Last week I felt down, I had the trail team trip to Chamonix coming in 2 weeks and I was worrying about a niggle that rest alone hadn’t shifted so I finally saw a physio.
At work (I’m a web designer/developer) we’re always stressing to clients the importance of hiring a professional to do a particular skilled job and then actually listening to what they (we) say since you’re paying for their expertise.
Finally having my appointment and seeing Darragh at Pro Sport Physiotherapy has lifted my spirits no end and much as I’ve tried not to diagnose my knee and leg niggles online, it’s hard to resist and while I’d eventually managed to match most of my symptoms to patella tendonitis and some other pain being caused by a tight sciatica nerve.
Darrah ran me through a range of tests and instead of the dreaded diagnosis I’d feared he identified a couple of bits that needed releasing – quads (the most pain I’ve ever experienced btw!) and sciatica – and that the root cause of my pain wasn’t my knee but my ribs sitting too high in relation to my core and as such my core wasn’t engaging at all which obviously then had a range of follow up effects that were the symptoms I was experiencing.
The cause though was not something I’d considered even for a second and I had read a lot about what I was suffering, not just focusing on the knee. At least I didn’t start “treating” myself with a range of exercises for the wrong issue. I wasn’t going to anyway but I bet a lot of people do.
Less than a week later with some new breathing and stretching exercises to engage my core and lengthen my quads and calf muscles I already feel better and looking forward to scheduling my training for Ladybower 50 and White Rose 30 and losing the half stone I’ve put on this month from not running much!
I fear it’s already getting late to train hard enough for my stretch goal of getting within 10 minutes of last years winning time for Ladybower 50 but if I don’t make that, the White Rose 30 will be getting wailed on in November!
There’s a lesson here ….
As both Ally and I enjoy running, we’re always on a bit of a budget when it comes to buying new kit and entering races, it’s not the cheap sport many will have you believe once you start investing in proper equipment and while I’ve never doubted the value of a physio, I’ve also been guilty of pushing visits back and instead treating myself to a new pair of shoes or something.
I’m going to actually make an effort to see Darragh at least a couple of times a year because in one hour, he knew more about my running style, issues and body than I did and if he can do that in an hour I’m sure a more regular “check up” will help improve me as a runner and make me stronger and more efficient than a new pair of shoes.
- Monday – 7.3 miles
- Tuesday – 7.3 miles
- Wednesday – Rest
- Thursday – 5.3 miles
- Friday – 6.9 miles
- Saturday – Rest
- Sunday – Rest
Total: 26.9 miles, 2,018ft elevation.