Injury progress, and realizations

I'm hoping that I'll be ready to attempt some short, easy runs at some point this week.  I'm happy to report that it hasn't hurt to walk for a week now.  I am terrified, however to set out on that first post-injury run, and because of that I'm trying to wait until I don't feel anything unusual in my legs to try to run on them, and I'm hopeful that will happen this week. 

What I've done to 'fix' myself over this past month-and-a-half:

- 1 massage (I'm planning on getting another one soon!)
- 1 Physical Theraphy appointment (initial assessment, no homework exercises given)
- 4 Chiropractic appointments (Active Release Technique)
- 1 more Physical Therapy appointment (homework exercises given..which I still need to do- that's my
   project for this week)
-  LOTS OF REST
-  I was instructed by a doctor friend to stop taking stairs, so I did (as embarrassing as it has been). 
- Did more yoga and stretching in a 1 month period than I have my entire life, cumulatively- I'm pretty sure!

Things I've noticed about myself, or learned during this injury period
                                  (6.5 weeks and counting):

I don't eat as much when I'm not exercising.  Obviously, it makes sense that I'm not as hungry as when I am exercising because I am not expending the calories I normally do.  For the past year or so, though, I have thought of food as fuel for my workouts.  When I am in training mode for an upcoming race, I think about the type and amount of food I'm putting into my body.  I've typically never been a person with a large appetite, so it has been difficult to remember to eat since my body isn't telling me it's hungry, and my mind isn't thinking about fueling for my next workout. 

I drink more alcohol and less water when I'm not exercising. Not having to get up and perform athleticaly at 5am means I can have a glass (or two, or three) of wine with and after dinner.  I seem to have replaced my glass of water with dinner with a glass of wine.  I'm so aware of how important hydration is when I'm exercising that I make the conscious effort to stay well hydrated all day every day when I'm exercising.  Although I know water does a body good even when you aren't exercising, I just can't seem to make myself drink it as much if it's not for the benefit of a future workout.  Also, I can't pretend I'm not a psychology major and don't know that increased alcohol use is likely a coping mechanism..

I'm not aware of the weather forecast if I'm not running! My husband relies on me to give him the weather forecast every morning.  I'd always know because I would look at the hourly weather forecast almost every night to know what the temperature, humidity, rain chance would be for my run the following morning.  Checking the weather forecast was such an everyday (running related) event for me that I didn't even realize that had become my 'responsibility' or 'service' for my household until I didn't need the information for myself!    

I've made a good habit of taking the stairs rather than an elevator, and like any habit, it is hard to break.  I was instructed by a doctor friend to not take stairs for awhile becuase it is a 'single leg activity' and those are the kind of activities (walking, running, stairs, are some examples) which have been aggrivating my SI joint.  I find myself opening the door to the stairwell and then remembering "Crap, I'm not supposed to do this", or getting all the way down a flight of stairs and remembering "Woops, I wasn't supposed to do that."  Not to mention how embarassing it is for me- a young, healthy individual to stand there and wait for an elevator while others walk by towards the stairwell. 

I avoid social networking pages, and social gatherings which have to do with my running and triathlon groups while I'm injured.  I don't want to konw that everyone but me is planning and able to run, or to hear about how awesome everyone's race or training run was.  I'll admit it, I'm jealous of my un-injured counterparts. 

Most of my social time is spent exercising with my training buddies.  I've been aware for a couple years now that for the most part, my best friends are the ones I run and bike with.  Time spent running or biking with my best buds is more than just time to exercise, it is time to socialize and catch up with what's going on in one another's lives.  Not running = not getting my social outlet.

It feels really good to start the day off with a good stretch.  Almost every morning for the past three weeks , I've started my day off by rolling out the yoga mat and doing some yoga stretches to losen up my hips.  I've included the foam roller and tennis ball (read: self mini-massage) in this morning stretch routine too. 

I hope to report next week that I've done some 'baby' runs, and I'll also have some tips from a great article I read about 'Listening to your body to avoid injury'  Stay tuned! 

 

Only Myself to Blame

Why do cigarette smokers smoke even though they know it causes cancer and heart conditions? 

Why do people with diabetes or asthma or any number of chronic health conditions not take their medications even though they know if they did their quality of life (and chances of living a full-term life) would be tremendously better? 

Why do many people not wear seat belts even though they have been proven to save lives?

Why don't we always wear sunscreen even though we know we'll get burned?

These are questions, as a psychology major, and public health professional, I've asked myself, my colleagues, and mentors.  In public health, we try to say it is lack of education that causes people to make the wrong choices.  This is true to an extent, and for some people knowledge is the missing link.  There are far too many instances, however, where an individual has all the knowledge to make healthy, informed decisions and actions but chooses (for whatever reason) not to.  In most aspects of my life, I do the healthy thing:  I exercise regularly, take my asthma medications daily, always wear a seat belt, and I almost always remember to put on sunloation.  But over the past 4 years there are two major things I've lacked:  strength training and stretching. 

So the big question I've been asking myself over the past 4 weeks: WHY DON'T ATHLETES TAKE CARE OF THEIR BODIES  (i.e. stretching, strength training, listening to their body and addressing pain issues with a medical professional)?? Most athletes know the importance of stretching and strength training to prevent injury, and you'd think it would be common sense to seek professional help for pain that lasts longer than a week, but knowing and doing couldn't be further apart for many athletes (including myself). 

For over 4 years I was lucky, but my luck ran out a month ago.  I was lucky to be able to swim, run, and bike mostly injury free without strength training or properly stretching for over 4 years.  For the past 4+ months I have felt pain and tenderness at the top of my hips, not to mention the usual tightness I've had in my hips which would come and go/ get better and worse ever since I started running 4 years ago.  After a regular 6 mile run a month ago, I started feeling pain in my right leg.  Long story short: the pain did not get any better, week after week, and after talking to a couple doctors and a Physical Therapist, I'm pretty sure I have: periformis syndrome (which is causing pain in my sciatic nerve) and some sort of issue with my L4 (which is what caused the pain in my hips for months, and now pain to shoot down my groin and quad). 

I'm pretty certain all of these periformis/ sciatic/ L4 issues could have been avoided if I had strength trained and stretched like I KNEW I should have all along.  The timing of these issues was horrible (when is it ever good timing for an athletic injury, I know, but this was particularly heart breaking for me).  I had worked hard this summer towards my 'A Race' - the Tri for Sight.  I was hoping to improve on my time at that race from when I did it 2 years ago, and to place top 3 female overall.  My issues flared up about 3 weeks before the race, and has yet to improve.  It wasn't until the evening before the race that I accepted the fact that I wasn't going to be able to compete in the Tri for Sight this year.  I can't even walk without limping and feeling shooting pain down the front and back of my right leg, so there is no way I cold have run without pain and risking further damage.  I had to skip that race, I'll likely have to skip the next race I'd already registered for (a half-marathon November 3), and it's going to take some time now to re-gain my cardiovascular shape. 

This was a hard lesson to learn, and one that I will not soon (hopefully never) forget. I am looking forward to being stronger than ever next tri season.  I'm finally doing the yoga, and core strengthening I've been saying for years that I "need to do", and once my current issues subside, I'll do leg and hip strengthening too.  I only have myself to blame for the current condition I'm in. 

Please let my story be your motivational lesson, and don't wait until it's too late that you have to figure it out for yourself.  Soon (hopefully sooner than later) I'll be off the injured list, and another 'poster athlete' for the benefits of strength training and proper stretching.