Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Limbo
"So what do you want to do?"
"Uh, run?"
"Well lemme ask ya: Can you wait another month?"
"Yes, yes I can. I'm mentally braced for another month, so yes."
"Okay good. 'cause if you'd told me you just had to run in the Fiddle-dee-sticks Marathon,* that you just couldn't wait, well, we probably could've arranged something--but it would not be ideal."
A marathon? Since when was that ever even the remotest of remote options? Shucks--maybe I'm being sortof a wimp through all this. Then again, maybe not, given the information that followed.
"A month from now, we'll start you running a half mile, then walking a half mile, running a half mile, walking--you'll do this every other day for a week, then we'll bump you up to 3/4-mile segments, then one mile, then two, three... You get the idea. ... What's that? How fast? Oh, ten-minute miles."
Come again, doc? I don't even know what a 10:00 mile feels like! Guess I'll soon learn. Brother.
Eh, no matter--this really is good news. After all, eight and a half weeks of rest is the low end of the prescribed range. Could've been worse, could've been twelve.
Arg, I'm going to stop writing now, as lately everything I turn out just bores me to tears. Actually, 'bored to tears' pretty much describes where I am at the moment, which I know, know, has everything to do w/ my non-running runner status. Chemically my brain's all out of whack, low on the neurotransmitters that I've unwittingly relied on to keep me 'up' in the years since I started running. Research points to a cumulative effect here, so even though the first 20 or so minutes after a bout of exercise may deliver the biggest high, if a person's running daily, the party never dies.
I want my invite! Wah.
*Anyone know where this is? Sounds fun. Har.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Beat
Yesterday was tough. Since confronting this injury, Sundays have consistently been tough for me psychologically and emotionally, because Sundays, for the last ten years, have meant 'long easy,' a.k.a. the most physically & mentally satisfying run of the week. But yesterday was especially though, as yesterday was the big day. 'twas supposed to have been my big day, but alas, in the end it was reduced to merely the.
My morning was pleasant enough, marked by an oddly chipper awakening which was followed by a drawn-out brunch w/ Dougie. But as morning gave way to early afternoon (and my coffee buzz faded to a drone), I was feeling pretty lost and down. Against doctor's orders/my better judgement, I started wandering, eventually making my way up to Prospect Park West, right next to said park. Across the country, a race was being run, and had things gone differently, I would've been one of its 11,000 participants. As my projected finish time of 1:15 (11:15 MST) came and went, I watched runners glide past me, partially obscured by trees and rolling hills. Made me feel melancholy, and an ounce hopeless. It's been four weeks, and I'm looking at a minimum of four more. Sometimes it seems like I'll never run again, which is totally bogus and ridiculous, but still.
Soon after, I returned home (but not before stopping by this place for a delectable chocolate peanut butter tart), where Pea and I proceeded to (re)launch a marathon of our own, this one involving popcorn and episodes of what I've concluded is, for the time being, the best thing on television.
Onward.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Don't stop
“The easy way out is to say, ‘Don’t exercise,’ ” said Dr. Richard Steadman, an orthopedic surgeon in Vail, Colo., and founder of the Steadman Hawkins Research Foundation, which studies the origins and treatment of sports injuries. That advice, he added, “is safe and you probably will have healing over time.” But, he said, “if the injury is not severe, resting it will probably prolong recovery.”
Not applicable in my case ["...unless it’s something as serious as a broken bone or a ripped ligament or muscle..."], but interesting research. Also made for the today's most e-mailed NYT story.
Because honestly: "It also helps patients psychologically, he added. "If you take athletes or active people out, they get depressed, they get wacky," Dr. Kocher explained.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
And the winner is--
At last, the verdict.
Am J Sports Med. 1985 Mar-Apr;13(2):120-3.
Pelvic stress fractures in long distance runners.
Noakes TD,* Smith JA, Lindenberg G, Wills CE.
We describe five cases of radiographically proven stress fracture of the pubic ramus in serious runners, three of whom were elite female marathoners. In a further two cases in which radiography failed to support the clinical diagnosis, there was bone scintigraphic evidence of stress fracture. Another five cases had the identical clinical presentation, but the diagnosis was not confirmed radiologically and bone scanning was not performed. Most patients experienced persistent groin discomfort during any activity for the first 4 weeks after injury, but all recovered completely after 8 to 12 weeks of rest, in particular, avoidance of running. In common with other studies, we found that the injury occurred in competitive runners, especially females, and was likely to develop during competitive races or intensive training sessions. We suggest that a diagnosis of pelvic stress fracture or stress fracture syndrome can be made with confidence, even in the absence of radiographic evidence, if the following three features are present in a long distance runner presenting with groin pain: First, activity causes such severe discomfort in the groin that running is impossible. Second, the athlete develops discomfort in the groin when standing unsupported on the leg corresponding to the injured side (positive standing test). In some cases the pain is so severe that standing on one leg is impossible. Third, deep palpation reveals extreme, exquisite nauseating tenderness localized to the pubic ramus and not to the overlying soft tissues. The diagnosis can be confirmed by bone scintigraphy where such facilities exist.
PMID: 3985259 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
My pelvis! Wouldn't ya know it. Gosh, the cited symptoms--identical to mine. Anyway, spoke w/ my doctor yesterday, who prescribed six to ten weeks of relative rest, meaning zero running and destination-walking (versus for-the-hell-of-it walking) only. Apparently, had it been the hip fracture he was initially leaning towards, my future would've likely been bleaker, requiring, potentially, such undesirables as those crutches I was so worked up over, and even pins. Ick! Fortunately the gym has ol' Doc's stamp of approval, although the only cardio available to me is the bike and, only if it doesn't hurt, the eliptical. No abs, and minimal leg lifts, but, per Mr. M.D., "Now's the time to start strengthening that upper body."
This outcome makes for relatively good news, the way I see it. After all, toward the end of our conversation when I asked, fearing the worst of responses, "Can I ever run again?" Doc laughed outright at my apparent irrationality. "Oh gosh, of course!"
Sure it'll suck starting from square one following ten years of what's basically been a continuous, uninterrupted career, but I'm still damn relieved.
*I interviewed this guy back in the day. Funny.