Today I got a whole lot of x-rays. Maybe a bajillion. Actually, I think I had 7 or 8 total of several different angles of my hip and lower back. At first I was only getting them to confirm that nothing major was wrong, but a few things did turn up. Although, the good doctor (my dad) doesn't think anything is wrong which would cause the problems with my hip.
In short, we found that my right SI joint is a little 'off' and the end of my spine curves a little more than normal, aka I have a "shelf butt." I'm sure thats the technical term, too!
The chiropractor that works at my dad's office gave me a bunch more exercises to do. Surprisingly, there was no overlap whatsoever with the ones my PT gave me. I guess they just have two completely different approaches? Most of the new ones are all for strengthening my core, which falls in line with my winter goals, so I'm game!
Tomorrow is my debut. One mile. Nice and easy. Just a tease for what (I hope) is coming up!
Showing posts with label Chiropractor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chiropractor. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
A. R. T. -- The End
Today was my last day of A.R.T. for this round of injury. Although it didn't fix my hip, I am still convinced it is a good technique to know about, and to have in my arsenal the next time an injury rears its ugly head! I have a feeling our paths will cross again sometime in the next year or two.
I don't know what hit me last night; perhaps a combination of waking up early, starting ASTYM, and not wanting to do my homework. I decided to lay down while icing my legs, and I was out like a light from 8-10pm. When I woke up I was in "what the hell just happened?!" mode. I wasn't even planning on sleeping. I got up for a little bit, took care of some email, ate some food, and went to bed. For another 11 hours. Eleven freaking hours! At least it gave my leg some good time to recovery from my treatment.
I've been sticking with my stretches and exercises pretty well today; even with the rather intensive schedule of stretching four times a day and doing the exercises twice. I decided the best way to do it is to associate them with eating. I can't eat unless I stretch. Since I always eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed this system should work out pretty good for me. Then, I suppose, for two of them the exercises will be required as well.
My legs are feeling really, really great today. If I didn't have my self imposed break from running, I definitely would have put in a few miles today! I actually did jog out to my car today, just to see how its feeling. It didn't hurt. Not at all. It down right felt good! But regardless of this, I'm still off for at least another week. I've been here before. I've felt great and had running tear me right back down to square one!
On an unrelated note, class rocked today! No, not because I learned a lot. Far from it. Most of it was just review. My professor, who is an older, short, Chinese guy said: "If someone say, ahhhh, ask you how you do number 4 on homework 8, you know what you tell them? You tell them, ahhh, you go to hell!" Oh man, I hadn't laughed that hard in a while. I'm glad I have him again next semester!
I don't know what hit me last night; perhaps a combination of waking up early, starting ASTYM, and not wanting to do my homework. I decided to lay down while icing my legs, and I was out like a light from 8-10pm. When I woke up I was in "what the hell just happened?!" mode. I wasn't even planning on sleeping. I got up for a little bit, took care of some email, ate some food, and went to bed. For another 11 hours. Eleven freaking hours! At least it gave my leg some good time to recovery from my treatment.
I've been sticking with my stretches and exercises pretty well today; even with the rather intensive schedule of stretching four times a day and doing the exercises twice. I decided the best way to do it is to associate them with eating. I can't eat unless I stretch. Since I always eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed this system should work out pretty good for me. Then, I suppose, for two of them the exercises will be required as well.
My legs are feeling really, really great today. If I didn't have my self imposed break from running, I definitely would have put in a few miles today! I actually did jog out to my car today, just to see how its feeling. It didn't hurt. Not at all. It down right felt good! But regardless of this, I'm still off for at least another week. I've been here before. I've felt great and had running tear me right back down to square one!
On an unrelated note, class rocked today! No, not because I learned a lot. Far from it. Most of it was just review. My professor, who is an older, short, Chinese guy said: "If someone say, ahhhh, ask you how you do number 4 on homework 8, you know what you tell them? You tell them, ahhh, you go to hell!" Oh man, I hadn't laughed that hard in a while. I'm glad I have him again next semester!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The Next Step
Well, I'm making the physical therapy thing official. I haven't decided where I'm going yet, but have it narrowed down to two places. I might consider others if I hear back from some friends fairly soon, but right now the two players are Buffalo Run and KORT. Both seem to have physical therapists with very good resumes.
The former is a smaller group, but one of the therapists has an interest in running. The latter is a very reputable organization that is all over the state. I haven't seen any of their PT's profile's have anything about running, but I assume somewhere in their network is someone with an interest, and I could likely get sent to them if I need to. I'm going to give it a little thought tonight and give one of them a call tomorrow. If you've had any experience with PT's and know what I should be looking for, I would really appreciate any feedback.
