Almost 5 months since onset of injury, almost 4 months from last attempt to run (I am not even counting anymore)
In my desperation, I am turning to a chiropractor for help. I have never been to a chiropractor, ever. My view of chiropractors when I was growing up were that they were quacks that cracked your back and neck. But I am learning they do know more than just back cracking. This particular chiropractor comes highly recommended by several runners that are very loosely connected, if connected at all. I can trust runner recommendations, although not all injuries are created equal. This injury just sucks [balls]. I have degraded myself to jogging/walking intervals on the treadmills at speeds I am embarrassed to post. I am also going to contact the Whartons and hope they take pity on this mediocre runner's ailments. I read that one of the Whartons splits time in PA and DC, so one of them is at least within driving distance. So back to the chiropractor. She is a runner (like) and she practices the Graston technique. I have no idea if that technique works but if it stimulates healing and that is what my body needs then more power to it. However, I do have trouble with the thought of after 3 months of no running that my problem is one of healing. That should be plenty of time. Anyway, I see the chiropractor in 2 days. We'll see how this goes....
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
A Test of Patience
122 days post injury, 89 days since last attempt to run
Thanks to the changes in the NYC marathon qualifying times, I don't feel pressured to run the Miami half. The previous qualifying half time of 1:37 was doable, but the new time of 1:27 is completely out of my reach. This is a good thing because I am pretty sure I won't be able to run even 5 miles at the end of January when the Miami half will take place.
Today I realized that I need to reflect on the small improvements that I have made over the last 3 months; otherwise any improvements will go completely unnoticed. Today tested my patience with this damn injury, feeling like I am still in the same position I was months ago. I became very upset that I am still nowhere near running again 4 months later. But when I was at the gym doing my physical therapy and other leg strengthening exercises, it occurred to me that I really have improved and that the effort I have put forward these last 3 months wasn't for nothing.
Last week I made some adjustments to my return to running plan. First, I am back to lifting my entire lower body. Having to fit both lifting and cardio into my schedule is tough, so I am going to the gym both before and after work like I used to. It was nice to see the same regulars there, obviously having more discipline than I. It was also nice to talk to them and be told that it was nice to see me back. (in these low times, any nice words help.)
Second, the pressure of holiday eating pushed me to start including short jogging bursts in my walks. I realized that 5 minutes of continuous jogging wasn't going to happen. (well, it could happen but I'm not sure if it would be beneficial to my recovery.) Knowing that I had 2 Thanksgiving dinners to attend that day, I decided to jog 30 seconds every 5 minutes during my 40 minute walk. It went well and that was encouraging. My new plan is to take a day off in between each walk/jog session and complete each "level" twice before moving to the next level. I moved on to the next level: 4 minutes walking, 1 minute jogging. I noticed a little discomfort after awhile, but nothing like it used to be. Still, that was very discouraging. After 3 months of no running, how could this be? How can my body not have healed by now? After my little walk/jog session, I helped out at a running event. Dressed in my running clothes, many of my running friends asked if I ran that day. Once again, discouraging to have to tell them that I'm still not running. Some people don't understand that it's not that I don't want to be out there with them running, it's that I can't. I desperately want to join them, but I would rather take months off at a time than end my running career trying to run through pain. I constantly have to remind myself of the consequences of running before my body is ready. It is the true test of patience.
I left the running event with my head hanging and little confidence in my efforts these past few months. Having taken the previous day off from lifting, physical therapy exercises, and the elliptical, I headed straight to the gym. I have been doing core exercises for 3 months and my core is super strong. (If I was running and burning fat I am pretty damn sure I'd have a 6-pack.) I've done 2 months of hip strengthening (hip flexors, abductors and adductors) and just over a month of hamstring strengthening. The hips are getting stronger too. Part of my do-it-yourself physical therapy is to incorporate hip extension exercises using the nautilus free weight hip extension machine. If you don't know what that is, google it. In my first month post injury, I went to the gym a few times to lift, which included the hip extension. I have always been a big fan of the hip extension; it works your glutes, lower back, and upper hamstrings. In the first month post injury, it was very painful. I started doing the hip extension again a few weeks ago after I realized the "no pain, no gain" concept of recovery from this sort of injury. I still felt pain during the extension part of the exercise but it wasn't as intense. Today I felt no pain. This is when I had the realization that I am actually making progress. Although I still have this nagging pain in my rear after my walk/jog sessions, it is a different kind of pain. And the pain isn't always there like it was before, as seen by my painless hip extension today.
With injuries like these, I realized that I have to take a huge step back and look at the entire picture and not just focus on the fact that I'm not running. The reality is that I AM getting better. I am healing..slowly. Albeit baby steps, they are steps in the right direction. Again, this is where patience factors in. I know that I have to remain patient and take each day as it comes. Although the baby-step progress isn't apparent until some time passes, they are progressive steps and not regressive. As cliche as it sounds, I am listening to my body and that practice is tried and true.
Part of my physical therapy is an exercise that my PT referred to as a wind mill. It's essentially a single leg deadlift with no weight, but your arm does a windmill like move as you bend down and touch the ground with each windmill before straightening your body. I have also heard these referred to as romanian dead lifts. Noticing my small, yet huge metaphorically improvements today, I started to add weight to these wind mill exercises. I still did my weightless windmills, then followed these with the single leg romanian dead lifts holding 10 lbs in each hand. The key to this move is to feel a stretch in the hamstring as you lower your torso forward. Doing this exercise I realized a major insufficiency that is most likely contributing to injuries that only occur on my right side. This exercises revealed a major weakness in my right ankle. In college, I managed to sprain my right ankle playing in the girls powder puff league. It was really bad. Since I wasn't a runner at the time and no longer playing "real" sports, none of my health care practicioners thought it was important for me to go through physical therapy to make sure this injury healed correctly and completely. Son of a bitch this fucker never healed properly. Today I began ankle strengthening exercises.
