I know I haven’t been on here hardly at all and my last few
posts have been mostly anything but running related. I would like to preface this post by saying I
have not run since the marathon at the beginning of December. I’ve been dealing with what I can only refer
to as an injury that got way out of control.
Since I was 17, after a weight lifting mistake/accident, I have had
pretty constant pain in my lower back and increasing issues with sciatic pain
that shoots down my right leg a little bit.
I went so far as to get a spinal cord stimulator implant about 7 years
ago that I do not use because I don’t like it and it doesn’t actually help, it
just masks the pain therefore causing me to continue to not actually deal with
the injury. About a year ago I started
having shoulder pain. Last month I
started having really bad neck pain. All
on the right side. The neck pain finally
got so bad that it brought me to tears (I have a super high pain tolerance, so
pain that brings me to tears is significant), so I decided I needed to make an
appointment with a chiropractor. I
called 4 or 5 before one actually answered the phone. 2 or 3 wanted you to leave a message and
they’d call you back…no thanks. I made
my appointment and waited impatiently for my appointment to come around. When it did, it was amazing, let me tell
you. The other two chiropractors I’ve
gone to in my life were serious quacks that apparently had no clue what they
were doing (one actually made my back WORSE!
And that was what led to me getting the implant) and I know that
now. I went from walking in the door
with a pain level of about 9 to a pain level of about 1.5. I knew that some of the pain would come back
after the endorphins of all the spinal popping that happened (I didn’t realize
I had that many vertebrae in my spine, I popped so much!) and it did. I was about a 3 or 4 within the next 2 days,
but not bad at all really. Definitely
manageable.
I went in for my 2nd visit with him 3 days later
and he adjusted me some more and said I was progressing nicely and that 1 more
visit and I should be pretty well off. So,
anyway I just realized I skipped over what the problems were, so let me talk
about those. First, the neck pain that
sent me to the chiro in the first place.
It had its roots in my right rotator cuff. It was very angry and inflamed. As a result it was affecting the muscle that
goes between my shoulder and the side of my neck, pulling my neck all out of
alignment. He popped my neck not once,
but TWICE and each time it popped 5-7 times!
The other problem I had was my hip flexor was super tight and was basically
in a constant spasm. It was pulling my
lower back completely out of whack and making my right leg about 3 inches
shorter than my left! WHOA! So, he stretched my hip flexor, popped my
pelvis back into place and popped my lower back. I stood up and I felt downright amazing! I will say that I had been walking around
with one leg shorter than the other for so long that it felt seriously weird to
walk for the first couple days after that initial adjustment. I’ve had to stand up at work a couple times
since then. Usually my feet and my back
are killing me by the end of my shift.
Not anymore! They’ll be tired,
but not hurt. Also, since my energy
isn’t focused on blocking pain, I have sooooo much more energy! And I’ve been sleeping better for the most
part.
My injuries are mostly resolved, though I will be going back
to the chiropractor probably about once a month just to insure that things stay
in alignment. In fact, I need to make
another appointment for some time in the next couple/few weeks.
I’m still working on my costumes a lot. It’s a mixture of creating my own items and purchasing
items to pair together. My most recent
purchases were all Viking-related. I now
have a full Norse maiden outfit. I bought
through a company called Black Raven Armoury.
They’re located in the UK and sell a wide variety of costume
attire. I chose an under dress and an
apron dress. I made a mistake in reading
their sizing chart and ended up ordering the wrong size and when I got them the
dress didn’t fit. It was about 2 weeks
before the event I wanted to wear it at was happening, so I panicked a
little. I was going to ship the under
dress back to them and they were going to exchange it for the correct size for
me, but discovered that in order to get that done in a timely manner so I’d receive
the new dress before the event, it’d literally cost as much as ordering a
second dress…so that’s what I did.
I also really love to make purchases off Etsy when I can for
my costumes and other projects. I love
to support small businesses. My other Viking-related
purchases included a knot belt with the Elder Futhark alphabet stamped into it
and a belt pouch big enough to hold a large cellphone. Everything arrived before the event, so I was
beyond happy about that.
The event in question was another Viking Feast at the BS
Brewery in Seguin, TX. I went to their
first one last October and this one did not disappoint either. It was a little chilly out so we didn’t stay
nearly as late as we did at the first one, but we still had a great time and
the food was just as good as well. They had
pickled eggs this time and I’d never had one before so I tried one. They’re good…but just not my thing.
Yet another Viking-related costume purchase was a gambeson
(padded shirt that was traditionally worn under armor and chainmail). I love it!
this will replace my tunic when the weather is chillier. And speaking of armor and chainmail, I’ve
been doing a fair amount of work on my scalemail and am close to finishing up
my scalemail outfit. I will finish it up
with a chainmail box weave around the top and for the clasps on the sides to
make it lay flat because, as is, it likes to roll up at the top. I just hope it looks as good as I think it
will when I get done with it.
I bought a linen wrapped, blank Viking shield last month, as
well. It arrived and I proceeded to
stencil my chosen design on it and then hand painted it in blue and
yellow. Then I painted the back black
and hand painted “Vykharen” in Long Branch Futhark across the top. The other day, my boyfriend and I did some
work to finish up the shield. First we
got the cone boss attached and looking good, then we attached 2 belts I bought
to make a cross-body strap so when the shield gets too heavy to carry around
the festival (it weighs 12 pounds, after all), I can strap it to my back and
still be in costume. So I’m pretty
excited about that. It looks great and it’s
comfy too.
I’ve started weighing myself again…once a week. I want to lose 30 pounds. I will never get back to the 151 that I was
the summer before last and I’m okay with that.
Sure I miss that body and how it looked and felt to be in it, but unless
I want to run 40+ miles EVERY week, it’s just not maintainable for me. I’ll be happy as long as I’m around 175. I’ll be…comfortable…and that’s what
matters. My boyfriend thinks I look good
and his opinion is the only one that matters to me. His opinion of how I look has helped my self-esteem
a lot. I’m so grateful for him in so
many ways. We’re going to start running…just
one mile at a time. But, I do have to
say, that the 1 mile route we’ll be doing is VERY hilly, so it’s not an easy
mile by any means. And we’re going to
start cycling again too. And we’ve vowed
to not eat out as much and cook at home more.
Good changes. So this blog may be
salvaged after all! Although, I think it’s
going to become a hybrid of all my loves in life…running, being as healthy as I
can, crafting, cosplay…you get the picture.
So I’ll probably be modifying the name soon.