When I got to the chiropractor today, they had their dog there. Since I was a few minutes early, I got to have a little fun and play with him while I waited! It was fun, but it reminded me that I want to get a dog still. I told Beth (Mike's wife) my story and she admitted to me she had this dog at an apartment that didn't allow them for a whole year, makes it tempting!
Today Mike pushed running on me a little too hard. He suggested going out for a run tonight or tomorrow to see how my hip reacts. Then he suggested it again. And again. Eventually he gave it up, I wasn't going to budge. I've been here for two months: I get back to feeling 95% recovered, I run, and I'm back to square one. He's the professional, but I've been living with it for the past two months. I can see the pattern. Us computer scientists are good at patterns.
I haven't cut things off though, not yet anyways. A.R.T. is very good for treating the symptoms I have. It will clear up the aches, at the cost of it hurting like hell for the time I'm in his office. Hopefully these aches will go away with some time off from running, and I can call it quits on the A.R.T.
Last night my left leg started tightening up on me. I'm not sure why. I stretched out my glutes and hammies pretty good, but it wasn't perfect. Today its still sort of there, and after A.R.T. my left leg is especially uncomfortable. Walking doesn't hurt necessarily, but it causes some discomfort, especially in my hamstrings.
I'm somewhat relieved that I'm officially on break from running. The highs and lows I have been going through the past two months were not pleasant at all. For now, at least, I'm happy living in the comfortable middle ground. Hopefully adequate rest and physical therapy will be enough to get me back to living the high life. I look forward to it.
The former is a smaller group, but one of the therapists has an interest in running. The latter is a very reputable organization that is all over the state. I haven't seen any of their PT's profile's have anything about running, but I assume somewhere in their network is someone with an interest, and I could likely get sent to them if I need to. I'm going to give it a little thought tonight and give one of them a call tomorrow. If you've had any experience with PT's and know what I should be looking for, I would really appreciate any feedback.
When I got to the chiropractor today, they had their dog there. Since I was a few minutes early, I got to have a little fun and play with him while I waited! It was fun, but it reminded me that I want to get a dog still. I told Beth (Mike's wife) my story and she admitted to me she had this dog at an apartment that didn't allow them for a whole year, makes it tempting!
Today Mike pushed running on me a little too hard. He suggested going out for a run tonight or tomorrow to see how my hip reacts. Then he suggested it again. And again. Eventually he gave it up, I wasn't going to budge. I've been here for two months: I get back to feeling 95% recovered, I run, and I'm back to square one. He's the professional, but I've been living with it for the past two months. I can see the pattern. Us computer scientists are good at patterns.
I haven't cut things off though, not yet anyways. A.R.T. is very good for treating the symptoms I have. It will clear up the aches, at the cost of it hurting like hell for the time I'm in his office. Hopefully these aches will go away with some time off from running, and I can call it quits on the A.R.T.
Last night my left leg started tightening up on me. I'm not sure why. I stretched out my glutes and hammies pretty good, but it wasn't perfect. Today its still sort of there, and after A.R.T. my left leg is especially uncomfortable. Walking doesn't hurt necessarily, but it causes some discomfort, especially in my hamstrings.
I'm somewhat relieved that I'm officially on break from running. The highs and lows I have been going through the past two months were not pleasant at all. For now, at least, I'm happy living in the comfortable middle ground. Hopefully adequate rest and physical therapy will be enough to get me back to living the high life. I look forward to it.
Friday, October 26, 2007
More Recovery
This week has had a lot of focus on getting me back on the roads, but I'm not rushing the actual act of running. Not this week. I'm taking Nic's advice to take it easy for a little while longer.
Wednesday Mike really kicked my ass with some A.R.T. to break up the new spot that flared up in my hip. This time its a little further down the leg, closer to the bottom of the joint where my femur and pelvis meet. It doesn't hurt too much mechanically, but its very sore to the touch.
My run yesterday didn't happen. I simply didn't have time, and it wasn't a good idea anyways! I was working on homework until about 3am the past two nights, so squeezing in a run was only going to cut in on my minimal amount of precious sleep.
I did, however, make it in to get a massage to work out some kinks in my lower back and several spots in my legs. That massage worked wonders. Not just physically, but mentally. Beforehand I was just about as stressed as ever. If someone decided to yell at me like they did to Jess, I probably would have tackled them and punted their dog; it was that bad.
Afterwards, though, I felt completely in control. I had stuff to do, and I had time. I didn't feel exhausted, and could easily be productive. Sometimes simply feeling in control is all it takes to regain the focus I need to get my stuff done. In a sense I took Marcy's advice to get a butt massage, except I had to pay $60 to get it!
