Update on my leg/knee

I am slacking again! I am picking back up though as things have been going crazy.  I am preparing for a trip to Hawaii next week and all the logistics going into that are making me a crazy lady!  Anyway, I just realized I never did an update as to what was going on with my knee!

Last I posted, I saw the Sports Med doctor and he told me it was IT band but it, in itself, was not tight.  It would get tight in situations where my weak hips would tire, shift, and cause it to tighten due to lengthening.  He set me up to meet with a physical therapist and have a couple sessions for at home instruction and a biomedical assessment to check it was the only issue.  I found out a LOT during that biomedical assessment.

I went in and he twisted me in all sorts of directions, had me walk up and down a hall regularly, toes out, toes in, windmill and drop back step type exercises, etc.  A whole gamut of strange things and he told me a lot about why my leg is hurting.

I had a suspicion that it was NOT my IT band because the spot it was hurting was about 2 inches below my knee and not on the side of or above my knee.  It was hurting in a spot that your IT band doesn't even touch.

 

 

 

(Source)

I was hurting more in the area of where the 8 is on that diagram.  Since it has been awhile, I will post the things I can remember him telling me are affecting my running.

1) My peroneus muscle along the outside of my left leg is incredibly tight.  To the point that it will randomly ache and feels ropey when it was manipulated.  Problem is, this is not really a muscle that can be stretched.

2) I tend to walk toed out a bit and am slightly bowlegged.  This causes me to land strange and alignment to be off when I am running.

3) My hips are indeed weak

4) my left hamstring and calf muscle are tighter than he would like them to be

5) I do not use my big toe like I should.  I tend to land on the ball of my foot up and hold my toes up like I have a hammer toe though I do not.  This causes my outside toes to go numb as well as  messing with the all important alignment while running.

6) My femur and tibia-fibular head do not rotate the way that they should.  The t-F head is where my pain was coming from.

I ended up going to PT twice a week for 4 weeks to deal with these issues.  He gave me shoe inserts to work on supporting my low arches as well as helping me to use my toes more efficiently.  I have not had the courage to run in these yet... I wear them during the day but the fact that my arch is not used to being held up yet causes some discomfort there sometimes.

I have a HUGE (or what seems huge) list of exercises that I am to do daily until I hit 10ish miles again and then I can split the list and do them 2-3 days a week after to keep things going.

He did a lot of massage and manipulation on that peroneus muscle to attempt to loosen it.  He told me that is likely going to be an issue for me forever and suggested a percussion massager to use after runs.

I am supposed to direct ice my T-F head after each and every run to the point of numbness to fight swelling and irritation in that area.

I do have to say that I am doing these exercises (not every day- BAD, Cassie) and I am now running pain free again! Last time I ran I went for 6 miles and had some pain, 7 miles and was almost unable to finish, and 8 miles that turned into 3 when I could NOT push through the pain.  I am back up to 5 miles pain free and though I am nervous it will come back this weekend, I have a 6 miler scheduled.  Hoping all goes well!

So, there it is! My stupid leg hates my running but it has to get with the program =)

Happy Running!

My Big Plans!

I mentioned I would try to get back tonight to talk about my plans and figured this is the perfect opportunity.  The Husband went to bed early because he's going to run into work for a few hours tomorrow, Rex has been in bed for quite awhile now, and Curly went to spend the weekend with Nana (my mom).

I am a bit nervous to even say...er, type...this because it is not something that I thought would even cross my mind for a couple more years.  I have decided to run a MARATHON in May.  Yes, all capitals because when I think about it, that's how I imagine it in my head.  I am scared out of my mind, ya'll, but I really, really want to do it.

The whole thought came out of nowhere.  The race schedule that I had in mind is looking like it is going to need to change and we have decided to move a couple races and go back to the Flying Pig this year.  We were between it and the Indy Mini but we had so much fun at the Flying Pig and the kids are wanting to race again.  Unfortunately we don't have any options for kids races nearby and the Indy Mini doesn't offer one.

So, after making the decision to go back to the Pig, I wanted to do something different.  I originally thought that I would do the 3 way which is running the 5k and 10k on Saturday and then running the half marathon on Sunday.  That has been my plan for while but the other day when we were getting ready to run the marathon just popped into my head and I said "I want to do that!"  Now, I am fairly certain that is what is going to happen.  There are a couple things that may change this decision.

1. My weight- I know, I know that shouldn't change my decision to do something I really want but recently I have gone low carb.  I am talking induction level low carb so only 20-25 carbs a day.  This is just enough to fuel my short runs right now but I really wanted to be at or very close to goal weight before I move into a more Paleo-ish style of eating and adding back in fruits and sweet potatoes.  I have 23-28lbs before I get to what I consider my goal and I would like to be within 10lbs of there by the time my mileage ups to the higher miles.  I am fairly certain I can do it but you just never know when you will hit a plateau.

and

2. My leg- The day following my half at the Flying Pig in May I had what I thought was an extremely sore hamstring on my left leg.  Only problem is that it still aches now when I run or do a lot of walking like we did at the theme park Wednesday.  I have an appointment with a chiropractor and I am going to see if that helps.  If not, I am off to my general doctor to get a referral to a sports medicine doctor.

I have decided to do Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme program just because I run much better when I have a program to follow so starting 30 weeks out is not necessarily what I HAVE to do but what I WANT to do. I am sure I could start 18 weeks out on the normal training program and be ok but having a set plan keeps me focused and on track.  Therefore, training for the May 4th race will begin October 6!

Thanks for listening to my rambling!

Happy Running!

KT Tape Review and Giveaway!

If you are anything like me then you have had some running related injuries.  Bad knees run in my family (I think my mom has had something like 7 surgeries on the one knee) so almost as soon as I started running my left knee started acting up... then my right.  I am noticing some relief as I continue to lose weight so hopefully this isn't a forever thing!

Then my left foot was acting crazy and I self-diagnosed as Plantar Fasciitis.  If you have read my past posts of whining about this it was driving me NUTS! It was way worse than the mild knee pain I was getting so I started searching what I needed to do to make the pain stop.  Enter KT Tape.

Common sight in my house.. Pretty Pink KT Tape

Everywhere I looked, I heard about KT tape.  I was pretty skeptical about how this tape could be of any help.  I held onto that skepticism clear up until I applied it.  As you are putting it on, it doesn't really seem to be doing anything at all. But let me tell you that as soon as I started walking around, and running, with the PF application on my foot I could tell a huge difference.  I didn't have the sharp pain in my arch that I had been dealing with and it felt very supported and I didn't even notice the tape was there! It was my wonder solution!  Now, if I start feeling any discomfort at all in my foot I am pulling out the tape!

The great thing about KT Tape is they have multiple videos showing you all different applications for many injuries and those videos show you how to tape yourself.  Also, they have forums where you can post your area of pain or issue and the wonderful people on there will recommend an app for you complete with picture showing how to apply it.

The crafter in me really loves the little container it comes in!

The tape is very sticky and I have had applications stay on easily for 3-4 days (this can be up to a week in areas other than the foot).  It stays on pretty well in water and you can swim in it! Important for summer but I am sure those tan lines would get interesting! =)

Another thing that I love about this tape is that it is precut into strips that easily tear off the roll.  No need for scissors (unless you use one of the apps that has you cut a strip in half.)

This is one of those things that are going on my "runner's essentials" list!

So, you are excited to try KT tape out as well aren't you? 2 lucky winners will get the chance to! Just enter in the rafflecopter below.  The drawing will run from now through May 9th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Open to US residents only. I was not compensated by KT Tape in any way and all opinions expressed are my own.