Tag: tendinitis

Constant Struggles

On By LeraIn Cycling, Life, runningLeave a comment

I’ve been having a really hard time since the 5k. Somehow, despite everything I try and all the effort I put in to following the advice I’m given to the letter, I can’t catch a break. At my last physical therapy session before the race, I was told that after it was over, I should take a break from my workouts for two weeks and rest. I had already decreased my biking for weeks before the race so I wouldn’t work my trouble spots harder than they were already working, which made sense and I figured the sacrifice would be worth it. I was at least able to keep training and run my race. My PT wanted me to decrease my biking even more, which knocked me down to just 3 days a week of only 20-30 minutes and absolutely no running for the duration of the break. During that time, I missed running and was anxious to get back to training for the next 5k, but I really missed biking. I was riding 6-7 days a week before, and between 45-90 minutes each ride depending on the day. Last year I was able to easily log 15-20 miles a day, and for the last month it’s been 5-6 miles on average. Biking was how I erased my stress, and I am really having a hard time not being able to bike as much as I want.

The two week break felt like it lasted forever, but my pain steadily decreased during that time. My first run back felt amazing, and most importantly, there was no pain. I thought I was finally in the clear. My second run that week went well, too, but my third one was when I knew I was getting my hopes up too high too soon. All of the pain returned near the end of that first week back, which was last week. Fast forward to this week, and it’s still here. I ran twice already and am planning to run again tomorrow. I decided to follow the C25K (couch to 5k) program exactly as laid out unless I need to make modifications. Even though I was able to do more a few weeks ago in terms of endurance, I’m hoping that keeping it easy and steadily increasing my runs with a progressive plan will help keep the pain manageable enough for the next 6 weeks until the race.

So, basically I’m stuck at what to do. I absolutely don’t see the point in taking time off if it isn’t going to help. No, 2 weeks isn’t a long break, but the time before this I took 5 weeks, and the time before that, 16 weeks. What’s the point in taking a break if it doesn’t even provide lasting relief? I could take more time off, but it’s not guaranteed to even work, and I can’t afford to miss any runs leading up to the race. I’m only running 3 days a week, so it’s not like I’m overdoing it. I’m keeping my bike mileage down for now. But what else can I do? I’m doing everything my PT taught me how to do, and the unfortunate thing is that he’s now on medical leave for a while longer and he’s the one that actually knows my case, not to mention that all my PT benefits are used up for the year and having to do self-pay is already going to limit how much I can go because it isn’t cheap. It’s certainly not something I can do more than once a week. I was thinking of calling the clinic and asking if I can do an appointment to come up with a different home plan to try. The rest of the staff at that clinic is awesome and I wouldn’t mind working with any of them, but I have so much going on that I fear whoever it ends up being is going to be overwhelmed with everything I have going on.

As of now, the exhaustive list is:

  1. Left gluteus medius tendonitis and trochanteric bursitis
  2. Left TFL injury of some sort based on the stretches I can feel for that area
  3. Left proximal hamstring strain
  4. Left piriformis tightness, which leads to pain
  5. Left SI joint area pain when I run, and ocassionally with prolonged walking
  6. Right hip flexor tendonitis
  7. Right hamstring strain about two inches above my knee
  8. Right ankle mystery problem (still no official diagnosis after 2.5 years)

It’s really depressing to see everything in a list, but it is what it is. I started having most of these issues after my surgery, but I thought it was related to 10 weeks of crutches, and a few months of wearing the walking boot. I know for sure my body wasn’t moving ideally for a long time after my surgery, so it easily could have been that. I’ve had gluteus medius tendonitis before, about 11 years ago, but it went away pretty quickly and didn’t come back until 11 months ago.