Today, another round of A.R.T. went pretty well. He took it fairly easy on me since I'm still sore from the last round. The one thing he really hammered on was my IT bands; now that smarted! To give me any idea of how tight my IT bands were, he pushed on my arm as hard as he was on my IT bands. The pressure was almost nothing, on my arm it felt like he was just poking me in the arm to get my attention.
Although he's encouraging me to get out and run this weekend, I really feel taking it easy until Sunday or Monday will really be best for my hip. I want all these sore spots to disappear before I even think about giving it another go. Until then, I'm taking it easy. This injury has been going on way too long, and a lot of it could be attributed to me constantly jumping the gun and trying to run too early. I'm done with that.
I got a foam roller finally, too. Right now I'm just using it on my back, quads, and hamstrings. The real reason I want it is to roll out my IT bands, but they're pretty sore from my treatment today, and really need to heal up before I hit them with the roller.
This has been one insane week. I'm not sure I've ever been that busy in my life, except maybe finals week once or twice. I'm glad its over. This weekend is completely devoted to resting up, because I need it more than anything!
Wednesday Mike really kicked my ass with some A.R.T. to break up the new spot that flared up in my hip. This time its a little further down the leg, closer to the bottom of the joint where my femur and pelvis meet. It doesn't hurt too much mechanically, but its very sore to the touch.
My run yesterday didn't happen. I simply didn't have time, and it wasn't a good idea anyways! I was working on homework until about 3am the past two nights, so squeezing in a run was only going to cut in on my minimal amount of precious sleep.
I did, however, make it in to get a massage to work out some kinks in my lower back and several spots in my legs. That massage worked wonders. Not just physically, but mentally. Beforehand I was just about as stressed as ever. If someone decided to yell at me like they did to Jess, I probably would have tackled them and punted their dog; it was that bad.
Afterwards, though, I felt completely in control. I had stuff to do, and I had time. I didn't feel exhausted, and could easily be productive. Sometimes simply feeling in control is all it takes to regain the focus I need to get my stuff done. In a sense I took Marcy's advice to get a butt massage, except I had to pay $60 to get it!
Today, another round of A.R.T. went pretty well. He took it fairly easy on me since I'm still sore from the last round. The one thing he really hammered on was my IT bands; now that smarted! To give me any idea of how tight my IT bands were, he pushed on my arm as hard as he was on my IT bands. The pressure was almost nothing, on my arm it felt like he was just poking me in the arm to get my attention.
Although he's encouraging me to get out and run this weekend, I really feel taking it easy until Sunday or Monday will really be best for my hip. I want all these sore spots to disappear before I even think about giving it another go. Until then, I'm taking it easy. This injury has been going on way too long, and a lot of it could be attributed to me constantly jumping the gun and trying to run too early. I'm done with that.
I got a foam roller finally, too. Right now I'm just using it on my back, quads, and hamstrings. The real reason I want it is to roll out my IT bands, but they're pretty sore from my treatment today, and really need to heal up before I hit them with the roller.
This has been one insane week. I'm not sure I've ever been that busy in my life, except maybe finals week once or twice. I'm glad its over. This weekend is completely devoted to resting up, because I need it more than anything!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
At least there wasn't a line...
The roller coaster that is my life continues, but, as the title says, at least there isn't a line!
I woke up this morning with a little kink in my hip again. Nothing huge, but it was noticeable. Then on the way to class, my left IT band really started tightening up -- thats one I haven't had happen yet in this round of injury. At least its mixing things up and making it interesting?
I got the test I "rocked" back this morning too. I sort of, um, didn't rock it. Nobody did. High score: 127/200, average score 77/200. I fell somewhere between those two numbers, but at least I was above average, I guess? This morning left me in a pretty sour mood.
During my appointment today we got the kink worked out, at least. Mike said he could feel a really small knot in the muscles around my hip, about the size of a pea, but that sucker sure hurt like hell! Afterwards I feel good, nothing has hurt much since. One spot is sore to the touch, but movement doesn't hurt it at all.
The game plan right now is to go for a short run in the morning, a one hour massage in the evening, and another round with Mike on Friday. I might take the weekend off running, but I'm indecisive about it at the moment; we'll see how I feel after the next two days.
One of these days I'm going to go out looking for a foam roller to help out these legs of mine. I looked for one at Walmart the other day, but couldn't find them. Where can I find them at?
Theres been a few comments about joggling, too, after my last post. Um, no! Or as Marcy would say: ROFLMAOLOLHAHAHA, no!
Lets hope tomorrow is an up day on this roller coaster ride!
I woke up this morning with a little kink in my hip again. Nothing huge, but it was noticeable. Then on the way to class, my left IT band really started tightening up -- thats one I haven't had happen yet in this round of injury. At least its mixing things up and making it interesting?
