Planning the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K Group Virtual

  I received entry into the AllState Hot Chocolate Charlotte15K as a part of being a BibRave Pro. Check out BibRave.com to read and write race reviews. 

So, last month I wrote here about how I had an idea about hosting a in-person race for my local friends who wanted to run the Hot Chocolate 15K Charlotte. This came from me wanting to arrange something nice and fun because we were all a little bummed that the race went Virtual. Well... much like most of my Virtual Epic Race Day Events, things have escalated.

I HAVE ABOUT 45 RUNNERS COMING ON SATURDAY! That's nuts!

Heck, I've even got 2 runners that will be doing their miles and checking in via video chat that are ON ANOTHER CONTINENT! 

So here is a little bit of what is going to happen on Saturday:

• I've got two courses routed. One for 15K runners and the other for 5K. The last 5K of the route will be the same so the 15K runners will start at 7:30 and the 5K will join at 9. I am pre-marking the course and providing written routes I also ran the course before my surgery to make sure that everything was safe and a good route. See my post here about my run: https://runnerdgirl.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-bit-early-but-still-hot-chocolaty-fun.html
  
  
• We are staging our race to start and finish at a local coffee shop so we can get hot beverages like Hot Chocolate and Coffee
  
  
• The awesome folks at RAM Racing have donated a bunch of chocolate and some magnets for the races as a bit of an extra perk
  
  
• I will have water, Nuun and treats at the finish. My awesome fellow BibRave Pro and running bestie, Kim (aka Barkingmadrun) has secured a bunch of Nuun tubes to give out.
  
  
• Placement medals for 1st, 2nd and 3rd, Male and Female, for each distance
  
  
• We are collecting donations for the Rock Hill Community Pantry and Fridge which is located right where we are starting/finishing our race
  
  
• I am bringing a camera to take tons of finish line photos and celebratory photos with their awesome SWAG.

Sounds like a party right? It is all going down this Saturday morning. You can check out my Twitter and/or Insta on Saturday morning to follow along with the fun. I will also be posting a recap on this blog early next week. 

You can organize your own virtual event if interested. I am happy to share any advice, just ask in the comments below. You and your crew can register for the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K Charlotte here: https://www.hotchocolate15k.com/charlotte/ Register with code BRHC20 and receive a free Hot Chocolate Tech Hat. 

Phase 2 of Recovery... Delayed 1 Week

Yesterday I had an appointment with the doctor who performed my knee surgery. Since I had gone through the process before I know the deal.

4 days after surgery, remove the bandages myself - ✅
10 days after surgery, go in to get the stitches out and get to finally unlock the brace - ✅
4 weeks after surgery, go in and get the clear to remove the brace and walk again - ❌

Wait, what?

Instead of getting sprung from the brace, I have to wear it another week. That is 5 weeks of leg brace for those counting. I guess there was a bit of good news still. Now I can now walk on the leg but I have to keep the brace on it and locked straight when I do. 

The doctor said that this knee was so much worse than the other so he wants me to ease into it more slowly. He then pulled out a knee model just to show me how large the bone spur he sawed out was (a couple inches) and how it was digging a groove into bone underneath (which he tried to fill) every time I took a step. And then glared at me and said “And you were running with it”.

The being able to put weight on does make it a lot easier to do stuff, so I’m thankful for that. And I can drive now. I am also still able to start PT on Friday as I had planned, I just have to be patient a little bit longer as far as getting out there and really moving again. On the bright side I guess that’s one more week for it to warm up before I have to really get out there, so bright side. 

So yeah, yesterday wasn't a great day. TBH I took it pretty hard which involved sitting on the couch (in my brace) and eating about a half a bag of popcorn. But today is a new day, so I put my "big girl pants" back on this morning and focusing on moving forward. I am still focused on rebuilding, it just got delayed a week. 

What I Learned This Time Around: 2nd Knee Surgery Edition

Well it has been 2 weeks now since I had surgery on my right knee. And since this was my second surgery of this kind, this time around, I was going in with a bit more knowledge. Here are the couple of things that I am doing this time around to make my recovery go much more smoothly and get back to doing all the things that I want to more quickly this time. 

Starting PT Sooner

Last surgery, I was SHOCKED at just how quickly I lost muscle, especially in my quad on the leg where I had the procedure. 8 months later the quad is still smaller on the left than the right (for now). So the day before my surgery, I made a consultation appointment with IVY Rehab, the place where I did PT last time, to talk to them about what could I do to both not lose as much strength in the leg that is having the surgery and to also not lose any of the progress I had made back on the other leg. They staff there is AMAZING and they hooked me up with a 31 minute, 7 exercise session that I could do at home, starting as soon as the bandages came off. 4 were for my right leg (the new surgery) and 3 for the left (the older surgery). So starting that Monday, just 4 days after surgery, I have done my 31 minutes of PT faithfully every single day. Not gonna lie, the first few times it hurt, a lot. The straight leg raises were not fun at all! But after a week or so, it is getting loads easier and my legs are both feeling quite strong. I plan to keep it up until I can start back to going to PT on February 19th. 

