Please Pass the Motrin

Wow...I just got home from the gym and I probably worked out harder than I have in a long while. Just to give you the rundown, here is what I did for the day: 3:15PM is the start of high school swim practice. It finishes at 5:15PM and I'm back to the house to get my shorts, etc. My next destination is the local YMCA. I started a new program today called P90X. MY GOD, I am going to be sore. I did back and biceps and then backed it up with abs. I can't remember the last time the muscles in the middle of my back actually felt used. My arms and back feel so heavy. It's almost like they're made out of dough. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be exceedingly on Wednesday. I'm kind of glad the kids have a swim meet tomorrow. I can rest up a little.

Hooray For Me! I Can Out Swim My Middle-School Self!

I hold an opinion many I come into contact with don't agree with. I think my swimming performance eats a fat one. SURE, I went to a meet today and was bestowed with four firsts and a second. SURE, I'm faster than most people are. However, I am just barely faster than I was in middle-school. I think I suck. It is probably a little hyperbole, much like how I think I have too much body fat, yet the veins in my legs are visible. There is no question swimming with the local HS team has made me faster. I just would like to be able to out swim a 13 year old kid that weighs under 100 lbs and is about 5'2" tall. Is that too much to ask for. I think what I really need is for someone to tell me how bad I suck. Telling myself over and over isn't all that effective anymore.

I really suck at running.

I ran a mile today just to see if I still could. I have been taking it easy on the legs for the last few weeks. I made it and my lower left leg is still weak when it comes to stabilizing.

Note to self: Don't wear old shorts when you run. Things sometimes swing wildly and before you know it you're running with your dong out.

The Best Physical Therapist EVER.

So, I went to get my Runners Knee checked out. I asked a girl I work with if she knew any good ones and her sister happens to work for one. Her husband also swears by this guy. I somehow get in after calling on Tuesday.

I'm sitting in the exam room, telling the guy all about the history of my left leg. Sprain October 2006, limping for a couple of months, just started running again last month, pulled hammy in June because I thought it would be a good idea to do deadlifts the day after I rode 80 miles for the first time, and now my knee hurts under the the patella. I tell him I think it is from my gait changing from the sprain and my muscles are imbalanced because the pain goes away after a 10 minute warm up. I tell him about my stretching routine and doing box squats and leg extension with feet turned out, concentrating on the last 45 degrees of movement. I was totally amazed to find someone that is as big a dork about medical stuff as I am. I was impressed. He was explaining all about the muscular interaction and the whys of my weakened VMO causing my patella to twist in the channel it is supposed to ride in. He was awesome.

Now, I have a set of exercises I have to do. So far, they are working and I was even able to run without much pain tonight. Hooray for people that like their job.

First Post?

My knee aches. Not just a little, like when I have run for a couple of hours. It hurts more than my knee ever has. Motrin doesn't touch it and stretching isn't helping either. If I would do like I normally do and run/ride for about ten minutes it would stop bothering me. But, soon after, I will pay dearly for the small bit of reprieve my dulled pain receptors gave me.

I hope the physical therapist I'm going to tomorrow will tell me something other than, "You have Runners Knee and you need to scale back your leg workouts and concentrate on swimming." I want my knee to work. I NEED my knee to work. Simply swimming today and doing no other exercise has made me antsy. I feel like a junkie and I need a cardio fix. I don't feel like I earned my meal this evening. I NEED to stay slim and cutting out leg workouts won't help me get where I want to go.

I'm still not sure why I'm doing this.