I got the test I "rocked" back this morning too. I sort of, um, didn't rock it. Nobody did. High score: 127/200, average score 77/200. I fell somewhere between those two numbers, but at least I was above average, I guess? This morning left me in a pretty sour mood.
During my appointment today we got the kink worked out, at least. Mike said he could feel a really small knot in the muscles around my hip, about the size of a pea, but that sucker sure hurt like hell! Afterwards I feel good, nothing has hurt much since. One spot is sore to the touch, but movement doesn't hurt it at all.
The game plan right now is to go for a short run in the morning, a one hour massage in the evening, and another round with Mike on Friday. I might take the weekend off running, but I'm indecisive about it at the moment; we'll see how I feel after the next two days.
One of these days I'm going to go out looking for a foam roller to help out these legs of mine. I looked for one at Walmart the other day, but couldn't find them. Where can I find them at?
Theres been a few comments about joggling, too, after my last post. Um, no! Or as Marcy would say: ROFLMAOLOLHAHAHA, no!
Lets hope tomorrow is an up day on this roller coaster ride!
Monday, October 22, 2007
On Top of the World
Today is my day. Everything has gone my way. I even rhyme, no matter what I say. Sorry, I'm a dork, okay?
I studied like crazy all weekend for a test that scared the crap out of me. So what did I do? Thats right, I rocked it! Then I got an assignment back that I spent 10-15 hours on, swore I bombed it, but nope! Rocked that one too!
Then I met up with Mike "The Man" Sullivan for a little work on my hip. I told him the whole story of my weekend with regards to my hip and what not, and he tried a few things today to set things straight. He had my lay face down, and lift each leg up in turn as high as I could. One leg went up about 7 inches higher than the other. Woah, somethings out of whack! So he worked some magic and suddenly they were both the same!
I mentioned the strange popping I'm having, and he had a hard time tracking down exactly where it was coming from. I had to reproduce the pop about 10 times before he gave up on finding exactly where it was. Regardless of finding it, he adjusted my lower back a little bit, and its pretty much gone now! I tried to reproduce it again afterwards, and it happened maybe once out of 20 tries, as opposed to the 10 for 10 beforehand.
My glutes are definitely loosening up too, since I've been good about giving myself butt massages. No, Marcy, I still can't find a lovely lady to do it for me. I've been asking every one I see but they all give me a weird look and walk away (joke!). Hopefully that'll be all cleared up after I stick with it for a few more days.
Mike is making it sound like I'm almost better. He's even talking like I should be able to resume training as usual this weekend! Oh man, here come the exclamation points! Right now he's suggesting meeting again this week, then once more next week, and then its over!
Also on the forecast: Rain! And lots of it! We're supposed to get an inch tonight, and another half inch tomorrow. Sounds like I'm going to be sloshing around tomorrow, getting all kinds of "what is WRONG with you?!" looks from people who melt when they get wet!
I studied like crazy all weekend for a test that scared the crap out of me. So what did I do? Thats right, I rocked it! Then I got an assignment back that I spent 10-15 hours on, swore I bombed it, but nope! Rocked that one too!
Then I met up with Mike "The Man" Sullivan for a little work on my hip. I told him the whole story of my weekend with regards to my hip and what not, and he tried a few things today to set things straight. He had my lay face down, and lift each leg up in turn as high as I could. One leg went up about 7 inches higher than the other. Woah, somethings out of whack! So he worked some magic and suddenly they were both the same!
I mentioned the strange popping I'm having, and he had a hard time tracking down exactly where it was coming from. I had to reproduce the pop about 10 times before he gave up on finding exactly where it was. Regardless of finding it, he adjusted my lower back a little bit, and its pretty much gone now! I tried to reproduce it again afterwards, and it happened maybe once out of 20 tries, as opposed to the 10 for 10 beforehand.
My glutes are definitely loosening up too, since I've been good about giving myself butt massages. No, Marcy, I still can't find a lovely lady to do it for me. I've been asking every one I see but they all give me a weird look and walk away (joke!). Hopefully that'll be all cleared up after I stick with it for a few more days.
Mike is making it sound like I'm almost better. He's even talking like I should be able to resume training as usual this weekend! Oh man, here come the exclamation points! Right now he's suggesting meeting again this week, then once more next week, and then its over!
Also on the forecast: Rain! And lots of it! We're supposed to get an inch tonight, and another half inch tomorrow. Sounds like I'm going to be sloshing around tomorrow, getting all kinds of "what is WRONG with you?!" looks from people who melt when they get wet!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Executing the Plan, With Gusto!
Yesterday I stated my game plan to speed along my recovery this weekend. So far, I'm sticking with it to the T.
