Those who know me well know how much I frown on the idea of running injured. Having said so, that might be exactly what I have been doing for quite a long time now. How long? I’m not sure. Part of it is denial, I admit. Like with alcoholism where one might say, “I’m not as bad as so-n-so,” or “I can stop any time I want,” I’ve been convincing myself that, “it’s just soreness from my last race,” or, “it’s not that bad.” While that may be true isolating certain aches and pains, there are some pains that are not normal soreness. Pain is a God given (or innate if you prefer) signal that your body sends to the brain warning of injury to come if not properly taken care of. Instead of heeding the warning, I looked for ways around the pain in my running. I changed my stride, ran on different surfaces, did elliptical versus running (although I believe this is a good way to recover and a nice no-impact cardio alternative); and so on just to keep running. Well, I’ve really done it now and have taken myself out of the running scene for the rest of the summer.
I have a physical therapy appointment next Monday (8/13) and have hopes of being able to walk normally soon. I’ve been walking from home to my truck; from my truck to the office; back and forth to the restroom; then back home again. To best describe how I have been able to walk, I looked like I was doing the Tim Conway shuffle.
I’ve been getting somewhat better at walking as the shooting pains have subsided significantly. I had graduated from the TC shuffle to the pregnant lady waddle. Today, I am able to walk almost normally although I have only walked inside the apartment. I look like Walter Brennan at this point.
Well, that’s my status for now. I hope to find out this Monday if I should be using the elliptical or not; how much if so; and other alternatives. I wish I could do Yoga and stick with it. I hate being on the floor and doing stretching/strengthening stuff. But it’s also what I need the most right now. I hope to be running like this soon.I’m so grateful I finally have a job that I absolutely love. More than that, I have a wife who supports me and who understands what I’m going through now.
I’m not sure how to categorize my injury. It’s a sharp pain in my left glute that is affecting my sciatic nerve. Yes, it’s literally a pain in the ass. It showed up a couple days after completing the Resurrection Pass 100 miler. While I should have DNF’ed at mile 88, I determined to finish no matter the pain. The pain, not in my glute, was on top of my knee. I’m not sure what happened there although the best explanation is that I kept tripping on roots and pulled a muscle trying to stay up-right. That muscle pull is getting better. In fact, the swelling went down significantly within a couple of days. Ironically, the glute strain didn’t show up for a few days AFTER the race. I attribute this “muscle give” or “strain” to the tightness I have in so many muscles in my legs; especially my lower legs. By the following Friday (8/3), I could barely walk – so it was getting worse not better. Admittedly, I tried to work out that Wednesday (8/1) and again the following Saturday (8/4); the Saturday workout put me in so much pain I ended up in the ER that night. The following week, I wasn’t able to sleep through the night. I would wake up around midnight – 1am and had to take ibuprofen and a pain killer in order to get to sleep by 3 or 4 in the morning. By Wednesday (8/8), I was up at 2am and didn’t get to sleep at all before going in to work. I finally took the muscle relaxers that the Doctor prescribed and this has been helping me a lot. Thursday night and last night (Friday) I slept through the night. Additionally I had a massage Tuesday night (8/7) that helped tremendously. Shawn found someone who really knows her stuff and she hurt me goooood! When I told her where it hurt and where I was the stiffest, she agreed that it was likely sciatic nerve related. She also informed me that I had shin splints. There’s no telling what else I have wrong and I've been ignoring.
I have a physical therapy appointment next Monday (8/13) and have hopes of being able to walk normally soon. I’ve been walking from home to my truck; from my truck to the office; back and forth to the restroom; then back home again. To best describe how I have been able to walk, I looked like I was doing the Tim Conway shuffle.
I’ve been getting somewhat better at walking as the shooting pains have subsided significantly. I had graduated from the TC shuffle to the pregnant lady waddle. Today, I am able to walk almost normally although I have only walked inside the apartment. I look like Walter Brennan at this point.
Well, that’s my status for now. I hope to find out this Monday if I should be using the elliptical or not; how much if so; and other alternatives. I wish I could do Yoga and stick with it. I hate being on the floor and doing stretching/strengthening stuff. But it’s also what I need the most right now. I hope to be running like this soon.I’m so grateful I finally have a job that I absolutely love. More than that, I have a wife who supports me and who understands what I’m going through now. 
4 comments:
After Javelina last Nov., I spent the entire winter trying to figure out and/or pretend my ankle injuries were not there. Then I started to feel it in my hips. With time ( and massage and stretching and PT) I felt less pain and more ability to run. Time heals all wounds and that's the good news and the bad news. Hang tough.
You are a smart runner (but you know that!) and will get this figured out. Sounds like something I had a few years ago (before ultras, actually) and it was totally scary and frustrating but it all worked out. Take of yourself, I know pain sucks (almost worse than not being able to run).
Get well TC!
That's a bummer Tony but you'll be better before you know it. Just let yourself heal and it will be a distant memory.
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