Running with the work pack

[Post I started Jan 29]
The MRI: The MRI came back negative which obviously is great news however the downside to it is the PT is still not sure whats wrong but he's taking a more anti-inflammatory approach as of late.

With this in mind I've still been running roughly 24 minutes a day with a group of guys from work. Brent and I have somehow managed to coax a group to run after work. We started at walking 3 minutes running 1 and have since worked up to 1:30-2:30. Gives me flashbacks of when I first started running and how difficult it was just to get started.

Wooo Hooo Permission to Run

PT is going to let me run and cycle this weekend! No more than 30 mins each time but I'll take what I can get.

Super Size Me and the Sports Authority

These two are completely unrelated but I have a couple of rants:

Super Size Me - Movie
This is nothing more than an extension of the anti-capitalist agenda, no wonder it was so popular at Sundance, written by some guy who is sick of his girlfriends vegan cooking looking for an excuse to get a little meat in his diet. I won't say its anti-meat although there are a lot of anti-meat tones the creator seems to actually like meat he just hates McDonalds. I was glad to see they took a couple shots at Ben & Jerrys and other high sugar products. The piece on what they're serving in public schools was a little troublesome although you have to watch this with much skepticism as its most likely they found extreme examples and used them as their features. You wouldn't care otherwise. The lawsuits against McDonalds are so beyond comprehension Im not even going to bother giving them merit by offering an argument in opposition. While interesting and entertaining I spent most the movie thinking 'duh!' or 'Why would this idiot do this to himself?'....$11,014,972....now I know.
EDIT: Super Size Me Op-Ed

Sports Authority
This place is an Authority on nothing but junk. I go looking for a pull buoy thinking hey this is the Sports AUTHORITY I found 25 different types of rafts and no buoys. Their selection rivals only Wal-Mart at twice the price...point is...Save your money shop at Wal-Mart.

Finally some progress

For the first time today I had NO pain in the knee. None. After a full week of doing absolutely nothing but the pt exercises. I went to orthopaedic yesterday and pt. Ortho believes that my "Q" angle like many other people is at a greater angle than most people which leads to the patellar tracking issues which has led to some tendonitis. He does not believe it is meniscus related however. Another good thing that came of the Ortho is that finally someone is sending me to get an MRI. Im trying to keep my excitement in check here and fighting going against the wishes of the pt and heading out for a run.

Meantime I've gained 6 pounds in the past month with the limited activity. Am doing good staying on the Zone all day then I get home and theres always something I shouldnt be eating. Only reason Im posting this is Im hoping the posting will help make me a little more accountable and keep me honest after dinners.

MRI and PT tomorrow. PT is going to take a look at my bike setup tomorrow....benefits of going to a therapist with an ironman in house. Hope its not too much trouble.

I figure this pretty much fit my blog as of late ... complain complain complain =)

Patellar tracking issues ..... maybe

I mentioned to PT today about some strange feeling I get in my knee cap when cycling and that the overall pain in my knee is getting no better. While he still thinks there is meniscus damage he thinks some patellar tracking issues may be irritating it so he basically taped my knee to pull it a little over to the left just a little bit (medial meniscus side?). I have a GP appt. today where I'm going to ask him to give me a script for an MRI just to get it out of the way rather than wonder meniscus or not.

Edit: Went to GP who is sending me to orthopedist says MRI is too expensive. The orthopedist can't get me in until the 24th! But they'll call if there are any cancellations. HA! That'll be the day. So back to the waiting game. He also says to continue PT and gave me an Albuterol script for the asthma. Im going to end up with more money spent in co-pays than race fees this year. Its only January! :)Sean Mayhew
Sean Mayhew
Sean Mayhew
Sean Mayhew
Sean Mayhew
Sean Mayhew

Knee Pain Illustration

Again! Knee pain back to meniscus

I wasn't even going to bother post this as Im sure people are going to think I'm crazy and making it all up going back and forth however my knee is just not getting any better and I want document it for myself:

After doing two trainer rides this weekend, even though the weather was beautiful I didn't want to get too far from the house, I started having considerable pain in my knee an hour or so later and then later some repeatable popping at certain bends of the knee that also caused considerable pain...well the popping wasn't painful but certain bends of the knee caused me to yell.

