Catching Up and Current State

Ah, Christmas in So Cal :)

Sitting here midday in pajamas, life seems to be good. I'm really enjoying this time off from school (though a week from today I'll be in my new placement with no forseeable breaks until I graduate in July) and have taken up crocheting (though I still suck). However, one thing is missing from this break in a very big way- running.

As I mentioned briefly, I did finally see a doctor before the holiday, but with all the good stuff going on, I didn't really want to go into it, as I am not really any more knowledgable than I was before. According to the doctor, the problem is my sciatic nerve. That's what's making the tingling in my foot and why it my whole leg hurts, and also why any physical activity bothers it (swimming, unfortunately, is still aggravating for this, so doesn't get to be the miracle cross training workout that it usually is with injuries). Essentially, I need physical therapy but my insurance is such that if I have to get a new primary care physician up in Santa Cruz, and have him tell my I need physical therapy and make me an appointment, which probably will take a while. Since I've been home I've been running 3 or so miles at a time, and my leg is always in varying stages of bothering me. I just don't know what to do. I don't know if running makes it worse, but resting doesn't seem to be making it better, so I feel like I should just run some. I've been trying heat, icing, stretching, with limited success.

Christmas morning, about to open my foam roller while my sister looks at the package with leery eyes. My new tool to combat my leg sucking

I'm in a bind between trying to be optimisitic (and asking Santa for an entry to American River in April) and being smart, i.e. taking time off. I had so many plans for this year (namely Miwok 100k and possibly my first 100 next fall) but I think I need to back off. The biggest thing I'm trying to remember is that if I play it right, I have the rest of my life to do all these ultras. I have this fear that if I don't keep running them like I was last fall, that I'll lose the ability to do so. I've really relished this identity as a runner, and it's been so odd to not really feel that as much these last few months. I'd forgotten how much I depended on running to keep my moods constant and happy, and to keep me eating healthy. Things seem a lot harder without that. The best option right now is to pay out of pocket to see someone when I get back to school at least to get an idea of what I should be doing. Right now I'm just haphazardly trying to make things better myself, with no success. But, it is what it is, and I have the rest of my life to run. Hopefully soon I'll have an action plan to get better.

__end of negativity___

That said, I did go on a wonderful 'run' with my dad yesterday (yes the leg hurt, but...yeah...runs can still be great!). His ITB is being dumb so we're both in the low mileage little speed boat. He had discovered a short trail loop behind the fields where I used to play soccer that he had done once before, so we decided to go do that. It was beautiful! In those two miles, we had two stream crossings. The first we both made over on rocks, but the second was a bit trickier. After rearranging a stone, my dad made it across with some difficulty. Seeing as how I'm a good 7 or so inches shorter than him, my legs are not nearly as long, so taking his same path could be difficult. Added to that, I don't think I have the best sense of balance. Thinking that falling off a rock into the river and perhaps twisting something would be worse, I just stepped back and ran through :) It was great! We added a little extra spur to our loop to go to a great point to lookout over the creek below, where we also saw a murder of crows congregating in a tree (did you know a group of crows is called a murder? pretty spooky :D). It was beautiful and lovely to be outside on trails again! The temperatures were perfect and I kept thinking it was a summer evening and not a winter one. Southern California, for all the things that I think less than fondly of, have great winters :)

In the non-running realm of life (which seems to be increasingly documented on here) life has been great.

Ed came down the day after christmas, and we had fun taking some day trips around the area. We went to Balboa Park in San Diego, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are being shown at the natural history museum. This is one of the first showings of them outside of Israel, so it seemed like a great opportunity. It was amazing to see parts of the bible (or writings that were related to bible writings but were chosen to not go into the bible). Thousands of years old writings of Leviticus, Psalms, the Book of Enoch (bet that one doesn't seem familiar!) and others. As a history lover, it was just great. We also saw a movie on the waters of Baja California, and saw lots of cool skeletons of animals. Balboa park in itself is a beautiful and expansive place,

and walking around was wonderful.

We also visited the Botanical Gardens while we were there, which I enjoyed, especially since I (of course) had my camera :)

His last day, we went up to UCLA (his Alma Mater) so that he could show me around his favorite spots and then, that afternoon see a UCLA basketball game with my family. UCLA has a gorgeous campus, and it was fun to see it again. It was a beautiful, if stightly chilly, day.

New Years celebrations are looking to be wonderful, with the food emphasis that our family always has around the holidays. Tonight we're going out to a nice dinner and then a movie (I know, I'm such a crazy partier ;) ). Tomorrow we'll be having homemade waffles with yummy toppings and bacon. Appetizers will be two kinds of pate, olives, crackers, cheeses, and champagne. And dinner will be lobster (my first ever!) with white rice and a really good salad. For dessert I'll be making white chocolate gelato (I got an ice cream maker and a Williams and Sonoma recipe book for christmas)

All in all, a great way to ring in the new year.

Hope everyone has a great celebration!