Dear Physical Therapy

It has been quite awhile since I have written and I apologize. Between taking care of my husband (foot surgery, we're getting good at taking care of each other), traveling for work (DC), and the World Cup (Go USMNT!), I have been a busy bee. 

I completed physical therapy a few weeks ago and wanted to share my story while it is still fresh in my head. I first went to PT 2 weeks and 5 days after the accident. At the time, I could not lift my leg up or bend my knee. My right leg was noticeably smaller than my left. I could not separate my legs in any way- even moving my right leg a centimeter to the side was a massive challenge. My right leg had virtually lost all of its muscle. Even though it was my right pelvis that was fractured, it effected my entire right leg and back. My core, butt, and leg were still swollen and at that point my rib was cracked. I felt broken. Going from training for the Glass Slipper Challenge (10k on the Saturday, half marathon on the Sunday) and feeling strong to not be able to put on my own socks was quite a shock. 

The day after the evaluation, I had my first real appointment. I had trouble getting up on the table and needed a step stool with a handle. Started off with some kegels and some breathing exercises to help with the core. I did the most basic moves such as pulling on a band attached to my foot so my knee could bend. The first couple of weeks were a lot of range of motion movements. The results were immediate. By the following week I had some movement in my leg. The few muscles that were left were waking up from hibernation. Once my leg could move up and down, I could start to bend down to pick things up (you never realize how much of a butterfingers you are until you can't pick anything up). This helped my quality of life tremendously. I started working on moving my leg from side to side. We did this by lying down and moving my leg/foot along a slippery board. I can remember the first time I tried the exercise and thinking how excited I was I could move my leg that way. All of my exercises were on my back. The exercises seemed so simple but were targeting specific muscles. My "cardio" during this time was an arm moving machine. Pre-accident I was in the athlete's range for blood pressure and had a healthy heart rate. The stress of the accident and stress of healing had caused my blood pressure to jump up and it never came back down. Without cardio and still trying to heal, I knew it would be awhile until I reached 'normal.' 

St. Patrick's Day brought the good news that I was allowed to start weight bearing on my right leg. The 3 1/2 weeks of physical therapy had me thinking I would be able to walk. I started off slowing easy pressure on my leg and a week after St Patrick's Day I attempted to walk without crutches. I took a lap around the inside of PT without any issues. All of the therapy helped me gain enough strength to start walking. I was still not allowed to run or do any hard pounding movements with my leg. The one fracture was at the Acetabulum (socket part of the ball and socket leg bone) so the doctor didn't want any extra pressure on that part of the bone. With me being able to do weight bearing and walking, the PT was able to introduce more exercises.

 

Step up on the box with the right leg. Step down using my right leg first.

Like a reverse leg press- used it as well to work my shins and calves

hamstring curl

steamboats- something I can do post-PT

hurdles- lifts my leg up and works the heal to toe movement

Six weeks after St Patrick's Day I had a follow up with my doctor. X-rays showed my bones are fully healed and I could now handle running. Quite possibly one of the happiest days of my life. I waited to talk to my PT a couple of days later. On April 30th I got the all clear from the PT and tried out running for the first time in over 12 weeks.

My PT worked in other exercises such as jump rope, jumping off of a box, and squats. My leg muscles were getting better, although nothing like they were before. I ran a mile every day in PT. It felt quite taxing at first, but my muscles got used to it and I started to increase my speed. 

squat down on one leg while the heel touches the ground

weighted three way hip- move my leg back then angled to the side then straight out

During this time, I worked outside of PT doing some of the exercises and working on my core. I would run an additional couple of times a week. Eventually I worked up to running 5 miles for a race in Hawaii. Once I came back I really thought I had to be at the end of PT. I felt I could do everything I needed to (just slower). 16 weeks after I started PT, I was finally done. I went from not being able to lift my leg to running races. My PT provided me with some information so I could continue with exercises post PT. Most of these I did while I was there.

There were times I was frustrated and thought I could have been moving fast, but overall I had a good experience with PT. I worked hard every time, usually doing a few more reps than required and asking to increase weights sometimes. So thank you to physical therapy and physical therapists everywhere. You helped me get to where I am which hopefully means I continue towards my races in the Fall.

Cross Training- Hawaiian style

Last month I was fortune enough to be able to go to the Big Island and Oahu. I sacrificed a few morning runs so I could do some hikes (so worth it!). I wanted to keep up with training and my fitness, but also not be too worn out for hiking. My legs aren't strong enough yet to be able to handle everything. Unfortunately with my husband's broken foot (2014 has not been kind to our bodies), long or difficult hikes were not going to be possible. I tried to make the best of it by picking out the short, easy ones with good views.

Kilauea Iki trail

how often can you walk in a volcano crater?

Supposedly a 4 mile hike, although my Garmin put it at 3.43 miles. You start off in the jungle/forest and slowly descend down to the crater floor. It is about 400 feet deep so it's not too bad. Next you walk through the crater, past the vent. It is surreal being on a crater (which originally was 800 feet deep but after the eruption in 1959, filled with 400 feet of ash and lava). The first parts were rough and broken up boulders. The second part was smooth and flat. It was really easy until the end. You climb 400 feet in what felt like .1 of a mile (ok maybe an exaggeration). Lots of switchbacks to get up. Nothing hard, just slightly tiring for our out of shape bodies.


Diamond Head

Honolulu from the top

The gran daddy of the tourist hikes. 1.5 miles round trip. This was not a planned hike, but we had time to kill and decided why not. It is an easy hike up a dirt path. Even though I switched to sneakers, I saw people doing it in flip flops which is definitely doable. You go into the crater first then start at the base and work your way to the top. There are great views of Honolulu from the pillbox. Side note: close to the end there are two routes to the top. The longer, winding incline and going straight up using the stairs. We chose the stairs going up and the path going down.


