P: Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon...Vicarioiusly!

Grr, I am SO mad that I'm "injured!" I should have seen it coming. 4 different sports in one week (soccer, frisbee, running, rock climbing). Two half marathons (supposedly) in one week. 5 hours average sleep a night. My body was angling for a hurting, and here it came. Okay, it's not THAT big of an injury. Or rather, it's just frustrating because I can't articulate what exactly the injury is--it's either a torn or pulled diaphragm, ab, or rib muscle. All I know is that the right side of my center ribs hurt like a mo-fo and it hurts to breathe. Or laugh. Or sneeze. Or twist from side to side. Or sometimes, just to sit there.

So after my awesome half-marathon experience last Sunday, where I had a PR (personal record) of 1hr, 57 min, I went to my rock climbing class on Tues. Bear in mind, would you, that it's an INTRO CLASS and it's the first day. I could barely complete one climb, and when I went to do a second, I was suspended 1.5 feet off the ground, and my Korean language partner is like belaying me, and his friend is watching us on the sidelines, and I'm wearing tights and the harness is pinching at my ass, thighs, stomach, and I feel like a freak. My legs were so tight from the half that they would not move. I couldn't leave the footholds to get a better grip, so I was just suspended in the air, twisting and thrashing about, trying to get better leverage. After the class, I have this weird twinge on my side, and I figure I'll sleep it off. But it gets worse on Wed. So then I think, oh, I'll massage out the knot with a golf ball. But Thurs morning it's even worse. It hurts to breathe. I can't get out of bed. If I twist side to side I'm in pain. It culminated to Thurs night, where I was sitting on my couch wheezing, gripping at my side and thinking, "sh*t, do I have appendicitis?" No, of course not. I call my cousin, who once had appendicitis, and she's like,

"No, the pain would actually be down lower. YOu just need to let a big one rip."

But that doesn't sound right. It's not a gas pain, it's a muscle related one. So I'm wondering how much of a hypochondriac I am, wondering if I should go to the emergency room, since I can't breathe, and I call my parents. Who get very worried. As much as they trained me to never take tylenol or advil for fear of addiction as a child, my father's the first one to say, "go to the emergency room." My mother's like, "go take some vitamin C, then go to the hospital." I just didn't understand why the pain was getting progressively worse, not better, and why I couldn't really breathe.

Anyway, after some belabored breathing, I finally manage to fall asleep , and I feel much better the next day. So yes, I guess I am paranoid. Although when I'm about to sneeze, my whole side freezes up again, and I'm like, okay, I guess I'll get it checked out at the health center.

Blood work, urine samples, prodding at my chest, at which point I start crying because I'm kind of in pain, and the doctor came to the conclusion that: (1) it's not mono (2) it's not a kidney stone and (3) I'm not allowed to run a half-marathon this wknd.

GRR!!!!$$&%*^(*!

I have now gone one full week without exercising, which is the longest I've gone all year. And I am going to start gaining weight. And my body's been craving more food, post-half-marathon, because it seems to think I'm going to be burning yet another 1300 calories in under two hours, so it's eating in anticipation of that. This is bad, bad news.

Incidentally, Brian came up from NY this wknd (he was here to see about a girl) and it was his bday wknd, and he ran under my bib # with our friend Amy. So really, the records show that I ran the race in an amazing 1hr, 47 min pace. We had a great wknd of shopping at the Burlington Mall in I think NH? and I bought a bathing suit from this store called Martin & Osa, which is a higher-end spinoff of American Eagle. And we made a pasta dinner, and since the race was so early, I too crashed at Amy's, before we were up at 6am for the race. And it was weird being a spectator for a race that I would've run in. Luckily I hooked up with this guy who was also there to watch his wife, and I got a ride with him to the heartbreak hills, so I got to see Amy, Brian, and this other kid from running club at miles .3, 2, 6, 7, and then 13.1!

So, although the weekend was fairly tame, I am supposed to rest up so I can presumably kick ass at my climbing class on Tues, and then I REALLY need to be in good shape for the Harpoon Brewery 5.3 miler on Saturday. I will be so, so pissed if I can't run. I hate feeling like a gimp.

cheers, P