Thanks, Doc! I'm off to the races.

Most of you know that July 21, 2008 through January 26, 2009 I spent the majority of my days in pain. I had all kinds of tests but it took a doctor digging his thumb in my back to find the issue was my intercostal nerve. I had a set of trigger point injections done 1/26/09 and started medication. I have weaned off the generic Zanaflex but have it if I need it but take 100 mg of Lyrica every night. The pain I had for months is finally gone.

In 2007, I completed three 5Ks. My husband's competitive shooting matches kept me from completing any races after September of that year. My plan was to resume 5Ks come Spring 2008. Unfortunately, my Mom had a heart attack and my focus turned to taking care of she and my Dad. Three weeks after spending a week at their house,I was hit with my health issues.

This past Saturday, upon going to bed, I decided that I wanted to do 5Ks again. I got up at 5:45 AM Sunday morning and walked for 30 minutes. Upon returning to the house, I began looking for events. I'm signed up for a 5K on Mother's Day to benefit the Second & Seven literacy organization. I'll admit during the work week 4:45 AM comes very early but once I get out in the fresh air, I come back refreshed. In addition to walking, I am lifting weights every other day (we're talking 3-5 pound weights; no major iron here). I'm also trying to eat more a better balance of carbs and protein.

My husband has competitive shooting matches the second and fourth Saturdays so I had to focus on 5Ks that are on the first or third Saturdays of the month with one exception being Mother's Day which is a Sunday 5K. I'm slated to do 5Ks on June 6, July 4, and August 1. I even set up tasks to remind me to register 2-3 weeks prior to each 5K. Gee, all of this planning and I wonder why I was picked to be a project manager at work?

So I managed to find one open weekend day a month through August. I think my husband is shooting every weekend in September so that month could be "shot" as far as 5Ks go. I'm a cold weather wimp so I need to decide if I want to try and do 5Ks after the weather begins to cool down. My husband has December - February off from IDPA so the schedule would actually be more open!

At the Mother's Day 5K, I plan to have my camera so I can have someone take a picture of me with my number pinned on my shirt. I plan to print off a copy of the picture and mail it to the pain management doctor at the Cleveland Clinic as a "thank you" for restoring my quality of life plus a friendly reminder about continuing my Lyrica prescription.