What's The Haps?

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 2^nd 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.