Adventures in Therapy

This whole quarter has felt like a waste and, more or less, it has been one. Upon returning from Christmas break I have dealt with a hip injury. There have been several theories about what could be the problem, the current and final is that it is a tight / irritated IT band (the muscle that runs from your hip to knee). In the hopes of loosening it I was sent to get a massage from a lady called Meghan. She gives massages to the women’s basketball team and was beginning to give them to team members as well. So one Wednesday afternoon found me at the doorstep of her mint green home. Upon arrival I could not help but notice the ultra-marathon posters and trophies that covered the walls of her home. I came to find out I was in the home of Meghan ARBOGAST. THE Meghan Arbogast who held the Where’s Waldo course record until my father broke it last summer. THE Meghan Arbogast who is indisputably one of the best ultra-marathoners… EVER! Yeah, that’s who I got my butt massaged by.


Some cool sites :

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=13650
http://runningmegleg.blogspot.com/
http://www.bostontrials2008.com/index.cfm?pk=bio&bioID=150

trying again

If there's a theme to the last few blogs, rest assured it isn't by choice.
I've followed Emily's example and have been going to PT out of desparation. It's not been very rewarding. Even the 10 minute casual bike ride to work has been painful. And I almost stopped running all-together for a couple of weeks. So after weeks of treatment, icing, stretching, etc and with the blessing of my therapist (physical therapist, although my mental therapist would agree it it's necessity) I've tried running a couple of times this week, and it hasn't hurt more afterwards, so I'm going to do more of that! Yesterday I did six 1/2 mile hill repeats with 1/2 mile recovery on the treadmill. By doing 6% at 9 mph I got my heart rate up to 185 for a couple minutes at a time, which is 6 beats higher than my theoretic maximum. High heart rates happen to me when I restart training after a break, but that seemed extreme. And if anything, I'm feeling better today than a couple of days ago.

I think the nerve endings or some other aspect of the tissues in front of my knee cap were continuing to send pain signals, even in the absence of tissue damage. At least, that's what I want to believe. I'm going to try building up quickly, but I'll have to see how things go this summer. I'm still planning on going to Moab in 3 weeks even if I can't bike. Mac Forest is in 2 months. The only other things I'm registered for are States and Hood to Coast (with co-workers.) I'll optimistically sign up for Where's Waldo again.