Lanikai Pillboxes Trail

Kailua on the left, the path in the middle, and Lanikai on the right

Of the three hikes I did in Oahu, this was most like a normal hike and my favorite. It is short, but steep at points. I saw a couple of people in flip flops, but sneakers would really help. There is also no shade past the first part so it can be a hot hike. There are breezes at the top of the ridges, but the trail sometimes is sheltered from them. The views were nice from the start. The Moks (below) and Olomana. 

yes the colors are this awesome

Makapuu Lighthouse Trail

This one barely qualifies as a hike. We woke up early so we could hike up it by sunrise. Unfortunately for us, the clouds got in the way and we never really saw the sun. The trail is short- about 2 miles roundtrip and is paved. It is an incline the entire way, but something every age could do.


Hopefully I will make it back to Hawaii within a few years. While I love the Caribbean for the beaches, I love Hawaii for being an active beach vacation. Hiking, kayaking, paddle boarding, surfing, ATV, horseback riding, sailing. I mean I could go on and on about what to see and do there. 

Red Rose Run recap

My goal is to add a few smaller races through the summer in order to help me with my speed. This past weekend I decided to run the Red Rose Run- a 5 mile race in Lancaster, PA. My running club was offering a discount so I signed up with them. This small race has been around for 38 years and had about 500 participants (or so I heard).

Expo:
Very small. With such a small race, the organizers had a table before the race at a plaza right in front of the starting line. There were a few tables of vendors. 

Race Day:
The race started at 8 am, but my alarm was set for 4:45 (ugh). My running club and I wanted enough time to get there, park, and get out packets. This meant I was eating breakfast and having my ritual pre-run drink three hours before the start. Not ideal. We ended up parking in the Prince Street parking garage which was right next to the starting and finishing line. It cost us $6 to park there for over 3 hours. There were 6 or 7 porta potties which had a huge line. We debated looking around for a store or mini market to go to, but at that hour nothing was open. It was predicted to be 62 at the start and 68 by the finish. A touch warm for my liking, but the course would be mostly shaded due to the tree lined streets and the park. 

Shortly before 8 am everyone finished up their warm ups and started to gather around the starting line.

My race:
I came into this race really only wanting to improve on my Hibiscus 5 miler time. The conditions were a little better- less humid, in the 60s, not as large of a hill to climb. Unfortunately I did not realize that this course was all hills. A minute before 8 am, my running club went up front and I went to the back. There are no corrals for a race of this size. You line up wherever you want, but since I knew I would be slow I made sure to stick to the back. It is really annoying when people who are slower are at the front clogging up the course for faster runners. 

ready to go!

The first mile and some was through downtown Lancaster. It was actually scenic going through tree lined streets with cute little shops.

About a mile and a half in we hit our first water station. The cups were filled really high. I had to actually stop to drink it and even then I couldn't finish. I never thought I'd actually complain about too much water.... Right before the 2 mile marker, we entered into the Lancaster County Park. 

Sadly this part did not last long and we were out back on a road around mile 3. We passed the same water station and hit mile 4. I heard there was a large hill around mile 4, but I never noticed it. The whole course was up and down so it was hard to narrow in on one hill being the 'big one.' I was excited since the clock at mile 4 read 44 minutes. I knew I was going to beat my Hibiscus time! Unfortunately my high did not last long. While going up a hill, an older guy on the course ran up next to me and said he was following me the whole race. He said I was slowing down and I guess tried to offer words of encouragement. 1) I was going up a hill. I tend to go slower up hills and faster down hills. 2) my mile 4 was faster than my average and my second fastest mile. So thanks old guy! Shortly before the last turn before the home stretch I saw my running club cheering me on. They sort of knew my situation so they understood I would be finishing a solid 20 minutes after them. The last part I had a nice talk with a 64 lady who was running. She was saying how she did half marathons and ever since she retired loves to do races. Hopefully I'll be able to keep running and racing into my 60s (and beyond). Crossed the line around 54 minutes and changed. Official time was posted: 53:55.8! Pace of 10:48 seconds which was a huge improvement on my 11:27 pace of the Hibiscus 5 miler. 

My Garmin and Nike Plus app were not too far off the official time.

oh Garmin how I missed you!

The finish area was in the same plaza. It included bananas, oranges, chips, water, green tea, and some juices. They were spread out in boxes in crates.

A band played the whole time and after the 5 milers were finished a kids mile (I think) run was done. Overall I was on a nice runners high from doing well and making good progress. 

The course:
Rolling hills. Like much of Pennsylvania, it was full of gently rolling hills. There were any bad hills but it felt like a constant roller coaster. I am not sure which I prefer- constant rolling hills or one large hill like the Hibiscus 5 miler. The course took you through downtown Lancaster then through Lancaster County Park.

There were clocks at each mile marker. Even though I had my Garmin (yea!), it was really helpful knowing about where I was and my time. There was one water station which you passed by twice. It was spread out enough that I felt the need to take water both times.

Final thoughts:
I probably would not do the race again unless I was really looking for a race to do. Maybe it's materialistic of me, but I like a finishers medal or at least something at the end. I like having something concrete to say hey you finished! The course however probably good training for races in the Mid Atlantic. It also was not too expensive- $25 which included a shirt. The race itself was pretty well run especially for being such a small race.


Next up: Maryland Women's Sprint Duathlon