Doing Upper Body Workouts

Another thing that I was woefully bad at last time around was being quite lazy in general. Just because I couldn't move around very well, I kinda didn't move much at all. When I finally did make it back to Burn, I noticed I had to drop the weights in my upper body workouts by quite a bit, even struggling with the 15 and 10 pound weights. Well, I realized this time, that it made no sense that not being able to use my right leg should mean that I don't use my upper body. So I turned to YouTube to see what kind of upper body workouts I could do seated. Turns out, quite a few!! So, with the vast resources of YouTube at my disposal, I made myself a schedule, 6 days of upper body workouts with 3 different focuses repeated and then a rest day. My schedule is:

• Monday: Rest
• Tuesday: Yoga
• Wednesday: Strength
• Thursday: Cardio
• Friday: Yoga
• Saturday: Strength
• Sunday: Cardio

I've found some pretty great workout to do and am actually having fun. Typically will choose a workout that is right around 20 minutes or so to do as I will then do my 31 minutes of PT after. Because yes, I do want to remain active and not lose the strength and endurance as much this time around, but I also acknowledge that I am still healing and don't want to overdo it. But I am still getting in a pretty good amount of work if the soreness in my arms is anything to go by!

Modifying my Crutches

Last time that I was on my crutches I was very stubborn about mastering them. I was determined that the crutches would not win over me and I would become an expert at making them do my bidding. And these were a temporary irritant in my life so I would make no concessions to them, even ignoring well meaning advice from friends on how to make them more manageable. And to no surprise, they tore me up! My hands ached all the time, I would get huge blisters on the palms of my hands and I chaffed like mad on my sides. I am still not sure why I was so stubborn about not trying to make my stint on the crutches easier for myself, but this time around, Day 1 I logged on to Amazon and order some gel pads. They have made the WORLD of difference. 2 weeks in and my hands feel just fine. They are not even red or sore at all. Friends, if you find yourself on crutches, trust me, this will be the best $13 you will ever spend: Vive Crutch Pads. Love them and they come in fun colors too (I went with teal). 

Trying Harder to Keep Positive

I will be the first to admit it, my first knee surgery I was MISERABLE! I remember one particular Sunday, I think about a week or so after my surgery, I went upstairs, laid down in bed and cried, as in sobbed out loud, for like 2 hours. I spent a lot of time in bed just kind of lamenting all the things I could no longer do. After I was adamant that I would NEVER do that again, knowing full well that my right knee, while not immediately "injured" as the left was, it needed the same procedure if I would ever hope to run (or really even walk) without pain. But finally, after 6 months with the last few of no pain in the left leg and still massive amounts of pain on the right, I decided to go ahead and go through with the surgery. 

Maybe because I already knew from experience that things would eventually be better has me a bit more positive this time. I've been trying to focus more on the positives and less on the negatives. Yes, I can't walk, but I can still do something active every day (see above). I am not having to go out in the below freezing temps. My cats cuddle with me more since I am mostly camped on the couch with a cozy blanket. I am working from home this time (I was laid off due to the Covid pandemic during last surgery recovery). I also have 2 super fun events coming up later in February to look forward to, both of which I will totally be able to do, my Hot Chocolate 15K Charlotte Virtual event (which I already ran, but will be organizing the event on race day) and the Wine 5K race (which I will be walking).

I also have been reading the book The Comeback Quotient: A Get-Real Guide to Building Mental Fitness in Sport and Life. This book was the Book Club book for the BibRave Pros and it was a perfect read for my current situation. I haven't quite finished it yet, our book club discussion is Feb. 9th, but I am more than half way through it and should be done in time no problem. The book talks about how those who have had the most successful comebacks, those who overcome injury and hard times, do so with not just a positive attitude, but a realistic attitude. The book emphasizes accepting, embracing and addressing reality as a way of coming back from injury. I have been trying to take the lessons to heart, even though one memorable passage talked about how utterly miserable one runner's situation was and it pretty much described what I was going through almost verbatim right now. Laugh so you don't cry and all that. It's a good book though, and I recommend it to anyone going through an injury, or even if those not, to get some valuable insight on how being an "ultrarealist" can help your overall outlook. 

With all that said, I still have some bad days, days where I cannot shake being sad and lonely. I still get frustrated at how long things take to do and how simple things like taking a shower and getting dressed take so much longer than they should. I hate not being able to do things that should be easy, like walk and carry something at the same time. And I HATE asking for help (like a lot a lot). But... I am doing a much better job this time at staying focused on the future and not dwelling so much on the present.

This is tough. But I am tougher. And I may be broken right now, but I will rebuild stronger.