Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Injury Blehs

I know I've been MIA for a while now - as it turns out, a couple of weeks ago, my hamstring started bothering me. It was cramping up, felt worse when I was sitting down and didn't seem to recover over night (ie. something about the position I slept in wasn't helping it either).

Now while I was able to keep up my running, I pared it down quite a bit - shorter runs and not as fast. As for the rest of my P90X, I cut out all squats and lunges (so no Legs and Back, and no Plyo. *sniff*) and I trimmed down all the left-legged warriors in Yoga X. (ha! those left-legged warriors... so sneaky!)

While that still left a reasonable amount of working out - and I'm still doing something pretty much 5 days a week, it's been a bit frustrating and I haven't been able to talk myself into writing about the workouts, much less write about the Recovery Drink Showdown and the Runner's P90X plan I've promised I would. Don't worry - I haven't forgotten.

In the meantime, I've been trying to do my best and treat myself like a pro-athlete: Numerous massages, icing, heating, wrapping... the works. It's just frustrating that it doesn't seem to be getting better. I know that my sitting at a desk isn't helping it, but there's not that much I can do about that - it's my work!

So sorry to keep you all hanging - I promise I'll do my best to get back on track and hopefully this pain will go away soon enough.

(As to what caused it, I'm not sure, but I think I may have strained it in a plyo squat jumping move perhaps?)

4 comments:

mjs said...

ah the old injury blehs...mysteriously something like 10 weeks ago or so, out of nowhere a line of tenderness and weakness showed up in the center line of my left deltoid and at the same time buried deep inside my left lower back (psoas/ quadratus lumborum - something in there) just became totally weak and unstable. Not so much sore just weak.

No injury, no pops, no nothing. And it has been healing very, very slowly.

While I am on P90x plus now, I have had to modify some stuff or hold back in some spots...I shortened Plyo today by not repeating any of the sequences.

But what I have found has helped most is really intense body work rather than your garden variety massage. Structural realignment, myofacial release and other stuff like the Alexander Technique.

As for the siting stuff...look into an ergonomic chair of some sort or a kneeling style chair. Also beak up your sitting with the "third world squat"

http://www.t-nation.com/img/photos/07-210-training/image006.jpg

You'll notice that in third-world countries, there will be a lot of situations where people are hanging out or working, and rather than sitting or kneeling down, they squat. They can sit like this comfortably for hours. It seems like a simple thing and can be easily overlooked, but try it some time. The average North American adult can't even get into this position, let alone stay there for any length of time.

Your sit bones will drop and your back will traction nicely and you'll get stronger in a passive way while increasing your knee and ankle flexibility.

Hoosier Daddy said...

The planets must be in alignment. I've been out of action for the better part of a week now suffering from and now recovering from the flu.

I was all ready for the start of week 5 and now it looks like I may be starting over again.

Anonymous said...

Hello, Just checking out to see how you've progressed since the last time I posted a comment under "UltraRunner71" (Jan '08). Looks like you've sustained a little injury. Hope you're feeling better and on the road to recovery. I am still challenging myself as well with P90X and using that to train for two upcoming ultra marathons. I've also created a blog to chronicle my experiences and keep a journal of my training: http://thinkfeeldo-phoenix71.blogspot.com/ . Because of P90X I feel more confident in my running abilities and I look forward to the challenges I'll face at my upcoming races. Hope your recovery is quick and you continue with your marathon training.
Semper Fi!
P71

Sara said...

Hey guys, thanks for the notes! I've been gone for the past month, working a ton then travelling and playing :)
Am back in town and just got p90x+, so am all set to get back on track (esp. since my hamstring seems to be feeling better - funny what rest can do!)

Keep an eye out - new post later today and an exciting new giveaway!

Phoenix71 - look forward to checking out your blog.