After my A.R.T. session really set in yesterday, my hip started feeling really, really good! As in, normal good. I've had periods where it hasn't hurt, but yesterday was the first time it really felt like a normal, functional hip! I can't really explain it, but it just felt a little off these past several weeks. Apparently hitting my glutes was the right course of action to take, because that was the main difference between what he did last time, and the times before.
But man am I sore today. Mike "The Man" Sullivan (thats what I'm going to call him, since he's bringing running back to me!) told me he was really going to town on my TFL and glutes yesterday, since I would have about 80 hours to heal up between visits. Although my hip is feeling good, my muscles feel pretty bruised up, as expected! Its good, though, because it is really encouraging me to stick with the massage, ice, heat, and icy-hot wanna be.
I jumped on the exercise bike again today for 40 minutes and really hammered away, but I'm not going to say how far because I might make Marcy jealous! It felt pretty good to get everything in motion since I took yesterday off. Stretched out really good before and after, too, as prescribed.
All I need to do now is keep at it, and go for my prescribed one mile run tomorrow. Just think, most of the population would complain like crazy if their doctor told them they were required to run a mile, and here I am wanting more! Maybe we really are crazy.
On an unrelated note, I've really started to get a kick out of the referring URL's I get from Google. Some of the most entertaining ones I've seen are:
After my A.R.T. session really set in yesterday, my hip started feeling really, really good! As in, normal good. I've had periods where it hasn't hurt, but yesterday was the first time it really felt like a normal, functional hip! I can't really explain it, but it just felt a little off these past several weeks. Apparently hitting my glutes was the right course of action to take, because that was the main difference between what he did last time, and the times before.
But man am I sore today. Mike "The Man" Sullivan (thats what I'm going to call him, since he's bringing running back to me!) told me he was really going to town on my TFL and glutes yesterday, since I would have about 80 hours to heal up between visits. Although my hip is feeling good, my muscles feel pretty bruised up, as expected! Its good, though, because it is really encouraging me to stick with the massage, ice, heat, and icy-hot wanna be.
I jumped on the exercise bike again today for 40 minutes and really hammered away, but I'm not going to say how far because I might make Marcy jealous! It felt pretty good to get everything in motion since I took yesterday off. Stretched out really good before and after, too, as prescribed.
All I need to do now is keep at it, and go for my prescribed one mile run tomorrow. Just think, most of the population would complain like crazy if their doctor told them they were required to run a mile, and here I am wanting more! Maybe we really are crazy.
On an unrelated note, I've really started to get a kick out of the referring URL's I get from Google. Some of the most entertaining ones I've seen are:
- runner ice cream
- runner disease
- dirty little cheaters
- caught off guard photo (yikes! who's looking at this blog?!)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Round Two with Active Release Technique
Today was my second treatment with A. R. T., and it went well. I'm feeling a lot better from the treatment on Monday, but there were still some sore spots that are sticking around. Today he dealt mostly with those, and I'm feeling really good now!
We started with applying heat to my hip, to make it all more pliable. Then did more A.R.T. stuff, where he would apply pressure and have me do very specific movements with my leg to break up the scar tissue. He makes it sound like he can really feel the scar tissue when we do this, which helps me visualize it more than "it hurts when I do this."
After this he did some things to stretch out my lower back. I'm not sure how much it helped, but it felt pretty good.
Then he busted out the ultra sound. This is supposed to help both with reducing inflammation and breaking up scar tissue. I can't really say how well the ultra sound worked, but all in all what he did seems to have helped, its feeling even better now than before!
I scheduled another appointment for Friday, which will hopefully be my last one. It sounds as though my insurance is going to cover nearly all of the expenses, too, which is a nice treat!
Tomorrow is another run. I'm thinking 4-5 miles at an easy pace. Yes. An easy pace. You hear that Legs?! Yes, I know its going to rain tomorrow, but the slower I go, the longer I get to enjoy it, right?
Also, this morning was more time on the exercise bike. I sat on it for 30 minutes and really hammered away. I think I averaged about 23 mph or so. My hip felt better after biking, too, maybe it helped get blood to my hip? I don't know. I just know it seemed to help!
I'm going to be back before you know it!
-Doug
We started with applying heat to my hip, to make it all more pliable. Then did more A.R.T. stuff, where he would apply pressure and have me do very specific movements with my leg to break up the scar tissue. He makes it sound like he can really feel the scar tissue when we do this, which helps me visualize it more than "it hurts when I do this."
After this he did some things to stretch out my lower back. I'm not sure how much it helped, but it felt pretty good.
Then he busted out the ultra sound. This is supposed to help both with reducing inflammation and breaking up scar tissue. I can't really say how well the ultra sound worked, but all in all what he did seems to have helped, its feeling even better now than before!
