Fantastic! Wonderful! Awesome!
What are: words that describe my first physical therapy session?
:)
I'm really pleasantly surprised at how well that session went. I love the office and the people who work there are so nice and helpful. I was seen right away and the therapist I was working with got a pretty detailed history of the injury and then proceeded to examine me. She looked at my feet, how I walk (limp?), checked strength on both legs.... plus, she said I had very good feet for running! Something on me is natural for running! Her assessment showed that my knees curve a bit inwards, my glutes are a bit weak and the muscles on the insides on my knees aren't responding as quickly as the outside ones... that's my summary in very non-medical terms of course. So she worked on the IT bands on both legs which was about 25% nice massage and 75% ouch pain, but I was shocked when I stood up to walk. My knee was still twinging, but I could walk on it. Amazing. I'm a convert. Finally, she put the e-stim pad thingys on my left leg with some ice and showed me my "homework" exercises. I'm heading back in tomorrow and Thursday!
I'm so excited. She said it will probably be about 2 weeks off of running and then from there we'll start with light runs and she'll watch my stride and see what is causing the injury. She already had a bunch of ideas from inserts to taping my feet to more exercises. I'm so happy to find something that I think is going to work for me. I've still got a whole load of work to do before I can really train again, but that's ok. We're on the right road at least. The idea of running pain free is amazing. I hope I get there. :)
For dinner, I just warmed up some left over frittata and made butternut squash. Delicious for watching House. Now it's time to get some reading done... and do my exercises again!
Showing posts with label knee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knee. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2009
Race Report of Kneee Disaster
Well, I've been putting off doing this race report because the race did not go nearly as well as I'd hoped... however, I'm sitting in class, enjoy some nice oatmeal with banana and almond butter, so now is as good a time as any I suppose!
I'll start with Friday. I dropped Martha off in the morning to stay with a puppy friend and headed out to Clarksville to pick up my race packet. The "race expo" definitely left much to be desired but it was cute. This year was also the inaugural Clarksville race so there were expected kinks to be worked out for next year. I also checked into our hotel and instead of doing work for a bit there, I just napped in the patch of sun on the bed... ah....
After a bit, I picked my mom up at the Nashville airport. Hurray! I was so happy that she flew in to run with me. We had a pretty good dinner at Cafe Nonna in Nashville, but I was a little disappointed with the lasagna. Not nearly as many tasty fall veggies as I had hoped. We drove back to Clarksville and after some ice cream, called it a night in preparation for the morning race.
We were up and fed and at the starting line by 7:45am the next morning, and the race began at 8. The course and weather were both perfect! The course winds its way by some wineries and farm houses and had a good mix of flat stretches and good hills. It was about 60 degrees when we started and I was actually kinda hot as it warmed up. All in all though, perfect conditions. Plus, the run felt great. My legs felt relaxed, the pace was nice, and my heartrate was comfortable. At about mile 2, my left IT band started twinging, but not too bad. However, by mile 6 it was really starting to hurt. We stopped to walk for about a half mile, hopping that it would give my knee enough of a rest to come back. Between mile 6.5 and 7.5, it hurt but I figured that i could run through it. Only another 6 miles to go at that point! However, between 7.5 and 7.9, it went from uncomfortable to unbearable. We were going around a curve and within 10 steps, I couldn't put any weight on it. With some tears (I'd say half from frustration and half from pain), we got a ride from a really rude cop to the finish line, where the EMTs had to check me out.
.jpg)
Beginning of the race! You can see how beautiful the weather was. :)
Once they determined that I wasn't going to die on the spot and I signed a refusal of treatment form, my mom got the car and picked me up, and off we drove. I didn't want to stick around for the festivities and medal stuff because it would just add to the depressing situation.
After a few days of contemplation, I know that it was the right call to stop and that I probably ran through it for too long in that I still can't really walk on my left leg. I think I kept going because I didn't want to stop and give up and then think back that I hadn't pushed hard enough. I think the lesson is to listen to your body and when it says no, it means no. Also not to take two weeks off with a race coming up!!
So for the future! I'm going to physical therapy today and we'll see how it looks. Hopefully in a few months, I can start really training again and maybe the DPHM is still a possibility. Rehab it and try again! I'm more determined than ever now to finish it because having an unfinished half hanging over my head is going to irk me until I finish one. I hope I can come back stronger and quicker. I also hope that my knee feels well enough for yoga tomorrow!!! I have it in a brace now because it helps keep it stable as I drag myself around. I'm a tad worried that I'm going to throw my right hip out with the awkward way I'm walking but hopefully we'll talk about that at PT today. It felt a whole lot better this morning after icing it lots and elevating yesterday, but it's pretty uncomfortable in class with the angle of the chair and all the stairs I have to hop up to get to my seat. Last class of the day at least! Hopefully someone can give Martha a long walk for me today too... poor puppy.
