Amazing!

I was fed up with being able to bike for 30 minutes but then hurting for 3 days. I went to my Dr. on Wednesday and got a referral to see Motion Care. They are the ones who were able to get my neck moving after months of physical therapy at the Neck and Back Clinic that wasn't working.

I went to Motion Care this morning and told them what I'm doing, when I started hurting and that it's in my knee but my coach says it's the hip. When you go you lay on a heating pad and they wrap heating pads around the area of pain. You stay there for 20 - 30 minutes. The therapist comes in and checks out your motion, compares it with the other side and then pulls and twists you back to where you should be. She said due to the cold, rainy marathon my pelvis/hip muscle has seized up and never released which is why I'm able to swim (your hips rotate) and not bike or run where you need those muscles to move your leg. It's the hip! After 20 minutes of pushing and pulling I was good to go. She told me to bike tonight lightly for 20-30 minutes and see how I feel and ease back into running, etc. I have another appointment next Wednesday in case it slips back but hopefully this is all I will need. I don't know how to explain them because you don't do reps of resistant bands and they are not "adjusting" your like a chiro would do. . . it's just magic.

I'm so excited to get going again. Fingers crossed I will be able to keep going this time!!

On the Mend

I think the yoga is doing wonders or maybe the Glucosamine/MSM. I went swimming with masters on Sunday for a full hour (it's really an hour and half) but I didn't want to push it plus we were circle swimming and I couldn't deviate from a speedy pace and have someone run into me. I felt a little sore after but not bad. I have noticed that I'm able to stretch myself even farther when reaching for each stroke. Maybe I will be 5 foot 3 someday and not 5 foot 2 and 3/4.

I went to yoga at work on Monday, then more swimming at the Y after work. Today I found myself not paying any attention and I'm sitting at my desk with my left leg crossed over my right. This is huge - never in my life has it been comfortable for me to cross my left over my right, just the right over my left. Seems silly but something good is happening from stretching. I have also been using my resistance bands for my shoulders. Tonight I am going to bike for 30 minutes just softly, small chain and see how I feel. If that goes well I will try jogging on Wed. I'm still doing all this without my heart rate monitor because I know I'm in too low of zones still. I'm not sure what's working for me but I'm going to keep going so I can get back on track.

Testing the Water and it Still Hurts

I went to master swimming yesterday and pretty much used a pull buoy the entire time. My shoulders are sure sore. My knee is more sore today. My coach said that I need to loosen up all my muscles and I'm holding too much in my shoulders and it could be affecting my knee. I ordered some resistance bands to use on my banana boat accident left shoulder. See the banana boat pic. Harmless looking isn't it? I need to get it stronger and more range of motion. I also ordered a book on stretching and another on exercises for your knees and how to make them more flexible. I showed my coach how in-flexible I am. I have never been able to touch my toes...maybe once in my life. I can touch my knees, but most 90 year olds can do that. It's terrible! I'm the girl in yoga that can't even sit cross legged on the floor. I have awesome balance but no flexibility.

I took the next step and joined our wellness center at work. They have yoga over the lunch hour. I just got back from it and it's great. We hold poses for a long time so I can really stretch. They have quite the studio and machines....it's all windows like you are running outdoors and flat screen TV's on the walls. It's really nice.

If you want to read about the banana boat here's the story...

In 2001 I went on a vacation with Fanta, Neumann and Jess Smith. We went to Puerto Vallarata for a cheap, warm vacation. In college we said we would try to take a trip every year no matter who can make it. We were riding on a banana boat when we all fell off and I kept hanging on with my left shoulder. I thought I could pull myself back onto the boat, but we were going so fast that it stretched out the ligaments and tendons in my shoulder. I knew right away I hurt my shoulder. When I got home they did two MRI's and didn't find a tear but thought there might be one and they could do surgery. I didn't want surgery, so I took up running to help get my shoulder stronger. I could only run about a mile before my shoulder was grinding. I still have problems with my shoulder anytime I do something new. Last year it was painful swimming but I seemed to work through that. Biking on my Soft Ride was painful and still is if my shoulder is sore. Add to that a car accident that I was rear ended and you have a mess of muscles in my back/neck and shoulder. So this is why my knee hurts? I don't get it but right now I'll try anything to get better.

If you have the time...read this guys blog

http://www.jeremysartain.com/

This is a MN guy that was in a bad motorcycle accident in May (go back to May 2008 post for the accident info) and completed the IronMan World Championships in Kona in 2008. (He qualified in 2007.) Pretty amazing!

I found my name confirmed in the participant list! I noticed my credit card cleared but this really makes it official. Now if I could start training again... I'm hoping to spin on Saturday and swim at Masters on Sunday. I HOPE! Fingers crossed!

Still Down...

I'm still having issues. How frustrating this is! I have been swimming and going to yoga and doing lots of stretching and foam rollering. I'm going to have to step this up so I can get better. I'm going to try Advil everyday, wear my knee brace around the house and start MSM to help the cells in my joint. I thought I would be back working out by now. There is some swelling under my knee I noticed last night. I should probably be icing this as well. I should have waited longer to start this - one week after the marathon was too soon now. . . I know that for sure.

First Injury : (

I went to Masters Swimming on Sunday morning and by the time I was done I limped out of the pool very slightly. My coach noticed and I told her my left knee is sore and has been since the marathon and politely told her that she is breaking me! She told me to use my foam roller and showed me what to do. I was literally foam rolling around on a slippery pool floor in my swimsuit with an audience. I felt like a fish floundering around. I first rolled over my hips, ouch. Then the front of my quads and 3/4 side of my leg (really hurt). She then told me that since it's my left IT band then my right side under my arm will hurt. Boy was she right. When I rolled on that area I got tears in my eyes. I went home and caused myself a lot more pain but I wasn't limping anymore. I even foam rollered before I went to work. I'm supposed to lay my injured area on the roller with all my weight holding me down and stay that way until the pay is gone and the muscles relaxes. Imagine being really tight and sore and getting a massage and having the therapist press into that area as hard as they can without letting up until the pain is gone...that's what the foam roller does for you. I was supposed to run 45 minutes on Sunday but I skipped it. I just didn't feel good about it with my knee as sore as it is.

Take it Day by Day, Month by Month

I'm on a rest day today! I made it three whole days of work-outs. My bike is still the toughest for me. The swim was just fine except I didn't do any of the paddle/pull buoy workouts because my shoulder is still sore. The run was the most frustrating because I wanted to 'run'. In order to keep my heart rate 134 - 145 (zone 2) I basically had to run 80 steps, walk 30. I thought the run would maybe take an hour since it was 6 miles and I knew it would be slower. Once I started and realized how slow going this would be I didn't check the clock when I finished. I would just get going and have to walk. A speedy walk wouldn't keep me in the zone I needed and running how I normally run was too high. Despite the slow run

I was thinking about all this and how to keep myself motivated...

I decided that once a month I will get a massage on my rest day (something to look forward to). I scheduled my first one on Oct 28. I'm lucky enough to work at a place where I can just go to the fitness center and sign up for a massage during work hours. : )

I'm just going to take it one week at a time, basically rest period to rest period.

At the end of each month I'll total up how many miles I swam, biked and ran. That should be motivating!