What is that, you ask? Well, it's what I do when I am injured and should not be running. Normally I run about 3-4 days per week, one of those being a tough track work-out. But about 6 weeks ago I realized the annoying feeling I was having in my right posterior tibialis was in fact pain. And I remember this pain, and how it can progress into much worse pain, because I had this same overuse injury in my LEFT ankle about 2 years ago. Crap.
After a couple weeks of the dull throb I stopped running. I made an appointment with my physical therapist and headed back. I also wanted to go to acupuncture, but unfortunately my acupuncturist was out of the office due to surgery so I was unable to see my miracle worker to do something about this muscle. My acupuncturist is seriously amazing---she uses Eastern medicine to help injuries, including acupuncture needles, cupping (made famous by Jennifer Anniston) laser therapy and massage. I LOVE visiting her, and she helped me recover last time and has consistently loosened my tight hamstrings that I get from running. I visit her about once a month and I look forward to it all month!
My PT told me what I feared. My posterior tibialis is enflamed from overuse. It makes me so mad----overuse? Are you kidding? I run about 12-18 miles per week, that's it. I cross train like crazy. I do at least 3 Pilates classes per week, and it ends up being more because I teach 2 classes and demo a lot. I do yoga and spin a couple of times a month too, so you'd think I'd be preventing injury here. Wrong.
I think I just have weak ankles and poor blood flow. My PT massages and does ultra sound on the area when I visit him to try to increase the blood flow since mine is so slow. Last time I had the injury in my other ankle, I ran for so long through the pain that the injury was much worse. It was apparent after 6 months that it would not heal on it's own, so I was subjected to an invasive treatment where they took blood out of my arm, spun it, and injected it into the muscle. I couldn't walk without a boot for about a month and 3 months later I ran Hood to Coast. I would say the procedure was worth it but not anything I'd ever want to go through again! So I am really trying to heal on my own through the PT, acupuncture and NOT RUNNING!
So, to get to the point about my non-running work-out, here is generally what I have been doing!!
Monday: Pilates Reformer + 30 minute on elliptical + PT exercises (takes about 8 minutes)
Tuesday: Either 45 minutes elliptical + PT exercises or water jogging (snore) for 30 minutes
Wednesday: Pilates Reformer + 30 minutes on elliptical + PT exercises (takes about 8 minutes)
Thursday: Group Centergy class, which is like yoga but much faster pace with music
Friday: Mat Pilates + 20 minutes elliptical + PT exercises
Saturday: Teach Mat Pilates, somewhat of a rest day
Sunday: Elliptical or spin bike
This is me doing Pilates the last time I was injured. I really turned to Pilates back then since it was one of the only things I could do! I can't believe how short my hair was!
The elliptical is getting so boring! Do you have any suggestions of what to do to mix it up? I really can't do much impact work right now.
2 comments:
Wow...I wish I was as motivated to work out so much!! :)
Great blog!
That's some great info! I hope I'm not faced with a running injury any time in my near future but if I am I know what to do. I hope you recover quickly!
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