Running and then blogging about it
Hurting + Healing 1

Physical Therapy Reunion

By Colleen @colleenalicia · On July 8, 2013

This Wednesday I left work a little early to head up to Vancouver, Washington to start physical therapy.  I know that leaving the state to get treatment sounds a little extreme, but the last time I got PT, it was pretty much useless.  This time I wanted to go to a known entity, so I tracked down the guy that helped me with the stress fracture I had on the other leg over ten years ago, and made an appointment with him.  This is why I ended up in Vancouver – this is where he works.  I don’t know why my mom had me go to a guy in Vancouver back in high school, but I was happy with the outcome so I didn’t question it.

Once I got there, the PT walked out and introduced himself to me.  It was just a minute in when he gave me the funny squint/head-tilt and asked, “I haven’t seen you before, have I?”  I told him that he had, ten years ago.  He said that my name had sounded familiar, but that he remembered that person being a kid – and then when I gave him a strong handshake, he was sure it couldn’t be the same person.  Little he did he know that I’ve been taking hand-shaking lessons for almost ten years now.  He also didn’t seem to realize that I am a normal person that ages, so being a kid ten years ago doesn’t mean that I still am.  It wasn’t until he watched me run that he completely remembered me based on my gait.  Apparently it hasn’t changed much since back then.  For reference, here’s what I looked like at age 15:

I’m the one in front in the running picture (duh, I was really fast back then).  Here’s what I look like now:

I’ve X-ed out people who are not me.  To be clear, the Xs definitely don’t represent any hate or checked off hit-list victims at all, I actually love all those people a lot – I just don’t want you to confuse them with me.  The point is, I look identical to my 15 year old self, and my PT should have recognized me.

Once we got over the issue of recognizing or not recognizing me, the PT paid a little attention to my leg.  Here’s a close up of my current situation, so you can follow along:

The red part is where it hurts when I run, and the PT was able to tell me why.  It turns out that I run “behind my legs,” as he put it.  This means I kick my legs out far in front of me when I run, but don’t push off and kick them back behind me to follow through and finish my stride.  I primarily use my quads, and don’t really bother with my hamstrings at all.  The result is that my stride creates more instances of my shins bowing back (he compared this to sticking a rod in the ground and leaning back on it, making it bend).  I’m not sure if this makes sense when I try to write it out, but basically this combined with the fact that I “have tibias up to my armpits,” according to the PT (thanks?), I’m really susceptible to stress fractures.

He sent me home with a list of exercises to do until I see him next, with the goals of:

  • strengthening my hammies
  • strengthening my tibia anterior
  • strengthening my calf muscles
  • loosening my IT band
  • increasing ankle flexibility
Now that I’m a real grown-up person, I’ll be really embarrassed if I go back and haven’t done them at all.  It was different when I was a kid and just wouldn’t do them and could blame it on the fact that my mom made me go and I didn’t want to in the first place.  Now I’ve arranged this all on my own and have nobody to point fingers at if I don’t get better.  It was really nice to get actual answers to why this has happened to me though, and not just generic advice on how to cure a stress fracture in general.  No specific timeline so far, but I have my fingers crossed for running before I go back to school in the fall!
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Colleen

I must confess, I started running at a very early age. Sadly, my runs were unblogumented until around age 23, so you'll have to use your imagination for all the runs I went on before that. Running has always been my go-to sport, but sadly, I spend a good amount of my time with chronic injuries. I have learned to entertain myself athletically with other pursuits such as kettlebell, yoga, and bikini competitions, when I can't run. In addition to my unique talent for working out and then blogging about it, I am an amateur puppy stylist and photographer, television enthusiast, and I'm usually CPR/AED certified, but I would still prefer if you didn't pass out when we're together.

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1 Comment

  • Paul says: July 22, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    Hi,

    Love your blog. I’m a 33 Father of two from the UK. Father Fitness is my own journey from first-time Father to fitness and events to fundraising.

    Would you support my journey by agreeing to do a link trade please?

    Thanks for the consideration and keep up the great work.

    Paul
    Father Fitness

    Email :: paul@fatherfitness.co.uk
    Website :: http://www.fatherfitness.co.uk

    Reply
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    About Me

    I’m Colleen. I started this blog when I was 23 years old and training for my first marathon. I was single, semi-employed, generally directionless in life, and had a lot of free time on my hands. I have a lot less free time now, but I still love to come here and dump my rambling, unedited thoughts after a workout or race once in a while.

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