Physical Therapy: Want a side of fries with that?...

It's now 2 weeks later and I've just finished my second session of PT ... I had to postpone the start due to the fact that I "threw out" my lower back last Sunday picking up Noa from her crib. (ouch) ... After 5 days of back spasms and crazy pain, the shot of Voltaren right in my ass/lower back, Ibuprofen pills, and "Happy Pills" (muscle relaxants) things felt just about right .... so off to PT I went. 

Yesterday they started me off with the new routine ... that will last 10 sessions ... they will vary, yet it appears that we will always begin the same way ... when I show up, they lay me on a cot (face down) and give me 3-5 mins of ultrasound right on the spot (apparently they've decided it's the PIRIFORMIS they need to focus on) ... the ultrasound is supposed to reduce inflammation. Good.

Then from there they take me into the next booth where they aim a crazy boom-arm apparatus thing at the same zone (yes, my ass) and say, "This is microwaves ... you'll feel heat, but it won't burn ... relax..."  (I'm uneasy by the "microwave" thing and wonder if I should order a side of fries with my rump roast)... they leave me baking for 8 more minutes ...  not bad ...

From there we move into the stretching/exercise zone ... they walk me through 3 different stretches and leave me on my own to do 15 reps per leg for 10 sec holds of each stretch ... (kind of trying to make up for all those days, weeks or years I neglected stretching ....whoops. )

Then the PT takes me to the massage cot where she starts to twist turn pull dig press and whaterver else to see where the problem is and how to untie the knots ... as she interviews me to collect more info I confess my poor discipline for stretching ... and she replies, "you don't have to tell me, I can feel it ... and you're damn lucky you haven't done more serious damage sooner ... get on the ball with this one, it's not too late..."

She aligns my "sacrum" and tells me to run through the stretching again at night and to return the next day for more .....   that was easy and far less painless than I was hoping ... I feel like I need someone to really dig the knots out with their elbow ...  more tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Next Step: Recovery ...

Good news! The ST (Sports Traumatologist) read the test results of my MRI and X-rays and told me that although there is mild compression on my semi-dehydrated disk between L4 and L5 that there is clearly no pinched nerve ... whew! ...
The x-rays show no problems either (except for the fact that he pointed out that my "femur heads" which are normally spherical are more oblong or oval shaped ... which may lead to problems some time down the road  - I guess he added that just so I had something to look forward to when I get old ...)
So, he prescribed 10 sessions of "functional rehabilitation" (I've translated that directly from his presciption ...) i.e. PT (physical therapy) ... massage, etc.

I've got my first visit lined up for Friday on my lunch break ... I'll let you know how it goes ...

I gotta run (soon)-
Ryan

...A little bit of "down time" ...

I'm really struggling with this hip/ass issue ...
It's still buggin' me and not going away, as much as I try ...
Stretching, running, resting, etc ... all help, I'm sure, but they don't resolve the problem.

I went to a Sports Traumatologist yesterday.
He prescribed and X-ray and MRI ... got that done.
I just picked up the results:
What does the report say? Can't stand the suspense? ....


My rough translation would be as follows:
________________________________________________
COMMENTS:

"There is no observation of loss of vertebral alignment. The L4-L5 the disk shows signs of partial dehydration as well as a partial overall (global) distention with the rear half portion compressing the "hard casing" with no evidence of true significant compression nor any root consequences ..."

"Signs of overload on the "interapofisarias" L1 to S1 with no "foraminal" reprocussions. (Big words there, huh?)

DIAGNOSIS:
Grade I Degenerative "discopathy" L4-L5 with no evidence of saco-radicular impact/influence. ________________________________________________

Now, I'm no doc, but I think this sounds good ...

I think I'll be able to convince my ST that some good PT time will do me good to get everything more flexible and relieve some of the pressure that's reducing my range of movement and really draggin' me down ...

I go back to him on Tuesday to see how we have to tackle this ...
 I'm getting antsy ... and really REALLY want to run "normal" again ...

I'll keep y'all updated.

R.

Starting on the right foot ...

(Bruc and I on his first run on the country road oustide Enguera, Spain)

Over Easter weekend I had a "milestone moment" that I think is worth sharing... and whether or not you agree, I'm still going to post it ('cause this is my blog, and I'm the boss here).  There are always points in time throughout any trajectory that are more or less worthy of recognition.  My son is not yet 6 and, in fact, still doesn't fully comprehend what Daddy's running is really all about (If he figures it out, I hope he lets me know ...I'm stumped too!)  However, he's starting to accept the fact that ... well ... Daddy runs.  Why, where to, and all the other variables keep him scratching his head, but at least he's coming to terms with the "What" ... and yes: Daddy runs.