Here's to hoping that PT goes well today and that I'll have some good news in a few hours!
I'll start with Friday. I dropped Martha off in the morning to stay with a puppy friend and headed out to Clarksville to pick up my race packet. The "race expo" definitely left much to be desired but it was cute. This year was also the inaugural Clarksville race so there were expected kinks to be worked out for next year. I also checked into our hotel and instead of doing work for a bit there, I just napped in the patch of sun on the bed... ah....
After a bit, I picked my mom up at the Nashville airport. Hurray! I was so happy that she flew in to run with me. We had a pretty good dinner at Cafe Nonna in Nashville, but I was a little disappointed with the lasagna. Not nearly as many tasty fall veggies as I had hoped. We drove back to Clarksville and after some ice cream, called it a night in preparation for the morning race.
We were up and fed and at the starting line by 7:45am the next morning, and the race began at 8. The course and weather were both perfect! The course winds its way by some wineries and farm houses and had a good mix of flat stretches and good hills. It was about 60 degrees when we started and I was actually kinda hot as it warmed up. All in all though, perfect conditions. Plus, the run felt great. My legs felt relaxed, the pace was nice, and my heartrate was comfortable. At about mile 2, my left IT band started twinging, but not too bad. However, by mile 6 it was really starting to hurt. We stopped to walk for about a half mile, hopping that it would give my knee enough of a rest to come back. Between mile 6.5 and 7.5, it hurt but I figured that i could run through it. Only another 6 miles to go at that point! However, between 7.5 and 7.9, it went from uncomfortable to unbearable. We were going around a curve and within 10 steps, I couldn't put any weight on it. With some tears (I'd say half from frustration and half from pain), we got a ride from a really rude cop to the finish line, where the EMTs had to check me out.
.jpg)
Beginning of the race! You can see how beautiful the weather was. :)Once they determined that I wasn't going to die on the spot and I signed a refusal of treatment form, my mom got the car and picked me up, and off we drove. I didn't want to stick around for the festivities and medal stuff because it would just add to the depressing situation.
After a few days of contemplation, I know that it was the right call to stop and that I probably ran through it for too long in that I still can't really walk on my left leg. I think I kept going because I didn't want to stop and give up and then think back that I hadn't pushed hard enough. I think the lesson is to listen to your body and when it says no, it means no. Also not to take two weeks off with a race coming up!!
So for the future! I'm going to physical therapy today and we'll see how it looks. Hopefully in a few months, I can start really training again and maybe the DPHM is still a possibility. Rehab it and try again! I'm more determined than ever now to finish it because having an unfinished half hanging over my head is going to irk me until I finish one. I hope I can come back stronger and quicker. I also hope that my knee feels well enough for yoga tomorrow!!! I have it in a brace now because it helps keep it stable as I drag myself around. I'm a tad worried that I'm going to throw my right hip out with the awkward way I'm walking but hopefully we'll talk about that at PT today. It felt a whole lot better this morning after icing it lots and elevating yesterday, but it's pretty uncomfortable in class with the angle of the chair and all the stairs I have to hop up to get to my seat. Last class of the day at least! Hopefully someone can give Martha a long walk for me today too... poor puppy.
Here's to hoping that PT goes well today and that I'll have some good news in a few hours!
Monday, November 2, 2009
IT Band strikes again. and again.
Well, my running freakout was certainly justified. Unfortunately. However, I did complete my first official 5K on Saturday!! It was just a fun experience in general to get a number and line up and run with lots of people you don't know. Plus, there were some fabulous costumes which provided on course entertainment. :)
Awkward pre-race, sun-in-my-eyes picture.
At least it proves I was there!
Blurry action shot
I'm not sure what my official time is, but the clock said 33:10 when I finished. I'll update when I find out the official time. (UPDATE: Apparently the official time was 33:19... Don't know how that happened but maybe I saw the clock wrong.) My knees were in a world of pain though, and not just the right one. By mile 2 they were both hurting, but it was really the left one that was killer for the duration. It feels like it's the IT band on that side too. Sigh. I think it was caused by a combination of things, mostly that I hadn't run in a while and the entire course was pretty much uphill. They were pretty swollen on Saturday night and when I woke up on Sunday, my left knee was so swollen I couldn't bend it all the way. I iced them on both Saturday night and Sunday morning, but I'm not sure how much it helped. Any kind of motion that involved pivoting was super painful. I cleaned the apartment last night and just vacuuming was pretty painful.
