#10 Boston - Sidelined, Somewhat - August 11, 2006
Well. I never saw that one coming, and never knew about such a thing as runner's knee aka Iliotibial Band Syndrome - now I know! Here I was, plodding along in my marathon training, running a mere 4 miles last Thursday morning, no biggie. I arrived at home, sweaty but happy, said a few kind words to Oscar, grabbed a cup of coffee and a few minutes later after feeling a bit of a pull on my left knee, could not lift my legs anymore. It was unbelievable, and I had no idea what happened. I literally could not walk to work, so I doddered down the street to the T in order to grab the train for one stop. The whole way down there I was literally in tears, and unsure as to what to do.
Well, it got worse there for a while, I was in the T and did not realize (there sure are no warnings...) that only the front doors open in each train and when I was trying to get out at Science Park nothing happened. By the time someone pointed this out and I went hobbling though the car waiving and yelling "wait, wait", it was too late and I ended up at North Station. I had to lug my sorry self upstairs and take the next train back to Science Park and finally escape from this nightmare. Of course the one good thing is that I work in a hospital with tons of docs and they all jumped to my rescue. By 1 PM I was in the sports medicine clinic, got a nice little cortisone injection and some instructions from the physical therapist to stretch, ice, stretch, ice, ice, ice, stretch some more.
Team Petra is now in full force, consisting of the personal trainer at the gym, my running buddies, and the herbal supplement section of Whole Foods, which I believe is now empty, since my shelves are full of any proven (and even some more cockamamie-ish) remedy known to mankind. I smell like an herbal garden to the delight of my colleagues at the Mass General and I have noticed that they avoid stepping into my office these days. Hmmmh....
It has been a learning experience that is for sure - in today's training session we figured out that the left side of my body is wound up horrendously tight and completely out of whack. I get to use one of those wonderful foam rollers and move my sore spots over it all day long - apparently it is one of those "work through the pain" kind of deals, but everyone, physical therapists, runners, trainers - they swear by it. Apparently I have to work on my gluteus muscles (you know the ones we sit on), which are not cooperating, and there is lots of strength to be gained. I have been doing everything I am allowed to - elliptical trainers, swimming, weights, you name it. This Sunday, after a 10-day break, I will make a first timid attempt at running, not much, just a bit, and we will see how it goes.
While I can handle the physical aspect of this and have thrown the same kind of enthusiasm into my recovery as I do into my usual training efforts, the mental challenge posed by this is not an easy one. Something happens to us runners, and it is not just the "runner's high" that hits me usually somewhere around mile 5 or 6 (followed by "what the heck am I doing" around mile 11). Running has been my kind of meditation, it clears the mind, it is just me running out there, maybe a little music along the way. I have been all over the map since this happened and I thank all of my friends for their patience and my running buddies for their advice. Hang in there with me!
So this past weekend up in New Hampshire was a new experience for me, everyone went hiking and I sat on my lazy little behind and watched movie after movie after movie. Iced my knees, did a little Pilates, but mostly took it easy. In particular Saturday morning, I got up at 6:30 AM, sat by my lonesome self on the patio with a cup of coffee, Oscar (his first outdoors experience) and Phoebe and enjoyed the view of Mt Cannon (http://www.hikethewhites.com/cannon.html) and Mt Lafayette (http://www.hikethewhites.com/lafayette.html).Saturday. The troupe of merry hikers left me to my wits and headed to Mt Pemigewasset (http://hikethewhites.com/pemi/p08.jpg), a nice little hike with some very rewarding views up top. Dinner on Saturday night was followed (no we are not tired of it yet) by another rousing round of Taboo - again we have to admit that Chris Gibbs is and will remain the champion - the use of the word "tasting hole" will remain a classic for years to come.
Sunday I decided to join the group who had promised to pick some easy hikes to accommodate my impaired physique - so we headed out to drive along the very picturesque Kancamagus Scenic Byway in search of Rocky Gorge, a lovely little spot, rocky, gorge-y, with opportunities to dip your feet in the cool water of the Swift River and hike around Falls Pond a little. (Of course we first had to stop in Lincoln and just like so many other rubberneckers ogle at the car fire on Highway 93 - quite spectacular I have to add!). The highlight of the day certainly was Sabbaday Falls, a very brief 0.5 mile walk on a nice boulder-free path and so worth it! (http://www.northeastwaterfalls.com/waterfall.php?num=418&p=0).
I have to mention of course that our friend and nature guide Boot Boutwell joined us on this trip, so there was a lot of stopping and oohing and aaahing about plants, mushrooms, trees - you know the drill. We all certainly had a good time learning new things and for once not zipping up the mountains like crazy people....
A little trivia here - Kancamagus (pronounced by the locals as kanga-mangas) is translated as "The Fearless One" and was an Native American tribal leader in Southern New Hampshire in the good old days. In the late 17th century he got a bit too tired of wrangling with the English settlers, decided he's had it and zipped up north to Quebec, and was never seen again.
It has been a trying week to say the least, but a little diversion was given last night, when I met my childhood friend Frank (who also happens to live in my home town in Southern Germany) and two of his colleagues at my favorite beer station in Boston, the Parish Cafe (http://www.parishcafe.com/).- many beers were consumed, spirits were high, and let's just hope the waiter does not follow through on the suggestions we wrote on the bill after paying...
