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I didn't go into the gym today just because at the end of the day yesterday (when I had done 30 min. on the elliptical machine and some upper-body strength training) my hamstring was feeling a little bit iffy. Then, today, I wore my new shoes that I got a while back and both my hamstring and IT bands feel pretty good. I had been forgetting to wear my new shoes and was wearing my sandals over the last few days. The problem is that the outside back corners of my sandals are beginning to wear away and the trainer at Athletico had told me that that could exacerbate the problems that I've been having. I think the shoes do make a real difference. Anyway, tomorrow I am going to go back into the gym for another 45 minutes on the elliptical machine and some strength training, then I will see how I feel for Friday. If I don't have any pain at all I will take Friday as a rest day so that I can try the 14-miler on Saturday. If, however, I feel even a twinge on Friday I will just go to the gym, do 30 min. on the elliptical machine and strength training and then skip the 14 on Saturday. Then, Sunday, I will do an hour-and-a-half or so on the elliptical machine.

Turns out that my medical insurance plan does not include AthletiCo, so my doc referred me to a different therapy place, Health South. I have appointments at 1 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday of next week. I'm hoping that my first appointment yields a referral for orthotics so I can get those ordered. Either way I should be able to get a feel for if that is even a possibility. If there is just no way to get it covered by my insurance, I will just have to bite the bullet and order them anyway.

On Thursday of next week I'm supposed to run in the Chase Corporate Challenge 5K after work. If my knees feel all right it should be a walk in the park, but if I'm feeling any pain (especially if I did the 14 miles on Saturday) I will most likely bag on the whole thing.

I'll keep you posted! -K

posted by Kenner Estes at 5:08 PM

Well, I went out on Saturday morning to talk to the trainers about what I should do. It was comforting to have the trainers tell me that I was doing the right things. We talked in-depth about my hamstring and IT band problems and they recommended how I should alter my training schedule for the next couple of weeks to give myself a chance to heal. Swimming, stationary bike, and elliptical (as long as I don't use backward mode) are all okay to substitute for running and shouldn't distress my existing injuries. I was really glad to hear it because I've been getting worried about the effect of my recent inactivity. The coach talked to me about that, too. She said "I know just how you feel -- you're panicking because you feel like you're going to lose all of the ground you've gained, all of your hard work." She assured me that this is not the case. I really do feel a lot better now.

As I mentioned, after Saturday's run -- which, by the way, it's really good that I didn't do it because it was hill training, and that would really have messed with my hamstring -- it was patient hero day, so some of the patient heroes were there to hang out with us. Unfortunately it was raining pretty hard and we were outside so we didn't really have a strong turnout. My patient hero was not there, but I did learn that there is another group that has her as their patient hero and that they have all been doing stuff with her over the last month and a half. No one knew that I had also been given her as my patient hero so no one knew to include me in those outings. I didn't realize that there were multiple people assigned to the same patients, but that explains a little bit why I never heard anything back when I sent letters to Maggie and to her parents -- they almost certainly assumed that I was in the group that was seeing Maggie regularly so writing back didn't seem to be necessary. Anyway, I'm not upset, I'm just glad to find out that there's not a sadder reason why I've heard nothing back when I've written. I'm glad that so many people have been able to spend time with her, and apparently she is doing really well in her recovery. She's through all of the hardest stuff and everyone is very hopeful for her future.

Anyway, with the trainers' advice in mind I went to the gym this morning and did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine. The total at the end showed 3.75 miles, 706 calories burned. I feel good to be back on SOME kind of exercise track. The trainers weren't sure if I'd be able to run the 14 miles next Saturday, but I really want to. So, per their instructions, I am wrapping my knee (hamstring), icing both knees three times a day (as much as I can, anyway) and doing my stretches in hopes of hastening the healing.

I heard back from my doctor's office and they said that there is no way that I can be referred to AthletiCo but I can get a referral to Health South with my insurance, so I'm going to do that. Hopefully they will get my hooked up so that I can get orthotics on the cheap. I really am getting the feeling that that is going to be the key to overcoming these IT band problems.

Okay, enough. I will keep you posted on my progress there, so keep checking back. Take care... -K
posted by Kenner Estes at 12:29 PM