Of course, the swollen knees prevented me from my long run yesterday and now that the half is only 5 days away, I think I just need to focus on getting my knees back to normal and will run it without doing a last long run. I'm definitely looking forward to the race, but I'll be happy when it's done and I can go to a doctor to get my knees checked out again. I think I may pick up an IT band strap for my left knee as well, since the right one seems to give my knee some relief and that knee recovered much quicker.
For some reason, if I have a long run scheduled and I can't fit it in, I just skip it instead of doing a shorter one in its place. With finals coming up, I definitely won't have time for long runs (long being 9+ miles) but I'm really hoping to squeeze in 3 or so 3-5 mile runs a week, focusing on speed. Then when finals end, I can start working on distance again, hopefully to do the DPHM. :)
Awkward pre-race, sun-in-my-eyes picture.At least it proves I was there!
Blurry action shotI'm not sure what my official time is, but the clock said 33:10 when I finished. I'll update when I find out the official time. (UPDATE: Apparently the official time was 33:19... Don't know how that happened but maybe I saw the clock wrong.) My knees were in a world of pain though, and not just the right one. By mile 2 they were both hurting, but it was really the left one that was killer for the duration. It feels like it's the IT band on that side too. Sigh. I think it was caused by a combination of things, mostly that I hadn't run in a while and the entire course was pretty much uphill. They were pretty swollen on Saturday night and when I woke up on Sunday, my left knee was so swollen I couldn't bend it all the way. I iced them on both Saturday night and Sunday morning, but I'm not sure how much it helped. Any kind of motion that involved pivoting was super painful. I cleaned the apartment last night and just vacuuming was pretty painful.
Of course, the swollen knees prevented me from my long run yesterday and now that the half is only 5 days away, I think I just need to focus on getting my knees back to normal and will run it without doing a last long run. I'm definitely looking forward to the race, but I'll be happy when it's done and I can go to a doctor to get my knees checked out again. I think I may pick up an IT band strap for my left knee as well, since the right one seems to give my knee some relief and that knee recovered much quicker.
For some reason, if I have a long run scheduled and I can't fit it in, I just skip it instead of doing a shorter one in its place. With finals coming up, I definitely won't have time for long runs (long being 9+ miles) but I'm really hoping to squeeze in 3 or so 3-5 mile runs a week, focusing on speed. Then when finals end, I can start working on distance again, hopefully to do the DPHM. :)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Ouch Ouch Ouch
Ouch. Everything hurts.
Today was a 5 miler and I actually semi-enjoyed (read: didn't completely hate) it. I ran the first 3 miles at about 12:00 each, walked the fourth in about 14:00, and ran the last one in just under 10:00! Even my fast mile is probably pretty slow for most people, for me, it was pretty darn quick.
However even though it went pretty well during the run, my body is really hurting now. My right knee felt kind of alright (more on that in a second) for most of the run, but now it's throbbing. My ankles are sore, my lower back aches, even my calf muscles hurt. I just took a pain killer and I'm looking forward to when it starts to kick in. I'm icing my knee now and will probably ice my ankles in a little bit, just for good measure.
I bought an IT band strap to see if that helps. I'm pretty sure that it's my right IT band that is flaring up and bothering me, and I thought today to search online if they make some kind of support for it. They do! I bought this one and tried it out today. So far, I'm undecided. My knee still hurt at about mile 2, but I think it felt a little better and didn't hurt as sharply as I continued running. It also didn't feel quite as stiff at the end, but then again, I am currently icing it so who knows. I'll hold off on judgment until I try it out a few more times. I'm pretty sure it didn't make anything worse though so I may as well keep at it.
Also, in a move of sheer brilliance, I decided that I'm not going to go to another orthopedist until after this half... mostly because I don't want to be told to lay off the training and not be able to do it. We'll see what kind of smart plan that really is. If I end up on crutches or needing surgery, here is a note to my future self: You friggen idiot.
Alright, off to finish up the icing and head to bed. I'm exhausted and could probably use a full night sleep. Thank goodness for Advil.
Update:
I was looking over the last couple of posts and realized that I ran 8 miles in 1:47 last week and 5 in 1:00 today. That's a difference of and average 13:23 and 12:00 mile splits. Granted, I tend to get slower as the mileage drags on, but I'm pretty proud of pushing myself. With running, I think I have a tendency to stop or slow too soon (when it's not related to pain) so I've been trying to run through being tired or cramps and only walk for knee pain.
Hurray for going from super slow me to slow me in a week.
