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Archive of ‘Injuries’ category

Life Updates in Bullet Form (And A Brooklyn Race Discount)

I’ve been devoting my weekly blog post to marathon training weekly recaps. They take a lot of time, and it takes everything I have to even get those up. So, I haven’t really been blogging about anything else and I imagine some of you are bored by me. Others might be confused because I blogged just one time in April of this year, where I mentioned my incredibly long work days and wondering how I’d even fit marathon training in. And yet here I am, very clearly training and making no mention of how I’m managing my time. In bulleted form, I will explain what’s going on in my life along with other related thoughts:

  • I’m no longer at the job I had when I wrote that post. Some of you left comments saying I could wake up at 3 am to train for my marathon and others said that you make exercising work on 70 hour work weeks even though you’re tired. Neither of those were good for me. I need more sleep than that while training, and also I need weekends. Or early mornings. Or evenings. Any one of those would have helped, but I didn’t have any. Exercise aside, I missed my husband and my dog. I am a hard worker, but this was not my dream job (nor was it a permanent role – it was contract) and it was killing me. Sitting for 12+ hours a day with no breaks even fucked up my back, and I did not want that to turn into yet another injury. SOMETHING had to give, and in the end, a job where I had to work 7 days a week (with 12 hour days during the week) was not the right job for me.
  • I’m starting a new job on Monday.  As much as I love not working, I love being able to pay my rent even more. I think.
  • When I go back to work, I will miss: spending time with my dog, waking up and leisurely getting ready to run, my dog park friends, going to the dentist/doctors/physical therapist/Refine during the day, and making semi-elaborate breakfasts every single day.
    Dori's Eggs

    My semi-elaborate daily breakfasts. You will be missed.

  • My old job was in a field I felt pigeon-holed in. My new job is in a field I used to work in and have been wanting for so long to get back into. I’m really glad because I fucking hate social.
  • My dog has an amazing sixth sense. Larry indicates to me when he doesn’t want to go into the dog park because he can sense a bad situation. I’ve seen firsthand how accurate he is, twice. After taking a dog (not mine) to the vet who was attacked today (because his dog walker needed an ambulance for himself), I will never ignore Larry’s signals again. I wish I could devote my entire life to protecting him and making him happy.
  • I love Larry Gary so much it makes my heart hurt.
    Larry on couch

    Daytime dog, you will be missed.

  • I want so much to be a person who has an uncluttered, neat, almost bare. I am not that person. 
  • We moved on June 30 and I still don’t have a place for everything in my new apartment. I want to get rid of more but don’t know how. Every time I try to begin, I feel overwhelmed and then I sit down. And stay there.
  • Can someone with no emotional attachment to my shit please come over and throw away everything?
  • My friend Lindsay from Happy Herbivore has a rule when it comes to getting rid of shit, and that rule is this: If this item was destroyed in a fire, would I replace it? That’s been helping a lot more than thinking about the last time you wore/used something or the next time you might.
  • I love my new apartment and its location so, so, so much. I feel happy every time I come home.
  • I like wasting time on the couch. I don’t like getting nothing done. But the couch usually wins.
  • I joined the Oiselle Volée Team. You might how much I love Oiselle after my NYFW experience last year. Good people, great shorts.
  • Fun fact: My first encounter with Oiselle CEO Sally was her informing me my skirt was tucked into my underwear. At the fashion week show.
  • Missing from my Oiselle profile (because I was so excited to write my answers I sent it in quickly without thinking) in the favorite gear section is the fact that I CANNOT run without my Hokas and Injinji toe socks. I’m in PT for foot pain that’s caused by my pelvis, and I had two PTs in two different offices tell me that wearing the right shoes literally saved my foot. As for the socks, I would be a walking blister without them. Try them. You are welcome.
  • None of those are affiliate links. Click away!
  • Just being on the team for a little while, I already love the camaraderie, the knowledge that if I travel somewhere I’ll probably find a running buddy, access to a community of women to talk running with, insight into all different races and experiences, and supporting a brand I already loved.
  • I’m running the JackRabbit Battle of Brooklyn 10 Mile Race on Sunday, August 17. It will be part of my 20-22 mile run. If you’d like to join, you can use code battledori for $10 off your registration! It will be my first time running in Brooklyn.
  • For two years, I thought my chronic left foot aching and swelling was because of my bunion. I accepted it as something I could no nothing about and would have to just live with. During my time off, I went to see a new podiatrist and he sent me to physical therapy. I never considered PT for what I thought was a bunion, and I was excited about the prospect of free foot massages. As it turns out, my foot pains have nothing at all to do with my bunion (aside from possibly starting because I adjusted my gait when I initially had bunion issues and then my body adapted to this new way of walking and standing). The pain is actually from my pelvis, which is turned in on the left side. My left leg appears longer than my right, even though it is not. My running shoes show more wear on the left toes. At PT, we work on fixing that. All good news except that this means I don’t get free foot massages. Instead I get butt massages, which is not nearly as fun as it sounds.

