[Craig328]

h4nnib4l, on 01 February 2013 - 09:18 AM, said:

I'll have to look into those. I've nearly been convinced to go get fit for real running shoes, which will most likely run me anywhere from $120-$200, but they make all the difference in the world. My wife was having hip problems after she'd starting running again, and it got to the point where she couldn't get up from a chair and walk across the house without stopping to stretch and then limping. Within a week of having the new running shoes, her limp was gone, and the pain is almost completely gone too. There's definitely value to ponying up for good gear, but I don't want to end up with more pairs of athletic shoes than work and casual shoes!

I'll give you an "amen" from the congregation on decent running shoes. I wasn't thrilled about dropping $120 on a pair of Reeboks and custom insoles...but I can't complain about the results. No hint of shin splints since getting them.

And yeah, look into insoles. The shoes will come with some but consider looking at what the athletic store offers for custom insoles. The ones I have give me a fair amount of extra cushioning on the heel as I tend to run with a pronounced heel strike. They ran me around $20 but they're worth it.


Edit: Oh yeah...I nearly forgot. I ran my first long run on the Couch to 5K this morning. Week 5 Day 3 - 20 minutes, no breaks. Won't say I'll make anyone mistake me for a Kenyan at the Olympics...but I did it without stopping.

This post has been edited by Craig328: 01 February 2013 - 08:20 AM

[h4nnib4l]

We have a store here called Get Fit that custom-fits you for running shoes. They'll have you take your shoes and socks off and watch you stand, walk and run, and based on that tell you what you need. And I've never heard of any of the brands in there. These are the people who are either running, talking about running, or reading about running all day, every day. They scare me, but my wife's shoes are badass. They weigh only marginally more than my socks I think.

[strawhat89]

Went on my first trek on Saturday. Ah.. the glorious pain! Also the sunrise was awesome.

[h4nnib4l]

I threw my back out playing paintball on Saturday. The chiropractor said that any one of my symptoms is a good indicator for a bulging disc, but all of them together make it almost guaranteed. Not good news for me, because this is the first time this disc has bulged to the left: it used to always go right, but I haven't had a problem with it (at least like this) in years. I spent most of the weekend using one of my bar stools as a walker to get around the house. I almost gave in and went to the VA for pain killers and muscle relaxers, but decided to spare my kidneys and am going to try to handle this solely with chiropractic and massage. This is super fucking demotivating though, I'm only a few lbs from breaking back into the 100s again. At least we were nearly out of paint when it happened...

[modi123_1]

@h4nnib4l - Man that sucks! Hopefully it happened when doing some crazy matrix moves and icing out the whole team.

Spoiler

I am surprised how not sore I am after trying to fight through my namby-pamby behavior recently... that and it's more easy to convince myself to hit the gym when it's not -23 degree windchill. *brr* If I can get in Wednesday I can totally draw a line of success!

[Apokio]

I am within 10 lbs of my initial weight goal that I set. But I think I will have to lose a bit more than my goal to totally get rid of my belly. Good news is the weight has been dropping steadily every week. Running is going good, I really can't complain.

[Craig328]

h4nnib4l, on 04 February 2013 - 10:41 AM, said:

I threw my back out playing paintball on Saturday...

Man, back in the day I played paintball competitively on a team (before they introduced 17 shots/sec electronic triggers). Then I moved back home to Florida, went to try out with a local competition team about 6 mos later and made the discovery that has saved me untold grief and aggravation ever since:

I discovered I was too old so I quit.

I was younger then than you are now, had played competitively for like 4-5 years by then and had played high school and collegiate sports. Paintball though is one of those sports where, if you're not in absolutely great shape, will mercilessly kick your ass and make you cry. I recall with vivid clarity not being able to descend a flight of stairs from the pain in both thighs (something comparable to having a railroad spike being driven through each femur) and saying "eff this".

I never had it destroy my back but yeah, if you're prone to that kind of injury, playing paintball is probably way way down the list of things you should be doing. Hope you're feeling better, though.

[h4nnib4l]

Thanks. I'm moving around at least which is good, but also made me feel obligated to go to work, which isn't good (sitting is painful).

It's kind of ironic, because I'm in better shape now than I have been in years, and it's this time that I managed to hurt myself. The back thing is something I can't really control though. I developed a compression fracture in my lumbar spine in the Marine Corps (apparently we're not made to carry around hundreds of pounds of crap and jump off of things), so now I have a wedge-shaped deformity (official nomenclature) at L1. This means that sometimes, that disc pushes out to the side, up against the nerve clusters. This is actually the coolest thing I've ever been doing when it happened (yes , I was dual-wielding paintball guns and upside down in mid-air shooting 12 different people when it happened). One time, I was drying my hair after a shower. I know that the only way to prevent is maintain a lot of core strength, but I haven't been focusing on lower back strength and just paid the price. I'm hoping to be back in the gym by next week, but with the way I'm walking right now, it's kind of a long shot.

This post has been edited by h4nnib4l: 04 February 2013 - 12:17 PM

[NeoTifa]

I hope you feel better.

Im finally back down to my prechristmas weight, which is again under 200. *knocks on wood*

[KYA]

inb4 mac goes: "mmmm my wood?"

[h4nnib4l]

Thanks for the well-wishes everyone. After two chiropractic sessions and a 30 minute massage, I'm on my way back to "normal". The back pain is slowly being surpassed by the stiffness and soreness in my left leg and hip, from trying to compensate for the back injury. I have one more chiro visit this week, and I'm hoping to start doing light weights again by the weekend. I'm pretty sure I'll have to give in and use machines for now, because I doubt my core can really support free-weights right now. But hey, as long as I'm working at it I'm content, even if it's only a token effort...

[jon.kiparsky]

Good to hear it. Take 'er easy, and you'll be back on it soon enough. Don't rush it - the important thing is to be doing it, not how much you do.

[h4nnib4l]

This is honestly really humbling. I'm having to come to terms with the fact that I'm not a Marine in my early 20s anymore, and it isn't going down so well. I'm not willing to accept the "old" moniker yet, but I also can't do the things I used to, at least as violently as I used to. Paintball certainly isn't as much fun when there isn't any diving through windows or jumping off of cliffs into trees (paintball on base was more dangerous than actual training).

On the plus side, at least as a 30 year old not Marine, I can afford quality whiskey to get rid of the taste...

[jon.kiparsky]

Getting old sucks, but not as much as the alternative.

[supersloth]

benjamin button was pretty sad i guess.