Monday, April 28, 2008

Hazard Lights

First, there was the tendinitis in my left wrist.

Then came the plantar fasciitis in my left foot, and hints of it in my right. The right foot was cured by the orthotics PT Chris gave me, and the left foot was significantly mitigated. But I still limped pretty badly a few hours after a run, even if it was completely pain free from start to finish (no gutting it out over here!).

Then last Monday night, while sitting on the couch shortly before bed I noticed my right knee felt stiff. I tried to stand up and it was immediately obvious my chondromalacia was acting up. Thankfully it wasn't painful like in the past, but it was very stiff and swollen and I could barely move it, let alone walk or climb the stairs to bed.

The next morning I had PT for my wrist, which Baby Bear usually tags along for. I could hardly move and carrying his seat was beyond me at that point, so my awesome BF called into work for the morning to watch him so I could hobble in for treatment. PT Chris taped up my knee while my wrist got zapped, which made a huuuuuge difference and allowed me to function while it healed up.

Then she said my wrist clearly isn't improving and put a cortisone patch thingy on it and taught me to tape the joint to help stabilize it when I can't wear the brace (when I'm taking care of Baby Bear).

I was just going to make this a 'pictures tell the story' post because I do have pix of my various braces, orthotics, tapings and ouchies but I'd have to go down the steps to get the pictures off the camera and I just don't have it in me.

I'm pretty much limping along in the multi-sport breakdown lane. The hazard lights are on and at this point I'm really just hoping to scrape by my race in June.

Needless to say I took the whole last week off. By last night I was starting to feel more like myself, so I seriously modified my scheduled 3 mile outdoor LSD and did a 'let's see how it feels for how long' treadmill run.

Wasn't too bad (14:00 pace at 1% incline), but had to cut it off at 2.5 miles because my knee started to have an opinion on the proceedings. A little bedtime ice and ibuprofen did the trick, but I'm clearly walking on eggshells these days.

My current plan is to mosey through my June triathlon however I can, conserve my body as much as possible and focus all my good days on really training for the half marathon. It's becoming very clear I won't be able to ask much more of my body this season.

7 comments:

Steve Stenzel said...

Wow...sounds a little beat-up all around. Good luck with the training! Be smart!! Don't overdo it!

LBTEPA said...

Well you've only recently had a miraculous effort out of your body! Some people steam back from childbirth, some (like me) amble. Plenty of time to recover and then come back stronger than ever.
Get stuck into those painkillers!

Melissa said...

Hang in there. Take your time healing. I'll be praying for a full recovery and the patience to go with it.

Take care my friend.

Unknown said...

Rest. Sometimes it's necessary, but demoralizing.

Take care!

Unknown said...

The current plan sounds smart. Easing back in seems to be the way to go for most folks.

Brent Buckner said...

Good to do what you're ready for!

Sixteen Chickens said...

Take it easy, remember life is not a race... and if it is I don't want to get to the finish line first!

Tell baby bear he needs to learn to feed himself soon. ;)