That’s what’s been going on here. I’m going to do my best to get my weekly training recaps up when I start working, though (unfortunately for me) I’ll probably have to do them on Sundays. My new job involves a driving commute. And maybe traffic. And weather. And is nowhere near NYC. Let’s see if I can get myself to open my computer on Sundays. As the Ander and I always say, TWT (time will tell).

Are you the type of person I want to be – a home without crap everywhere? Almost bare looking? SHARE YOUR SECRETS.

Post-Injury Learnings + My Husband’s Viral Tweet

While I was injured for a few months, I learned something: Just because I can do something, doesn’t mean I should.

What I mean is this: When I’m taking Refine classes, I get stronger. And when I get stronger, I’m able to lift heavier kettlebells, use heavier resistance on the pulley system and do the advanced version of any given exercise. And I go from two classes a week, to three, to four. But I don’t think it’s right for me and the way I am built to always do more more more. I already know I can get the benefits of the class without it – my problem is that the class is so much fun I WANT to do more. I crave it. I feel proud when I can use a heavier bell or add an extra resistance cord. But just because I can doesn’t always mean I should.

Don’t get me wrong – for many people, that is the entire point of exercise! You get strong, you move to the next level. But with my injury history I’m only now realizing that that isn’t right for my body. I have a very small frame – maybe that’s why, I don’t know. But I can tell you that I’m already noticing improvements in my strength from just going to Refine once a week (and not using much weight yet). Of course, everyone reaches a point where they have to do more – faster reps or heavier weight – to continue gaining benefits. But I can be more mindful about how I challenge myself.

For example, when I talked to Brynn (founder of Refine) about this, she suggested that when I am ready to pick up a kettlebell again, instead of racking them by my shoulders, I hold them with my hands, hanging down. Or I continuing to avoid exercises that just might not work for my body (like jumpbacks) and keep substituting them with ones that do, even if they’re not quite AS challenging (like med ball wall slams). I’m still boosting my heart rate and moving constantly and gaining strength – that is good in and of itself!

Plus, the benefit of a class like Refine is that I’ll always have an instructor ready to offer me a modification or alternative workout when an exercise doesn’t feel or look right. And one thing my Physical Therapist said that sticks with me – go with my gut. I’ll know when something doesn’t seem OK and that means I should stop right then and there. If I have any doubt about an exercise, don’t do it. Which makes me especially glad to have such great instructors at Refine to offer alternatives.

After the marathons, I’m sure I will go to class more – but I don’t think I will go more than three times a week again. I think I need to recognize my limits and remember that exercise is a personal thing. Just because my friend can take class five times a week and be awesome doesn’t mean I can, and that is OK. Just because I *could* do an overhead press after the last time I came back from my neck injury doesn’t mean I should have – clearly, since that brought on the recurrence of my injury. I need to recognize the limits of my body and remember I am still reaping the benefits of the class.

So much of exercise is learning what works for YOU – and that will always be different than what works for someone else.

I’m so far from type-A it’s laughable, but for some reason when it comes to classes I love, I get into this mindset where I plan my life around going X times a week. So many months off from my injury seem to have freed me from that, and I really value the extra free time to see my dog husband and dog.

Speaking of husband, we were sitting outside on a pier eating my favorite breakfast from my favorite Jersey City cafe Sam A.M. when he came across a funny article about the Kanye + Kim wedding. He wanted to take a photo but neither of us had a pen with us for him to place a little mark (he does this so he can easily identify when other websites steal his photos). We tried to figure out how to get Larry in it, but couldn’t find a good way and so he just snapped the photo and tweeted it. And then went viral:

With over 10,000 retweets and being picked up by multiple other sites (most who credited him, we can identify those who didn’t because his version has that crinkle in the corner). There is no real point to this story other than to express my excitement that a tweet Andy sent while we ate breakfast went viral. The real question is: How can we get rich?

Other news:

(1) Today is National Running Day! Women’s Running has a special offer in celebration of the day – just $1 an issue!

Me, my grandma and my Aunt Dale

Me, my grandma and my Aunt Dale

(2) Last night I went to the kickoff session for the American Cancer Society’s Team DetermiNation NYC Marathon team at the Hope Lodge. The Hope Lodge is a facility that offers lodging at no cost for cancer patients being treated in Manhattan. As part of our team efforts, we will be spending time there with patients, reminding us why we are all working so hard to raise money for ACS. My constant reminder every day is my Aunt Dale, who died almost two years ago from kidney cancer. I’m sharing my fundraising page here again because I appreciate any donation at any amount to help me reach my goal. Thank you! http://main.acsevents.org/goto/dorigray 

 

 

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