Gettin' My Groove Back

Hey! So, I started this blog, and then got busy....and injured! I talked a lot in my first blog about injuries I have gotten in doing CrossFit, and a week or two after that post, I started having some pain in my hamstrings. I thought they were super tight and needed to be stretched. I signed up to do the CrossFit Open, and only made it through 14.1. The next day I ran an 8k. No matter what I did, I could not get that hamstring to stretch. Well, those two workouts were the last ones I did, and that was at the beginning of March. Turns out my bulging disc never went away, and all the while I was CrossFitting, the bulge kept slipping more and more. An MRI in April showed it had slipped 16mm and that hamstring issue I was having was actually sciatica. Have you ever had that? IT IS TERRIBLE!!!! I had it for 3 months before it finally went away. I had countless hours of driving (commuting), sitting in meetings, working with my students (and trying to sit for small group instruction), and it was rough.

So what did I do? I called my doctor and asked for muscle relaxers and pain meds...which she gave me, and I took until it ran out. I also started going to a chiropractor, who was also from my CrossFit box, and a sport massage therapist, whom my brother-in-law sees (he's a retired Marine who was in 2 serious car accidents, and is now on disability). I racked up some good credit card debt seeing both of them once a week for about 2 months straight. My chiropractor also took a homeopathic route with me, which I liked, and got me on natural supplements to reduce my inner inflammation, so I could get off the pain meds my doctor gave me. She also suggested I go Gluten Free (ummm....still workin' on that one). Then, at the beginning of May, she announced she was homesick, and was moving back to New York, and I have not seen a chiropractor since the last week of May. I also have not seen my massage therapist due to a scheduling glitch (and then my head gasket blew, and I had to replace my car engine among other things).

So NOW what am I doing? I am falling back on Beachbody. My chiropractor had told me in our last few sessions that I was progressing enough to start pilates, as I badly need to work on my core. I also wanted to start yoga because I have lost SO much mobility and flexibility since doing CrossFit. But, until I get out of my credit card debt, I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars to join a yoga or Pilates studio...so, I went the next best route and got PiYo.

PiYo is a hybrid of Pilates and Yoga, taught by celebrity trainer Chalene Johnson. The program is centered on getting toned and shredding fat, with low impact on your body. No weights, and no jumping (both things I cannot handle). So here I am....I am starting my new journey with PiYo. Although my sciatica is gone, I still have lower back pain where my bulge is, and I cannot run, jump, and still no CrossFit. Check  back here to see how I am doing :)