Saturday, December 30, 2006

Christmas Trip: There and Back Again

ORN: 1 mile, run/walk, considerable pain

It’s been a whirlwind the past 10 days. A trip to the west coast, illness, Christmas…all packed together. The time in Oregon was super, with excellent time with middle son Nathan, an enjoyable
Geocaching outing on Christmas Day and being in awe of the Pacific Ocean. As a native Midwesterner, I never get tired of watching ocean waves. I just posted photos of the outing, which are only of interest if you like cute babies and ocean waves.

On running…just where are we, given the ITB? When I last posted, I had had a bad day at work, a rigorous PT treatment and a 3 mile run that felt good. Well…

The next day, the knee felt rotten. Very painful, perhaps exacerbated by all the walking in airport concourses. Upon arriving in Oregon, I picked up a flu bug and slept for a day and a half. On Christmas morning, I got out and ran two miles along the Pacific Coast (did I mention I enjoy watching the waves?), which felt pretty good. The next day, we were back in Portland and I ran another two miles on 82nd Ave NE, from the I-84 Max station down to Gisler Avenue. It didn’t feel that great, but I made it through. The following morning, I went out to run again and didn’t make it 300m before the knee pain shut it all down. Discouraging.

We got back home and I had another PT session on Thursday, during which I described the sporadic progress/regress with the therapist. He said the current therapy will have done all it can do after another three sessions.

So, today, Saturday, I went out again in wonderfully mild 53 degree weather. And the ITB/knee felt awful. Despite some very careful stretching, I only ran about .6 mile before I had to walk, the pain was too severe. I gimped home…managing to run a couple of 100m segments but even that was too much.

What to do??? I don’t really know. This thing is getting worse, not better. Rest doesn’t seem to help; running doesn’t seem to help; therapy doesn’t seem to help. I’m stumped right now.

Fortunately, running does not define who I am. I’m quite encouraged in all other counts and am confident we’ll figure this thing out. I’ve chuckled several times at my decision to name this blog “Run with Perseverance” not really knowing when I started it what good advice that would be to myself.

Persevere. Yeah, persevere.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joe,
That's a bummer about your knee. I hope you figure something out. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to this side of the nation - sorry to hear you got sick though. Thanks for all the garmin info!

Anonymous said...

Joe:

That's a shame, but how often is it that Plan A doesn't work. I think you are now on Plan E or F with the ITB. Hang in there!

Karen

Anonymous said...

Hang in there Joe! You'll get back to your old self. More rest may be exactly what you need. I'm sure you will figure it out. As far as biking goes, I picked out a good light hybrid and am trying to ride it every other day. I enjoy it alot.

Anonymous said...

Ouch! Keep up the PT for the fully prescribed appointments. This thing is obviously taking longer than you had hoped but with enough rest, its bound to get better.

Have a Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Sorry you are still struggling Joe. Keep up the postive attitude, and I'm sure things will turn around. Give it some time. We have all the time in the world, don't we? thanks for your good thoughts....I'll be sending some your way, too.

Anonymous said...

Keep persevering Joe and I know you'll come out on top. Enjoy your New Years celebration and I wish you a healthy 2007.

David said...

Rest has proven it works for me on ITBs. Ditto for Dianna TRCWTOH.
Rest, ibuprofin to take down the swelling and massage. That's what I'd persevere with. PT work is good too.
I hope you can get back.
I'd be mentally handicapped if I lost my running stroke.

Anonymous said...

Glad you got some nice weather on the coast! But running on 82nd, injury or not, must have been terrible. ; )

I hope you find that magic combo of rest, running and rehab that beats that ITBS once and for all. I know that for me it got worse just before it got better.

Happy New Year! : )