Self Inflicted Injury

It has been roughly two months since I completed the Beach to Battleship full iron distance triathlon. As you may recall, I struggled through the run with some pretty intense knee pain. Since the race I have been dealing with the repercussions of my knee issue.

A week after the race, I went on an easy bike ride with Melissa. We did about 30 miles. I was fine up until about mile 20 when my knee started bothering me again. I had to take it real easy for the rest of the ride and I did my best to draft off Melissa. I did too much too soon after the race. I spent the next several days icing and taking it easy.

After a few days of healing, I started doing some physical therapy (PT) exercises that I had learned from past injuries. Unfortunately, I was not seeing much progress. I ended up getting an evaluation from a PT friend who pretty much agreed with my diagnosis of IT Band syndrome and told me some good exercises to do.

I continued to do those exercises and started seeing mild improvement. Heading into Thanksgiving, I decided I would see how it felt on Thanksgiving day. For Thanksgiving, we have some traditions that include running a hilly 5K up in the Philadelphia area. On the morning of Thanksgiving, I suited up for the race and did some warmup laps on the track to see how the knee would behave. It was not great but it was not too bad either. I decided I would start the race and if my knee started to become a problem, I would bail out.

Of course, once the race gun went off, I took off with the rest of the pack and never looked back. I ended up running a 21:15 which was not too shabby for me on this course. I did pay the price later though. Not only did I have to ice my knees for the rest of the day but since I ran in my minimalist shoes that I don't usually run in, I put the hurtin on my calves. In fact the next day, I was hobbling around like an old man. I had pretty much wrecked my calves. The knee felt better after a day of icing but my calf pain remained for an entire week.

I probably should not have run the 5K. When I got back home, I decided I better take it easy and really focus on my PT exercises. I also went to see Sara at Hands-On Wellness MT.  I decided I should go to my doctor to get an examination and perhaps a prescription for PT. I was able to get an appointment right away and, as usual, when I got to my appointment I was seen right away and did not have to wait long at all. The doctor examined my knee thoroughly and agreed that I was most likely suffering from typical IT Band Syndrome. He said there could be some meniscus damage but wanted me to do PT for three weeks and see how things went.

When I went to my first PT appointment, the therapist became the third PT to tell me that my IT Band was the worst they have ever seen. I could play "Ballad of Jed Clampett" on that thing.  Ellen got me going with some heat and then an ultrasound. Then I did some stretches that they prescribed followed by some strength exercises. I am highly motivated once I have some direction and a concrete plan and was glad to have some structure.

I have done one full week of structured PT  and I am seeing big improvements. My IT band is not as tight and does not hurt constantly. Not only did I have knee pain associated with the rubbing of the IT band, but my IT band itself ached all the time, especially when sitting. That pain has dissipated. I still have some issues below my knee cap that may or may not respond to the PT. I will continue to do my exercises as religiously as possible. I have continued to swim but I am not running or biking. I figure that I have to be ready to start training again by the end of January at the latest. I would rather get started sooner than that but I will have to see how things go. Wish me luck.

PT Continues

It has been a great week of exercise. Getting through all of my Physical Therapy exercises each day takes a bit of determination. The exercises themselves are not that difficult or hard but they are time consuming. Each day this week, I was able to get all my PT done each day plus ride the trainer for 30 minutes each day. I also got some ab and upper body workouts in. And this weekend, I also had the privilege of shoveling lots of snow. I enjoy shoveling snow and it is also a great workout. I did not really finish getting all the snow shoveled but I did get my driveway cleared all the way down into the street and I helped my neighbor clear his driveway. It was a lot but it felt good to shovel after doing all my PT. And since I have tomorrow off due to inclement weather, I should be able to get a great workout in including all my PT, upper body, and abs.

Now that it is the end of the month, it is a good time to revisit New Years goals. So far, I have been doing quite well. It has been over a month since I had any caffeine or soda and I have finally adjusted pretty well. I no longer have cravings for the afternoon pick me up. I just drink water all day. When I cook dinner, I have a big glass of orange juice and then later after dinner I usually wind down with a glass of organic apple juice. I had been thinking about quiting soda for several years but this year it just seemed like the right time and so far, it is going well.

