Insomnia is my Friend.

It started a little over a month ago. I was on the treadmill at my new gym. I had been doing well, going at least a few times a week, and increasing my stamina on the treadmill, burning more and more calories every visit. Then, on one sad day, after about 15 minutes of running, I felt pain in my knee. Ugh. I kept running. Then I felt it in my hip. I kept running. Dumb, I know, but when I set a goal on the treadmill, I can't stop until it's achieved. Eventually I had to give up, though. The pain was too great. I was ticked.

Both my knee and my hip felt like they were out of joint. I don't think they were, but that's what the pain felt like. I wore a brace on my knee at work for the next couple of days, and it got better. I also attended a workout class held my a girl out work a few times a week. We didn't run much there; so I was able to get in some cardio without feeling much pain. But then while doing some side lunges about a week after the first onset, I twisted my hip again, and I was back where I started. I might as well have been on the treadmill.

So I stopped working out. See, I have a love/hate relationship with working out. I love it once I get into it, but getting motivated is not my strong point. Once I get into a routine of working out, I do well. But I will take advantage of a good excuse when one comes my way... and this was just such an excuse.

Still, despite my break from fitness, my hip continued to hurt. Even just a jog down the sidewalk to retrieve the cell phone I left inside would be enough to worsen the pain for the rest of the day until a night's sleep relieved it. Thinking it would subside on its own, I procrastinated for a few weeks until the hip excuse became lame even to me. So I told the doctor about it last Monday. His diagnosis was bursitis (really?), and his plan was to treat it with cortisone orally for a week, see how that works, then upgrade to cortisone plus physical therapy if necessary.

I started the cortisone (one pill twice a day) last Tuesday. I noticed a difference within about a day and half, and I was excited. Believe it or not, I have missed going to the gym, especially since school let out and my workout classes there have ended. After being lazy for too long and running out of excuses, I've been looking forward to getting back at it and getting rid of some saddling guilt and shame.

Who knew, however, that one of the major side effects of cortisone is insomnia? I didn't know this, and didn't even make the connection until three nights of virtual sleeplessness. Sure enough, I discovered the truth on the Internet. So wouldn't you know it--the cortisone I was taking to fix the hip so I could work out was robbing me of sleep so I couldn't work out.

In the meantime I've been taking advantage of my newfound energy to blog and write songs. I lie in bed for hours--literally--with words and tunes running through my head until finally I resolve myself to getting up and writing them down. So a creative spurt has renewed something I've been out of touch with for some time, which in turn has given me a little boost of some much-needed self-confidence this week. So, yay cortisone. Yay, me.

On a side note, we took turns tonight as family members timing ourselves as we ran around the house. The kids didn't think dad and I would do it, but we didn't want to rob them of their fun; so we did. I was fastest.

And now my hip hurts.