Injured...but there's a giveaway!

Hello all!

I realize today is not Sunday. I also realize that I haven't posted in over 2 weeks. Just put a big, fat, red FAIL stamp on my forehead for Sunday blogging. Better late than never, right? I have a lot of random things on my mind right now -- running and non-running alike.

First of all, I want to congratulate one of my fave blog buddies, Muddy Runner, for his fantastic first marathon a couple of Sundays ago! LB ran the Surf City Marathon with a time of 4:42. LB is an inspiration to me. Three years ago he weighed 308 pounds...and now he just completed a marathon, weighing in at around 190! Amazing. If you haven't stopped by his blog yet, do so now. I'll wait... There's nothing better than a virgin-marathoner race report!

As you might have already guessed from the title of my post, I have suffered my first running injury. And it's a tricky one. I'd never heard of it before two weeks ago...when the husband diagnosed me. Let me tell you my story:

A couple of weeks ago I stood up at my desk at work and felt a sharp pain on the outside of my left hip/thigh, sorta close to my butt. I figured it was nothing, the pain subsided, and then later that day I went to the gym for running and lifting. As soon as I hopped on the treadmill the pain came back. It wasn't as sharp as before, but it was pretty bothersome. I ran through it, thinking if I ran a little bit it would work out the kinks. The pain lessened to a dull ache and I ran for 4 miles. The pain wasn't anything like I'd never run through before. It just felt like, well, pain you get sometimes because you run. Make sense?

So after I finished running my scheduled 4 miles I hopped off the treadmill and, whoa! I couldn't walk without limping. That's never happened before. Not even after the marathon. So I went home and promptly asked the husband to check me out. No, not "check me out", you pervs (although he is allowed to do that!), check me out, as in use his physical therapy skills and find out what's wrong.

Side note: Have I ever mentioned how much it turns me on when he gets all professional, and talks "physical therapy" to me? Because it does. He's learned so much, I love it. He is going to be an effing great PT when all the school is said and done.

So, the husband had me do some stretches, then he would bend and twist my hip/leg this way, or that way, and ask me if it hurt or not. Then he did this one stretch/move...I don't what you call it in PT terms...he had me lay on my back, bend my right leg so that my knee was elevated with my right foot on the ground, and had me prop my left ankle on my right knee. Then he pushed down on my left knee and....FML!!! OWWWW.

Me: "That hurts!!"

Husband: "I know exactly what it is."

Me: "Please tell me it's not a stress fracture..."

Husband: "You'd need an x-ray for me to tell you that."

Me: "Eff my life!"

Husband: "It's your piriformis."

Me: "Piri...what?"

Husband: "Your piriformis muscle. It's probably too tight, and it's probably pinching your sciatic nerve. That's where the pain comes from."

Me: "How do I fix it?"

Husband: "Rest."

Me: "I hate resting."

Husband: "You should probably do some strength exercises on your hip abductors, too."

Me: (In my head) "Eff my life."

So, the husband went online to one of his scholarly websites, did some research, and came up with the following:

* Piriformis syndrome is a neuromuscular disorder that occurs when the sciatic nerve is compressed or otherwise irritated by the piriformis muscle causing pain, tingling and numbness in the butt and along the path of the sciatic nerve descending down the lower thigh and into the leg. <--- This is totally where my pain is at.


* Runners are very susceptible to piriformis syndrome because of the constant forward motion. It can be avoided if the runner does lateral stretching and strengthening exercises. <---I run. I hate strength, and I (oops) never stretch. FML! Lesson learned the hard way.

*Repeated forward motion, with no lateral (side to side) movement leads to disproportionate weak hip abductors, and tight hip adductors. This causes the piriformis muscle to shorten and severely contract, which pinches the sciatic nerve. <---This is totally me. The husband tells me I have the weakest hip abductors he's ever seen.

* Piriformis syndrome is also caused by overpronation of the foot. <--- FML! I'm a "severe" overpronator with the flattest feet possible. Boo.

