Yesterday: I was just really tired, and a bit down, plus really busy, so I tried to respect my body by giving it a day off except for my PT appointment. My regular PT, Shane at the U Orthopedic Center, had suggested I go see Bonnie who is a PT at the women's clinic, to rule out any pelvic floor dysfunction or problems with muscles in and around that area, given that I was having a hamstring relapse. I agreed, because while I didn't think I was having problems in that area, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get it checked out.
So yesterday afternoon I saw Bonnie and she was very thorough. After examining me she didn't think I had any pelvic floor problems, and thought that basically the problem was my hamstring coupled with some possible lingering dysfunction from my ACL reconstruction 23 years ago. She felt that my popliteus on the left side and some of my back muscles on the left side were a little dysfunctional. I had told Shane last week that I thought I did have some lingering weakness stemming from the ACL surgery, and while I had rehabbed it very well, it wasn't quite the same as the other side. That was all fine and well.
But then Bonnie did something a bit unusual and I'm not 100% sure how I felt about it. On the one hand, I felt that last night it improved my pain level and my functioning quite a bit, but what she did struck me as a bit "woo-woo" and now that I've done some research I can say this much: "P-DTR" or "Proprioceptive Deep Tendon Reflex" therapy is not peer reviewed or evidence-based - YET. Having experienced it and seen some definite short-term benefit (though obviously n=1 and this is anecdotal!), I wouldn't write it off. I thought it was helpful. I'd love it if someone would do some research and show whether it is actually effective or not. Basically, the theory is that some pain results from poor proprioceptor functioning and that using a variety of techniques one can "reset" the mechanosensory feedback that the brain gets. It seems possible to me that this could have some truth in it; our brains are complex and respond to quite interesting therapies, for example, the mirror box treatment for phantom pain.
Today: 3K fartlek. I went to the gym and did a warm-up on the indoor track. My pain level was a bit better than last week's 5K fartlek, which is good. It wasn't zero, and it was still more painful than before my relapse, with pain 1-2/10, mostly 2/10, and afterward it bothered me quite a bit for maybe 5-10 min before settling down and not hurting any more. I took some naproxen and though I was sitting quite a bit this morning doing injections of zebrafish embryos, it didn't bother me at all, so that was good. Now, at lunch time, it feels pretty much fine, which is an improvement on last week I think.
My fartlek performance was OK, and was about what it has been the past few weeks. Hopefully I can start training more soon and make some real fitness gains. All this waiting is frustrating, but at the same time, I should relax and go with it. My total time for the 2926m was 17:35 which is 18:02 for 3000m. Ave HR was only 157, and my intervals were ~2:55 for the fast and ~3:10 for medium effort. OK I guess. It is what it is...and I feel like I've been saying that for several years now, but what are you going to do, y'know?
Garmin data here.
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