the best way to proceed.  Currently I'm rehabbing a stress fracture in my hand (the long haul).  I also think I'm coming down with something, as I've started coughing this afternoon and I have the "shaky leg" feeling I've gotten since childhood when I get sick.  Hopefully it's nothing more serious than a bump in the road.  I'll have to wait and see.

In the end, my efforts today were rewarded with an extra "up," - a good kind - as my time of 26:01 (8:24/mile pace) was enough to snag the 3rd place award in my age group.  A friend of mine came in 4 seconds ahead of me to get 2nd.  

Here's to wishing positive outcomes to all Sparkers battling any kind of uphill!

Do Not Squander Time

For the past few days, I've been dealing with pain in my left hand.  I went to my GP today and she brought the sports doc in.  Diagnosis:  Stress fracture of the fifth metacarpal.  NOT what a concert pianist (who has an engagement to play Rhapsody in Blue in 61 days) wants to hear.

Now, the good news.  I have two pieces of good news.
1.  I should be fine fairly soon.  Hopefully pain-free in two weeks.
2.  I have already gotten Rhapsody ready and, if I were not injured, I could perform it today.

So hopefully I'll heal and two months from today, on May 16th, I'll be making people happy playing Gershwin.  However, I don't really know that for sure, and I got to thinking... what would I do if I couldn't play piano like this any more?  It's such a huge part of who I am.  This is ironic, considering how as a child, my mother (Brooklyn_Born) had to force me to practice.

I have every reason to be hopeful that this isn't a life-changing injury, but it does make me wish a little bit that I hadn't wasted so much time in my youth.  It makes me a little sorry that I spent so may years away from performing.

The next time I don't feel like going to the gym or running, I will go.  Instead of sitting around and randomly surfing the Internet out of boredom, I will do something productive.

I have to remember not to squander time.  That's all any of us have, really... and like Gandalf said in Lord of the Rings, all we can do is decide what to do with it.

Ice Baths - Brrrrr!

I had tendinitis just about everywhere in my lower body at some point after taking up running.  I'm not kidding.  I had posterior tibial tendinitis, patellar tendinitis, iliotibial band syndrome, and Achilles tendinitis.  I didn't have them all at the same time, thank goodness.  I never get it anymore, but now I've been running for about 18 years.  In this time, I learned that I absolutely must stretch properly afterward, not increase my distances too drastically, do self-massage (and pay for real massages from time to time), and apply ice if needed.  After all this time, I'm sure my body is quite simply kind of used to the exercise as well.

But now, thanks to re-entering the world of piano competition and performance, I've got tendinitis in my arms and hands.  Virtuoso level repertoire is physically demanding.  It takes a lot of muscle to play heavy-duty powerhouse pieces, and for just about any piece, you have to stretch and twist your hands and wrists into unnatural positions to hit all the notes and to voice and connect them properly.

So, what led me to this point - me, a seasoned runner who understands the causes of tendinitis?  I didn't think about the fact that I was taxing my muscles and they needed to work up to it.  I just jumped in and started practicing 2 hours a day.  I often practiced at full speed and full volume.  I should have known better.  I wouldn't tell a new runner to run 2 hours a day.  I would tell them to work up gradually.  I wouldn't tell ANY runner to do speedwork every day.  That's just asking for trouble.

So now I need to approach piano practicing the way I do approach running, and I need to heal this tendinitis, to boot.  I'm practicing for a shorter amount of time, doing slow practice sometimes, and being conscious to relax while I play.  I'm getting massages and lifting weights to strengthen the tendons.  I'm also doing ice baths after I play.  Its not very fun, although after the first minute it doesn't feel quite so bad.  Here I am soaking in the sink after practicing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

If you're experiencing tendinitis in the lower body (like IT band syndrome), you can do this in the bathtub.  My advice for that is to wear something warm on the upper half of your body and bring a hot beverage along.  Some of you might think an ice bath is a crazy idea and that ice packs should work just as well, but the advantage of an ice bath is the cold gets absolutely EVERYwhere.

For more information on how to do an ice bath SAFELY, check out this web page:

Ice Bath Dos and Don'ts

It is never easy to convince myself to do an ice bath but once I've done it, I am usually glad I did.