My PT thinks a lot of it has to do with my ankle not letting me walk properly. I’m sure that has something to do with it, but I have another theory. Personally, I think it’s mostly related to me having a short right leg (anatomical origin as measured in special x-rays). I’ve been researching a lot, and the pain pattern I have is common for that issue. I have a 1 centimeter heel lift in my right shoe, but it’s not enough to fully level my pelvis. Running really aggravates everything, but I don’t know what else to do for it. I can’t use any higher of a lift in my shoe without my heel slipping out. There’s only one other nonsurgical option, and that’s getting my right shoe built to the correct height to even my legs out. I don’t know if it would help, but I’ll certainly be asking about it at my next follow-up with my specialist next month. The only problem with messing with the sole of the shoe is that I don’t know if it would render the motion control useless. I really need a motion control shoe to keep my ankle mostly happy when I run. Without it, I had a lot of ankle instability.

Anyway, forgive my ramblings. I guess I just can’t keep it bottled up anymore and needed to complain in a way that wouldn’t annoy anyone too much. I’m hoping I have time for a PT appointment next week to learn some new stretches and exercises I can try and see if that helps. I certainly have nothing to lose.

5K Training

On By LeraIn Cycling, Life, runningLeave a comment

Somehow yet another month has slipped by without an update. As predicted, I ended up back at physical therapy for all of my injuries. Better to work on them now before they stop me 100% from doing anything, which was the route I was headed down if I continued to ignore them. My PT knows my goal and how determined I am to meet it, so we’ve been aggressive at the stretching, and I started doing some strengthening this week. I’ve managed to keep running 3 days a week out of sheer stubbornness. Usually it hurts some, but no more than when I’m not running, so I’m going to keep at it. I absolutely refuse to stop again unless I’m told by a medical professional that I should. This is the third time in a year I’ve started trying to run, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep at it.

I decided to sign up for the 5k Dr. S told me about, which is hosted by the running group I joined. I can’t believe it’s only 12 days away. Considering I had to cancel the one in February due to injury, saying I’m looking forward to it is an understatement. I can’t even describe how ridiculously excited I am to finally be this close to that goal. I know I won’t be able to run the whole thing because I won’t be done with my training plan, but if I work in intervals, I should be able to run 80% of the time. I’ll push myself to do what I can, but I’m not going to stress out about it. I’ve also cut my cycling down for now to see if that helps the pain and stiffness in my hips and hamstrings. I think my every day bike habit is hindering my ability to rest well enough, so from now until the race, I’m only riding a few days a week and at a slower pace and less time than I’d prefer. It will hopefully be worth it come race day.

Lastly, I really love being part of a running group. I’ve mostly interacted with the members on Facebook, but I was able to make it to one group run so far, and it was awesome. Having some support out there makes a big difference, and there are a mix of beginners and non beginners, so there are people who understand the struggle to start running and people to look up to for future goals. Everyone has been amazing so far. I plan to do two more group runs this week, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m learning a little about park runs and trail runs through them, and while I’ve only done one trail run so far, I loved it. Being in the woods surrounded by nature was refreshing. I just have to be careful I don’t roll an ankle on the uneven ground, which is why I haven’t been again yet. I do that enough on flat ground to the right ankle, which, as y’all know, already has problems. I don’t need another injury right before my race. I seem to be a magnet for them this past year, and enough is enough.

That’s all I have for now! I’ll let everyone know how my race goes, and maybe even post some photos!!

Hint of Success?

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

Well, it’s been a week and a half since I had my cortisone shot for my hip tendonitis, and I’m happy to say I’ve been feeling pretty good! It’s such a luxury to not have so much pain. I forgot what it felt like to get up in the morning and not immediately hurt. I have some stiffness and it causes very mild pain, but I’ve been trying to be diligent about doing the stretches I learned in PT this past winter so I can prevent anything else from happening. I was able to have a discussion with the PT who treated it last time and get some good advice from him. I’m so grateful that he’s always willing to answer questions even if I’m not actively being treated by him; it’s one of the reasons I will never go to another physical therapy clinic. Anyway, he told me I was good to start running again this week as long as I started with half of what I was doing before and slowly build back up. I asked him about running without my ankle brace and if that contributed to the hip issue since both times I ran without it I had trouble. He said that “things like that are rarely coincidences” (his words), but that he wasn’t sure, which I understand. In any case, I probably won’t try running without my ankle brace for a long time just in case it did contribute to me re-injuring my hip.

