Weekly Rundown- Ups and Downs
Boy, whoever said “progress isn’t linear” wasn’t kidding. This week has been a roller coaster. Now that the swelling has subsided, I no longer have a gigantic clubfoot and can finally identify the lingering issues. We’ll get into that! But first, thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s just see how this week went. (Warning! This post contains some phenomenally bad gym selfies. I think we’ll all be relieved when I can get back to my usual running photos.) Sunday Gym! I “graduated” from the bike to the elliptical, but it turns out I didn’t like it. Maybe it was that the position I had to put my foot felt weird, but I just wasn’t comfortable. 30 minutes of this… and then I did the leg press machine, abs and low back. Monday Back on the bike for 20 minutes, followed by some upper body strength- reverse fly, bench press, abs and low back. Tuesday This was a rough, rough day. It started at the gym with 50 minutes on the bike, followed by abs. Then I went to work. For whatever reason, my foot and ankle felt awful. They were aching and throbbing all day long. I wanted to take some Advil, but I hadn’t brought any with me and the thought of taking extra steps to seek some out filled me with despair. I just ground along miserably to the end. This was a day that had me questioning all my life choices and wanting to get in bed at 4 pm. Wednesday New day, new foot! I decided to try some strength at home to see where I was at. I could do squats (just not with heavy weights- but still!) Runners Touch was impossible on my left side, but I did it on the right side and just practiced balancing on the left foot. I attempted split squats- that was a no-go- but I did some heel raises and tibialis raises, and those felt good. I also did crunches on a stability ball. This was a day off of work, and my foot felt much better. Thursday Back at it. 50 minutes on the bike, followed by abs. At work, I felt like a completely different person. If my foot on Tuesday was 100% worse than Monday, then today was 500% better than Tuesday. Go figure! It was a much more hopeful day. Friday Upper body strength- bench press, overhead dumbbell press, reverse flys, and lat pulldowns. Followed by abs and low back. I don’t think I’ve ever done so much ab work in my entire life. I should have a six-pack! Actually, I probably do have one, it’s just covered up by a little “padding.” Oh, and get ready for the worst selfie ever. I was trying to show how I’m working my low back, and… yeah. Saturday Off! This has become my weekly day off, since the gym doesn’t open until 8 and I have to be at work at 8:45. Sunday On tap- a fun and exciting trip to… the gym. Sigh. So, what exactly is going on with that foot? The peroneal tendon (that’s the one that runs underneath the outside of the ankle bone) is supremely irritated. And, my achilles tendon seems to have been replaced by a block of wood. I don’t recall that area being involved in the original injury, but it’s so stiff and tight. Actually I think it’s my soleus- that’s the muscle in the calf that you’re stretching when you lean forward and bend your knee (if you lean forward with your hands against the wall and keep your back leg straight, you’re stretching your gastrocs- if you bend your knee, you’re stretching your soleus.) If I lean against the wall in that typical calf stretch position, I almost can’t bend my knee at all on the left side. I’ve been watching Bob and Brad (the two most famous physical therapists on the internet.) If you’ve never seen them, check them out- all their videos are free on YouTube and they’re really helpful. They said the peroneal tendon can definitely be involved if you have tight calf muscles, due to the way you’re compensating for that lack of mobility. So loosening up that soleus muscle is my #1 priority right now. In addition to the fact that I’d obviously rather be running, I also have a self-imposed deadline for recovery. As soon as I DNF’d my race, I started thinking about another 50 mile race in Florida at the end of April. I want to run it so badly! But, I need to a) recover and b) put in some training before then. I can’t take eight weeks off and then show up for a 50 mile race. So… I feel the clock ticking down. There’s still hope, but I need to heal up ASAP. Fingers crossed! Do you have any exciting races coming up? Have you ever watched Bob and Brad?- Check them out next time you have any injuries or issues- it’s the next best thing to actually going to PT in person. Header photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash