Injury recovery has gone reasonably well this week. I got an MRI on Monday.
The MRI shows two key things. I have disk degeneration (dark color) and also a small bulge in the disk pinching the nerve stem. The pinching is only on the right side which reflects the pain I feel on only the right side of my body.
The pain has been reduced to minor hip and hamstring pain. Its really not bad at all. I was worried once I finished my cycle of meds the horrible pain I had would return and limit my mobility, but the meds knocked down the inflammation and things feel pretty good. I do still feel tingling in my foot.
Starting on Nov1 (Thurs) I began walking every morning and doing some PT (stuff I got from the internet). I went walking 3 miles Thurs/Friday, and 4.5 this morning (Sat). So far, that has felt great and had no adverse affect on my pain levels throughout the day. I tried jogging a few steps here and there just to see. It feels weird, like my leg is not working right. It also hurts my hip so I immediately stop.
Plan of attack -
Keep walking daily. Do core strengthening (carefully). Continue without pain meds. (Currently not taking any). Ice back to reduce inflammation. Chiropractor? Massage? PT?
Mon-Friday I walked 3 miles a day. I was feeling better the more I moved. Sitting around makes me hurt much worse than any amount of walking. Movement is the key. I was even able to jog for a few mins each morning during my walks without any pain. I made some good improvements this week. The foot numbness is almost gone and I am only sore when I get out of bed and after sitting for more than an hour.
Saturday (today) I walked my 3 miles then took my 7 year old son to the planet walk for his first ever 5k "race". He was planning on running a turkey trot for thanksgiving and has been "training" for it by running laps around the couch. Unfortunately, he's getting his tonsils out on Wednesday so can't do a 5K on Thursday. I decided I would take him on 1.5 laps of the Planet Walk and it would be a "race". He kept telling me how awesome he felt. I was thinking he should go faster if he feels so awesome. He did well at pacing himself and taking walking breaks as needed. We ran 3.15 miles in 44:41. New PR. It was fun and I was proud of my boy.
It was also a PR for me. It was the most I have run since the Bear. Everything felt fine. At least at a slow jog. Progress is slow but steady.
Run 1.5 miles / Walk 1.5 miles. That seems to be about all the body can handle running-wise for now. Happy to be able to do that much, but not satisfied.
Mandatory day off - Every Thanksgiving for the last 2 years I have gotten injured. Since I am technically injured that makes 3 years in a row. Didn't want to make it worse...
Needed to feel some dirt and rocks underfoot so I went for a hike/run. I headed up Saddleback Mountain (7475') (the one with the reflector towers) via Green. I am out of shape. My lungs and legs were burning. 45 mins and just under 3 miles to the tower. From there I wanted to check out the trail over to the Beirdneau/Wind Caves Connector trail. Turns out that the trail is not much of a trail. Either that, or I missed lots of turns and wandered off it for most of it. Good thing I was planning on a hike and not a run since the ridge was pretty rocky and would've been nearly impossible to run most of it. I finally made it to the Beirdneau trail and was ready for a jog. I decided it would be smarter to go down Green than the way I came. Less steep = nicer on the back. I couldn't contain myself completely and jogged down the 2 mile trail. It was glorious. I took a mile long break and walked once I was down to the road out of Green and then ran the final mile of singletrack back to the car. Felt great. Tired, but not sore.
T-2:47 (8.5 miles) 3 miles running - 5.5 hiking 3500' vert
8.5 awesome trail miles today. I would guess 4 miles actually running with the rest hiking. I went up Providence Trail to check out the new road and trail. The whole second half of the trail is new now as the new road was routed where the trail was. Its kind of a bummer as the road is a huge scar on the hillside now. Makes the trail seem not so secluded. At least its open now though. It was sure nice to get back to my old favorite route. I went up to the quarry and wandered around the south end looking for a route up the mountain from there. I got into a few crazy rock slides and nearly went down myself, but I survived but without finding a route south to Big Baldy. My legs today were crazy sore from yesterday's hike/run. Quads and butt were post marathon sore and now I am hobbling around the house like a gimp. All worth it though to be outside and enjoy the mountains. So far my back seems to be handling the hike/run thing just fine. Its the atrophied muscles that need to be whipped back into shape. No rush though, just enjoying the long weekend.
Visited the doctor (specialist) about the injury and we scheduled an injection for next week and decided to start some physical therapy. I have been making progress without all that, but I need to find out a long term solution so I don't re-injure things in the future. Still working on that project.
AM: 4 miles around the Golf Course. Hip felt much better but still had mild pain in calf and quad.
Day 2 of Physical Therapy. Lots of Ultrasound, core work, rack stretching, form correcting exercises, electronic stimulation (like a tens unit) etc. I think it is helping and I have only been twice.
