Sunday, February 15, 2009

Good Patient, Bad Patient

Good Patient:
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I did the complete compliment of stretches prescribed by the physical therapist. Based on the advice that I could run if the pain level was a 2 or better (from both the orthopedic doc and the PT), I ran three miles on Wednesday evening. I had my second PT appointment on Friday - more exercises and stretches, heat, ultrasound, massage and ice.

Bad Patient:
I had made the decision on my own to dial the mileage back just a bit for this week. My goal was 14 miles for the week, including an 8 mile long run on Saturday. When I first met the PT I told him I'd run 10 the weekend before. On Friday I told him I'd run 3 mid week. I noted improvement in the ITB and hip pain. I guess all that stretching did some good. When the PT was done massaging/torturing my ITB he told me I could run 3 miles over the weekend. What!! 3 miles?! I met my friend Terry at the Santa Ana River trail and ran the 8 miles I'd planned. I obviously still have an IT band, but I was able to run. The pain level was within the "2 or below" range so I made the decision that it was OK to run. We kept to the 4:1 run:walk. Our pace was around 10:00 minute miles.

Sunday, I walked my traditional 5 mile loop on the trails in Bonelli. The trails were a little muddy so I wore my Cascadias. After the walk I headed back to the car, changed my shoes and shirt, and put in 3 miles of running around the Picnic Loop +. Total weekly mileage was 14.

Good news about the orthotics and shoes. I wore my Brooks Adrenaline 7's with the orthotics to the appointment on Friday. Jeff likes these shoes better than the Trance and he gave my orthotics a "B" grade. He gave me the go ahead to stick with that combination for the time being.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep it up with that good patient stretching so that when you decide to be a bad patient things won't go too badly for you. ;)

Jean said...

Darrell, I wore the Brooks Adrenaline 7's as well, and loved them. I felt like the 8's changed a little too much as I had less room in the toe box, so I am in Mizuno's now. But I loved the 7's. I hope they serve you well.

Keep up with all of those "good patient" activities, and best wishes with your training!

Lindsay said...

haha. dude i would've done the same... if it didn't hurt too much, i would've pushed out some extra miles. i hope things are feeling alright after all the running. keep up the stretching and listen to your body! don't be completely hard-headed like me :)

Unknown said...

Just got my orthotics today. It'll take a few weeks to get used to them.
Do what your body wants to do.
Go for a little extra when you want. Likewise, scale er back if needed.

Wes said...

I think nobody knows our body like we do. As long as you run smart you'll be fine!! Well done...