Setbacks Become Successes

If you have been following me you know I have been struggling with a knee injury (IT band) for about two and a half months. I have been going to physical therapy to work on my flexibility and strength. I must say therapy has really helped, because my IT band no longer bothers me. I started swapping the bike for the treadmill as a warm up....one minute at 2.0 speed and 5 minutes (somewhere between 3.2-3.5) nothing higher. Just a light jog to get my heart rate up and making contact with my knee. Then up to a total of 8-10 minutes or until I no longer can. But let's be honest eight minutes is the max I can do! It is hard to listen to someone else when all you want to do is push yourself harder, but you know if you do it could not end well.

I started to be very cautious of how I run/walk. Because instead of my original issue it was as my right foot was landing my knee was going in, causing the inside to hurt & then I was feeling burning underneath my knee cap (tendinitis)

How are my feet landing?

Is it something I can do to prevent it? 

Should I take bigger strides?

Come down softer on my feet?

The PT asks how I feel as I'm winded (since its the only cardio I have done in 2 months). I tell him I try to consciously make an effort of thinking how to land and he says stop, don't do that. Because this simple motion should be natural. So my next step is to ask, "how does this get fixed?" it all comes with practice, working on my at home exercises, and having someone watch me/video tape me as I'm doing my agility work to see what I'm doing. 

The struggle is real. It's difficult to be told no. It's hard accepting you are limited to exercises you should do. No one wants to be told don't push yourself to hard. And everyone wants to be fixed, but QUICKLY!

But how do your struggles become your successes?

 

Every struggle pushes you to your limit. You listen to your body and understand exactly what you need. This diagnosis may seem so little to some, but to others it may be a different story. But we all have two choices: you can either accept it & push forward doing all the things you can to make yourself better OR you can throw your hands up &give up....the choice is always yours.

That is EXACTLY what I did. I could have told the therapist no, I don't care about never running again. Is it a life or death situation? No, but it would be nice to run when I can. But I choose to fight. I choose to do whatever it takes to be able to jog or sign up for another 5k. And in the process I grew my muscle strength, flexibility, and overcame it. But it is nice to enjoy your hard work for just a little while. 

Only for a little while? YEP! Because in the middle of fixing my IT band (which it is strengthened) it has brought out another issue....not because of fixing it, but because my IT band has never been properly functioning neither have other parts of my knee. I now either have a stress fracture or petula tendonitis. How fun right?

So now that physical therapy has come to an end, what does that mean? Do I stop and quit doing all the exercises that were given to me. NOPE! I still continue to do them. Practice makes perfect and I have to continue to build up that strength & I have to continue to work on getting my knee straight. If I stop doing what I have been doing for the past two months all my hard work is going to get thrown out the window and honestly it will all be for nothing. That first time I run; I will be right back where I started. So even though we have overcome the first issue (success) we now have another issue on hand (another setback). And that is just okay. Because every little setback makes up for a bigger & better comeback.

 

When you receive bad news, get diagnosed with a health issue, or you become injured...YA it is never fun & you may not know what you are going to do, but you have two choices when this happens. You can either throw your hangs up & give up before the journey starts. Or you can choose to fight this battle full force and give it everything you have got.

 

Your setbacks make you into the person you are today and the person you will be down the road. The choices you make today help determine your future. Like the book "the slight edge" says stay consistent over time, there may be things you do not always feel like doing, but do them ANYWAYS.

 

Consistency is KEY! 

 

And that is what is going to make you stronger. That is what is going to allow you to overcome your struggles and your setbacks!

 

REAL TALK: Look how far you have come

I've actually had this post in mind for about a week. I have delayed writing it. It's almost like I lose my words when I start writing & stare at the blank screen.

Why? Because last Thursday to be exact was one month of physical therapy. One month and I was to be done and back to "normal" (is what I thought). And here we are five weeks in and my therapist drew out another months plan to get approved, but we are trying two weeks to see where I am. 

When week four hit, I was so excited & anxious to get back into running or start cardio again. I never in a million years would have ever imagined hearing me say, "I miss cardio." But I do. So, on Monday we decided to try running on the treadmill...slow jog. If it started to get painful I was to get back to walking. Not even three minutes in & I was feeling the pain. I had to instantly stop, got off the treadmill, and I was limping. My therapist looked at me and said, "okay so we learned-you are not ready to run yet." I literally looked him the eyes (disappointed) & said... maybe I am just not meant to run.

 

 

He told me I am, just not right now. I thought about how this really affected me at that moment. How I really felt & I was so upset, that I was not 100% and could still not run. For four weeks, 2 times a week, for at least an hour each time I would go to physical therapy and for what? Was it working? Is it worth it?