So there you have it. I took my husband's advice and rested...for 2 days. What can I say? I really wanted to run. Stupid, stupid Christy. It didn't improve. Still hurt. I've been doing increased stretching and strengthening exercises that the husband told me to do, and I finally gave in and didn't run. Last Monday I went to my yoga class, did some awesome stretching, and there was no more pain anymore. So I decided to test out another run last Tuesday. It felt great for the first 4 miles. Then the pain came back. Stupid Christy prevailed and decided to keep running for 5 more miles. It was just a dull pain, but it was still there. After the 9-miler, I went home frustrated. I've finally come to the realization that rest doesn't mean "only a couple of days." I'm going to continue to do my stretching and strengthening to make my weak areas stronger, and I've been taking a rest from running. My last run was over a week ago. I'll play it by ear. I'm going to try a short run this weekend, test it out, see how I feel. The husband said two weeks off from running should be okay. I'll still go to the gym and do other forms of cardio, but I guess I need to heal.

This is part of the reason I haven't blogged. It's depressing, not being able to run. When I go to the gym and see everyone on the treadmills I get this sense of...longing. It sounds so cheesy, but it's true. I hate not being able to step on that treadmill, or step on the asphalt and get going. Running is what I do, and what am I supposed to do if I can't run? I know, I should stop whining. I'll be able to run soon, and there are lots of runners out there with worse injuries than mine. I should be grateful it's not something worse.

*sigh* I hate not running.

Moving on.

In some good news for blogging, I may rescind my "blog on sunday only" policy. Good news for y'all, bad news for me. Just last week I was informed that the clinic that I work for in the hospital is being shut down. Which means starting yesterday, I no longer have a full-time job. I'm being placed as a PRN (as needed) employee, so who knows how many hours I'll get during any given week. If y'all remember my post awhile back about my job situation since moving to Florida, it hasn't been a good one. Go back and re-read if you want the full story.

So anyway, while this puts financial strain on my little family of two, I'm trying to see this as a blessing in disguise. I now have loads of time to study for my English tests, which is good. I've been feeling so time-crunched for studying, and I've been freaking out that I won't be prepared for the exams. Plus, it means I can give myself an hour every day to blog. Yay!

And now for the best part of this post, and probably the only reason you kept reading through this novel of a post -- a giveaway! A totally real and awesome giveaway. Not a fake giveaway, a REAL one. Hooray.

First, let me give a little background info.

I have earphone/earbud issues. Ever since I started running with my iPod I've had problems with earbuds staying in my ear. I've tried all kinds, all brands. Skull Candy, Bose, apple, Sony, etc. You name it, I've tried them. Apparently my ear holes are teeny tiny. (ear holes....hahahaha, sounds funny) Everything is too big, and I'm constantly having to jam those things back in my ears during my runs. Annoying.

A while back I given the chance to try out a pair of yurbuds. These things are amazing. Freaking amazing. They are custom-fit to your ear, and while they look a little funny, they are so comfortable. The best part? They haven't fallen out of my ears. Not once. *yayyyyyyy!* Oh, and just in case you're wondering, they fit over most brands of earbuds. So you don't have to buy new earphones for these babies to work.


But that's not the only thing I love about these things. The sound quality is fan-freaking-tastic. I don't have to turn my iPod's volume up as loud as normal, and it seriously sounds like I've got a home theater surround sound system in my ears. No joke, folks! Here's mine:


So, the folks over at Yurtopia have kindly offered to give 10 of my readers a pair of Yurbuds, too! Not just one pair, but TEN pairs!!!! So here are the rules for this giveaway.

1. Become a follower of my blog, and get one entry. Let me know you did this in a comment. If you're already a follower, let me know that, too.

2. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog, and get TWO entries. Let me know you did this in a comment.

3. Post a link to the Yurbuds website, and get one entry. Let me know you did this.

4. In a comment, tell me what kind of earbuds/earphones you have. Do you like them/hate them? Tell me why. Get one more entry.

All of this can be done in one comment. I don't need 4 different comments for the same person. Unless you really want to do that, of course, but one comment is just fine. Contest ends Saturday, Feb. 20 at midnight EST.

Please note that I received my yurbuds free of charge from Yurtopia, and this review is given honestly and of my own free will. If I hated them, I'd tell ya, I promise!

Oh, and if you like this giveaway, I'm pretty sure you'll love this one. Adam, over at I am Boring, is hosting his first ever blog giveaway. Go check it out and enter to win!