I am signing off, see you next week, the weekend promises R&R, and a trip to Providence, Rhode Island to see the water fires. Oscar sends his regards to all of you, he has been talking up a storm and has now learned two new words - "baby" and "stinkbaer". Essential words to master if you are a little budgie living in Cambridge.
Cheers,
pet:)
Well, it got worse there for a while, I was in the T and did not realize (there sure are no warnings...) that only the front doors open in each train and when I was trying to get out at Science Park nothing happened. By the time someone pointed this out and I went hobbling though the car waiving and yelling "wait, wait", it was too late and I ended up at North Station. I had to lug my sorry self upstairs and take the next train back to Science Park and finally escape from this nightmare. Of course the one good thing is that I work in a hospital with tons of docs and they all jumped to my rescue. By 1 PM I was in the sports medicine clinic, got a nice little cortisone injection and some instructions from the physical therapist to stretch, ice, stretch, ice, ice, ice, stretch some more.
Team Petra is now in full force, consisting of the personal trainer at the gym, my running buddies, and the herbal supplement section of Whole Foods, which I believe is now empty, since my shelves are full of any proven (and even some more cockamamie-ish) remedy known to mankind. I smell like an herbal garden to the delight of my colleagues at the Mass General and I have noticed that they avoid stepping into my office these days. Hmmmh....
It has been a learning experience that is for sure - in today's training session we figured out that the left side of my body is wound up horrendously tight and completely out of whack. I get to use one of those wonderful foam rollers and move my sore spots over it all day long - apparently it is one of those "work through the pain" kind of deals, but everyone, physical therapists, runners, trainers - they swear by it. Apparently I have to work on my gluteus muscles (you know the ones we sit on), which are not cooperating, and there is lots of strength to be gained. I have been doing everything I am allowed to - elliptical trainers, swimming, weights, you name it. This Sunday, after a 10-day break, I will make a first timid attempt at running, not much, just a bit, and we will see how it goes.
While I can handle the physical aspect of this and have thrown the same kind of enthusiasm into my recovery as I do into my usual training efforts, the mental challenge posed by this is not an easy one. Something happens to us runners, and it is not just the "runner's high" that hits me usually somewhere around mile 5 or 6 (followed by "what the heck am I doing" around mile 11). Running has been my kind of meditation, it clears the mind, it is just me running out there, maybe a little music along the way. I have been all over the map since this happened and I thank all of my friends for their patience and my running buddies for their advice. Hang in there with me!
So this past weekend up in New Hampshire was a new experience for me, everyone went hiking and I sat on my lazy little behind and watched movie after movie after movie. Iced my knees, did a little Pilates, but mostly took it easy. In particular Saturday morning, I got up at 6:30 AM, sat by my lonesome self on the patio with a cup of coffee, Oscar (his first outdoors experience) and Phoebe and enjoyed the view of Mt Cannon (http://www.hikethewhites.com/cannon.html) and Mt Lafayette (http://www.hikethewhites.com/lafayette.html).Saturday. The troupe of merry hikers left me to my wits and headed to Mt Pemigewasset (http://hikethewhites.com/pemi/p08.jpg), a nice little hike with some very rewarding views up top. Dinner on Saturday night was followed (no we are not tired of it yet) by another rousing round of Taboo - again we have to admit that Chris Gibbs is and will remain the champion - the use of the word "tasting hole" will remain a classic for years to come.
Sunday I decided to join the group who had promised to pick some easy hikes to accommodate my impaired physique - so we headed out to drive along the very picturesque Kancamagus Scenic Byway in search of Rocky Gorge, a lovely little spot, rocky, gorge-y, with opportunities to dip your feet in the cool water of the Swift River and hike around Falls Pond a little. (Of course we first had to stop in Lincoln and just like so many other rubberneckers ogle at the car fire on Highway 93 - quite spectacular I have to add!). The highlight of the day certainly was Sabbaday Falls, a very brief 0.5 mile walk on a nice boulder-free path and so worth it! (http://www.northeastwaterfalls.com/waterfall.php?num=418&p=0).
I have to mention of course that our friend and nature guide Boot Boutwell joined us on this trip, so there was a lot of stopping and oohing and aaahing about plants, mushrooms, trees - you know the drill. We all certainly had a good time learning new things and for once not zipping up the mountains like crazy people....
A little trivia here - Kancamagus (pronounced by the locals as kanga-mangas) is translated as "The Fearless One" and was an Native American tribal leader in Southern New Hampshire in the good old days. In the late 17th century he got a bit too tired of wrangling with the English settlers, decided he's had it and zipped up north to Quebec, and was never seen again.
It has been a trying week to say the least, but a little diversion was given last night, when I met my childhood friend Frank (who also happens to live in my home town in Southern Germany) and two of his colleagues at my favorite beer station in Boston, the Parish Cafe (http://www.parishcafe.com/).- many beers were consumed, spirits were high, and let's just hope the waiter does not follow through on the suggestions we wrote on the bill after paying...
I am signing off, see you next week, the weekend promises R&R, and a trip to Providence, Rhode Island to see the water fires. Oscar sends his regards to all of you, he has been talking up a storm and has now learned two new words - "baby" and "stinkbaer". Essential words to master if you are a little budgie living in Cambridge.
Cheers,
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
2:43 PM
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