 

It is worth it. I am always telling myself progress vs. perfection. I may not be able to run & get cardio in. But the bigger picture is I have come much further than I was on day one. On day one I had no strength or flexibility. I was moving like a snail on every single exercise & almost in tears. I couldn't walk, my knee never relaxed, and I was just uncomfortable. Even though I am not done, I have come so far. My strength and flexibility have improved greatly. I am moving faster through my exercise, upping my reps, using more resistance.

 

You may not be where you want to be  at that moment, but take it all in and remember where you started.

 

So, I will admit I was down because I am STILL going to physical therapy. And still have at least one more week if not more. But I know to trust the process and be patient. Everything happens for a reason and I am only going to come back stronger!!

 

IT Band Injury

Are you a runner? A sports athlete? Physically active?

You may be curious as to why I am asking these questions & what it has to do with IT band syndrome. If you workout, run, or play sports this injury is mostly common. 

How do I know? I was diagnosed with about a week and a half ago. I was running with my friends & (I haven't ran much in a while, but I workout daily so I thought my stamina was up). We ran & walked five miles around a local park. I was starting to feel pain, but thought it was just muscle cramps from the heat or beginning to run. Around the last stretch I started to get sharp shooting pains in BOTH knees and at that point I clearly knew something wasn't right. I was in shear-utter pain...could not even walk in tears kinda pain. Came home and just had to ice my knees & try to relax the best way I could. Didn't do any physical activity, but was scheduled to run a 5K that Saturday. I should not have ran 

Saturday comes I get up & I'm super nervous for this fun little thing called run or dye. But promised myself to do what I could. I'm not even sure I ran a whole mile. At one point I caught up with my mom and we were running together, we started going down a grass hill & I just had to stop and go to the side. I was getting the pains again, but this time it felt like someone was stabbing me (not that I know what that feels like) just unbearable pain. Tried to pick up in run, then I'd stop. I heard someone say this is it, the finish line is there so I ran at a slow turtle pace, but did it & right at the end I hit a ditch & knew that was it. Crossed the finish line & so many emotions were running through my head....I was sad, hurt, upset, in pain, emotional, scared, and the list goes on. I stood for a moment looked for my mom & who we can with, when I found them it was a sigh of relief & I just broke down in tears.

Made a doctors appointment, wrote me a script for an MRI- which it came back for Illiotibal Band Syndrome, but wanted me to see an orthopedic because it could have been something more. Started to rest & ice til then. But if you've ever had a injury you know it can be painful & IT WAS! It was a struggle to walk at work, up & down steps, get in & out of the car, & push the pedals while driving. I never felt like I could relax it at all. It always felt tight & tense. And sleeping on my back was the only way I could get "comfortable" ....NOT. Worst way to sleep ever.

So here we are and I had my first physical therapy appointment :

 

 

Nervous and butterflies in my stomach is the best way to put it. My evaluation was surprisingly awful. I had very little strength when he was telling me to push against his hand. I was uncomfortable and uneasy, super sore from just the evaluation. Something just wasn't right & that is because my strength in my muscles & flexibility is slim to none. WHY? I had to ask, I mean I highly active & I stretch and I take care of me. BUT he said it is common in athletes and people who workout daily. When running your hips should be even and sometimes you aren't always, which causes you to put more pressure and shift your hip out, and strain your gluetes, it band, everything else....which in return causes the inflammation I have been having. 

 

I have been given some exercises to do at home twice a day, plus I have to go back to physical therapy twice a week for at least two weeks and if I feel better after that I can knock it down to one. They don't want me to push myself too hard where it starts to hurt like running that 5K, but I have to push myself to where I see results. I haven't ran or worked out since the beginning of June and I just feel lost. I can't relax my knee, I always feel like I'm flexing, and when standing you can tell a difference because my left leg is perfectly straight and the right is bent so I feel lopsided. I feel like it could also be something else, because the other night we were sitting outside just talking and I was getting a tingle feeling & I noticed my knee down to my toes were swollen. I wanted to burst into tears, but I held them back, I got to a point where I couldn't bare the pain anymore. I told them and they are unsure, so I have to monitor it, in case it could be something more serious.  When you are starting to workout, whatever you do, make sure you get a good stretch before & after. They don't just tell you that for your health, it is so important to get a stretch in so your muscles are loose and you don't strain or pull something.

 

 I know nothing more than what they are telling me, but I have started to do research. I plan on keeping everyone in the loop, how physical therapy is going, when I am in pain, what stretches are truly working and which aren't, plus I will answer any questions you may have. Feel free to ask me anything & share with anyone who is going through the same thing. It is never easy when you have to slow down and give up something you love, but to go through it alone is a bit hard as well. Having someone there, knowing how you are feeling, gives you a little comfort.

 

 

 

I am keeping a positive attitude even though I am uncomfortable. I can move a little better than before, but still uncomfortable. Sometimes we have to go through setbacks to get where we need to be. And this is just the beginning of my journey.