Just like April

I feel just like I did in April when I first hurt my hamstring. Well, maybe not quite as bad. Sitting is uncomfortable but tolerable. My range of motion is restricted right now, I'm sore, but it's not too bad overall.

I'll take the dogs out for a walk after work today. I'll walk on the roads rather than trails to keep the risk of a fall or re-injury to a minimum.

I mentioned to the doctor yesterday that I had tickets to the Penn State football game this weekend, and he was a little freaked out. Then I clarified that my wife and son are going to the game and I'm staying home. He didn't think it was a good idea for me to spend 10 straight hours in a car right now.

So, for the next few days, I'll put some extra time in at work, do some easy walking, make sure I continue to eat well, practice my guitar, sit on an ice pack periodically, and then enjoy a weekend with my daughter.

Overall, based on my recent workouts and the minor injuries that have popped up, a period of reduced activity will be good for this old body of mine.

I'm really glad that the PRP is behind me and I can now wait and watch for its results.

PRP - Three Needles

The first needle was to remove about a cup of blood from my body. This wasn't too bad despite the large needle size, and it was done quickly.

Then, while the lab spun down the blood, the doctor and ultrasound tech tried to find the injury spot with the ultrasound machine. Eventually, they were convinced they'd found the area. By now, the blood had been spun down and the injection was ready.

Injection number 2 was some lidocaine, although I'm not sure how much it helped.

Injection number 3 was the PRP. It was done with a 22 gauge spinal (long) needle. It seemed to take forever to get the needle to the right spot and it was somewhere between uncomfortable and painful, tending towards painful.

For the next ten days, I'm not allowed to run or do lower body lifting. I can walk, I can swim using leg buoys, and I can do upper body weights. In ten days, I can start running easily and I can start doing lower body weights at low levels of effort.

Right now, I'm just going to relax a bit.

Today's the day - PRP

Last night, I decided to do an upper body lifting day for the second day in a row. I thought it would be tough, but I felt better than expected. I pushed up the weights on almost all of my lifts and had a good workout. I'm curious where I would be if I tried a max weight bench press right now. Of the three powerlifts, my bench press lags far behind my squat and deadlift. But, I feel like my bench press is coming along pretty well right now.

My arms weren't too tired to pull out the guitar last night and practice for an hour or so. Sometimes, it almost sounds like part of a song is coming out of the guitar. But, I change from one note or chord to another so slowly that things that should be recognizable aren't.

Last night, I was working on the opening of the Scorpions' song "Hurricane":

"Here I am, rock you like a hurricane"

It was only after I told my wife what I was trying to play that it clicked for her.

I have the openings to Ironman and Smoke on the Water down pretty well, but I imagine most second graders could do that as well.

I got up early this morning and did an easy 45 minute run before sunrise. I probably won't be allowed to run for a week or two, so I wanted to sneak in a run before the PRP treatment.

I'm working today from the hospital where I used to work. In 90 minutes, I head upstairs to register and then have about 8 oz. of blood taken. That blood will be spun down until they can extract a few cc's of platelet rich plasma. Then, I'll get at least one lidocaine injection to numb the hamstring area before they inject the PRP into the vicinity of the torn tendon. Then, it's up to my body to heal itself.

So, I'm looking at a minimum of three needles today. Yuck!

But, if this treatment works, my running gait should be close to normal in just a few weeks.

If it's not one thing...

So, the minor injury to my right leg is actually in the groin, not the hamstring. That became apparent yesterday when I was doing an upper body lifting workout. One of the lifts was barbell push presses, and on the 4th rep of the first set, it felt like my leg just exploded. I had to sit down for a bit and then walk around the gym until things settled down a bit. I was able to complete the workout, but I made some minor changes. Instead of push presses, I did just presses, with no lower body motion at all. And, instead of iron crosses, which require a squatting motion, I did a simple dumbbell complex.

After lifting, I spent three hours doing yardwork at home. The whole family pitched in, including the kids. After a few hours, we were all tired and exhausted and soaked with sweat. The only solution to that was a celebratory end-of-summer, end-of-yardwork ice cream cone. There were many smiles when I made the suggestion. My wife and I eat ice cream very, very rarely, but even she was thrilled with the idea yesterday.