Tuesday was the first day I tried running and it went well! I spent a good amount of time considering how to start back up. Cutting the time in half was easy, but I was working an interval program before that, doing a mix of mostly running with a few walk breaks. I decided on doing 5 minutes of walking to warm up, and then the next 12-13 minutes are 1 minute run, followed by 1 minute walk, and alternating those so I’m not running more than 50% of the time. I did that same thing today, and I think I’m going to leave it at just two interval workouts this week. Next week I’ll do the same thing three days and if that goes well, I’ll tweak the intervals. I’m covering just under a mile (excluding the warm up), and I’m okay with leaving it like that for up to four weeks depending on what my body tells me. I have 4 months until the Halloween 5k, so that’s plenty of time to increase distance. I’m going to take things slower than I was last time. Any efforts I can take to prevent another injury will serve me well. I don’t need to be the fastest person at that race; I just want to be injury free so I can try. I’ve had to postpone attempting a race three times this year, and I really don’t want to have to again due to injury. Covid might be another story, but October is still a long way off, so who knows what might come of that. Worst case scenario is that I’ll measure myself a 5k route and sign up for a virtual race that offers all the swag of a real race. I want a bib and finisher’s medal to be able to display after everything I’ve had to deal with the last year and a half.

June Letdowns

On By LeraIn Cycling, Life, runningLeave a comment

It’s been a heck of a month, especially since I don’t even have my bike right now. Three weeks ago, I was riding it and the front tire went flat. I had to walk it home about a mile and replace the tube. After I had it repaired, I rode just over a mile and it went flat again. I inspected the tire and saw nothing in it, which I expected since the flat was happening on the rim side. Last time that happened, it was the rim tape that needed to be replaced. I was tired of dealing with the issue, and the brakes needed to be repaired anyway, so I just took it to the local bike shop to let them deal with the issues. They told me it would be 2-3 weeks because they were really busy, which didn’t bother me all that much. Well, I called today (week 3), and they told me it would be a couple more weeks because they were waiting for a tire to come in, because thanks to COVID, there’s a shortage of them now. The guy told me the mechanic left me a message last week, but there’s no messages in my voicemail. I had him check my phone number just to be sure it was correct, and it was, so I don’t know what happened with that. All I know is that I’m going to lose my mind not having a bike for several more weeks, even though it may end up doing my body good.

As anyone who’s been reading this knows, I’ve been having trouble with my hip again, gluteus medius tendonitis to be exact. I took a month off from running and felt pretty good last week, so I tried a run, and I only got 8 minutes in before the pain was worse than it had been in a long time. I fought back tears walking home; I was beyond frustrated. Last week, I asked my past physical therapist about when a cortisone shot would be wise to consider, and he said, “Now.” I thought it over, and ended up scheduling an appointment with the doctor who treated it last time. I got really lucky and got an appointment for yesterday, his only opening until after the Fourth of July holiday. Someone must have cancelled right before I called. I’m so glad I didn’t have to wait three weeks to see him.