Today was a 5 miler and I actually semi-enjoyed (read: didn't completely hate) it. I ran the first 3 miles at about 12:00 each, walked the fourth in about 14:00, and ran the last one in just under 10:00! Even my fast mile is probably pretty slow for most people, for me, it was pretty darn quick.
However even though it went pretty well during the run, my body is really hurting now. My right knee felt kind of alright (more on that in a second) for most of the run, but now it's throbbing. My ankles are sore, my lower back aches, even my calf muscles hurt. I just took a pain killer and I'm looking forward to when it starts to kick in. I'm icing my knee now and will probably ice my ankles in a little bit, just for good measure.
I bought an IT band strap to see if that helps. I'm pretty sure that it's my right IT band that is flaring up and bothering me, and I thought today to search online if they make some kind of support for it. They do! I bought this one and tried it out today. So far, I'm undecided. My knee still hurt at about mile 2, but I think it felt a little better and didn't hurt as sharply as I continued running. It also didn't feel quite as stiff at the end, but then again, I am currently icing it so who knows. I'll hold off on judgment until I try it out a few more times. I'm pretty sure it didn't make anything worse though so I may as well keep at it.
Also, in a move of sheer brilliance, I decided that I'm not going to go to another orthopedist until after this half... mostly because I don't want to be told to lay off the training and not be able to do it. We'll see what kind of smart plan that really is. If I end up on crutches or needing surgery, here is a note to my future self: You friggen idiot.
Alright, off to finish up the icing and head to bed. I'm exhausted and could probably use a full night sleep. Thank goodness for Advil.
Update:
I was looking over the last couple of posts and realized that I ran 8 miles in 1:47 last week and 5 in 1:00 today. That's a difference of and average 13:23 and 12:00 mile splits. Granted, I tend to get slower as the mileage drags on, but I'm pretty proud of pushing myself. With running, I think I have a tendency to stop or slow too soon (when it's not related to pain) so I've been trying to run through being tired or cramps and only walk for knee pain.
Hurray for going from super slow me to slow me in a week.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
New trail and protein powder
After my bout of knee problems yesterday, I decided to cut my 5 mile run today by a bit and transfer to flat ground. In fact, I finally tried a new trail! I've been running the 2.1 mile loop by my apartment and it was getting pretty boring. In addition, there are parts with no sidewalk and some serious hills so that was definitely not going to help my knee. Due to some great searching by my mom, I went on a 15 minute drive out of town to try out the Brentwood Breezeway. It was a fantastic find! The loop around is about 6 miles I think, but I only did a portion of it due to time, light, and knee. I do hope to head back there for some of my long runs though. It is a whole lot more visually interesting than my current loop... AND FLAT! (Nashville is a pretty hilly place for those not familiar with the area.) I'm actually not even sure how far I ran as I left my watch at home (amazing how dependent I am on that thing now) but I'd estimate about 3 miles or so. I was pretty careful about my knee and walked whenever it started to fight me.
But really, isn't this trail just gorgeous? I kept taking pictures with my phone, probably to the annoyance of other runners on the trail...
Besides my run out there, I had a pretty low key day. I did manage to pick up a new protein powder. I'm definitely lagging on protein intake (only managed a measly 40 grams today) so I'm trying to squeeze some more in through this method as well as with low fat dairy and beans. First to try is GNC's be-BUFF Vanilla Bean Protein and Fiber Complete Mix. I bought it basically because I liked the new ads... I'm such a sucker for packaging and advertising. Today I had an OK shake with the powder and just water, but I'm hoping that adding a frozen banana will make it more palatable for me. This summer at Gold's Gym, I had an amaaaazing protein shake with some kind of chai tea powder, but I can't seem to replicate the flavor on my own yet. Anyone have suggestions for how to make protein shakes more tasty and fun?
Besides that, my school work is stressing me out a bit more than I'd like it to and I am hoping that I can start getting to bed earlier than my current 1:30am schedule, but we'll see how it goes. I know the work is only going to pile on as we head more into the semester. Speaking of heading into the semester, Happy Fall! I love this season and already made myself oatmeal with pumpkin butter and walnuts for breakfast tomorrow morning. Of course it won't be cool and autumny here for a bit, but I'm all ready to dive into fall foods. Butternut squash soup, apple cider, white bean chili... Mmm. Starved just thinking about it.
But really, isn't this trail just gorgeous? I kept taking pictures with my phone, probably to the annoyance of other runners on the trail...
