Where did I go?

WOW!!! Has it really been three weeks since I have blogged? In fact, I think it has been at least 2 weeks since I have pulled up my own blog. Sad. I used to blog 2-3 times a week but things have changed. This injury has sapped the motivation from me. I have nearly lost all mental focus. Training is abysmal. I can find nearly any excuse in the world to quit training.

Injury Update

Where to begin? The road to recover has been a long and treacherous one. I hit rock bottom with anxiety and frustration. The pain became so severe that I was reduced to just swimming...and the fun in that was taken away from me to. There are good days and bad with the injury. I have spent an enormous amount of time and money trying to fix the issue. I went through physical therapy, I received a cortisone shot, my chiropractor sees me more than the women I date and my massage therapist loves me even more.

Recover by the numbers:
Doctors Appts: 2
Physical Therapy Appts: 7
Sports Medicine Appts: 2
Chiropractor Appts: 5
Massage Appts: 3


That is 19 trips to the 'doctor' in the past 50 days. So where have I been? At the doctor trying to get better. And occasionally whoring myself out to pay for all these medical bills. And I still don't have anything to show for it.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I ended my physical therapy session. I wasn't seeing any positive results in the three week period. That afternoon I called my chiropractor, who is a well respected professional in the area. We talked about alternative methods. So I went to get a cortisone shot. Ouch. That hurt. Thanks for injecting my knee with fluid. Now I get to walk around with my knee feeling swollen. Oh boy!

So I went running. 3.8 miles in about 33 minutes. The first 15 were good. There was very little pain or irritation...but the glory was short lived. It hurt. So maybe the cortisone wasn't the best option.

Then I called the chiropractor. I want to try an alternative medicine route that a few friends of my recommend, the Graston Technique. In short, he takes a specialized tool and runs it over my skin, muscle, tissue in the same way you would scrape a sticker off glass. The idea is that with enough pressure it breaks up the adhesions in the leg; thus, relaxing the tissue and forcing the leg to go into recovery

It is really a weird feeling. The tool looks like a spackling putty knife. When tissue is in disrepair if feels like driving down a gravel road with all the bumps in the way. Good tissue/muscle is nice a smooth. His first pass was an old dirt road. It was nasty. And it hurt. The result? A badly bruised leg. Oh boy!



Next onto my massage therapist. She is to start molding the muscle and tissue to stimulate additionally recovery. The problem is that she is digging her thumbs into an area that is alrealy bruised. I look at my leg and can literally see her thumbprints along the IT band of my leg. Oh boy!

So that is where I have been. Hopefully on the road to recovery. I did manage to run 5.5 miles on Sunday. That is the longest run in nearly two months. And only half of what I need to put together in less than a week.....

Oh boy!