The appointment went well. I was 99% sure he was going to suggest a cortisone shot as the next course of treatment based on our discussion last time, and I was right. I know it has the potential to cause problems if done too frequently, but it was only my first one, so I wasn’t too worried about it. The shot was almost painless, which was a pleasant surprise because the size of the needle was huge. It was no worse than a normal injection. The doctor told me that if I didn’t have improvement in a week, he was going to give me a standing order for physical therapy. In the meantime, I’m working on my home program stretches. I wanted to ask my PT some questions today while I was doing occupational therapy for my elbow, but he wasn’t in the clinic this afternoon, so I have to wait until Thursday. I was curious about when it would be safe to start trying to run again, what other things I should be doing at home besides stretching, if adding strengthening to my program again would be helpful and when to do it, and what would happen if I did need to return to the clinic. I’m not sure that it will be necessary to return, but I want to know what kind of things we would be doing there since I can do 80% of it at home. I don’t want to waste his time. I’m getting ahead of myself, and I need to be patient and give the injection time to work. Today is my day off from work, so I won’t really know how it might hold up until later this week, and especially when I start running again. I was told at the doctor’s office that I could run in a few days, but that doesn’t seem safe to me. Maybe I’m just too afraid of hurting myself again, but I want to talk it over with my PT to know for sure. I really trust his judgment and he’s more familiar with my goals.

In other news, this week is going to my last week of occupational therapy. I have almost the same strength and flexibility in my right wrist now as I do in my left. The only deficit I have on my right side is that my strength with my arm extended is low because of the pain it causes at my elbow. At least I have one thing going right for me for a change. My shoulder is still sore at times, but I’m hoping that will eventually go away now that my elbow is improving.

I really hope July is a little more positive for me. I was going to run a 5k, but that’s unrealistic at the moment, so I’m going to a local lavender festival with a friend instead. It’s the same day as the race was supposed to be, so at least I still have something to look forward to. If I can get my bike back, I’ll be all set. I also started looking at a new 5k goal, and I think it won’t be until October, but it will be a Halloween themed race held at an orchard, and runners are allowed to dress up in a costume, so it’ll be fun to think about what to dress as. Given all that’s happening with my hip, I’m not sure trying to race any sooner than October would be wise. I’m going to be training slowly so I don’t have any other issues, fingers crossed!

It’s Working

On By LeraIn LifeLeave a comment

Occupational therapy is starting to improve my tennis elbow. I’m about to wrap up my fourth week going, and my measurements compared to when I first started are better. There’s still quite a large deficit in strength between my left hand and my right hand, so my therapist and I discussed it and I’ll be going for another month. My pain level is about the same as when I started, but we’re trying to improve my endurance so I can work without it hurting so much. My job can be physically stressful depending on the day, so the endurance will help. I find it kind of strange that the strength in my right hand is so much less than in the left because it doesn’t feel like it is. The only difference I notice is that I drop things a lot more than I used to. My therapist gave me a low resistance band to help strengthen and stabilize my shoulder and some special putty to work on my hand and forearm strength. I’m feeling optimistic that in another month, things should be almost back to normal.

Re-injured

On By LeraIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As the title hints, I’m having an issue. Tuesday I went out for an interval run, and hit a personal best mile time of 13:31, which is still slow, but considering the long road I’ve been on since my surgery a year and a half ago, and then an injury 7 months ago, I’m proud of it! I felt amazing when I finished Tuesday’s run. I took yesterday off and ran again this morning. It was the same exact workout, and I was only 8 seconds slower today. Everything was fine until the last 10 minutes, and then I felt that old familiar ache in my hip–the same hip I injured back in October. The pain was mild, so I finished my run, but the pain increased during my cool down walk. By the time I made it back home, it was a bit difficult to walk. I definitely feel like I strained my gluteus medius all over again. It wasn’t all the way healed to begin with, but back in March when my PT discharged me, he told me I was allowed to run as long as the pain didn’t get worse during or after, and even though I had mild pain after working all day, I had no issue running since then until today. I really hope that some rest and stretching will help it on its own, otherwise I’ll have to return to the doctor and see what I’m supposed to do. I feel like I’m just not destined to become a runner sometimes, but I refuse to let this setback stop me. It may take longer, and I may be facing having to postpone my first 5k yet again, but I will do whatever it takes. In the meantime, at least I can still bike to keep in shape, although biking isn’t as good of a workout for me as running is, but it’s better than doing nothing for a few weeks while I let myself heal.

