Graduation Day - June 6, 2008

Ironman Louisville training window - 785 days
Columbus Marathon training window - 135 days

Great news again today !!!!!

I have “graduated” from my physical therapy sessions. I have shown enough improvement that Brian feels that I can continue the exercises at home. I thought that today would just be a consultation like session – boy was I wrong. No, he handed me off to the athletic trainer for my workout. I thought that they felt that this was their last chance to kill me off and they didn’t want to miss out. It was a beast of a work out. The trainer ran me through my exercises but changed up the order and added sets to some others. I felt “great” at the end. Truthfully, I will miss going to the sessions. They have done what they told me could be done – if I followed their directions.

Marathon training here I come!

Training/Rehab Update - June 3, 2008

Ironman Louisville training window - 788 days
Columbus Marathon training window - 138 days

NEWS FLASH >>>> NEWS FLASH >>>> NEWS FLASH

Just got back from my training walk at Creekside. Completed 3 miles with a time of 57:24 and a pace of 19:08 !!!!!! Not the greatest times but once again quite a psychological boost. I did finish with some pain in my hip but the pain was gone within about 10 min. and I am now walking around – no pain present.

My split times were: 1) 19:59, 2) 18:48 and 3) 18:37. About a mile into the walk, I was feeling some soreness in the hip but then it went away and I was able to do the rest of the walk at a pace that is closer to my usual pace. This is what I needed!

Rehab Update - June 2, 2008

Ironman Louisville training window - 789 days
Columbus Marathon training window - 139 days

Haven’t been in here for quite a while so I thought that I would bring everyone up to speed.

Since my last entry, I was seen by Brian - another PT at Banyan Tree. He did some additional testing and determined that my left hip was rotated forward. This is probably causing pressure on the nerve in my lower back and has caused my left leg to be a little longer than the right leg. He was able to manipulate my hip back into the correct position. He said that we will concentrate on my core muscles because they will help to hold my hip in the correct position. I haven’t done so much exercising with my stomach muscles in a very long time (I guess that was no surprise to him).

The physical therapy has come along very well. I was supposed to have 3 sessions this week but was told last week by the PT that I would only have to come in on Friday. This was as long as I was able to do some walks without the hip pain over this last weekend and this week. I am amazed that the hip has recovered as fast as it has. I am still doing at home the stretches and the exercises that they have taught me.

Yesterday, I took another try at Antrim Park. Throughout the morning, I felt some pain in my lower back but did some stretches before leaving. That seemed to help. I decided that I was not going to time myself – as I just wanted to get back into the saddle again. It was just a leisurely Sunday walk in the park. I did look at my watch at the 1 mile mark to see how long it took (I couldn’t help myself!!!). It took me around 20 minutes to go 1 mile. I decided at the end of the loop that I would end there. There was a tightness in my hip that was starting to become more noticeable. Best not to push too hard too soon.

While 20 minutes is not my best time, it was great to get back to the park. A psychological victory and one that I needed. I was starting to think that the marathon goal was going to have to wait.

I will be walking again on Tuesday – per my training plan- and will see how that goes. After that, Friday will see if I have to continue the therapy. I will say that I will miss it in some ways.