The Road to Recovery-May 11
My first day of walk-running was amazing! It felt so good to pick up my feet and move fast, even if it was only for 20 seconds. Within the week I was running for 30 seconds and walking for a minute and I felt great! My visit with Doctor Jacques went well and seemed to further progress my recovery. I love the after effects of my visits with him. He usually does some chiropractic work on my neck, back and hips. Several times my right hip hasn’t popped for him because it’s been so tight so he will bring in one of his aids to hold my arms while he pulls my leg and tries to pop my hip. It’s not the injured side, but it tightened up to protect the injured left hammie. I have also been very sick since March 20th so Doctor Jacques used a vibrator on my forehead to open up my sinuses. He handed me a Kleenex and within minutes it became very handy!
After the chiropractic work, we switch rooms where the fun begins. Dr. Jacques always teases that this is where he gets to torcher me; I love his version of torcher! It feels so good and provides a lot of relief. Acupuncture is so fascinating to me. I always ask tons of questions and I hope Dr. Jacques doesn’t get sick of them. I usually get acupuncture on my right hip flexor, left hamstring, right thumb, right shoulder, and my left tricep. It stays in for 2 to 5 minutes, then, depending on the condition of my injuries, I’ll get ultrasound, e-stim, or a lazer on a few of the above mentioned sites. I walk out feeling like a new woman.
The Road to Recovery-May 15
It seems that I have taken a turn for the worse. On top of healing a few muscles I have been sick since the end of March. I am yet to figure out what the cause of this sickness is, but hope to figure it out because I am getting worse. I have had a cough and sinus/head cold since then, but this past week it has kept me up all night. I am extremely congested and always coughing up or blowing out thick green mucus. My situation intensified the pain in my leg and tricep and my right hip flexor got tighter. I skipped a few days of my sandwich runs and went to the doc to see if he could fix me. It was a short visit, as I was rushed through.
The Road to Recovery-May 18
I am looking very seriously at my nutrition. I eat very healthy, but may be lacking in sodium, potassium, magnesium, and other electrolytes. I started taking electrolyte supplements and have felt better overall. I still couldn’t figure out why my legs are so tight! I have been “resting” or doing light rehab since February and they feel like solid rocks!
After sharing this with Dr. Jacques, he looked at my feet and knees and noticed that when I stand, walk, or run my arches cave in which puts stress on my upper leg, especially the arterial lateral sides (IT Band and outer quad). He explained it like those muscles are working overtime trying to pull my knee back over where it should be instead of where it is. He suggested running and walking on the outsides of my feet and mentally focusing on lifting my arch. He also suggested getting a pair of shoes that are for over-pornators instead of neutral support as I have done in the past. I have never been told I am an over-pronator because I wear my shoes out very evenly. So with this new bit of knowledge I will get to work and get my knees into alignment.
The Road to Recovery-June 9
After several weeks of walking and running awareness, meaning awareness of foot placement, I have significantly reduced the tightness in my legs. I have also started stretching out my running time to 2 minutes! With Holly Martineau, I ran-walked the Race for Taylor on June 6th, a fundraiser 5K for a little girl needing heart surgery. On June 8th I tried my very first consistent 20 minute run. It was slow, but I didn’t walk and I felt great!
The Road to Recovery-June 13
Just a quick report that I am running up to 45 minutes! And loving it. I may be slow, but it feels good.
The Road to Recovery-June 18
One month until I get married! I am running up to an hour and can run at a faster pace than before. I am considering the possibility of racing in the Dinoland Triathlon on the 27th of June. I can run at about 80%, bike at 85%, and swim at 70%. The thought of racing makes me so happy! I am only considering it because I worry that by racing, I will do something to injure myself. I wouldn’t want to start this whole process over. So I prose myself the question: Is it safe for me to race? And if I race at top speeds, could I re-injure my leg or tricep? So many questions…
Part of me doesn’t want to race unless I am 100%. Another part of me wants to race no matter what and just “take it easy” if I’m not at 100%. But by doing that, will I get excited and competitive and push myself over the top, re-injuring myself? Or can I just race for fun (it’s always fun) and listen to my body and hold back?
I don’t know. I don’t know the answers. I do know that I have been doing very well controlling how hard I push myself in my “workouts”. I am swimming, biking and running well but I am aerobically out of shape.