Of Asthma and Running

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

February ended with a challenge. As you all know, I had started back running and went a few times with little trouble. Then the unexpected happened: I had an asthma exacerbation. Ok, so it’s not unexpected per se since I have a few each year, but this one was a lot more stubborn. I switched daily controller medication at the beginning of the month and started taking Flovent. I’m not sure if it was just the medication change that made my asthma flare up or if it was running in the cold air and not being used to it (even though I bike in the snow, running stresses my lungs more). Either way, I ended up having to make a same day doctor’s appointment to try to get my asthma back under control. I tried letting it calm down on its own and just treating it with my rescue inhaler, but I was having to use my inhaler every few hours. The day I called for an appointment, I woke up feeling really short of breath. I was glad I was able to get in to see my doctor that afternoon, because otherwise I would have had to go to an urgent care clinic. Things are better now. I finished my five day burst of prednisone yesterday and my doctor had me stop Flovent and go back to what I was taking before, which is Advair. I go back at the beginning of May to discuss my asthma, at which point I may move back down to Flovent, but I don’t want to switch medication before my race, which is a little less than two weeks after my follow up appointment. I lost an entire week of training last week, and I don’t need anything else getting in the way of my goals. I’ve had enough bad luck with injuries; I don’t need my asthma getting in my way either. I am going to meet my goal of running a 5k one way or another. It would just be nice if obstacles didn’t keep getting in my way.

First Run of 2020

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment
It takes a lot of gear for a cold weather workout!

It’s been four months trying to recover from my gluteus medius tendonitis, and I’m not sure if it’s 100% better yet. I’ve been stiff and a bit sore getting out of bed for the last week and a half, but my physical therapist told me I was allowed to try running again. I finally got to do it today! Full disclosure: it wasn’t just straight running. I’m working on intervals of running and walking for now, gradually increasing my running time each week. My PT told me I had to go slow and keep the distance short, so I only went a mile and a half, but it felt so good! Also, biking does not serve to keep me in shape for running, but some of the breathing difficulty could have been from my asthma just not liking cold air. It was only 27 here today. I plan to try running again Saturday when it will be 50, and I think it should be easier. I really hope my hip holds up; I want to be back running so badly! My plan is to keep it slow and listen to my body, along with being diligent about doing my home PT program.

February Update

On By LeraIn Cycling, Life, running, UncategorizedLeave a comment

A few things have happened since last I wrote, and I thought I’d fill all of you in. First, I had my annual appointment with my primary care doctor (Dr. S is the absolute best) to re-evaluate my asthma, and we decided that I could try to step down on my daily medication. Now, instead of a combination inhaler with a steroid and long acting bronchodilator, I’m trying just a steroid inhaler. I’m actually a little nervous about how it will go because I didn’t do well when I tried that three years ago. I’ve had excellent asthma control for the last few years, though, so it makes sense to see how I do. If worse comes to worse, I just go back to taking the combination inhaler and we try again at some point in the future.

While I was at the doctor, I asked him to look at my elbow, and I was right: it’s tennis elbow. He said he knew almost immediately because my case was so textbook, which never happens with me (usually I have weird issues). He told me to try a brace on it, ice it, stretch, and use ibuprofen as needed, and if that doesn’t seem to help, we can try physical therapy. I also brought up the issue of my hands tingling, and he said it’s bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. He gave me braces to wear at night to keep the nerve from getting compressed. I’m hoping it helps and the problem resolves. It’s really annoying trying to hold a fork or spoon, pen, or crochet with my hands tingling and going numb. Bloodwork was ordered just to make sure it wasn’t a systemic issue, and everything came back normal, so it’s just overuse like everything else. I follow up with Dr. S in three months to make sure everything is on track.

Getting quite the collection of braces going.

In other news, physical therapy for my hip is going well. I’ve had 3 ASTYM treatments so far, and I’m hoping that will resolve the last of my hip woes. My therapist told me he wanted to do it because other nearby areas were starting to get tightness in addition to the gluteus medius: the gluteus minimus, the tensor fasciae latae, and the IT band. I’m glad he discovered that before I start my running program up again. The last thing I need is another problem starting or coming back.

