March marks the 1-year point for my season de injuries. Yikes! Can't say that time flies when I'm not having fun. The past year has definitely been the hardest one yet. Whew!
My heart procedure was mid-Dec, & I was told that I could start running 2 weeks later...and I did, for a couple days...and then my foot started killing me. I couldn't believe it, really. I was in denial that something was wrong with my foot - it looked fine to me but somehow felt like a knife was stabbing it every step.
The previous 8 months, I'd say, "My neck/back isn't healed yet so I can't swim/bike, but I'm thankful I can run!" And then, I couldn't anymore. At that point, I not only hadn't figured out my neck/back situation, but also had no idea what was wrong with my foot. The day before my heart procedure, I ran 9 miles. (As long as I stayed aerobic, my heart didn't go crazy in an arrhythmia state). 2 weeks later, I couldn't go past 2 minutes.
I thought maybe having 3 catheters jammed up my groin might've caused me to change my stride a bit when I started jogging again (since it was my right groin and my right foot that was hurting)...so I just rested for another week, but the knot didn't go away. I thought, "Well, maybe it's good to rest longer - after all, my heart did go through the trauma of getting a node burned off...maybe it needs more time to heal too."
After 6 weeks of letting my heart heal & foot rest, I found no progress with my foot. I went to get a few different forms of therapy and...it still was killing me.
2.5 months went by doing nothing (to the point that grocery shopping was the physical activity for the week!), and I'm pretty sure that stretch of time sans exercise hasn't happened since I was 5 yrs old! Meanwhile, the triathlon season kicked off...again.
As my last post noted, I've been working with a couple new specialists and feeling better in my neck, back, and even foot. Dr. Brian Flournoy at Performance Care Clinic has loosened up my neck & back with the Active Release Technique, and Terri Cassel at Proactive Therapy is helping me strengthen my instabilities throughout my body. I have seen great improvements already, although these types of changes are slow-going. Their expertise is top-notch & I'm thankful to be able to work with them!
Cheers!
