5 week update with a little bit of running and a lot of hiking

Forest Park

It has been 5 weeks since I went to the ER for what turned out to be a herniated disc. I have also changed jobs, so I had a few weeks in between jobs to focus on physical therapy and recovery. 

The only pain I have had is a little in my lower back when I sit and slouch for a log period of time, but even then the pain is probably a 2 on a scale of 1-10. What I have been experiencing is paresthesia. Paresthesia is often described as "pins and needles". The best description I found is from here. "The sensation, sometimes, occurs without warning and is a mostly painless sensation. It’s best described by its tingling, numbness and distinct skin crawling feeling." 

Lake 22 in Washington

The first few weeks my lower left leg didn't have as much sensation when touched as my right leg, which felt really strange when I tried to shave. It also felt like my leg had come into contact with stinging nettles. In the 3 weeks since my original blog post about why I am not running, the paresthesia in my lower left leg has lessened and isn't constant. Now it is just a small sensation, which doesn't seem to worsen after a long hike or the little bit of running I am doing. My PT is amazed how well I am doing in such a short period of time. 

Forest Park - my sanity

I have done a ton of hiking in the last 5 weeks, which at first was mainly in Forest Park but in the last 3 weeks I have done several hikes in the Gorge and the Mt. Hood Wilderness, I even went to Seattle to see my sister and got hike in there. 

my running schedule

The Gorge

We have slowly started to add running back in. The first week of running was 3 days of 15 minutes of run walk intervals, the 2nd week was similar but for 20 minutes at a time. Going into the 3rd week, I asked Ariel, my PT, if she thought it was ok to increase the amount of time I was running, but keep with the run / walk intervals. She said it was ok as long as there was no increased pain. Last weekend I ran for 80 minutes, this weekend Susan and I ran for 2 hours and I will probably increase it by 30 minutes next weekend. My weekday runs are ~40 minutes. It is no where near the 60+ miles a week I was running 5 weeks ago, but it is a lot more than I thought I would be doing after I was diagnosed and thought I wouldn't be able to run for 6 months. With all the hiking and walking my weekly milage is still pretty good, ~45 miles / week. 

Coyote Wall

The Gorge from Coyote Wall

Mt Hood from Bald Mountain

My goal is not to over do it, keep recovering, enjoy the summer and to make it to Chamonix for CCC at the end of August. We might be hiking all of CCC, but I am feeling positive that we will make it to Chamonix. 

Some of the recent hikes I have done:
Salmon River
Bald Mountain from Ramona Falls
Lake Twenty-two
Coyote Wall
Larch Mountain
Lookout Mountain

Dad on the way to Larch Mountain

Before hiking with Dad

Back at Nike and running with Susan -- just like I never left

Mt Hood on the way up to Lookout Mountain

Mt Hood selfie

Forest Park with Dad