I scheduled another appointment for Friday, which will hopefully be my last one. It sounds as though my insurance is going to cover nearly all of the expenses, too, which is a nice treat!
Tomorrow is another run. I'm thinking 4-5 miles at an easy pace. Yes. An easy pace. You hear that Legs?! Yes, I know its going to rain tomorrow, but the slower I go, the longer I get to enjoy it, right?
Also, this morning was more time on the exercise bike. I sat on it for 30 minutes and really hammered away. I think I averaged about 23 mph or so. My hip felt better after biking, too, maybe it helped get blood to my hip? I don't know. I just know it seemed to help!
I'm going to be back before you know it!
-Doug
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Conversation with my legs
I woke up today, a day I'm supposed to run, and it was raining! Hallelujah! It was meant to be! I love running in the rain, but it always stops when I put my shoes on. Not today. My rain repellent finally wore off!
Once running, my brain and legs had a little conversation:
Brain: Okay, Legs, today is nice and easy. None of that fast stuff, don't even think about it.
Legs: Roger that, captain!
....
Legs: Not even a little bit? It's raining. You know how you love running in the rain.
Brain: Nope, nice and easy! None of your tricks today!
Legs: Okay okay.. but we're feeling so rested... you remember how good it feels, don't you?
Brain: I have a slight recollection, yes.
*Legs speed up for a few strides*
Brain: Ohhh...... thats the spot.... Ahem! No, no fast running today!
Legs: Are you suuure?
*Legs speed up for a few strides again*
Brain: .... .... .... okay, fine, but just for a little while!
Legs: Yesss!
*Legs speed up again*
....
....
One mile later:
Brain: Alright, thats enough. Lets slow it down a little bit.
Legs: ...
Brain: Hey! You listening?
Legs: I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
Brain: Ease off it!
Legs: ITS RAINING TOO HARD! CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING! COME BACK LATER!
Brain: .... *gives up*
Legs: LEGS 2, BRAIN 0!
Well, thats enough personification of my body parts for the year. At least I didn't give them actual names!
I ended up running 2.3 miles, according to my trusty Garmin. Mostly around campus, getting weird looks from people huddled under umbrellas up on the way to class. I love those weird looks, and I'm not sure I can really explain why! Afterwards my hip is still feeling good. The only real discomfort is a bruised feeling the chiropractor told me to expect. Worst case scenario: a spot he didn't get to starts hurting, I take note of where it is, and have him work it out tomorrow! I feel like the road to recovery is coming to an end!
-Doug
Once running, my brain and legs had a little conversation:
Brain: Okay, Legs, today is nice and easy. None of that fast stuff, don't even think about it.
Legs: Roger that, captain!
....
Legs: Not even a little bit? It's raining. You know how you love running in the rain.
Brain: Nope, nice and easy! None of your tricks today!
Legs: Okay okay.. but we're feeling so rested... you remember how good it feels, don't you?
Brain: I have a slight recollection, yes.
*Legs speed up for a few strides*
Brain: Ohhh...... thats the spot.... Ahem! No, no fast running today!
Legs: Are you suuure?
*Legs speed up for a few strides again*
Brain: .... .... .... okay, fine, but just for a little while!
Legs: Yesss!
*Legs speed up again*
....
....
One mile later:
Brain: Alright, thats enough. Lets slow it down a little bit.
Legs: ...
Brain: Hey! You listening?
Legs: I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
Brain: Ease off it!
Legs: ITS RAINING TOO HARD! CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING! COME BACK LATER!
Brain: .... *gives up*
Legs: LEGS 2, BRAIN 0!
Well, thats enough personification of my body parts for the year. At least I didn't give them actual names!
I ended up running 2.3 miles, according to my trusty Garmin. Mostly around campus, getting weird looks from people huddled under umbrellas up on the way to class. I love those weird looks, and I'm not sure I can really explain why! Afterwards my hip is still feeling good. The only real discomfort is a bruised feeling the chiropractor told me to expect. Worst case scenario: a spot he didn't get to starts hurting, I take note of where it is, and have him work it out tomorrow! I feel like the road to recovery is coming to an end!
-Doug
Monday, October 15, 2007
Exams, Evaluations, & the Chiropractor
Sounds like a scary day, huh? Yeah, for wusses! Today was perfect!
This morning I found out my supervisor for the lab I teach was going to be evaluating me today. I was a little nervous, because she's basically a grouchy lady who nit picks about every little detail. I just knew she was going to tear me apart on one thing or another. Well, she didn't find anything. A more perfect evaluation doesn't exist. She gave a few minor pointers, but I like some feedback anyways. Doug 1, world 0!