After our ice cream, we gave the keys to the new car to my son to drive us home. He was a bit nervous, but he did a great job. His control of the car while it's moving is really excellent. He had one exciting moment when he came around a corner and an oncoming car was in the middle of the road. But, he deftly moved as far right as he could, and the other car moved out of the way. He said he was prepared to take us off the road to avoid the collision if necessary, which was the right answer.

He's still perplexed by manual transmission issues, but he's getting to drive automatics in driver's ed in school. Eventually, it will all come together, but he's making good progress. He can't get his license until next June anyway.

Today, I think I'll rest my right leg again, so I'm going to do my Friday upper body workout after work tonight.

Tomorrow, I don't know if I'll train or not. I've got my PRP treatment at 10 a.m. tomorrow, so I'd have to do something early. I might do an easy run if my leg feels OK.

This week is a good time for the treatment. I'm swamped at work (I worked a lot this weekend) and my wife and son are going out of town to see the Penn State-Syracuse game on Saturday. So, my daughter and I will have a quiet weekend together. We'll probably both spend some time playing with my guitar. My left index finger remains sore from playing, but I'm slowly seeing some improvements. Lessons start this week or next.

Sometimes, it's nice to not have a fixed goal out there

Usually, I thrive on races. It's not the race itself that matters so much, but rather the focus that a race gives to my training. Right now, I have no target race. I'm simply working on staying fit, trying to lose some body fat, and waiting for my hamstring to get better.

So, while I start each week with a training plan for the week, I can change things around whenever it's convenient. Yesterday, for example, I was planning to do a lower body lifting workout. But, I was still sore from my Thursday lifting workout, so I decided to ride my bike instead.

I decided I'd ride for about two hours and had a really nice ride. I pushed a bit harder than I'd planned and I was tired by the end, but it was a good workout. After the ride, I goofed off for the rest of the day. My wife and daughter are still out of town, so my son and I had a relaxing day. I did some work, watched a movie, cleaned the kitchen, and watched a baseball game on TV.

My wife ran 27:10 in her 5K on Saturday. Her goal was sub-27, which would have been a 40+ PR for her (she ran 27 flat at this same race 7 years ago when she was 40), but she couldn't quite pull it off. After that race, she decided to stay at her parents' camp a bit longer and skip the race this morning. I was only going to go to the race because she wanted to run, so today's workout was suddenly changed. So, I decided I'd do my lower body lifting day today since I'm finally not sore.

Then, this morning, while I was waking up and stretching a bit, I managed to do something to my right (non-injured) hamstring. You know you're getting old when you can pull a muscle in bed while doing nothing at all.

It's just a minor tweak to the hamstring, but I'll play it safe. So now, my plan is to do an upper body lifting day today and then lower body tomorrow. After I lift, I'll mow the lawn. What an exciting life I lead!

The PRP treatment for my hamstring is in two days. After the treatment, I'll have to take it easy for about two weeks or so. Even though my training has not been targeted to an event, I'm still working hard almost every day of the week. I think some forced rest, or at least some easier training days, will be good for me right now.

Last week, I lifted four times, rode my bike twice for a total of 3.5 hours, and ran once for 90 minutes. That's about nine hours of training. I'm enjoying the variety in my training right now, but I'd really like to get back to being a runner.

Better than expected

I had to run my 8 miler solo this morning, because my wife was out running her 5K. I haven't heard any results from her yet and I might now hear until tomorrow night. After the race, she headed to her parents' camp in northeastern VT for a visit.

I was sore from my last two weight workouts and I was really apprehensive about the run, but it went surprisingly well. I was two minutes slower than last week when I ran the loop with my wife, but I was very happy to run that speed.

Now, I'm watching the Penn State game on TV rather than doing some housework I should be doing.

Tomorrow, I am planning to lift before I put a half-hearted effort into a tough 8 mile race on Monday. I certainly hope that my wife beats me on Monday considering how fit she is right now.

My left index finger is sore and a little bit numb from too much guitar practice. I guess this is my first guitar "injury".

It really did look easy

But, with each passing hour, I seem to be more and more sore. Now, my quads are getting sore.

Upper body lifting in half an hour. I hope I can make it.