A quick update on my shoulder just to let everyone know how its doing.  There's been good news and bad news.  The good news is that the pain has become less frequent and if I'm distracted or involved in something else, I don't notice it.  I'm also sleeping better, albeit on my couch and with an ice pack.  The bad news is that the numbness in my finger still hasn't gone away.  Further, the area just above my left elbow has started to hurt a little bit.

On a referral from one of the athletic trainers, I went to a walk in clinic yesterday.  They did a series of x-rays on my shoulder which showed no structural damage so everything looked good there.  The current diagnosis is that one of the muscles alongside my shoulder blade spasmed on Sunday night and just hasn't fully relaxed yet.  I'm on a five day regimen of prednisone which should help relax the muscles and hopefully that will take care of everything.  If not, the next step will be physical therapy.  I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that because that means I'm probably running the flying pig with a janked shoulder and I'm just really ready to be done with this.

I hurt myself today

Recently, I had being a little bit of soreness and just kind of a dead spot behind my left shoulder blade.  Last night, I started using a tennis ball to try and roll it out much like I do with my foam roller.  After a minute or so, I got a good pop and then kept going for a little bit, but things took a turn for the worse.  A couple minutes later, my shoulder was feeling completely dead and if I laid on the ground on my back, it hurt just to be there.  I had something similar to this about five years ago and it sucked.  I was able to get an appointment at MSU's D.O. Clinic and they took care of it fairly quickly.  Once this goes away again, I'll need to make sure I spend plenty of time stretching.

I was able to email one of my colleagues in the kinesiology department this morning and she took a look at it this afternoon.  We're trying positional release therapy.  Round 1 helped a little but I'm still in a decent amount of pain and have very limited flexibility.  There's some tingling going on in my index finger as well.  My colleague told me its the worst case of muscle fasciculation she's experienced and she completely understands the pain I'm in.  To be fair though, she came to Anderson with me so she may only have been doing this a few years. She tells me that my nerves have essentially knotted up and there having a hard time relaying information.  The goal of the PRT is to relax those nerves and stretch them out again and hopefully then everything will be fine.

The worst part of this is that I just don't feel like myself since my ability to be active and athletic has been taken away.  I was told I could do anything that doesn't cause me pain, but that likely won't be much.  The marathon is coming up in two weeks and California is in five weeks.  I would be incredibly disappointed if this affected either of those.  I'm a little depressed right now from it anyway, but that might be a side effect of only getting two hours of sleep last night.  I try to stretch at all and the pain comes shooting back and I hate this.  Prayers would be appreciated.

Reality bites but that's what life is

I'm glad you're happy, but I've really missed you as a good friend.  I only see one way I can get back and I would never hope for that.  Goodbye.

And the sky opened up and started pouring rain

Or if the sky opened up and started pouring rain
Like it knew it was time to start things over again
it'd be all right, yeah, it's all right, it'd be easier that way

There have been several thunderstorms this week.  You could always tell they were coming because it would be super dark at 10 in the morning still like the sun had just never risen.  My biggest disappointment is that I've only gotten one or two really good cracks of thunder and a few minutes of pouring rain, but not that super intense storm.  Driving back from the grocery store right now, the sky had turned a fairly ominous hue and I want that storm to come.  Checking the weather report is a total downer though since there is currently a 0% chance of precipitation.  I want that storm though - that storm that frightened me as a kid and I couldn't fall asleep until it was over.  I want that storm to last for at least a little while.  I want that reminder that God is in control and that he is all powerful.  Yes, it may be a reminder of my insignificance apart from Him, but that's part of the grand beauty of it all.  I've had a crappy week.  Its not because of anything that has happened to me or any terrible coincidences or the such; its all been my fault as I have a certain level of standards I'd like to keep and I've failed miserably at most of them.  I got 20 miles in on Sunday but since then I've coasted.  I haven't run since then and I skipped this morning's lifting session and I really should try to make up for it with some yoga tonight, but that very likely won't happen.  I've eaten an entire 9x13 cake that I frosted with a mixture of frosting and caramel sauce.  It was entirely delicious but terrible for me.  Additionally, I went through a bag of jelly beans.  My diet has been an absolute farce these past several days and its affecting me.  That's the great news that comes in the storm though.  All of this gets washed away because I'm not the one who determines my own fate.  If I did, I'd have been beyond hope years ago.  Instead, I like God take care of everything and all the stupid crap that I don't want to do but kinda of actually do and so I do them all gets left behind and the crappy parts of me will eventually be refined out.  I can't wait for that.

I'ma do the things that I want to do

This is the second time I've ever successfully given up anything for lent.  A couple of years I managed to give up alcohol.  Since I gave that up for most of February to see if that would help me get in slightly better shape as well since I'd stop drinking some calories.  Did it work? Not really.  I might have lost a pound, but nothing noticable.  Did it work for its greater purpose of making me think about Jesus' sacrifice every time I wanted a coke but instead got a lemonade or sweet tea instead?  Not in the least.  In fact, I never even connected the two until I started thinking about this post.  In fact, I'm making more of a sacrifice right now as I'm skipping a free Weezer concert downtown right now because I'm going to go to a Good Friday service tonight.  I know there are some people out there who make big deals of lent and it does amazing things for them.  I just happen to not be one of them.  I think there's enough power in Holy Week as it is and there's definitely been some effect this year.  I only wish yesterday's thunderstorms would have been tonight (still some chance), just because it would have been more fitting.