Having vented my frustration at my ever-expanding catalogue of injuries a couple of days ago, I am now a bit embarrassed to say that I seem to be better. Just like I have no idea why everything hurt, I have no idea why everything suddenly doesn't. But, on this gloriously sunny and warm and windless day, I wasn't about to waste time puzzling over the contradictory signals from my body...I went running.
Almost all of my rehab jog/walks have been on the treadmill - I feel safer there - but today I jogged/walked for 2.5 miles OUTSIDE! Ten minutes walking up the hill to the road at the top of the farm lane, 22 minutes jogging/walking (3.5 minutes jogging, 30 seconds walking), and then 6 minutes walking up the hill back home. I practiced keeping my core muscles (such as they are) strong and my legs and arms relaxed, tried to maintain good posture (I have a tendency to curve my lower back so that my bum sticks out), and experimented with increasing my cadence rather than my stride length (all as discussed in the Chi Running book).
I have no idea if I'm doing this Chi thing right or not but I'm convinced that I can tell the difference between my usual plodding heel strike and running in this newer, more relaxed way. It's now eight hours since my run and my calf isn't hurting, nor is my hip. Something has changed; if I only knew what it was, I could keep doing it.
Physio update: I had a review with Julie the Physio today. She's pleased with how my calf is healing; the adhesion that she could feel three weeks ago is almost gone and there was barely any pain at all when she dug her fingers into the injured spot. She watched me run on the treadmill and promptly gave me all the reasons why I will never be a marathon runner, which centred around my structural abnormalities. I've apparently developed functional abnormalities to cope with the structural ones and, while the functional problems can be addressed to a certain degree, I'm stuck with the structural ones.
She didn't say not to train for London - just as well, because I wouldn't have listened - but expressed her opinion that I'd be better suited for half-marathons and 10ks. Surprisingly, I'm not demoralised or upset by this; rather, I just have an intense urge to prove her wrong!
Have you seen all those who do the London Marathon? Some of them are decidedly structurally unsound (imho) so you go to it and prove that silly physioterrorist wrong - unless you're going to be an elite runner and run marathons all the time that is!
ReplyDeletebtw thanks for the Chi Running stuff. John is now hooked.
I have the soul of an elite runner but the body of a plodder. Still, I have high hopes for this Chi Running lark - even if I'm a plodder, perhaps I can aspire to be an injury-free one! And thanks for the indignation on my behalf!
ReplyDeleteHow are you getting on with the Stick, that you bought for self-massage a few months ago? I'm thinking of buying one, but would like your opinion first.
ReplyDeleteI like the Stick; I certainly notice an improvement in muscle relaxation pre and post Sticking. If I had a longer attention span, I'd probably get even more benefit from it but I'm afraid that I get bored (and my arms get tired) long before you're meant to stop. I do think that it's worth it, though. And I find it much easier to use than my foam roller.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it would help with the increasing (and increasingly unpredictable) muscle twinges / strains that seem to occur as I (try to) build up my mileage? Or are you using it for general muscle relaxation and (hopeful) prevention of such strains? Which stick did you get - there seems to be a great choice.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd rather not have this conversation on your blog, please feel free to email me.
Thanks very much for your thoughts.
I'll email you about this, it's probably easier that way!
ReplyDelete