Physical therapy

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

Dolly Parton

You can take away my exercise, but you'll never take away my sense of humor!

Update: there has been no improvement in the shoulder since Friday. It hasn’t been excruciating, but it hasn’t been normal either. Yesterday I figured I would do some bike and stairmaster at the gym (since there’s not a whole lot I can do that doesn’t affect it). As it turns out, recumbent bike would have been a better choice. Today make neck and shoulder are bugging me big time. The thing is, I intentionally was leaning on my right shoulder so as not to put any strain on the left, and it didn’t matter one iota.

So now I find myself in the position of not being able to get comfortable- in spite of the NSAIDS and muscle relaxants. I had my first official break down this morning. It was short lived (yes there were tears), but the truth is I have had it. There is clearly nothing I can do NOT to aggravate my shoulder- even sleeping makes it worse. I haven’t run, done boot camp, climbed, or done Insanity in what seems like forever, and I don’t feel like it’s made one bit of difference. At this point, there’s little to no chance of being able to do the Tough Mudder or Chesire Half, and I am beyond frustrated.

What irritates me the most is how completely unhelpful the ortho doctor I saw was. He didn’t appear interested in anything I had to say and seemed completely annoyed that I came to see him instead of a general practicioner. However, I knew if I went to my PCP he was going to have to send me for xrays and to follow up with an ortho guy anyway- so why not get it all done at once? The best part was how he told me how physical therapy works really well, but is a huge time commitment and then never even gave me the option of going.

Given that we are now on week 3 of this issue with no real signs of improvement, I am ready to change things up. I found a sports medicine center that specializes in chiropractic medicine, physical therapy, and acupuncture. The doctor there also happens to be a certified personal trainer who avidly does crossfit, so I’m sort of hoping if anyone will get where I’m coming from it’s him. I called and left a message with the office today to see if they 1)take my insurance, and 2) can fit me in anytime soon.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can find someone who is willing to listen and can actually help. I get that I am not some important super athlete, but it doesn’t make being injured and unable to train any less devastating to me. I want to be out there giving it my best as much as any professional or olympic athlete regardless of my lack of talent. 😉 What I need is someone who understands that and can give me a better timeline and guidelines on what I can and cannot do.

Here’s to being hopeful!

Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.

~Annie Dillard

Okay, so I have been slacking on the blogging lately. Life has been so busy! All good things, thankfully. I have not managed any long runs since my last post, mostly due to lack of time issues. However, I did get in some workouts at the gym. I have spent an hour on the elliptical with the resistance maxed (and my hydration pack on to add some weight) on two separate occasions- the most recent being today. When I first started running I couldn’t make it through a full hour without feeling like I would pass out or throw up- even without the resistance maxed. Now I am plowing through that hour- even with extra weight! Workouts like that help me realize just how much progress I’ve made. 🙂

I have also been spending a lot more time stretching now that I got my foam roller in the mail. The first time I used it I had flashbacks of physical therapy as a teenager. The therapist would press on my IT band insertion point, and I would literally jump off the table. This was the same pain. The experience can be summarized in one word “OUCH!” By the time I finished, it was much less tender, but I felt like I had deep bruises in my thighs for a whole day afterwards. I am hoping this helps with the long runs! I am also pleased to announce that I did not have any increased IT band issues after my 13 ish mile run, even without the benefit of the foam roller- something I am taking as an extremely positive sign.

Today I will be going out on the boat with Adam and some friends. We’ve been trying to cram in as much time as possible out on the water before the weather gets to cold (part of the reason I have not had as much time to run). It’s nice to get a change of scenery and actually be social (for a change!). Although I have to admit it gets tiring at times to spend so much time around other people- being an introvert and all. It is so worth the exhaustion at the end of the day though! So far we have taken out my little sister- who loved every second of it, and a few of my friends from high school. It was so great to see everyone have a good time, and especially to spend time with some special people I don’t get to see very often. 🙂

That’s all for now! Boot Camp starts tomorrow. I will keep you all posted on how it goes. In the meantime, I will be thriving. I hope you all do the same and have a happy and healthy holiday weekend!!!!