Notes
Disclaimer: ***Long injury update report***
Easy 5 today before the temperature got too hot.
Legs felt good for about the first 4, then the left glute and left inner-thigh got really tight. Knee felt good though, so I'm happy about that.
The aches and pains are supposed to be happening, according to Sam, as my biomechanics hopefully continue to change. I'm working REALLY hard every time I run, or even walk, to keep my left hip/leg internally rotated more, and not let it/my toes flair out like apparently I've been doing for the last year or so.
Sam thinks its the skiing, in which you are constantly in a toes-out, hip externally-rotated position very intentionally, that messed with my running mechanics. I guess I can see that. I went from 0-100 regarding skiing in a few weeks last summer when I started coaching, and during that time I also ran significantly less than I had in a long time. He has me doing exercises to keep my hip open and allow for internal rotation, and has me working with a lacrosse ball on both my TFLs. I'm also not supposed to be skiing at all, at least while I'm trying to combat the changes in biomechanics that skiing presumably caused. The goal is to get healthy, run healthy for a while, and then slowly implement skiing back in, in the hopes that I can keep things under control if I now know what causes the problem.
At least for now, Sam's diagnosis seems to make sense. And the numbers seem to match. When I first saw him a few weeks ago, the internal rotation of my right hip was 26 degrees, and the internal rotation of my left hip was only 14 degrees. First of all, he said ideally endurance athletes can get to 30 degrees, but more importantly endurance athletes need to be symmetrical. The fact that there was a 12 degree difference in the internal rotation of my two sides is what Same pointed to as the culprit for the IT Band problem. Every week when I see him he works to open up my hip again, and he does graston and cupping all over both sides. And the goal is that eventually my hip will maintain the openness that he can always get in the office. Usually by the time I leave the office my left is up to 26 or 27 degrees, and when I come back a week later its about 20 or 21. However, he says that's really impressive given the amount of time I've probably been crooked, and he's just glad I'm able to keep it open to 21 for a week right now. And eventually he says I'll be able to keep it there permanently. The appts themselves with all the treatment hurt like hell, but as of right now it feels like its worthwhile.
Here are my thoughts about the current plan:
I'm happy that Sam seems to be working to put the pieces of skiing and running together. He's the first person of the 4 I've seen to do that. I've been thinking since about February that skiing had something to do with my IT Band problem, but I wasn't qualified to figure out what, and nobody else who I saw seemed to agree with me that it was the problem or seemed to be willing to try to address the whole picture.
I'm currently worried and really sad about the skiing/running duo. Over the last year and a half I've fallen in love with skiing again, and I have a huge desire to continue to race and get better at that sport. It's become a huge part of my life again, and I would be very sad if it seemed like I had to pick between skiing and running happy and healthy. They are both a huge part of my social life, love life, competitive mindset, hobbies that bring my joy, and weekend excursions that I love so much. The skiing community here that I've been re-emerged in again is one I don't want to give up. And at the same time, running will always be my first love, and I can't stand the thought of never being able to run and train again like I want to because skiing changes my biomechanics and makes competitive running impossible.
I'm still running in all the new-ness that Wendi (a different PT/gait analysis person who I saw a few weeks ago) prescribed. i.e. new inserts, new shoes, and 5mm heel lift on my right side. I have mixed feelings about Wendi's method. I don't question her reasoning for the most part: My right leg probably is 5mm shorter than my left, I probably don't need to be training in HOKAs as a fit, 26 year old, and probably the Brooks Pure Flow and the inserts she gave me fit my feet and body mechanics really well. I don't question that. However, she changed A TON, and what I can't quite get behind is the fact that the difference in leg length and shoes/etc are what is causing this IT Band problem. I've been running in HOKAS pain free for 4 years now, and even if my legs are different lengths, I've been running essentially pain free on that leg length difference for the last 10 years. It just doesn't quite add up to me THAT is the problem behind my current IT Band scenario. And that's what draws me more to Sam's line of reasoning.
However, my other thought about Wendi is that if the changes she has made are better for my biomechanics, and are going to be helpful in the long run, then maybe now, while I'm not running very much and in a sort of transition phase anyway, is a good time to change the shoes, inserts, and heel lift, etc.
Or, maybe if I've been running pain free on my shoes and no heel lift and no inserts for 10 years, I shouldn't be trying to change what my body has adapted to over that amount of time. It's hard to know, and that's a question I'm not sure anybody can answer.
Mentally I'm pretty sick of yoga after 6 months of doing a lot of it. However, I still think its good for me.
Last weekend I put together a plan, not regarding mileage and real training like I used to, but more of a schedule about the different parts of my training/rehab that I want to do.
I found my self struggling the last couple weeks because I felt like I had to do so much everyday: 20 minutes of rolling, 20 minutes of butt strength stuff, a half hour of yoga, 10 minutes of abs, regular lifting, all for the chance to hopefully run 30min without pain. That is just unsustainable, and each day left me feeling like I wasn't quite doing enough to get better, but at the same time I was trying to do a ridiculous amount, and was trying to incorporate what I was finding from 3 different PT's. So I essentially made a plan, and it helps me to think holistically about what is important, what isn't, and I've been much happier emotionally because of it. I also asked Sam about the exercises that my first PT had given me, and Sam said not to do those. So that helps to focus me more, and helps me to not have too many things to check off my list in a day.
Alright, that's all for now, and that's the current update for those following along.