Another goal that is going well is eating better. I have been striving for 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day and only eating out once a week at the most. Getting the 5 to 9 has been pretty easy. I have a banana, granola, and organic low fat yogurt for breakfast. Then for lunch either soup and salad or a garden veggy sandwich for lunch. As a snack I have an apple and an orange and a few handfuls of mixed nuts. So before dinner that brings me to 4 servings of fruits and vegetables. For dinner we always have a few servings of fresh vegetables with whatever our main course happens to be and I usually have a glass of the apple juice I mentioned which counts as 2 servings of apples. So overall, I am doing pretty well with my diet. So far I have lost about 1.5 pounds. Once my knees totally heal, I will be able to intensify my workouts and build more muscle.

In my last blog entry, I mentioned March 14th. March 14th is when we change our clocks which will give us an extra hour of sunlight. I prefer to workout outside and this will give me more time to workout in the great outdoors. In fact, I am looking into a new type of workout called movnat. You can check it out at movnat.com Basically it revolves around natural movements and incorporates things like carrying and throwing big rocks, climbing trees, carrying logs, running barefoot, and other things. It may sound a little weird but I am looking for something different to add to my regular workouts. Erwan Le Corre is the founder of movnat and he has been called the fittest man in the world. It will be quite sometime before I can do the types of movements Erwan does but it is something to strive for.

Due to inclement weather, I have tomorrow off. YEAH!

Wednesday Wrap Up

After my weekend of exercise, I kept the ball rolling on Monday. When I got home from work, it was pretty warm and there was a little sun left. I decided to sneak in a quick bike ride. So I rode around the neighborhood for about 20 minutes before it starting getting too dark to safely ride on the road. It was a short ride but it was encouraging to know that in a few weeks, I will be able to ride some after work even if it is just around the neighborhood. Also it got me itching for March 14th. Do you know the significance of March 14th this year? Besides that it is my brother Tom's birthday of course. I will let you try to guess and I will answer the question in a future blog. (I am stealing some of quackenblogger.blogspot.com's style by challenging you with a question to answer).

After my Monday night ride, I had to do my Physical Therapy exercises. My PT, Jane from Advanced Orthopedics, sent me home with several exercises including stretches that I had to do 2 to 3 times a day as well as strength exercises that I did 1 or 2 times a day depending on the exercise. As I have said before, doing all these exercises is very time consuming but I was able to get them all done while watching some TV.

But this was not the end of my Monday. A week before, Melissa had oral surgery. Her recovery was not really going that great and she had gone back to the doctor who prescribed a powerful antibiotic for her to take. That night she took her pill around 10PM and by 11PM she started itching. Her face got all puffy and she was having trouble breathing. We called a 24 hour nurse line. The nurse told her to take 2 Benadryl and then head to the emergency room. So she took 2 pills and we headed to Saint Mary's. Saint Mary's advertises that people will never have to wait more than 30 minutes in the waiting room. When we got there, it was practically empty. Mondays are a good day to go to the emergency room-much better than a Friday or Saturday night. They took her back right away and started her on some medications to combat the effects of the antibiotic. After a few hours, they let her go home. We got home a little after 2AM. The next day, Melissa got up at 6 and went to the store to get some medications and then drove up to NOVA for a meeting. I thought she was a little crazy but she works very hard at her job and felt strongly that she needed to go to this important meeting. I am not sure how she did it because I could barely get up the next day.

Melissa is doing much better now but we still have to monitor her and she still has to take a lot of medication for the next week or two. I am keeping my eye on her to see if any of her symptoms return. And her jaw is feeling much better and she is able to eat now and was even able to do a 2 mile run tonight with her training team. She is a strong woman!

On Tuesday, I had my second PT appointment with Jane. I ran through my stretches and exercises that I had done on my first visit. Then they added several more exercises. So now it takes me about 2.5 hours to do all my PT exercises. I will be continuing to work at home and do not have to go back to Advanced Orthopedics for PT again. I am going to have to do something about getting in my other workouts though. My only option is to get up early in the morning before work to do my other workouts. I don't see it happening in the immediate future but it is something I want to work towards. It is important for me to keep doing all my PT exercises. I go back to the doctor February 17th and I am determined to impress him with my progress.

One thing that may help me with getting up early is to start getting up early on Saturdays so my sleep is more consistent. We are going to start working out on Saturday mornings with our 10K training team at our church. I will be walking while Melissa runs. I still don't know when I will be able run. I probably won't be able to race again until the Fall. For now, I will play it by ear. I am hoping that by summer, I can start running in the mountains again. But that is a long time from now. Right now I have to take it one day at a time.

Next time, I plan to detail the specifics of my workout. I am thinking of posting some pictures and/or video so you can see what it is exactly that I am doing to get healthy.