The Great Pumpkin Run

Last year's 5Ks were small, local events, so it was a shock to my system to participate in a race with ~2000 people!

The Great Pumpkin Run was held about an hour away from my house in Thorntown on Dull's Tree Farm & Pumpkin Patch. Austin and I left the house around 7:30 Saturday morning. He was a great copilot so that I didn't have to look at my phone to know the next turn! Even with the waves going every 10 minutes starting at 9 the line of cars was long to get into the farm. I got checked in, added the race shirt as a layer, and gave Austin my jacket and keys. My water bottle, phone, and tablet were in the bag that I carried the whole time.

Participants stretched a little before the wave began, led by someone local (never caught her name or organization). Then it was time to go. The wind was ripping through the farm keeping it chilly. It was difficult for me to walk along the path they'd made with corn stalks or gravel throughout most of the course. The instability kept me slower than I wanted not wanting to risk my ankles giving out. I reached the halfway point in a little less than 30 minutes. There was a water station along the northern part of the route.

Lil lake on the way #Walktober #TheGreatPumpkinRun #BrandNewMe

A photo posted by Cassandra Schmigotzki (@longandwindingroadtowellness) on Oct 8, 2016 at 7:15am PDT

The lake was a nice bonus to see but I thought that it was weird that it was located on a stretch of land with a no trespassing sign along the way. The last section of the race was through part of the cornfield.

Children of the corn at the end #Walktober #BrandNewMe #TheGreatPumpkinRun #IfGirlsRanTheWorld

A photo posted by Cassandra Schmigotzki (@longandwindingroadtowellness) on Oct 8, 2016 at 9:09am PDT

They handed out water, a banana, and our finishing medals as we crossed the finish line. I'd told Austin that I'd call him once I was done but he'd found his way to the finish line and met me there. We walked to the other side and picked up a cup of cider and a small Pumpkin (I let Austin pick it out).

Race participants were allowed into the farm activities for free but we had to pay for our guests. We looked around briefly then went back to the cornfield to explore the maze. I would NOT have done the maze had Austin not been there as I'd have been completely lost! The pumpkin went into my bag while my tablet was in my hand as we walked through it.

Screenshot of the maze from Dull's website

We took a break and rode the wagon back to the barn instead of walking. We each got a cookie from completing the maze. Austin also got a chocolate waffle on a stick while I ate pulled pork nachos. We sat on the hill to watch the 1 pm Pumpkin launch. They have one powerful cannon shooting the van hourly!

We headed back home after that. Austin had fun and said that it was a good day. It was until a tire blew about 11 minutes from home. While waiting for the tow truck the car battery also died. I told the driver this so he could load the car properly. Benny showed up just as we were pulling away so he followed us to the tire shop. They charged $57 for the tire! Benny had to go find a bank because they were both cash only but he'd gotten lost and took forever to return. It took two vehicles hooked up to my car with jumper cables a while to finally get it started again.

If it wasn't for the car trouble Saturday would have been a perfect day with Austin.  I don't hear him having much fun anymore since Benny never seems to want to go anywhere.  Now that I found something new Austin enjoys I need to find more mazes for us to visit!

How do you get your teen boys outside when they're not into sports?

Repairing My Shoulder

I can tell a huge difference when I lift on my right side vs the left.  There must be something in my muscle structure causing this, right?  Also, my left hand is often going to sleep and all tingly.  My coworker was thinking this was carpal tunnel.  I finally broke down and went to a sports medicine doctor.  This one is closer to work (actually on my way to the farmer's market) so it's a little more accessible (and free parking) than the rest of the doctors I've seen over the years.

Last Wednesday I stopped at the office on my way back from the farmer's market and scheduled an appointment for Friday.  When I saw the doctor she did multiple manipulations of my left shoulder.  I also had her check the bump in case that was related.  I was surprised when she took me to another room that had a portable ultrasound machine.  She took a quick informal look at the bump.  The diagnosis?

Other specific joint derangements of unspecified shoulder, not elsewhere classified, Benign lipomatous neoplasm of other sites, Impingement syndrome of left shoulder

Once I was done with the doctor I went across the hall to physical therapy.  They were able to get me in with a therapist right away; I just had to wait a little for her to finish up with her current patient.  After all I was in no hurry to get back to work.  The therapist manipulated my shoulder some more.  She determined that I also have at least one kink in my ulnar nerve, causing my pinky and ring finger to go numb on occasion.  So with all that, instead of her normal 2 exercises to work on she gave me 7!

Yes, I tried to get creative on this picture.  Do you know how hard it is to use a stylus on a tablet to color in hair? LOL  I gave up trying to color the others.

Same as the first but using the opposite side of my arm.

This one makes me think of it as a modification on the Superman exercise.

The therapist didn't have me use a weight for this.

My fingers would go numb doing this exercise.  I like doing this one while brushing my teeth.

The therapist said that sometimes the median nerve is also affected when the ulnar is funky so she threw this one in too.

Looks like I'll be laying the smack down! LOL

Today I got to use the arm bike for the first time ever.  Both ways my hands went a little numb.  I noticed that forward pedaling (do you call it pedaling when it's your arms not your legs?) my right arm felt more dominant but backwards pedaling it was my left.  The therapist gave me 3 more exercises to do but with the therapy bands this time.

Have you ever noticed the difference in abilities to lift or carry things between your right and left sides?

Have you had a shoulder impingement?  If so, what did your treatment plan look like?

October Challenge

In the Brand New Me Healthy Living Community we will be walking and running through October. We are doing this to go along with the If Girls Ran The World campaign. This challenge will be a difficult one for me since I don't like walking in the rain and have no treadmill for indoors.  I hope the library has some Leslie Sansone walking DVDs I can pick up!

The Rules

• Run or walk daily.
• Choose what you are going to track over the month.
• Time: Run/Walk for more time on Halloween vs. October 2nd.
• Distance:  Run/Walk further on Halloween vs. October 2nd.
• Speed:  Run/Walk a little faster on Halloween vs. October 2nd.
• Share an image from your walk or run with your time/distance/speed noted in the post.
• On Instagram, tagging me, and using the hashtags #BrandNewMe #IfGirlsRanTheWorld and #Walktober (if you're walking) or #Runtober (if you're running).
• In the Brand New Me Healthy Living Community
• At the end of the month prizes (TBD) will be awarded to the person with the most improvement in each tracked category.  This will be on the honor system.

Linking up with

Jill for Fitness Health & Happiness

MississippiPiddlin & HoHo Runs

#MotivateMe Monday with Fitness Cheerleader, Running Rachel, & Run Mommy Run

Sunday Fitness & Food Linkup with Marathons & Motivation & IlkasBlog