Well it was yet another up and down week. I wonder if I'll ever had a week where I actually do everything I intended AND feel good doing it?
Overall, I am happily surprised that I have had the energy to do most of my workouts each week because before I started, I was usually so tired and sleepy after work that I couldn't imagine working out. However, not surprisingly I guess, exercise seems to give me energy and I usually have no trouble being motivated to get out here and do it.
The highlight of this week was my PT appointment with Roy on Tuesday. I was actually there for 2 full hours although admittedly some of it was waiting time. We had a long talk first and he did some initial checks of my legs, hips, shins etc. Then he had me go out onto the track and run a bit. He got me to loosen up my upper body because I carry my arms too tight and he also noticed that my knees sometimes bump when I run. This is consistent with what the pedorthist noticed when she videotaped me running. Once in awhile, my foot crossed over a bit and landed in front of my body instead of straight in line. Roy thought this could be adding to my leg problems. He thought that I could probably correct it just by the simple awareness of it. I did try to keep it in mind during my runs later in the week but I guess I won't really know unless I get Erik to videotape me again sometime in the future.
Anyway, after the run, we talked a bit about the squats and he watched me do double leg and single leg squats. Again, my knee was pronating (?) inward a bit and he thought that I probably need to strengthen my abductors, just like Erik, so from now on, I am going to do squats with no weights, but with a band around my knees to hold them apart. The one-legged squats hurt my glutes and they were sore for a few days afterward...
After evaluating me, he told me that he believes my orthotics are doing their job, I don't seem to be pronating and that the pain is likely because the initial injury never properly healed. Since rest (for months) didn't help, he did not think any further rest would be of any advantage so he encouraged me to continue my walk/run program and to listen to my body as I always do and cut back if necessary. Then he had me soak in the hot whirlpool bath for about 15 minutes and then stretch my calves on the leg press. After, I had to lie down while he tried to work out the knots along my shins by digging his knuckles into the sore area and rubbing firmly up my leg to 'strip" the knots out. It was supposed to be very painful but I did not find it too awful. He did both sides until they were pretty warm and red but they did not feel too bad. We decided I would go see Josie the following week and have it done again, and then again one week later. If I do not see reasonable improvement in that time, he thinks we should consider doing acupuncture although he admitted that it would be fairly uncomfortable.
By the time I left, it was too late to go to the gym but I had a plan set in motion.
1. Run as usual. Listen to my body and adjust as usual.
2. Do the calf stretches on the stairs every day.
3. Make two appointments with Josie to strip my shins again, one week apart.
4. Do the abductor exercises with the elastic band.
5. Adjust my squat exercises and use the elastic band as well.
My calves were really sore to the touch for the next 3 days and I had to adjust my workouts a bit but I did do my planned runs as usual. I did not do any squats on my next gym day though.
• I had two good swims this week (Mon and Wed) and I did go to the gym on Thursday.
• I did all 3 of my runs this week, running about 3.6 km each time with 13:00-15:00 of running over 30:00 total. Did more 2:00 run intervals.
• Friday night we had a late steak dinner and I woke up feeling sick in the middle of the night. On Saturday I did my morning run, had an appointment with the financial planner so had to skip my swim, and then went out for our first outdoor ride of the year! Did 1:45 on the mountain bike. I worked fairly hard but my Garmin battery was dying and HRM data was not accurate so it's hard to say how I really did. My overall avg speed was terribly slow (18 kmh) but we did do some toodling and some hills in the neighbourhood... But even on the flats, I only avg about 24 kmh.
It took me 5:39 to go up Gordon Hill. Last year, I did it in 6:00 on the MT Bike so this was an improvement I guess. I was not trying super hard though. Before and after the ride, I still felt a bit off, and then we went out for dinner at a friend's and I ate a lot of rich, heavy food, which again did not agree with me over night. Today I am feeling a bit nauseous and tired and have not yet gone to the gym OR ridden the trainer. I'm not sure I will either. I think I just might have a nap and do some stretching... So - I'm not sure if I have a bit of a bug, or if it's just the bad food that I'm not used to... I tasted good though. :)
On a personal note, I balanced my cheque book and paid all my bills today and found I still had money left in my account! What a great feeling! I have enough to pay for my laser eye surgery next week and will only have to dip into my savings for my new bike. I also learned that I really can retire at 55 which means only 7 more school years to go!!! Erik should be able to retire in 2 more years.
Plan for Week Eight (Feb. 24-Mar. 1)
Sun - gym and trainer? (Probably not)
Mon - run 2:45, (dentist 4:00) swim 5-6pm (assuming my tummy troubles are gone)
Tue - gym 3:00, massage 4pm (volleyball 8pm)
Wed - run, swim
Thu - (staff meeting) gym in evening?
Fri - rest day (or gym if I didn't go Thu)
Sat - run, swim, bike
Plan for Week Nine March 2-8
Sun - gym and bike
Mon - run, swim, (volleyball meeting 6:15)
Tue - massge 9am, laser eye surgery
Wed - rest
Thu - rest? (easy trainer?)
Fri - rest? run?
Sat - See how I feel.
No swimming for two weeks....
No comments:
Post a Comment