Next up was my first. graduate. school. test. ever! I studied for it all weekend, and narrowed it down to just a few questions he could ask that I wouldn't know. I must have prayed to all the right deities, because none of those questions showed up! Yeah. I rocked it. First person done, and I'm going to punch myself in the face if I didn't get an A. I'm that confident! Doug 2, world 0!
After class I got an email from the director of graduate studies, that was sent out to all graduate students and faculty. They caught 8 cheaters in graduate level classes and are going to town on them. I suspect 7 of them are in my graphics class, because the prof. is starting to catch on to what has been going on. Maybe because I tipped him off after that one student asked to copy my homework? I like to think so. Doug 3, world 0!
Now the big news: my trip to the chiropractor today! Everything went exactly as I thought it would. We sat down and talked about my injury's history, what I've tried to fix it, and how I eventually ended up in his office. He thought A.R.T. was definitely the right approach for fixing this up, good call Nic!
He had me go through some different motions to check what was working right, and what was wrong. Pretty much everything looked fine, except one thing. He had me sit down with my back and butt flat up against the back of the chair. Sitting this way, my left knee didn't come out as far as my right knee. My pelvis is tilted slightly, and this is what has likely been causing my injury.
After finding this, we went through a lot of A.R.T. motions, where he would really dig into the sore spot while I moved my leg in very specific motions. Some of them really hit the tender spot in my hip good. He even commented a few times "that was a good one!" before I even said anything, so apparently he's doing something right!
I also had him pop a spot in my lower back that had been hurting a little bit. It might have been in my head, but ever since Nic suggested I might have something wrong with my SI joint, it started to hurt. Whether it was in my head or not, getting it popped felt real good!
He also suggested I get out for a run tomorrow, to see how the hip holds up. Maybe I'll get my 27 minutes, just like Amy! I could sure use them!
The exclamation points have come back. Watch out world!
-Doug
This morning I found out my supervisor for the lab I teach was going to be evaluating me today. I was a little nervous, because she's basically a grouchy lady who nit picks about every little detail. I just knew she was going to tear me apart on one thing or another. Well, she didn't find anything. A more perfect evaluation doesn't exist. She gave a few minor pointers, but I like some feedback anyways. Doug 1, world 0!
Next up was my first. graduate. school. test. ever! I studied for it all weekend, and narrowed it down to just a few questions he could ask that I wouldn't know. I must have prayed to all the right deities, because none of those questions showed up! Yeah. I rocked it. First person done, and I'm going to punch myself in the face if I didn't get an A. I'm that confident! Doug 2, world 0!
After class I got an email from the director of graduate studies, that was sent out to all graduate students and faculty. They caught 8 cheaters in graduate level classes and are going to town on them. I suspect 7 of them are in my graphics class, because the prof. is starting to catch on to what has been going on. Maybe because I tipped him off after that one student asked to copy my homework? I like to think so. Doug 3, world 0!
Now the big news: my trip to the chiropractor today! Everything went exactly as I thought it would. We sat down and talked about my injury's history, what I've tried to fix it, and how I eventually ended up in his office. He thought A.R.T. was definitely the right approach for fixing this up, good call Nic!
He had me go through some different motions to check what was working right, and what was wrong. Pretty much everything looked fine, except one thing. He had me sit down with my back and butt flat up against the back of the chair. Sitting this way, my left knee didn't come out as far as my right knee. My pelvis is tilted slightly, and this is what has likely been causing my injury.
After finding this, we went through a lot of A.R.T. motions, where he would really dig into the sore spot while I moved my leg in very specific motions. Some of them really hit the tender spot in my hip good. He even commented a few times "that was a good one!" before I even said anything, so apparently he's doing something right!
I also had him pop a spot in my lower back that had been hurting a little bit. It might have been in my head, but ever since Nic suggested I might have something wrong with my SI joint, it started to hurt. Whether it was in my head or not, getting it popped felt real good!
He also suggested I get out for a run tomorrow, to see how the hip holds up. Maybe I'll get my 27 minutes, just like Amy! I could sure use them!
The exclamation points have come back. Watch out world!
-Doug
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Up In the Air
Right now it seems like so much is up in the air. I'm doing what I can to control the different variables, but theres only so much I can do.
First, my running is up in the air. Right now it seems like everything is relying on what my chiropractor tells me on Monday. Maybe it will be a quick fix and I'll be running again Tuesday morning. Maybe I'll need to take another week off. Maybe a month. Who knows? And yes, if he tells me to, I will take a month off. Its a price I'm willing to pay to get back to enjoying running worry free. I haven't been able to do that for well over a month; even when I am running, I'm constantly worrying about this hip! It can really drain the fun out of it all.
I'm doing what I can to take care of my hip this weekend. Staying off of it, icing, heating, and massaging. I stopped taking Aleve because I think my body needs a break of trying to filter all the medicine out. I started taking an Omega-3 supplement too, which Runner's World swears up and down helps joints, especially for those who don't eat much seafood.
