Monday, March 30, 2015

A Huge Mistake...

Back when I was doing physical therapy for my left knee injury/hamstring tendonitis the therapist told me that there was an issue with the alignment of my right femur in my hip socket and that my hips (in general) were weak. So in addition to focusing on my knee I was also given exercises to strengthen my hips. At the end of my physical therapy sessions (otherwise known as "when my insurance company decided to stop covering them"), I was given strict instructions to "continue to perform the exercises at home". I didn't listen. I should have listened...
So this morning when I woke up and still had the same lingering hip pain that I've had since Thursday, I knew I could no longer ignore the warning my body was giving me. I wasn't very happy...


I've been trying to make Monday my yoga/rest day...

But today I incorporated some of my former therapy exercises. I did some side leg raises on both sides...

A modified "bird dog" exercise...
(I can't put too much pressure on my shoulders so I try not to lift my arm off the floor while doing the reverse leg extension)

Single leg bridge...

The exercises look simple enough but they really are a lot harder for me than they probably are for most. They were not always as hard as they seemed today though so that means that my muscles have gotten weaker. That's probably not the best news in the world :(

So I've been sulking all day today and even more so this evening because I know that technically the best approach is to take a few days off from running and reassess how I feel after a few days of rest. It is the right thing to do. The most logical thing to do. But it wasn't until I heard it from a friend of mine that I (reluctantly) agreed to consider it do it.

I'm consoling myself (somewhat) with the fact that I won't be activity deprived during my rest days. I was reminded that Swim Miami is three weeks away (3 weeks! I'm totally not ready!) so I can spend some of these upcoming "non-running" days in the pool for a valiant last ditch attempt to prepare for the 1 mile open water swim...
And, of course, my evenings will be filled with more and more physical therapy activities, yoga, stretching, foam rolling, wall sits (maybe).  So between morning swimming sessions and evening strengthening routines I should be all ready to "lace up" my sneakers by the end of the week.

Hopefully I will be lacing up my new shoes soon! I am almost 100% 93% sure about getting the Newton Energy NR running shoes. I've read/heard that it takes a while to get used to them. In fact one website suggested walking around in them for a few weeks prior to running in them. Which means that if I'm going to train in them as of the beginning of May, I need to get them asap!

Have you ever participated in an open water swimming event?

Have you ever had to do physical therapy because of an injury? 

Do you run in different brands of running shoes, or do you stick to the same brand all the time?

10 comments:

  1. Physical therapy is so humbling - so much harder than it looks! Resting is tough too, but much better to take a few days and be smart than a few weeks (or months) from an injury that could have been prevented. Heal up quick!

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    1. Thanks! Yea I'm going to focus on swimming and a few core workouts and PT exercises etc for the next few days. Hopefully I will be feeling better by the weekend (at the latest)

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  2. physical therapy... I was so bad about doing my exercises.. they were just so boring! and my cat ruined the stretchy band they gave me to do them with, I hope you heal fast and are back to running in no time!

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    1. just saw your question about the shoes... I currently run in Asics, Mizunos, Altras and Brooks. so yeah I like to change it up a bit :)

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    2. Thanks Christy! I had to search forever to find my stretchy band yesterday lol but I was able to do a few things exercises last night with it. I hope after a few days I will be back to running :)

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    3. re: Shoes -- wow! are they all a smilier type or are some for trail running, others for road running etc?

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  3. UGH I had to do physical therapy for my lower back for a while and hated it!! The exercises were so slow and boring and NOT what I was used to with all my high impact workouts. So I can completely understand why the PT went under the radar. But you'll get it back!! Sounds like you're doing all the right things in the meantime!

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    1. Thanks Tori! It is a slow and painful process but I'm really trying to be patient. It was around this same time last year that I got my knee injury too :( so I'm taking my time because I already had to defer Chicago because of my knee last year. I do not want to miss it again this year.

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  4. Wow. I read this at the perfect time. I have been battling (?) piriformis issues for several years. It's nothing debilitating, but is ever-present. I had several months of PT two years ago, which helped...but did not fix it. Of course, I have to admit that I was not 110% committed to the boring exercises assigned, and I forgot a lot of them between appointments. I'm seeing a sports doc on Thursday, and promise to do whatever he tells me to do. I have a couple of big races on my summer calendar (my third 26.2 and a 50K), and I want to do them without gritting my teeth :-)

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    1. Good Luck Kimberly!!!! With your doctors appointment and your races!!! (a 50K! wow!!!!!). I hope that by following the regime you are able to keep everything under control. Running pain free is always the best way to run ;)

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