Physical Therapy

I learned a little bit from my 2 knee surgeries that I can share. Be patient and disciplined with your PT/recovery. Once you learn the PT routine, you can do most of the exercises at home which is much more convenient. They kicked me out of PT early because I was very diligent in doing exercises on my own. Your knee will tell you when to back off if you are being too aggressive with the exercises. The healing and strengthening process is quite interesting as you progress from day-to-day and week-to-week, much like training for a race. A few setbacks may be encountered, but you will notice relatively steady improvement.

If you have access to a hot tub, I highly recommend it. I found that a few minutes in a hot tub with the jets pointed directly at my knee did wonders for the soreness. Biking and elliptical trainers are wonderful, low impact ways to keep you cardio system in shape, strengthen muscles and assist in getting range of motion back. The quadricep muscle seemed to instantly shrink after each surgery and was very difficult to get back to normal. The bike and elliptical helped develop the quad a lot. I have an both an elliptical trainer and recumbent stationary bike in my den which I use when my knee is acting up.

Hang in there Ron...you will be back on the trails before you know it.

Steve W

Running Books

My favorite book is "The Competitive Runner's Handbook" by Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover. It is an 672 page encyclopedia on running with topics from A to Z. I also have a copy of "Chi Running" which is a unique philosophy on running. It includes some good tips on running form which are especially useful if you are injury prone. The DVD which can be purchased with the book help further illustrate the concepts of Chi Running.

Henry2 a.k.a Steve W

ITB Massage

I had my second physical therapy session today as I recover from arthroscopic surgery on my right knee. Just to recap, I twisted my knee stepping in a hole on September 15th. I went to a walk-in clinic on September 23rd and got a referral to PT. After about 4 weeks of PT I only had minor improvement so I went to see and Orthopedic surgeon. Two weeks later I got MRI results showing a small tear in the medial meniscus. Last Tuesday I had the arthroscopic surgery. The doc found the small meniscal tear, some roughness on the tibular plateau and a thickened medial plica band. She repaired all three of these problems.

In my first post-op PT session I was evaluated and had good range of motion and a little bit of tenderness in some of the tissue around my knee. The swelling was almost completely gone. (This was 6 days after surgery.) The PT had me ride the exercise bike at low resistance for 14 minutes and then did ultrasound, massage, electrical stimulation and icing.

Today, 8 days post surgery, I had a different PT. He did the same treatments except for the massage. Rather than massaging the area immediately around my knee he got a stick, literally a stick about 1" in diameter, and used it to massage my right leg ilio tibial band. He rolled it to massage the tissue and located some very sore spots. He explained that these are adhesions where the ITB has adhered to the muscle. He said that this is important to break up so that my knee cap is not pulled to one side because of the tight / adhered ITB.

I looked up ITB massage using Google after the PT and found an especially good article on the Running Time website. I've added Running Times to the list of web sites and here is a link to the article.

Melanie's Training Blog added to links

Thanks for all the posts!  I've added Melanie's training blog to the list of links.

Here is a suggestion for everyone - post an entry with your one or two favorite / most used running books.

I'll start us off - my favorite running reference book is the "Lore of Running" by Tim Noakes, MD.  This is a bible of running information.  I have the 3rd edition which was published in 1991.  There may be a more recent edition now.  Even though the book is 16 years old it still has very useful information about injuries, injury prevention, training, and other topics too numerous to mention.

Another recent favorite is "Chi Running" by Danny Dreyer.  I've used this book and the accompanying video to learn the Chi Running technique.

Finally, for overall reading, all of the late George Sheehan's books are classics.

Run on.......Ron

My Blog

Hi Marjorie... It's good to hear about you. Ron, cool idea starting this blog. Hi to everybody!

Since Ron invited some people to be contributors, I figure contributing is the right thing to do. Marjorie, I don't think I know you, so here is a little background about me, running-wise.

I was a competitive high school and collegiate runner, and have since become a distance running coach. I'm 26 and in graduate school now, at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, although I went to Hanford HS and Eastern Washington University. I also coached at Hanford High and Nicholls State University in Louisiana. Now, while in school, I help with coaching Bemidji State.

It's been difficult to really focus on running since I started grad school, but I have been good lately about keeping it consistent anyway. I am doing low miles, but am gradually increasing and have my eye on some long-term running goals. Despite my own running situation, one thing I do know is that I am a potentially helpful resource when it comes to running stuff, so never hesitate to ask questions.

One thing I really wanted to mention, and this is for everybody, is that I have an exercise blog that I keep up with pretty dang well. If you wonder what I'm up to with running, you can check it out there. Here's the link: http://www.milesplit.com/members/log.php?msid=CoachHevel. (I apologize that this is not linked, but when added the code to have it be a linked site, once the blog was posted, the link didn't show up at all. I know it's slightly more annoying to have to cut and paste the text of the link!)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Melanie

2007 Scholarship Run field of runners

2007 Scholarship Run field of runners
Originally uploaded by rbmelton

About 15 hearty souls showed up today to run in the drizzly 42F weather. The winning time was 18:57 for the 5K course.

Since I am still recovering from my recent arthroscopic surgery on my right knee I was there volunteering and discovering how cold it is when you aren't running.

Thanks to Coach P for organizing this annual race to raise money for the 3 Rivers Road Runners college scholarship award.

Late Discovery

Ok, I feel a little bit slow right now. This is obviously common knowledge, but I just had a WOW moment. After talking to Uncle Ron the other evening, he mentioned that the protein drink I have been taking before my run would actually be better after my run, I decided to switch it up. Well, I used to drink instant breakfasts before my runs and then this morning ate an Access bar, a nutrition bar that is supposed to turn "fat into fuel". I read the label and discovered that this bar has high carbs, similar to my instant breakfasts. Here comes my WOW moment... After jogging a higher energy jog today I realized that I have been sluggish since switching from the high carb pre-run breakfast to the high protein drink.
I have to thank Uncle Ron again, although everyone knows that carbs give you energy, it never occurred to me until today when I switched to the high carb bar (thanks to his advise) that it could be the reason for my slump in morning energy. I hope I continue to have more of these moments!
Have a Happy Sunday!
Marjorie

Why this blog?

Yesterday afternoon I was im'ing with my niece.  She is a fairly new runner and recently completed her first 1/2 marathon placing third in her age group.  (Yeah Marje!)

I told her I would put together a list of running web sites and e-mail them to her.  As I thought about it I realized a blog where the list can be kept up to date would be more useful.

So here it is.  I also hope that we can share tips, news, stories about running and anything elses that comes to mind.

Enjoy!

Scholarship Run

If you are in town come on out and run in the Scholarship XC fun run.  Jim Peterson directs this race to raise money for the Three Rivers Road Runners annual college scholarship.

The run will be on Sunday Nov. 18 1:00 PM at the Pasco XC course.  $5.00 entry fee.