Beating the Heat with Chronic Pain

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Baby Berries

I hadn’t run since Saturday. Not the best training plan considering that I’ve got a race coming up on July 22, but it’s been hot and I’m still making my way through physical therapy. Yesterday I managed a 5K. And this morning my body is screaming.

Lake Natoma looks mighty inviting

Here in the beautiful and fertile Central Valley of California summers are like living… well… on the surface of the sun. Or in the fires of Hades. And if you are a chronic pain sufferer this heat can wreak havoc on your body. Everyday Heath has a simple read on the topic that you can find HERE.

And wouldn’t you know it? The experts suggest staying indoors and not over exerting yourself on hot days. HA HA HA HA!! That’s a good one. I’ve got a race coming up and I’m hiking 10 miles tomorrow. I’m going to go outside and chances are pretty darn good that I’m going to over exert myself.

Where does that leave me? Joint pain when I get up in the morning. Burning and aching, it will be difficult to get my stretching in. Still, I’m not going to let Rheumatoid Arthritis defeat me. I’ll continue to be active in all kinds of weather. That’s why I stopped after 5K yesterday, that’s why I took a few days off, that’s why I’ll hike with my poles (#respectthepoles) and take photo breaks tomorrow. I’ll be active, but smart.

You know, kicking ass gently and all that.

VHS

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Remember when you had to pop a VHS tape in to get your sweat on? That was fun… For those who love a great sweat and would like to mix up your training and workouts (think: “it’s too hot to go outside and I’d like to work out in the air conditioning”) Fitness Blender does a great job of meeting those needs. I’ve done their videos on You Tube before and enjoyed them, but their website is far easier to navigate. I’m going to start the 5 Day Challenge for Busy People!

Fitness Blender

8 Miles

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Beautiful morning at Folsom Lake, CA.

It was a great morning to get out with friends and get a little sweaty, a little dirty, and a little sore. Not going to lie, this trail is a deceptive butt kicker!

The trails are turning to gold.

The physical therapist has suggested I keep my mileage down to about 1.5-2.5 miles per run right now. That’s a major improvement over what my prior (she retired) primary care doctor told me. She said “don’t run.” But I’m me, and I won’t rest until I know I’ve worked as hard as I can. This morning I ran 8 miles while paying close attention to my stride and my posture in order to keep any pain at Bay. I could almost call this morning’s run a “power hike!”

Might have found some mud.

I’m fairly proud of myself this morning. This is typically as far as I ever go. And I managed!

To those who think they can’t run, think again. If you are willing to do the extra work involved in keeping your joints safe and healthy you can run far! (8 miles is far, people.)

Coming soon I will have more suggestions and more motivation on keeping a tricky body on the move!

Welcome!

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I like to think of the concept of Kicking Ass Gently as the Statue of Liberty of the running and fitness community. Whereas our Lady Liberty openly embraces the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free, we here at Kicking Ass Gently openly embrace the tired, poor, injured masses yearning to run free.

 

Running is hard. Finding people with real struggles should be easy, but that too, proves to be hard. I’m in a dozen Facebook groups for trail runners with almost all of the activity being lead by those who are stronger and more capable runners. Many are ultra-marathoners and create group events for things like an “Easy 20-miler.” I was beginning to feel like I was out of my league or worse! …that I’m not a runner, because I’m not able to train to that level. The average runners are silent and intimidated. And I figured that needed to change.

Kicking Ass Gently came about from my desire to get out and be active as a 40+ year old woman with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I’m in and out of physical therapy and on and off with medications. We are out there, running community!! The silent majority who train for 5K, 10K, and half-marathon races. We are the injured and recovering. We are the overweight and the elderly. We are the fit and active. We are the young beginners and everything in between. We are the cruise control on the Cadillac, happily trotting our way along in the mid to the back of the pack.

If you are training for an ultra-marathon, good on you! We welcome you as well since kicking ass gently applies to all levels of running. We encourage all runners to train in a way that begins and ends with listening to our bodies. It is all about training as hard as you can without going too far or pushing too hard in order to stay injury free and healthy.

Welcome to Kicking Ass Gently.