Physical Therapy

I took Monday off to extend my vacation a little, and I usually end up doing errands on that extra day off. This time was no different. I was able to get a hold of my doctor about my hip and she referred me to Physical Therapy.

I was able to get in to see a physical therapist and told her what happened with my hip. I explained what lead up to it. I told her about my stair-master workout, the run with all the stairs that did me in, and explained where my pain was. She poked around, prodded, had me stand while she pressed certain points on my butt, hip and legs. She then took me to the back staircase and had me walk slowly up and down the stairs while she watched.

My biggest fear was that it was the IT Band and that she was going to tell me I had to take 6+ weeks off from running. Or quit running completely. Or drop out of Hood to Coast. Needless to say, I was stressed and anxious when I went in there.

She quickly determined that I had no IT Band issues. THANK YOU GODS! She said that the stairs were what did me in and when I described how I ran up the stairs she said that was the culprit: I leaned forward when I ran up the stairs. DO NOT DO THAT! She suggested I try to stay as upright and straight as I can when I run stairs.

She also said that taking the stairs 2 at a time doesn’t improve my workout, instead it can lead to muscle strains in the butt/legs etc.

She said I probably strained my Sacrum. Here is some information on the Sacrum and the injury:

“Sacrum pain is often referred to as sacroiliac joint dysfunction. Sacrum is the lowermost part of the spine. It consists of five vertebrae (S-1 to S-5) and is a triangular shaped bone which is joined to the hip bone. As the sacrum in women is short and wide in shape, they are at a higher risk of suffering from sacrum pain. Usually, sacrum pain is felt only on any one side of the back which may extend to the knees, legs or even ankles with time.”

She gave me the green light to go back to running. I plan on doing that later this week. She also gave me a lot of exercise and stretches to do. She specifically pointed out that I should strengthen my core and do Kegels to strengthen my pelvis and make sure this type of injury doesn’t happen again. She also said to STAND UP STRAIGHT!

She tested me flexibility and strength in my legs/hips and ankles. She said I am incredibly flexible (which was shocking because I didn’t think I was) and she said I am super strong in my legs. Cool!

On another note, the lovely people over at POM contacted me recently and sent me a box of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate juice to try. I tried my first one Monday afternoon with my snack. I wrote a full review of POM on my Product Review page. Basically, I liked POM a lot but the calories are too high for me to enjoy POM on any kind of regular basis.

Another freebie I got was some bread! The people over at Silver Hills also sent me some coupons to try their bread.

I loved the bread! It was nutty and felt healthy. I’m looking forward to trying their other flavors. And the good news: it’s in the Fred Meyer stores so it’s easy to locate.

Check back this Thursday for my FIRST GIVEAWAY CONTEST!!

QUESTION: Have you ever had an injury from running?