I'll check back in as I continue to increase my jogging:walking ratio. Tonight's beer: Heavy Seas Marzen.
Thanks to the changes in the NYC marathon qualifying times, I don't feel pressured to run the Miami half. The previous qualifying half time of 1:37 was doable, but the new time of 1:27 is completely out of my reach. This is a good thing because I am pretty sure I won't be able to run even 5 miles at the end of January when the Miami half will take place.
Today I realized that I need to reflect on the small improvements that I have made over the last 3 months; otherwise any improvements will go completely unnoticed. Today tested my patience with this damn injury, feeling like I am still in the same position I was months ago. I became very upset that I am still nowhere near running again 4 months later. But when I was at the gym doing my physical therapy and other leg strengthening exercises, it occurred to me that I really have improved and that the effort I have put forward these last 3 months wasn't for nothing.
Last week I made some adjustments to my return to running plan. First, I am back to lifting my entire lower body. Having to fit both lifting and cardio into my schedule is tough, so I am going to the gym both before and after work like I used to. It was nice to see the same regulars there, obviously having more discipline than I. It was also nice to talk to them and be told that it was nice to see me back. (in these low times, any nice words help.)
Second, the pressure of holiday eating pushed me to start including short jogging bursts in my walks. I realized that 5 minutes of continuous jogging wasn't going to happen. (well, it could happen but I'm not sure if it would be beneficial to my recovery.) Knowing that I had 2 Thanksgiving dinners to attend that day, I decided to jog 30 seconds every 5 minutes during my 40 minute walk. It went well and that was encouraging. My new plan is to take a day off in between each walk/jog session and complete each "level" twice before moving to the next level. I moved on to the next level: 4 minutes walking, 1 minute jogging. I noticed a little discomfort after awhile, but nothing like it used to be. Still, that was very discouraging. After 3 months of no running, how could this be? How can my body not have healed by now? After my little walk/jog session, I helped out at a running event. Dressed in my running clothes, many of my running friends asked if I ran that day. Once again, discouraging to have to tell them that I'm still not running. Some people don't understand that it's not that I don't want to be out there with them running, it's that I can't. I desperately want to join them, but I would rather take months off at a time than end my running career trying to run through pain. I constantly have to remind myself of the consequences of running before my body is ready. It is the true test of patience.
I left the running event with my head hanging and little confidence in my efforts these past few months. Having taken the previous day off from lifting, physical therapy exercises, and the elliptical, I headed straight to the gym. I have been doing core exercises for 3 months and my core is super strong. (If I was running and burning fat I am pretty damn sure I'd have a 6-pack.) I've done 2 months of hip strengthening (hip flexors, abductors and adductors) and just over a month of hamstring strengthening. The hips are getting stronger too. Part of my do-it-yourself physical therapy is to incorporate hip extension exercises using the nautilus free weight hip extension machine. If you don't know what that is, google it. In my first month post injury, I went to the gym a few times to lift, which included the hip extension. I have always been a big fan of the hip extension; it works your glutes, lower back, and upper hamstrings. In the first month post injury, it was very painful. I started doing the hip extension again a few weeks ago after I realized the "no pain, no gain" concept of recovery from this sort of injury. I still felt pain during the extension part of the exercise but it wasn't as intense. Today I felt no pain. This is when I had the realization that I am actually making progress. Although I still have this nagging pain in my rear after my walk/jog sessions, it is a different kind of pain. And the pain isn't always there like it was before, as seen by my painless hip extension today.
With injuries like these, I realized that I have to take a huge step back and look at the entire picture and not just focus on the fact that I'm not running. The reality is that I AM getting better. I am healing..slowly. Albeit baby steps, they are steps in the right direction. Again, this is where patience factors in. I know that I have to remain patient and take each day as it comes. Although the baby-step progress isn't apparent until some time passes, they are progressive steps and not regressive. As cliche as it sounds, I am listening to my body and that practice is tried and true.
Part of my physical therapy is an exercise that my PT referred to as a wind mill. It's essentially a single leg deadlift with no weight, but your arm does a windmill like move as you bend down and touch the ground with each windmill before straightening your body. I have also heard these referred to as romanian dead lifts. Noticing my small, yet huge metaphorically improvements today, I started to add weight to these wind mill exercises. I still did my weightless windmills, then followed these with the single leg romanian dead lifts holding 10 lbs in each hand. The key to this move is to feel a stretch in the hamstring as you lower your torso forward. Doing this exercise I realized a major insufficiency that is most likely contributing to injuries that only occur on my right side. This exercises revealed a major weakness in my right ankle. In college, I managed to sprain my right ankle playing in the girls powder puff league. It was really bad. Since I wasn't a runner at the time and no longer playing "real" sports, none of my health care practicioners thought it was important for me to go through physical therapy to make sure this injury healed correctly and completely. Son of a bitch this fucker never healed properly. Today I began ankle strengthening exercises.
I'll check back in as I continue to increase my jogging:walking ratio. Tonight's beer: Heavy Seas Marzen.
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