Luckily I had a PT appt. Scheduled for first thing Monday at which point he's now gone BACK to it being a meniscus tear or "trauma" , trauma being damage probably not as bad as the word itself might suggest. We did some quad strengthening exercises and iced it and it DOES NOT feel better.

On the suggestion of the Personal Best Nutrition site I started taking a Glucosamine supplement this week. 8 per day to start the first two weeks then 4 per day after that. Not as a cure obviously but just some general joint maintenance.

As fun as multisport is Im sorry I've nothing good to say as of late. Although, there is a silver lining in that the PT figured plantar facitis was the problem with my foot he gave me a stretching routine for it. A tennis ball rolling under my foot which hurt like hell. Then a calf stretch which worked like a dream. If the pain came back I simply did another calf stretch and the pain went away. I couldn't believe something as simple as a calf stretch would fix that much pain in the foot. So Im happy to report the foot seems now completely healed.

Frustration and Depression Hand in Hand

It's now been nearly two weeks since I've run and the same since I've biked or swam on a normal schedule because of the injury. The greatest feeling I get are those two seconds after I wake up just before my foot hits the floor where I have hope that its all gone only to find my foot still hurts like hell the second it touches down. This for the most part especially these last few days is killing my motiviation to do anything but sulk. The PT said that most likely the original doc was right about a fracture in the foot and that it can take a little while to heal but right now it seems to hurt as bad or worse than when it started last week.

I am one of those I am invincible never get injured types. Played sports most my life and never had an injury. I remember the first time I read TTB and Friel saying something about triathletes will lose x amount of weeks due to illness and injury a year. Im thinking Illness?! Injury?! not me. Damn it if it didn't happen to me.

I had a great outlook for 2005 had been doing everything right getting all my workouts in felt strong. Cloud 9. !$#@Q$. I cut out and hung up at work a Saucony ad from Triathlete Magazine that has a race number "7" and reads "Because 7 weeks of not running due to injury is the true definition of hell". First time I saw that ad I paid no attention to it. Saw it last weekend and it hit home.

Add to this a good friend of mine at work was "let go" the day before yesterday in what I feel was a poor company decision. Im going to end up on Paxil by the end of the week. [I only make this joke as I had been on Paxil previously for anxiety problems something I think triathlon saves me from Im not insensitive to those who need or use Paxil =) ]

Im going to make it my goal for the time being to figure out a cycling and swimming schedule as running is my strongest event. Im sure it will come back. Maybe this is my bodies way of making me FINALLY become a better cyclist. Assuming neither of these bother the knee or foot obviously. !$#@Q$.

Physical Therapist says ITBS

What is the Illiiotibial band?
The IT band is not a muscle. It is a thick band of tissue called fascia that starts on the outside of the hip, passes down the outside of the thigh and inserts into the side of the patella (knee cap) and the tibia, (shin bone).
Fascia is a sheath-like tissue that surrounds muscles. The ITB has the tensile strength of soft steel, which explains why it is so difficult to mobilize.
Lynda Wallenfels Coaching

All right after going through all that crap with the suggestion from the doctor that it was a meniscus tear it turned out the fine folks over at Training Peaks were right all along ... ITBS (Iliotibial band syndrome).

Finally got to see the physical therapist today who actually took the time to sit and talk with me about exercise history, routine, what I was doing when the injury started. What I was doing in the time leading up to the injury. He then offered a pretty logical explanation and description of the problem which was spot on... as if I would have expected otherwise. So he worked the leg for a bit showed me some stretches and exercises iced it and sent me home with a routine. Next appt. Thursday then 3 times next week.

If interested in ITBS check out this site:
Lynda Wallenfels Coaching

Christmas 2003 225 lbs. vs. Christmas 2004 Half-Marathon 1:44 (162 lbs)

Cliche: What a difference a year makes.

This held particularly true for me in 2004. In my case a picture is worth 12 Billion words (see above).

Happy New Year. I wish you improved V02 max, fog free goggles, flat free rides, meniscus tear free running, and goodie bags filled with gold....or at least some nice deodorant and Gold Bond for 'Eau de Triathlon' scent management.