My grades feel like they're up in the air too. I know I shouldn't be too worried about them, but a little bit is healthy. Right now I have A's across the board, no worries, right? Yeah, well, midterms are this week. I know from the outsider's view its simple "study and you'll do fine, stop worrying about it!" In fact, I frequently tell my sister the same thing! I am studying, and I know I probably have absolutely nothing to worry about. I know how to study, and I'm good at taking tests. Here's the catch:
I've been telling people for the past couple months that I'm going to decide whether I'm going the Masters or PhD route when? Yeah, you guessed it. After midterms. Its only the biggest decision I've ever had to make in my life. I keep going back and forth with it. One part of me wants to just get on with my life: get a job, start making real money, stop being a poor college student. However, I do enjoy school; most of the time. I'm pretty sure I'm at the top of two of my three classes, both of which are related to my research area. Yesterday morning I was leaning towards the Masters route, but last night and today I'm leaning the other way. Ugh!
Sorry for going way off topic, but getting all of it out there helps get my thoughts in an organized manner; I'll take input too. I know a few of my readers either have or are going for their PhD; did you go through this same struggle when making the decision?
First, my running is up in the air. Right now it seems like everything is relying on what my chiropractor tells me on Monday. Maybe it will be a quick fix and I'll be running again Tuesday morning. Maybe I'll need to take another week off. Maybe a month. Who knows? And yes, if he tells me to, I will take a month off. Its a price I'm willing to pay to get back to enjoying running worry free. I haven't been able to do that for well over a month; even when I am running, I'm constantly worrying about this hip! It can really drain the fun out of it all.
I'm doing what I can to take care of my hip this weekend. Staying off of it, icing, heating, and massaging. I stopped taking Aleve because I think my body needs a break of trying to filter all the medicine out. I started taking an Omega-3 supplement too, which Runner's World swears up and down helps joints, especially for those who don't eat much seafood.
My grades feel like they're up in the air too. I know I shouldn't be too worried about them, but a little bit is healthy. Right now I have A's across the board, no worries, right? Yeah, well, midterms are this week. I know from the outsider's view its simple "study and you'll do fine, stop worrying about it!" In fact, I frequently tell my sister the same thing! I am studying, and I know I probably have absolutely nothing to worry about. I know how to study, and I'm good at taking tests. Here's the catch:
I've been telling people for the past couple months that I'm going to decide whether I'm going the Masters or PhD route when? Yeah, you guessed it. After midterms. Its only the biggest decision I've ever had to make in my life. I keep going back and forth with it. One part of me wants to just get on with my life: get a job, start making real money, stop being a poor college student. However, I do enjoy school; most of the time. I'm pretty sure I'm at the top of two of my three classes, both of which are related to my research area. Yesterday morning I was leaning towards the Masters route, but last night and today I'm leaning the other way. Ugh!
Sorry for going way off topic, but getting all of it out there helps get my thoughts in an organized manner; I'll take input too. I know a few of my readers either have or are going for their PhD; did you go through this same struggle when making the decision?
Friday, October 12, 2007
Getting Fixed Up!
I finally caved in and decided to get some professional help with this busted hip of mine. Sure, its not horribly painful, but it just won't go away. Nagging problems are the worst, I wish it would just hurt like hell for a couple days then get outta here! Thanks to Nic, who suggested a good chiropractor in my area. It turns out its a guy I run with, small world eh? (I think the Canadians I met in Chicago rubbed off on me eh?)
My appointment is for 4 o'clock on Monday, and I decided I'm not going to run until after the appointment. My only worry with doing this is that the spot is going to go away again and I won't be able to tell him precisely where its hurting, without going out and doing some damage to it!
The ol' legs are feeling pretty much back to normal today. A little tightness in my calves, but its practically gone. I jumped on the exercise bike today since I'm not running; gotta do something to stay sane! Just 40 minutes, I went 14 miles. No big thing.
Time to stop killing time and get to work on all the stuff I have to do, my lazy day yesterday definitely destroyed my weekend!
-Doug
My appointment is for 4 o'clock on Monday, and I decided I'm not going to run until after the appointment. My only worry with doing this is that the spot is going to go away again and I won't be able to tell him precisely where its hurting, without going out and doing some damage to it!
The ol' legs are feeling pretty much back to normal today. A little tightness in my calves, but its practically gone. I jumped on the exercise bike today since I'm not running; gotta do something to stay sane! Just 40 minutes, I went 14 miles. No big thing.
Time to stop killing time and get to work on all the stuff I have to do, my lazy day yesterday definitely destroyed my weekend!
-Doug
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