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.

Here Comes the Sun

All last week I had been looking forward to the weekend warm up. And 0n Saturday, when I woke up, I took advantage of the sunshine and got a long bike ride in outside. I rode from my house to downtown Richmond and did a loop around Belle Island and then rode back. It ended up being a 27 mile bike ride which was pretty good. My knees were a little sore but after some icing, I felt pretty good.

On Sunday I got in a long workout after an 8 mile mountain bike ride on the road. I did all my PT exercises plus all my upper body work. I have added a few additional exercises to try to build more muscle in my arms and chest. I don't see the gains in my upper body workouts that I see when I ride the bike or run but I know I am getting stronger although not readily noticeable.

On Monday, I had a rest day but also I emailed my PT to ask her for some recommendations on how I should progress with my training. She made some general suggestions. She also told me to up the my ankle weights to 10 pounds. So earlier tonight, I strapped two five pound ankle weights to one of my ankles and ran through all my exercises, first with one leg and then with the other. It was not as tough as I thought it would be. I did sweat a little more than usual and it was harder but not impossible. I was pretty pleased. I am starting to be able to see and feel some more muscle definition in my quads. Nothing compared to the speed skaters I have been watching on tv but I am getting stronger.

I do have a problem though. I don't have any short term goals to work towards. I have some long term goals including racing the Shenandoah 100, someday running an ultra, getting more fit in general, hiking Pike's Peak with Melissa, and maybe doing another triathlon someday. But these goals are either very general or way off in the future. I find that I need some more immediate or specific goals to keep me going.

One thing I am truly looking forward to is moving my workouts from inside to outside. My plan it to build a backyard playground that will allow me to do some natural exercises. I mentioned this idea in a previous blog and http://quackenblogger.blogspot.com picked up on the idea. Carrying and throwing rocks, climbing trees, jumping from rock to rock, etc. These are all things I want to incorporate into my workouts. Alas it is still too nasty outside to get going on this. So I will have to concentrate and focus on my indoor workouts for now.

I still have a couple of great tools to help me keep in shape and vary my workouts. I have yet to really break into my BOSU training. I have yet to do many of the workouts included on the DVD. I have yet to even do part 2 of the ab workout. But I am close to being able to start doing more of the workouts on that DVD. And I have another DVD that came with my Kettlebell that I am looking forward to getting into. Plus I just watched a video of some neat things one can do with a medicine ball. Hopefully all these new things can give me some variety that will help keep me going. It has been a long winter of indoor training and while overall I have done well, I am getting antsy.

I am going to continue doing my PT at least 3 times a week with the added weight and a few extra exercises. Perhaps in 2 to 3 weeks, I will be able to start doing some of the other exercises. I hope so. For now, I have decided my homework for this week will be coming up with some short term goals and a training schedule. Perhaps I will be able to share those with you next time.

Thanks for reading. Did you get your heart rate up today?

Dreary Sunday

Today was a dreary Sunday with rain threatening all day. Melissa is still recovering from her oral surgery so we did not end up going to church. Her jaw still hurts quite a bit and she still has to take pain medicine to manage the pain.

After a lazy morning, I ate some breakfast and did some errands to get some things Melissa needed. After that I was ready for my workout.

I had planned to not ride the bike at all today but my knees felt pretty good and I wanted to get some cardio in. So I did my half hour on the bike while watching the Milan Derby (AC Milan vs Inter Milan). I upped my intervals from 90 seconds to 2 minutes. It was pretty easy going compared to my actual road ride that I did yesterday. I was able to work up quite a sweat. I really don't feel like I am getting a workout unless I am sweating. I am not sure why.

After my ride, I did all my upper body exercises and then onto the BOSU trainer for my ab workout. I had wanted to do some more ab work-some plank position to be more specific but I still needed to do my PT exercises. So I moved on to my straight leg lifts and all the other exercises I have to do to strengthen my knee joints. I managed to get it all done in about 2 hours which was pretty good considering all the exercises that I did.

After a long workout where I am pushing my muscles, it is always important to feed the muscles as soon as the workout is over. To accomplish that, I made a smoothie with non fat organic milk, frozen strawberries, a banana, a couple of scoops of organic whey protein powder and 2 table spoons of chia seeds. Yummy! And of course no workout is complete without ice on the knees while sitting on the couch.

I was thinking about my workouts today and realized that if I want to do all these things, I may have to break up my workout into several sessions during the day. I have not gotten up early to exercise before work since the summer of 2007 when I was training for the Richmond marathon. I have found it more difficult these days to get up early. I would like to change this behavior and start getting up earlier. I think the key is getting to bed at a reasonable hour. And that means less TV watching and trying to wind down earlier. If I can get in the habit, I think I can do it. But those first few times are always the most difficult.

So we'll see.