For a few decades, running
dominated my life. That's why I started this blog, didn't I? In the recent
past, since running has become a much lesser part of my so called life, other
realities happened (like my trip to Zamboanga and being assaulted by a patient).
So why haven't I written anything
about running? After all this blog is about life and running, right? Well
that's because I haven't done any running lately. I did try doing so last
Monday with disastrous results. Yep, you're right, another injury. My legs seem
to have readjusted themselves in a way that they are no longer built to propel
me forward faster than walking. About last Monday - having not run consistently
for awhile (about 3 times in 6 weeks), I started very conservatively, running
for 1 minute and walking for 1 minute. After about 10 minutes of that, I ran
for 2 minutes and walked 1 minute. When I reached 30 minutes, I ran for 3
minutes and walked 1 minute. It was on the subsequent attempt at 3 minutes when
I felt a twinge of pain in left upper thigh near the hip area. It felt like the
same muscle strain I had last spring at the 3 mile mark of a 12 mile run. If I
were to guess, it seems like it’s the upper part of the vastus lateralis. The
difference between now and then? I stopped running immediately and walked the
rest of the way back home. Last spring, I kept on going until the pain got
worst. I was hoping that this time, by nipping it in the bud, so to speak, I
could keep the injury at a minimum and hoping the recovery would be quicker, instead
of several weeks it usually takes. Good idea, right? Over the next few days, I
could feel a discomfort on the thigh so my workouts were limited to the
stationary bikes (recumbent and spinning).
Then last Saturday morning, I again joined the
Long Beach Area walking club at Signal Hill (wow, three Saturdays in a row for
me!). The first hint of trouble came when I ran across the street for a couple
of seconds to avoid a car. The hip discomfort was still present so I knew I
wouldn’t be doing any running that day. The pace of the walk was pretty brisk
and I was making good time covering the distance. It was with about a quarter
mile left when we were negotiating a slight downhill on a dirt and gravel trail
when disaster struck again. The loose gravel made me slip and while trying to
keep my balance, I felt a spasm on the already injured hip muscle. I had
strained it further and the pain was so excruciating that I could barely walk
back to my car. I knew then that it would take weeks to rehab the injury.
So, that’s what I’ve been trying to do in the
past week – trying to strengthen the thigh muscle when the pain diminished. My
indoor cycling workouts had to be limited to the easiest gear so as not to
further strain the injured area. I couldn’t even walk on the treadmill, and I
had to take the utmost care going up and down stairs because of the pain. Only
in the last couple of days have I started doing slow body weight squats and a
few wall sits. I guess I’ll be letting you know when everything starts to feel
normal again. In the meantime, it looks like more indoor cycling for me.
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