Besides my run out there, I had a pretty low key day. I did manage to pick up a new protein powder. I'm definitely lagging on protein intake (only managed a measly 40 grams today) so I'm trying to squeeze some more in through this method as well as with low fat dairy and beans. First to try is GNC's be-BUFF Vanilla Bean Protein and Fiber Complete Mix. I bought it basically because I liked the new ads... I'm such a sucker for packaging and advertising. Today I had an OK shake with the powder and just water, but I'm hoping that adding a frozen banana will make it more palatable for me. This summer at Gold's Gym, I had an amaaaazing protein shake with some kind of chai tea powder, but I can't seem to replicate the flavor on my own yet. Anyone have suggestions for how to make protein shakes more tasty and fun?
Besides that, my school work is stressing me out a bit more than I'd like it to and I am hoping that I can start getting to bed earlier than my current 1:30am schedule, but we'll see how it goes. I know the work is only going to pile on as we head more into the semester. Speaking of heading into the semester, Happy Fall! I love this season and already made myself oatmeal with pumpkin butter and walnuts for breakfast tomorrow morning. Of course it won't be cool and autumny here for a bit, but I'm all ready to dive into fall foods. Butternut squash soup, apple cider, white bean chili... Mmm. Starved just thinking about it.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Running Pains
Soooo frustrated with my body today! According to my training schedule, today was supposed to be a seven miler. The weather here has been so rainy recently, so I just decided to try for it in the rain. It was actually very nice and cool but then my right knee decided it wasn't going any further. I got about 4 1/2 miles into it and on one step, my right foot hit the ground and pain shot through the outside of my right knee. This knee has always been a bit of a problem for me and it frustrates me so much! I walked on it a bit and then tried to run again and it hurt to even bend my knee.
While trying to run again, I noticed that I was favoring it and starting to kick my foot out to the right just to clear the pavement so I cut the run short just at about 5 miles. The yogini in me was telling me to listen to my body and to be forgiving of a sore knee, but athlete in me was basically screaming obscenities at it. A bit of an internal Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde argument. I know it's never good to run on something that hurts so sharply, but it just feels like I'm at such a roadblock.
ARG.
I feel like my body has been fighting me through out this training. I've been waiting to enjoy the workouts and the training sessions but so far I dread most of it. I need to find some kind of happy medium so that I don't end up really injuring myself. I guess I'm not quite sure what to do differently. I've been pretty diligent on the strength training and yoga, eating really well, and took extra care to hydrate well today. I've had the knee MRIed just to make sure there isn't anything structurally wrong but this has happened a few times before. I think I may talk to a running coach to see if there is a problem with my stride that is putting stress on my outer knee. Sigh, I'll get through it and even if I have to walk part of this half marathon, I'll cross that finish line!
At least I did have a delicious post run dinner though! I haven't been eating much meat recently (an upcoming post on that) so eggs have been my go-to food. So I had some whole wheat pasta mixed with blanched grape tomatoes and arugula, a little feta, and all topped with a fried egg. Egg onto of any kind of carbohydrate is a favorite comfort food of mine! I took a picture of it but it looks like if I'm going to be uploading food pictures, I need a better camera! It did not look very appetizing on my little low quality camera.
OK, on that note I'm off to play with the pup a bit. With all this awful rainy weather, she's looking a bit forlorn from being stuck inside so much recently.
While trying to run again, I noticed that I was favoring it and starting to kick my foot out to the right just to clear the pavement so I cut the run short just at about 5 miles. The yogini in me was telling me to listen to my body and to be forgiving of a sore knee, but athlete in me was basically screaming obscenities at it. A bit of an internal Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde argument. I know it's never good to run on something that hurts so sharply, but it just feels like I'm at such a roadblock.
ARG.
I feel like my body has been fighting me through out this training. I've been waiting to enjoy the workouts and the training sessions but so far I dread most of it. I need to find some kind of happy medium so that I don't end up really injuring myself. I guess I'm not quite sure what to do differently. I've been pretty diligent on the strength training and yoga, eating really well, and took extra care to hydrate well today. I've had the knee MRIed just to make sure there isn't anything structurally wrong but this has happened a few times before. I think I may talk to a running coach to see if there is a problem with my stride that is putting stress on my outer knee. Sigh, I'll get through it and even if I have to walk part of this half marathon, I'll cross that finish line!
At least I did have a delicious post run dinner though! I haven't been eating much meat recently (an upcoming post on that) so eggs have been my go-to food. So I had some whole wheat pasta mixed with blanched grape tomatoes and arugula, a little feta, and all topped with a fried egg. Egg onto of any kind of carbohydrate is a favorite comfort food of mine! I took a picture of it but it looks like if I'm going to be uploading food pictures, I need a better camera! It did not look very appetizing on my little low quality camera.
OK, on that note I'm off to play with the pup a bit. With all this awful rainy weather, she's looking a bit forlorn from being stuck inside so much recently.
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