I normally run on weekdays during my lunch break (here in Spain they sometimes call it "siesta" ... most get 2-hour midday breaks and that works great for shorter runs ... the drawback? ... later evenings at the office) and if the midday thing doesn't work I "sneak" out of the house after the kids are in bed and sleeping ... (back to the drawbacks of the 2hr siesta: I work until 8, the kids get to bed around 9, I get dressed and out of the house before 10 if I'm lucky ... and depending on the mileage/kilometrage you can do the math ... some late LATE nights in the peak of the training season - but we'll save that for another post...)  When the weekends roll around, I try to coordinate my plans with family events so as not to interfere with the flow of things ... at times we head down to the beach and I disappear for a run ... or we head to the mountain trails above Barcelona and while the picnic is getting ready I run ... or I get out of, and back into the house [far too] early ...

So, where is all of this leading? ... When my son does "catch" me and see's me running it sparks his curiosity ... which is often accompanied by protest (It could be worse, he could tell me to get lost).  I'm overjoyed that he always wants me to stick around, yet torn by the fact that I need to get in my training ... and it's hard to make him understand it'll only be an hour or two ...  That's where this "milestone moment" occurred (I know, cut to the chase, right?) ... I got geared up and was about to head out for a long run when I got snagged with my hand in the proverbial cookie jar.  Dressed, laced up, heartrate monitor strap and GPS locked onto the satellites I walked out the front gate right as he stepped out the back door of the house where we were spending our weekend holiday ... BUSTED! ... I thought it was going to be more of the same: "Daddy, don't run ... c'mon! ... let's play catch, let's kick the ball, let's do something..." but he just said "wait one second, I gotta get something ...." he ran back into the house and a few moments later reappeared in shorts, t-shirt and his "gym" sneakers ... "I can come with you, right? ... Please??!!" ... he didn't have to beg, I could see by how his face lit up with the joy of his own idea, that there was no way to resist....

Of course I had to modify my plans for that run, but I can assure you that on that day I ran one of my happiest and certainly my most memorable 1.25 kilometers ever! ...

I'll post more later ... Gotta run!
Ryan

You can take it with you wherever you go...

So, back from Easter weekend vacation with the family down in the
outskirts of Valencia... I'm back to work now and into "the swing of
things" ... trying to get into the familiar rhythm of work, etc ...
you know: ROUTINE. It's good for all of us. I've found that
vacations, travel, and sometimes even just plain 'ol weekends can
really stir things up a little ... especially when I'm in "training
mode".

One of the nice things I've found about running, of course, is that
you can take it with you wherever you go. It doesn't take up much
space in your suitcase (except for my size 13 Asics) and there's
virtually no place you can't unpack 'em and head out there for some
quality mileage/kilometers. I've got some great memories of "vacation
runs" in tons of places like NY/NJ, Sunny Florida, Tuscany,
California, Valencia ... Hawaii ... and all around Barcelona. I think
it has more to do with wanting to see where you are from a different
angle. Sometimes your run will grant you a perspective that you
wouldn't have noticed otherwise ... I particularly like the ones that
are better without the headphones, just looking and listening ... (and
hopefully not having to be too much on the lookout for traffic). This
weekend I got back out on [one of my favorites] the country road that
leads out of town from my wife's father's childhood villiage Enguera.
Aside from the steady strides and rythmic breathing ... I was all
alone out there with the olive trees, orange groves, grasshoppers,
warm dry air and the rolling ribbon of asphalt that leads over the
arid ground through the hills of the scenic spanish countryside.

Most people in the villiage can't understand why I'd get out on that
road and ... run.
Most people in the villiage have never been out there listening to
what I've heard.

Pain in the ass ...

The training is picking up, and since I'm always squeezing in runs
between work, sleep or something I seldom have the time to stretch
properly prior to, and after my runs ... the result? ... Slower/longer
recovery time. Risk of injury ... tight/sore muscles and whatnot.
Right now I'm battling with a royal pain in the ass ... Priformis pain
and some crazy "trigger points" ...

I'll work through it ...

Sightseeing at 20km/hr...

one of the nice things about running is that you get to see
interesting parts of the city that most people perhaps would overlook
...
When you're trying to find 20-30km routes around Barcelona, you
oftentimes wander into areas that you wouldn't normally see in your
daily routine...
That, to me, has always been one of the perks of urban running ...
here's something groovy I spotted the other day ...

Of course, I don't carry my camera with me on runs ... I went back to
photograph it today.