three things thursday
1. Last week at PT was a hot mess. I was tight and hurting and we spent 40 minutes releasing things and then trying to realign me, unsuccessfully. I left still out. My PT said it might have been that I was still tight from the heavy weight lifting I had done that morning, and sent me home to heat and try again. That worked. He also told me that maybe some of the ligaments were loose from constantly realigning myself, and to NOT put myself back in alignment unless the pain was pretty unbearable.
So I went out, and back in on Thursday. I made it until Saturday night before I couldn't stand it, and then Sunday night, and that's it until I got to PT yesterday. I could tell that I had been out for a few days because my SI joint was aching, but it wasn't unbearable. So we talked, and he had two new theories. He asked me when the last time I had any x-rays or MRIs done was, and I told him March. His first theory is that I have a degenerative disc in my lower back which is likely related to the start of arthritis. I completely and totally refuse to accept this diagnosis. I will plump up my disc using only willpower if I have to, but there's just no way. He didn't seem totally convinced that this could be it, either, and kind of abandoned talking about it once I proceeded to freak out.
After he worked on me for a while, he presented his other, much more acceptable, theory, which is that as we traced backwards from my tight piriformis to find the source of the problem, we still haven't gone back far enough. He thinks that my adductors are actually causing the problem - my left adductor is pulling on my pubic bone, to be exact - and when he said this, a few things thunked into place in my brain, the first of which being the massage I had that kicked off this mess in March. When Stephanie worked on me that day and was cataloguing the many things wrong with my body, she mentioned that my adductors had a "death grip" on my leg. The second thing was the gait analysis I had two weeks ago, where Dr. Maggs told me that I was crossing the midline with my stride, which is the result of tight adductors.
So, I'm really not a fan of the "pick and choose" school of diagnostic medicine, but as much as I'd love to go and visit my sexy piece of orthopedist, the second theory makes much more sense to me (not a doctor). After some lifting and me showing him my wobbly lunges and side squats, he was more convinced as well (my evil plan is working). He Graston'd both adductors again yesterday and gave me yet another new exercise to put in the rotation and sent me home.
2. I had planned to go up and ride the Poconos course this weekend and then cheer on the CAR blog mafia at the Steelman Triathlon. However, a bunch of whiny bitches on the FB page are indicating that two of the roads on the course are under construction, so I've decided to nix that idea and ride hills around here instead. Hills are hills, right? Somehow through all of this, I ended upbeing forced getting talked in deciding to do the triathlon on Sunday as well. The last sprint I did was actually the first triathlon I ever did, and I'm secretly a bit excited. I don't have to set a timer to eat on the bike? I only have to run a 5K? I don't need to wear a wetsuit? Bizarre. I'm not really adjusting my training at all except for deciding not to brick tomorrow after my long ride, but I'm interested to see what I can do even on tired legs. And after about 6 flat tires in 2 weeks, well, I'd ride on my rims if I have to but I am not changing another effing flat.
3. I've got quite a few long ride nutrition experiments lined up over the next few weeks. I'm going to play around with taking in most of my calories on the bike in the form of liquid instead of solids. My stomach problems at Kinetic in the spring were likely related to quite a few factors, but I'm hoping that if I start with solids and end with liquids, I'll have a better life on the run. I went to Bonzai and bought about 12 different kinds of single-serving samples to try out. Hopefully none of them give me the OSIHTPs! (That's the "Oh Shit I Have To Poop"s!). I think the DC metro area has seen enough of my naked ass for one season.
Happy Thursday!
So I went out, and back in on Thursday. I made it until Saturday night before I couldn't stand it, and then Sunday night, and that's it until I got to PT yesterday. I could tell that I had been out for a few days because my SI joint was aching, but it wasn't unbearable. So we talked, and he had two new theories. He asked me when the last time I had any x-rays or MRIs done was, and I told him March. His first theory is that I have a degenerative disc in my lower back which is likely related to the start of arthritis. I completely and totally refuse to accept this diagnosis. I will plump up my disc using only willpower if I have to, but there's just no way. He didn't seem totally convinced that this could be it, either, and kind of abandoned talking about it once I proceeded to freak out.
After he worked on me for a while, he presented his other, much more acceptable, theory, which is that as we traced backwards from my tight piriformis to find the source of the problem, we still haven't gone back far enough. He thinks that my adductors are actually causing the problem - my left adductor is pulling on my pubic bone, to be exact - and when he said this, a few things thunked into place in my brain, the first of which being the massage I had that kicked off this mess in March. When Stephanie worked on me that day and was cataloguing the many things wrong with my body, she mentioned that my adductors had a "death grip" on my leg. The second thing was the gait analysis I had two weeks ago, where Dr. Maggs told me that I was crossing the midline with my stride, which is the result of tight adductors.
So, I'm really not a fan of the "pick and choose" school of diagnostic medicine, but as much as I'd love to go and visit my sexy piece of orthopedist, the second theory makes much more sense to me (not a doctor). After some lifting and me showing him my wobbly lunges and side squats, he was more convinced as well (my evil plan is working). He Graston'd both adductors again yesterday and gave me yet another new exercise to put in the rotation and sent me home.
2. I had planned to go up and ride the Poconos course this weekend and then cheer on the CAR blog mafia at the Steelman Triathlon. However, a bunch of whiny bitches on the FB page are indicating that two of the roads on the course are under construction, so I've decided to nix that idea and ride hills around here instead. Hills are hills, right? Somehow through all of this, I ended up
3. I've got quite a few long ride nutrition experiments lined up over the next few weeks. I'm going to play around with taking in most of my calories on the bike in the form of liquid instead of solids. My stomach problems at Kinetic in the spring were likely related to quite a few factors, but I'm hoping that if I start with solids and end with liquids, I'll have a better life on the run. I went to Bonzai and bought about 12 different kinds of single-serving samples to try out. Hopefully none of them give me the OSIHTPs! (That's the "Oh Shit I Have To Poop"s!). I think the DC metro area has seen enough of my naked ass for one season.
Happy Thursday!