The Road to Recovery...Pt 8 (Getting it on tape)

Saw my PT today. After explaining to her about the issues encountered from yesterday's run, she has taped my knees, the tape is designed to pull my kneecap round towards the inside and away from the femur where it tends to rub, there is probably a psychosomatic response to it as well. She watched me running on the treadmill; my gait is, well, my gait, I have a tendency to “spoon” my right foot which collapses my right knee to the inside, to address this I have to concentrate on keeping my feet parallel, as if I am on cross-country skis.

The response to the tape has been positive; I had an interval session on Walter and my trainer without any issue and managed a five miler without incident with the exception of some niggling on the sole of my foot, but nothing that was not manageable. I only have a few more days till I have finished bedding in my orthotics and then I will be able to wear them for running, which should address the sole issue.

It’s a long road but the destination will be worth it.

The Road to Recovery...Pt 7 (One step forward, two steps back)

Went out this morning trying to get my PT prescribed 8 miles in, but I was running short of time. So I decided to, instead of walking down the hill as I have been doing, drive down and start running from the flat. I had already stretched at home before I left so I jumped in the car and drove down the hill, parked, locked up and set off.

From experience the first couple of miles are always a “pipe opener” and this morning felt no different, overnight cobwebs were being blown away and I was enjoying listening to the latest downloads from Endurance Planet on my iPod. Mile three rolled by and my right knee started to feel, well, just not right, three quarters of a mile later the feeling had grown worse and I was sensing the occasional twinge, none of this was on the outside where in the past my pain had stemmed from the IT band rubbing, by mile 4.5 I was starting to get a constant low level pain from the inside of my knee cap, by mile five I was done, time to walk. The pain was not intense but was constant and I was now feeling so sort of pressure point on the inside of my right heel. Got back to the car, drove home, stretched, and wrapped an ice bandage around it for 20 minutes, that numbed the soreness and it gently wore off during the next hour. It still fells tender to the touch but it is independently pain or discomfort free.

I am back to the PT tomorrow, so let’s see what she has to say, call me suspicious but am thinking somehow it will involve less running than more…I am starting to become official bored with being injured now.

The Road to Recovery...Pt 6 (The Sensor is dead, long live the Sensor!)

It is with sad and heavy heart that I have to write and report the passing of my Nike+ sensor. After performing a steadfast duty in both the US and UK, in rain and shine, on trail, treadmill or tarmac it has finally passed into that great recycling facility in the sky (well, the trashcan/bin in the corner of the kitchen). We accumulated over 1100 miles together, which I understand is above average (reports are they last as low as 500 and as high as 1500, so we’re pretty much in the middle). The good news is that Apple now sells a replacement sensor for $19 (plus shipping and tax etc) but it’s still $5.00 cheaper than buying a whole new kit. I got the early warning "battery low" message on Sunday, ordered my replacement Monday, the sensor died yesterday; my Birthday; is there a message there? The new one arrived 10 minutes ago.

So I only actually missed out on the data for one run; Sunday’s, which was an eight miler, bookended with a 0.6 mile down and up the hill from my house to the flat. Of course the “rechargeable” Garmin 305 was there to pick up the Nike slack. Here's the Garmin graph, it was almost a there and back with a little loop to make the correct distance. I am not sure why there are the pace spikes along the way, I certainly was not sprinting. My body is starting to remember what this running thing is all about but it will take some time to get back to where I was pre-injury.

The good news is that I completed it pain free, the bad news is that my pace sucked; an average 8:50, still I have to remind myself that it’s all about just running for now and has nothing to do with running fast.