Even though the sound of it…. ah well forget it; it sucks no matter what.

About two weeks ago I started having pain in my right shoulder.  At the time I thought that I slept wrong, so I continued to work out and carry my heavy-ass messenger bag.  Little did I know but the combination of a couple of those factors, would lead to where I am now; dealing with a very painful shoulder injury and sidelined from my new love of CrossFit.

I went to my go-to sports medicine facility and had my doc check it out.  He ran x-rays, and did a mobility exam.  After the exam he concluded that I had rotator tendonitis.  I was given a cortisone injection – that needle was scary looking, and then sent to physical therapy and given a list of exercises.  If after a few weeks, if there was no improvement, the next step would be to get a dye contrast MRI.

A few days later I felt zero pain.  I was able to move my arm around without any issues. I still had a few days of restricted use, so I focused on lower body workouts.  One of those days I even ran my first race of 2013; the Dash for the Beads. It’s a fun costume run that is held in our area of Oak Cliff, and draws in a great crowd.  Ringo and I dressed up and ran this hilly route, and we even won the costume contest. Yes that is a wig.

Friends running too!

As we ran, I blew a police whistle and yelled, “Stop that thief!!”

Cops and robbers on the loose!

The shoulder pain stayed away until Tuesday night.  I had to stop by the store, and took my big messenger with me. I switched to carrying it on my left shoulder, to give the right one a break while healing.  Halfway through my shopping trip, with the strap continuously slipping off of my shoulder, I switched to my right one.  It took only 15 minutes for the damage to be done.

Damn.

That night my shoulder started to ache.  The next morning the feeling with still there a little, but I went ahead and did my CrossFit workout.  I was clear to workout as of Monday, so by waiting until Wednesday I figured it would be ok, even with the slight achiness.  I stuck with lighter weights when it came to anything with the shoulder.  I stayed away from shoulder stuff for the most part, and if I did any it was with a lighter weight. I did do some 20 pound DB Snatches, which was probably risky, but I really focused on not using my arm as the force of the lift.  The shrugging of the weight was just enough to give my shoulder a fit, it seems.

Damn.

The next day I felt pretty crappy.  The achiness kept getting worse.  My doc was concerned enough to go ahead to and push to get an MRI, and put me on Naproxen – a prescription anti-inflammatory.  Until further notice I am not doing CrossFit, and will focus on running and lower body workouts.  I saw my chiropractor to get a second opinion, and he agreed that I needed the MRI.  The diagnosis was confirmed – Supraspinatus Tendonitis and a case of Shoulder Impingement.

So here we are… yep.  I slacked off SO badly on my blogging.  I have sat here each day and tried to figure out a way to start back again, but to do so without a recap of things, would be a LOT of writing……

I took time off of running long distances, to change gears and to try another type of workout.  My job offered us all a chance to take CrossFit classes back in April. I had not really done this type of workout before, but at the time I figured that the cross-training would be a good way for me to get stronger.  Even though I lost all of that weight, and ran a Marathon, I found myself with a skinny body, without much muscle and strength.  Sure I could run for days, but ask me to do a pushup and I would barely be able to get myself off of the floor.  I was tired of being a skinny/fat runner!

Skinny/fat?

I did two things last year in my training for the White Rock Marathon; I focused all of my attention on running and piling on the miles, and I changed my diet to a very strict Vegan diet. For a while my eating seemed to work okay for me, but I soon became fatigued and worn down.  At first I thought that it was the rigorous training that was the cause, but when I stopped my long distance training, I still felt like I was dragging myself to get through the day.  I also notice that I was losing mental focus.  I would go into a fog more easily, have a harder time concentrating, and would forget things more frequently. It was downright scary! I watched as my lean body started to become soft and squishy.  My waistline was having to be crammed into my jeans.  It was gross!

Now I cannot blame those results on being vegan, just as much as I cannot blame the endurance training.  It could have been a combination of both. After visiting my doctor and having blood tests run, she advised me to get off of the Vegan diet, and start getting animal protein back into my system.  I was just not able to absorb the protein, thus I was getting more fatigued as  time went by.  It was also discovered that my hemoglobin levels were low, as well as my vitamin D levels.  In fact my vitamin D levels were EXTREMELY low.  After all of the testing and the consultation, I was convinced that I needed to suck it up and start eating meat again.

For my own situation, was a good decision. My energy returned, as well as my mental clarity. I have also had much greater success in putting on muscle. Is this the solution for everyone? No.  My situation could be unique; some may flourish with a vegan diet. I just know how my own body was effected, and I chose to listen to my body, and do what was best for it. That is the best lesson for any eating or workout plan….listen to what your body is telling you!