Thursday, February 26, 2009

Extending My Vocabulary

Before I waded into this endurance thing there are some words that I never would have expected to become a regular part of my vocabulary.

First off? Massage. I used to think these were a luxury, but if I'm not getting my regular monthly massage I can feel it. And not a wimpy relaxation massage either!

Next up? Chiropractor. I never thought I would have a reason to visit the chiro, but after my piriformis started acting up I now know that these guys can do so much more besides crack your back.

Finally? Physiotherapist. Today was my first ever visit to the physio. My right knee is still tweaky from the Disney Marathon. My massage therapist noticed the clicking first...then I went to the chiro and learned that I have a whole lot of tightness on my right side. But ART wasn't really getting to the heart of the issue. I don't have any major stabbing pains or anything, just discomfort on the top inside by my knee cap at times while running or while walking up and down stairs. It turns out that one of my tri teammates is a physio and she works in a clinic in my office building. When I found that out on Tuesday I mentioned my tweaky knee and she told me to stop by. The long and short of it is that I've got a rather weakly developed quad right where it is joining my knee cap on the inside. This is pulling my knee cap out of alignment. It isn't anything too major and I'll have to be really diligent about stretching, plus she is going to give me some strengthening exercises. As she was checking around she asked me about my IT band. Knock on wood I've never had any issues with it, but as soon as she put some pressure on it...yikes!! So that is where your IT band is!! Turns out, that is tight too. I walked out of the physio office with my new best friend, the foam roller. And homework!

In other news, we had a time 750m or 1500m swim on the workout board for this morning. During my warm up I was trying to keep my head down but it just kept feeling like my rear end would not stop sinking. Geez! I had promised Richelle that I would keep up the work with the flip turns - deep end only and on the warm up, but I was so preoccupied by the sinking that I forgot. After I rolled through the warm up I figured I'd go for the 750m timed swim. Luckily the sinking feeling stopped and I got into a groove quickly. I hit my 750m and debated whether I should continue on the 1500m or continue with the rest of the warm up. Since my last timed swim was 1500m my swim coach told me to continue on to see how I compared. Another 750m later and I was done. 34:52. That is two whole minutes faster than my last two 1500m timed swims in the last two and three weeks. Sweet! Part of me thinks I may have miscounted, but my 750m splits were even, so I guess I'll go with it!

Tomorrow is a rest day and I've got a massage planned. Looking forward to giving my legs a rest for a day!

14 comments:

joyRuN said...

I hope the foam roller serves you well.

Enjoy your massage!

BluElf said...

What you are describing with your knee sounds much like what I've been dealing with lately! Please let me know more about this HW! I've got some things I'm trying, but no idea how on target I am and would like to compare notes with what you are doing.

Ryan said...

Your problem is common with a lot of women. My wife is a runner only (boo for her) but she had the same issues with her patella being pulled out of alignment. She overcame this by leg presses. Just a thought. Good luck.

Marlene said...

I had that exact same issue with my knee. Plenty of quad strengthening and stretching exercises seemed to help over time (this was 2 years ago) - hope it helps for you. Physio is amazing.

Awesome job on the swim! That is a huge improvement!

Enjoy your massage and (more importantly!) REST DAY today.

Missy said...

I'm totally with you on the massage - it's just necessary. ...and it's not really that fun, it's helpful.

Physio - I have the same problem with the knee and I go to physio too. It IS helping, though. You gotta do the work.

Downhillnut said...

Just stay away from that other word combo - orthopedic surgeon.

Hope you're feeling all aligned, inside and out, soon :)

Mel-2nd Chances said...

i never thought i'd use or know what a fartlek was :) Enjoy the massage and the foam roller!

Wes said...

The foam roller is an instrument of self induced torture!! but it works :-)

RunToTheFinish said...

Yup, i finally decided that massages were a necessity for me! I can't do the foam roller though, just can't

Deb said...

Ohhh the foam roller is going to make you so happy...well...actually I find it quite painful while using it on a tight IT band...but it feels great after :) It has worked wonders for me in the past with IT band! I also use it for my tight calves and it's great! Enjoy :)

Speed Racer said...

Yaaaaaay PR! And yay for injury prevention before it gets bad.

Angry must be thrilled with the foam roller.

Judi said...

angry will tell you to start doing squats to stengthen that quad. i agree. make your massage girl take care of that it band too!

Bob Almighty said...

I too favor the Angry method of rehab!

Triggerpoint is awesome although I feel like a sadist because I use a hard PVC pipe instead of a foam roller.

Sonia said...

Eh eh eh! You haven't miscounted you're just getting like a fish in the water =) Good job Chicka!

I have to say that you're very lucky you hadn't had to see a physio or chiro until now! You're been putting lots of mileage on your body and it was responding really well. Hope the knee thing is just a little thing easily fixable =)