I’m counting down the days until I can start running again: 17 days left! I’m not allowed to run until the last week of February, but I’m going to ask at PT if I can at least do some really short interval runs (30 seconds at a time). If I can’t, that’s okay. I’ll do what I have to for proper healing. I was given the go ahead by my physical therapist to do a 5k in mid-May, so I’m doing the one the local zoo hosts. It raises money for conservation and I get free admission to walk around the zoo afterward, so it’s a really great event. The best part is that I have two friends who want to run it with me! I’m looking forward to it more than words can say. I really hope I can make this one! I plan to run at least 5 races this year, especially the holiday ones. One of the local orchards does a Halloween race, and then there’s the Thanksgiving turkey chase. Other than those two, I’m not sure which ones I want to do yet. There’s a women’s only one in the summer where each runner gets to go down a long flight of stairs individually at the start that sounds cool, and there’s a state border run that I might do, too. I have plenty of time to decide, though, so no rush!

Lastly, work is still ridiculous, but I made it clear I wasn’t able to work so much overtime anymore given all of my new injuries. I think we might actually be getting a manager soon. I was told they were doing interviews today, so I’m hoping someone can take over by next week. I really hope it’s someone who is easy to work with and can work around all of my upcoming appointments and race dates.

Living at PT

On By LeraIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

In my last post, I mentioned that continuing physical therapy would be left up to my PT and I to discuss. Considering my desire to get back to running and considering I still need some help strengthening my muscles and loosening them up, along with my crazy work schedule that doesn’t leave me time to properly rest my affected injuries, we decided to continue on a week by week basis for now. I attended two sessions this week, and I’m honestly not sure what to think about my progress because a new issue started trying to pop up. I don’t have as much pain as I did when I started, but now my IT band is getting tight on the side where I already have the gluteus medius tendinitis and trochanteric bursitis. Given this new development, my PT decided that giving ASTYM a try would be worthwhile. Those of you who have been following along with this blog might remember that I had this done on my Achilles tendon this past summer and it’s what ultimately helped me recover from that surgery. I had my first ASTYM session for my hip/IT band today and I was really dreading it because I remember how much it hurt last time, but to my surprise it wasn’t as painful in that area as it was on my Achilles tendon. The worst part was having to wear shorts, which I hate because I hate my legs. I actually only had one pair from before I lost 70 pounds, and they’re huge on me, but they worked pretty well for ASTYM since my whole leg had to be exposed. I just changed back into my capris when it was time to work on the exercises so I didn’t end up losing my shorts on the floor xD

I left this out last time, but I started to get elbow pain last week that is very persistent and bothers me when I do pretty much anything. Doing some of my own research, I think it’s tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis). I have an appointment with my primary care doctor in a week and a half, so I’m hoping to get a definitive diagnosis so it can start feeling better. I feel like I’m living at my physical therapy clinic. Every time I feel like I can escape, something else happens. I hope I don’t have to attend sessions for my elbow, but I won’t know until I see my doctor. I’ve also been getting tingling in my fingers on both hands, which hurts enough to keep me up at night sometimes, so it’s just a matter of time before that needs treatment, too. Having a physical job is doing me no favors. I feel like the only way I might convince the powers that be to get us a real manager is if I show up with my arm in a sling, which may very well happen considering my shoulder on the same arm is also bothering me (not as much as the elbow, though). Maybe once there’s some outward sign that I can’t do 80% of the work alone, things might speed up. I’m tired of working overtime and being in pain. I want to be able to get back to running. I’m planning to start training again in 5 weeks, which would put my first 5k race the last week of April, or first week of May, but that’s assuming everything stays on track. With the way things have been lately, it’s hard to say. I’m going to work as hard as possible at PT; if I can get back to running, that’s the first step to getting back to tennis, which I really miss!