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Michele's Rehab Resolutions 2009

Submitted by Michele Sherstan on 31 December, 2008 - 20:44

A string of injuries (priformis, hamstring, SI joint, IT pain, hip socket pain/restriction , a mild groin pull . . . ) and a diagnosis of breast cancer have kept me from really attacking my running goals this past year. Seems I can beat cancer, but not the various leg maladies I’m still sporting. Could it be the fact that I continued to run, walk, ski throughout all my injuries and treatments? Hmm. Or that I was not always religious or exacting in the performance of my constantly evolving repertoire of physiotherapy exercises?? (“They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said ‘no, no, no . . .”).

So, this year is all about sucking up the fact that I may not run for quite awhile and committing myself totally to doing whatever I can do to get my running legs back, with as little whining as possible, including

• rehab exercises every day

• pilates 2 x week

• cardio at the gym 5 x week

• weight training 2-3 x week at gym (once I get permish . . .)

• walk/snowshoe outside ½ hour or more a day (as my sports doc allows . . .)

• volunteer at KK and at least one other event

If things go well and I am back running before the end of 2009, I hope to run

• Capilano Canyon Midsummer Run

• Sunshine in September

• Go Deep

• Pure Satisfaction

My blue sky list would include a fall marathon and the 2010 FA50, but honestly (and realistically), being able to run through the trees again before the year is out is my ultimate goal.

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Comments

Ryan Conroy's picture

Physio

Submitted by Ryan Conroy on 7 January, 2009 - 17:57.
Hey Michelle: I suppose you are already seeing a physio but I had pretty much exactly the same list of problems and Sophia at Active Life Physio (one of our club sponsors) fixed me up. The ironic thing was she fixed pain that had lingered for years in about 10 minutes by yanking one leg and twisting the other. Anyway if you have not been overcoming your injuries I would highly recommend her. As soon as she fixed the alignment of my hip joints all of my problems went away (including a serious case of SI joint dysfunction that made it difficult to climb out of a car let alone run) within minutes literally. Ryan

Hey Ryan, thanks for the

Submitted by Michele Sherstan on 9 January, 2009 - 16:21.
Hey Ryan, thanks for the tip! Sibylle had good things to say about Sophia too. That S/I joint is a killer, isn't it? Yes, my pt and club member, Alison McKay, did the ol leg yank on me, and a few other things, and really fixed my hip alignment. Both she and my sports doc have told me I'm likely still having problems because other muscles have been compensating for my fundamentally weak core muscles. I stubbornly ignored all pt and trainers over the years who told me I needed to focus on the core and I am paying for it big time now ("You want me to do what with the exercise ball . . . ? "). You seem like you are pretty committed to all round training so that probably helped you come back once your alignment got fixed. Any good core training tips to share?
Ryan Conroy's picture

Core training

Submitted by Ryan Conroy on 9 January, 2009 - 17:19.
The main thing Sophia had me do was called a TA (transverse abdominal) contraction. It basically means you keep the abdominal muscle that runs between the knobby bones in the front of your hip lightly contracted. First lying down, then sitting, then standing, then walking, then running. It keeps everything stable (not to mention gives you a very slim waist when the muscles down there get stronger). Other than that the exercises I do for that are pushups (I do hindu pushups and one arm pushups), chin ups, pull ups, and targeting the core muscles more specifically bridging and wall walking. Also burpees which are a more dynamic exercise. Make sure you do not do crunches of any kind except maybe on the excercise ball (allows for a greater range of motion) as that will shorten your abdominals and cause you to run more hunched over which will not help things, especially SI problems. I put my whole exercise routine on my blog (it is near the bottom) so my sister could use some of it for the bootcamp classes she teaches, http://ryanconroyrunning.blogspot.com it describes those exercises in some detail. Actually my alignment is not completely fixed yet. Sophia was never able to find a way to loosen up my right hip flexor which was so tight it pulled my right hip up which allowed that leg to grow way stronger. I stretched a bit one day after it being tight for years it just suddenly loosened up. Now my weak leg is taking a beating but once I get that resolved and my legs are of equal strength I'll be ready to roll!

Thanks for the link. Those

Submitted by Michele Sherstan on 13 January, 2009 - 18:06.
Thanks for the link. Those are some challenging exercises! There may be a couple I can do now . . . ;-) The TA contractions are something I've been doing standing and sitting, but I'll try adding them to my cardio workouts too. Good luck with your leg "equalization"!

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