Ricka's Road to Tough Mudder VT 2012

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by ricka182

Went to the Dr today. Have to do stupid ass PT for 4 weeks, then he'll try a cortisone shot. I indicated I'm not a PT fan, and that I have quit multiple times previously due to increased pain. he said the place he was sending me, is where he sent his wife after an MCL tear. He trusts the guy very much, and thinks it could help. I doubt it will. Also gave me some Rx to take 2x a day, and told me to ice it 2x a day or more if needed..

Hopefully this will be a better experience. I would have a hard time doing PT with someone who wasn't an athlete like myself.

[ricka182]

Did a little cardio today, but was wearing old shoes. Right away, lower legs were on fire, so that turned out to be a quick cardio session.

Then did some lighter circuit weights, including first ovehead pressing in months. Kept it to 40lbs, but that still tweaked it out a bit. Strength wise, it was there, but ability to work through the pain was not.

First PT session today as well. The guy seems very knowledgeable, even testing an intern employee who was still in school. It's a very open place as well. Today was more of an interview to get a background, and some ROM testing. Did do some light massage, ultrasound, and electrical stim under ice.... Didn't really do much as I expected. He did say the script I'm on needs to be taken every day. It's not like other NSAIDS, it builds up and works like that. So no more excuses, every day, 2x a day with food. I'll have to eat something right away when I wake to take it before I start the days fast til dinner time. I might just use a protein shake as a meal, lower carbs and tasty.. Or peanut butter..mmm...

Anyway, not an awesome day. I gained 10lbs of water over the long weekend.. I'm hoping I can burn off some of it tomorrow, lots of sweating to do, so maybe 10 miles on the treadmill, walking only. Will take a while, but I should be able to do it provided I don't go too fast.

[BendtheBar]

Anyway, not an awesome day. I gained 10lbs of water over the long weekend.

Had to read that twice.

[ricka182]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Had to read that twice.

Yeah.. I ate like a damn fool. Cookies, cookies, more cookies. I paid the price last night for sure.. still feeling "crappy" today... I'll have a better idea of how much gain there actually was after I work some of the bloat off.

Going to try to do some light walking, but left shin is still sore as hell. I'm also going to try and swap out my new runners for a better fitting pair tonight. I have a gait analysis tomorrow, and the PT guy wants to see the results. I'd like to do it with both old and new shoes.

[BendtheBar]

We have so many Girl Scout cookies around here it's hard for me not to do the same.

[ricka182]

So gait analysis is complete. I'm a typical heavy heal hitter. That's what cause the shin pain. We were able to see both strides side by side, with shoes and barefoot. When barefoot, I naturally land on my forefoot. With shoes, I'm constantly slamming down on the heal. It feels okay at first, because of the cushioning in the heel. But overtime, little micro fractures eventully build up and put pressure on the interior tibial muscles and ligaments, and without rest it only gets worse...

So I'm off the treadmill for a couple of weeks. Any sort of impact will continue to make it worse, even light walking on a daily basis. I can use a rowing machine, bike, or eliptical though. I did 6000 meters on the rower yesterday, wasn't too bad. I'll probably stick to that for a while, until my shin recovers.

I was able to exchange the new shoes I got, for a better fiting size, 1/2 less in length, same in width. Also got some insoles which greatly make the whole shoe much more comfortable.

PT today will probably suck. I hate PT. But I'll let them do their thing until I can prove it is not helping. I have a full workout session with them later.

Ugh.. Also going to rework my diet after next week maybe. I'm going to give up on fasting during the day, and try to eat in the A.M., with a couple smal snacks if I get hungry here and there. I just have to tell myself every gram of carbs I eat will not become fat right away, nor will it make me retain so much water I get over bloat. I'm around low 250's right now, but really want to get to mid 230's before TM. I'm hoping after my shins heal up, I'll be able to run more, burn more calories, and drop the fat..

[BendtheBar]

With shoes, I'm constantly slamming down on the heal.

Interesting. I think I do this as well. At least now I do when I run on the treadmill.

[ricka182]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Interesting. I think I do this as well. At least now I do when I run on the treadmill.

It was explained to me like this... think of yourself falling forward. Your body just needs to swing the hip forward, and let the leg "catch" you.. Momentum will keep you going forward. When you want to stop, look up. That will force your torso to follow, therefore getting in the way of the forward momentum.

You don't have to lean forward, but there should be a slight forward-ness to the body, to encourage a better foot strike. If you could ever get someone to take a video of your lower body when running, once your foot makes contact, the body should be in line with itself. If the leg is angled back, you're heal striking, which is a negative. Heel striking also interferes with momentum, so that will actually make you work harder, but in the wrong way.

I'll see if I can get the pics and video released to me on a disc, when you see it, it makes so much more sense..

[ricka182]

So today was a good day, low pain overall, good work in the gym, was able to run with better form. I literally leaned forward as I ran to force myself to land on my fore to mid foot, and not the heal. I did heal strike a few times, but I was able to self correct. I find running with a slight incline makes it easier to get the correct foot strike. I only did a mile run, not wanting to push it. Tomorrow I'll rest from the treadmill, and just row or step.

Cardio Blast Mix
Treadmill
.25 mile walk @ 3.2mph - warm up
1 mile run @ 5mph @ 2 degree incline - Working for longer, more kick style motion. Get the weight in the right place.
.25 mile walk @ 3mph - cool down

Stairclimber
(2) 5 minute cycles - 24 Floors, 27 Floors - Working the quads heavy from here to TM. Weekly increases in time and floors.

Super Incline Treadmill
.5 mile walk @ 2.5mph - Started at 30 degrees, moved down 3 degrees every 30 seconds down to -3 degrees.

Rower
2000m in 8:53 - Also have been doing the rower past few days, but did not update anything. Not a big fan, but it does get me heart and sweat going.

Machine Press
4 sets, 8 reps, 80lbs, 8 seconds rest between
8 sets, 1 rep, 170lbs, 8 second rep, 8 second rest.

More PT tomorrow, so will probably just row in 2000m intervals for 10000-16000m, or might mix in a 500m/1min rest interval program for a 15 minutes.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by ricka182

It was explained to me like this... think of yourself falling forward. Your body just needs to swing the hip forward, and let the leg "catch" you.. Momentum will keep you going forward. When you want to stop, look up. That will force your torso to follow, therefore getting in the way of the forward momentum.

You don't have to lean forward, but there should be a slight forward-ness to the body, to encourage a better foot strike. If you could ever get someone to take a video of your lower body when running, once your foot makes contact, the body should be in line with itself. If the leg is angled back, you're heal striking, which is a negative. Heel striking also interferes with momentum, so that will actually make you work harder, but in the wrong way.

I'll see if I can get the pics and video released to me on a disc, when you see it, it makes so much more sense..

Good explanation. Makes a lot of sense.