Rabbit's epic healing thread ;-) (feel free to ignore)

[alpinerabbit]

You asked for it - ok, where do I start.

Edit: P.S. - Wahine/Yoda had to listen to much of this via pm. I just wanted to give her the credit she deserves.

2004 when I started running? 15-20 minutes - I was depressed. Doc said it would do me good and I was proud of myself
2005 when I started cycling? EO 2006 I managed running 10K.
2007 - the spring I ran 15, 18 km a couple times? when that spot on my iliac crest started aching? It got better but never went away again.
The fall, when I took up the actual 10K training plan from my new tri club? - what with speed work on the track and such, suddenly my anterior shin muscle was hot and hurt a little. I iced, I laid off running. I had it massaged a couple times by a PT. Since then I know I have trigger points.
Shin muscle keeps "pinpricking". But lucky it's not shin splints per se. I went to an orthopedist to get an analysis. Of course I overpronate and have dropped arches, so got custom orthotics.

Early 08 - Started back on running, baby steps, shin muscle keeps acting up.
Spring 08 - at a running clinic, I discover a midfoot technique that helps with the shin. It also took 20 sec of my kilometer time.
I had a "second opinion" video gait analysis, tweaked something on the orthotics. But the technique change helped more.

2008 I ran a 5K, two sprint tris, and an oly on minimal training (2 times/week on average). I also cycled around 5000K.
After the late August Oly, total layoff from running until EO October. I thought that would really let me recover.

In the meantime I did Yoga twice/week where I discovered a massage ball technique to treat my trigger points on my own as best I could.
Since then, I ran maybe 6 times, 5-7km. The shin is now quiet, but attachment points at the front and back of knee, at the hip - that old spot at the iliac crest - keep aching.

So finally off to the sports doc who examined me, finding a load of stiff, tightened muscles - in spite of yoga - quads, psoas, butt, shins - mediocre flexibility and a weak core.
And i had been working on the core the past 3 months in Yoga

She sent me off to physical therapy which I will start next week, twice a week. Manual therapy and introducing me to more core work.
The good news is that she said it's no true inflammation, so my worries about tendons degrading or weakening are calmed now, and I won't need oral or injected anti-inflammatories.
She also said this can turn into some sort of "personal training" where they even go practice on a track with me. This is a specialized sports clinic where some "real" athletes from my tri club go.

Oh and everything was always on the right leg. Which is the one where my hip is much more open&flexible (the doc said actually the other one is not open enough). She even found weaker perfomance in the right thigh (psoas I think).

Ok now for a question - what are severely hardened muscles?

Like when the doc pushes around on your butt muscle and says "release your butt" - "oh, you have released?"

[Zen]

You and I have similar maladies except my weakness is on the left side.
I just wound up PT (I did improve a little) but decided I need yoga and regular massage.

Do you have any back issues that would affect your hip or gait/muscle imbalance?

[alpinerabbit]

Not that I know of, doc found nothing. She pushed around on my back and nothing hurt. She didn't say anything was asymmetrical.

I have less tightness in the back these days than I ever had, since I did yoga in my late 20s - never had lower back pain in 10+ years, sometimes the iliosacral joint locks but unlocks again.

I believe I have rather strong back muscles (love those backbends). There's a very likely imbalance.

[yellow]

Do you have any back issues that would affect your hip or gait/muscle imbalance?

Bin-go.

As I learned, just because the doc doesn't find anything wrong with your back doesn't mean it might not be contributing to the problems. If you have insurance that will cover it, consider an MRI. In my case, what I thought was a hip problem turned out to be a back problem. We wouldn't have known if it wasn't for the MRI.

Don't be shy to go back if it doesn't get better with PT (says the woman who avoids going to the doctor and generally tries to just work through stuff)!

[alpinerabbit]

I don't think I'll be willing to pay for an MRI. It would be out of pocket.

[yellow]

I don't blame you; I wouldn't pay for one either. I suspect your PT core work will hit your back, too.

I think your theory about imbalance is probably spot on. One can be very, very strong but if you have a hypermobile joint on one side (or a sticky joint, like your SI), or something tweaky with your back, or whatever, it's easy to get off kilter over time. Hang in there...I know it's frustrating!!!

[alpinerabbit]

I got a photo from the Oly in August this weekend. It shows that I still heel strike. Maybe it would look better if I wasn't tired, but I was beat on that run.

I looked at mommelisa's blog - in her IMAZ race report you can see that she has a nice "footfall" even midway through an IM marathon.

Anways. Paranoia begone - I'll jot down tomorrow what the PT said at our first "date".

[Jolt]

If you get any good tips for keeping trigger points from coming BACK once released, let me know. I have one (right peroneus brevis) that I thought I had gotten rid of that decided to come back a couple of days ago so now I get to work on it again...not sure if I stopped working on it too soon or what but it's annoying. The weird thing is that before the past couple of months I had NEVER had issues with trigger points (of course, I hadn't had any injuries either and then had a couple at the end of the summer). I don't have them as bad as you do, but have had a few lately.