scenes from my run

For those of you that have been following along, I haven’t been running as much as I usually do. If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat (@koskim), you’ve likely noticed fewer running posts and stories.

I’ve been having issues with my piriformis. It started the week after Fourth of July with a tightness in my lower back/glutes and I thought that maybe going for a run on it would help loosen it up. Instead, that day it hurt to walk. A lot. And since then, I’ve been hobbling around and limping, not quite sure how to get better.

Thanks to the Internet, a coworker and my brother-in-law who is a doctor, I self diagnosed myself with piriformis syndrome and took it upon myself to STRETCH, REST, massage, foam roll and take some NSAIDs. Oh, and of course – not run.

This is how I feel stretching …. I’M SO inflexible!:

It has been a long few weeks. The first week I did nothing at all. I have to admit, I was grumpy and not in the best of moods.

The next week I started slowly doing other things – walking a little more and the elliptical.

The next week – I started running again! And by running, I mean no more than one mile and stretching before and after.

And then this week, I did a few more runs and they were longer! Sunday I did 2.54 miles and Thursday I did 3.25 miles! I admit it wasn’t 100% pain free. It wasn’t fast (even though I was out of breath!). But it felt amazing to be outside again and running.

I wouldn’t say I’m back. Not yet – it will be a longer road to recovery than I thought. BUT I’m getting there.

So, here’s to hoping that I’m on the road to recovery and will be back to my running self soon.

Some questions for you:

Has anyone else suffered piriformis issues? Any tips?
When you don’t run or exercise does it affect your mental state/mood?

Linking up with My No-Guilt Life, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and MCM Mama Runs.

This week’s writing prompt for Tuesdays on the Run is “scenes from my runs.” But most of my runs lately have been indoors. Even though it has been nice outside lately, I still tend to run on the treadmill in the morning in case FW wakes up (which he did Friday this week). I did however get in one outdoor run — B, FW and I went to Edgewater Park on Saturday and got in a 3.25 mile stroller run with a great view of the park AND the beach. This week’s runs looked like this:

So while most of my runs looked like this:

At least my Saturday run had this view!

B took this photo of me during the last part:

So, it may have been a mostly boring week – but at least I got in a pretty nice run on Saturday!

Some questions for you:

How often do you run on the treadmill?
Moms – did your running habits change when you had kids? I know I now need to get up an hour earlier and I spend weekdays running inside before work.

Linking up with My No-Guilt Life, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and MCM Mama Runs.