Julie Says... Pain Management

Another good run yesterday. More of the same. I started out a little stiff and sore from the run on Monday, but that's to be expected. I think I cursed myself yesterday morning when I decided it wasn't important that I have yet to order Injinji socks for my VFFs. Right around quitting time, a familiar burn started to smolder on the side of my left instep. It's just a tiny blister, but I'm peeved. I inspected the inside of my shoes trying to find the culprit. There is an exposed seam, but it's so soft, it's hard to believe it's to blame. Curiously, the seams are in different places on the left and right shoe. Not so curious is the funky smell I noticed when inspecting them up close. Eeeeuuuu. Good thing they're machine washable :)

Next order of business is to create a playlist to keep me from looking at the time every ten minutes -- also to stop my brain's relentless repetition of "Pah-Pah-Pah-Poker Face, Pah-Pah-Poker Face."

Great. There it goes again. "Hooked on a Feeling" never stood a chance.

Today I'm sore but in a satisfactory kind of way with zero joint pain. It feels like a miracle -- but I'm not jumping out of my seat yet. I'm keeping my elation in reserve. We'll let time decide. For the record, I took NSAIDs daily from about 2001 until last year. Up until the FDA alert/withdrawal I took Celebrex and then Bextra (good stuff, too bad it'll kill ya). From that time on, I was stuck with Motrin. Last year, my digestive system decided enough was enough, and I quit. Other than Bextra, none of it really worked anyway. Shockingly, I was in less pain without the drugs. My digestive tract hasn't forgiven me yet, but I'm working on it. Since adding yoga to my life, my joints have become less and less painful. I've read plenty of anecdotes on the web of other people having similar success with yoga. It frustrates me that not one doctor ever suggested yoga. Instead, I got "Take two of these and suck it up" over and over. To be fair, from about 2002 - 2004 (minus the exotic vacay time) my boss was a Physical Therapist who gave lots of good advice and was genuinely concerned about making me fit and pain-free. The Polar HRM was a "gift" from him (I swear I didn't mean to borrow it for forever; also, Uncle Sam paid for it, so I really don't feel that bad about it considering he still owes me). So I do ask myself if I would have listened if I had heard it... I really don't have an answer for that.

For now, I'm sticking to what works and keeping my fingers crossed.