This week’s stats as of Sunday – 13 weeks until Berlin Marathon, 10 weeks post injury… 10 weeks is getting pretty close to that suggested “12 week recovery” mark, but yet the injury still hasn’t changed. It has it’s good days (less pain) and it’s angered days. If the past 9 weeks were the “patiently waiting” cycle, this week has become the “experimental” week. Testing the waters to see what my body will tolerate. It was a bit of a rollercoaster with interesting events at PT on Weds, and my reaction the following days. I did get another 100 mile week of biking (yay!). Here’s what went down….
Mon – 30 mile bike ride. Getting it done before 8am. Woohoo! When I started out my Garmin was still in dark mode at 6am! This was a good ride – great weather (a bit chilly!), low wind, low traffic.
A short walk in the evening was necessary to finish my audiobook – the Great Gatsby.
Tues – 1.5 mile run/walk. Back at it again, but with changes. I wore my brace again and decided I better do some experimenting. Would I be able to maintain a sub 14:10 pace, which would be required to complete the Berlin marathon in the course limit of 6:15? My body surely isn’t feeling up to more than a few miles right now, but what kind of pace can I do right now? Sure enough a run/walk ratio of 1 min run / 3 min walk did result in a 14:07 pace for 1.5 miles, which was the good news. But the bad news was that this was not a good feeling for my injury.
30 mile biking – Ladies Ride night! A good turnout tonight. I biked to and from the event with a total of 30 miles for the night. I’m not a hard seltzer fan at all, but I did have an interesting drink after my ride – a SunnyD seltzer. It was yummy!
Weds – Physical therapy day!! This visit took an unexpected turn. After explaining my issue to the PT he said 9 weeks was enough time for a tendon to be healed, so why is there pain still? “How do you feel about needles?” he asked. Well heck yeah, I’m all for them if they will fix me! He explained that dry needling can loosen up muscles that are “stuck”. This was my first experience with dry needling and didn’t know what to expect. I was sold! I think he put 3 needles in and hit some spots which really made me twitch. He also explained that “happy muscles don’t react that way”. It was a miracle – right after he did that I no longer felt the pain! I was able to run back and forth in the office and did not feel the tightness. Hallelujah! He also gave me a massage to break up some scar tissue which was quite uncomfortable. Things I remember from this appointment: “might feel more beat up”, “only a temporary fix”, giving me the “ok to try it out, but don’t run 5 miles”, “should fix it, but not sure how much it will fix it”. I could have hugged that guy as I happily skipped out of my appointment. What an amazing visit!
My excitement was short-lived when I tried to run a few hours later. Dang it, I still feel some pain! It’s not the same pain, and not as much, but still, I stopped at one mile and was a bit bummed at the turn around.
Thurs – 30 miles biking. I woke up quite sore from the PT visit and needed something to cheer me up. A bike ride was in order! I rode my hilly route and racked up a few successes – I hit 31 mph on a downhill and 16.2 mph average for 30 miles. It was a good ride! The ride loosened up my sore tendon and improved my mood.
Fri – 1.5 miles running + 3 miles run/walking. Ok, time to give running a try again. While running 1.5 miles I still had pain and tightness, although it was in a different area and not quite the same as before. Still, not great. So I decided to do run/walk intervals of 30 seconds running and 1:30 walking. This felt decent enough and I completed 3 miles this way. Overall pace 14:09, so this will be considered a win due to pace (faster than 14:10 needed for Berlin) and I have completed my “long run” goal for this week of 4 miles. Hey, I’ll take a win however I can get it!
Then we went camping! Camping is always my happy place. This trip was to Chain O’ Lakes in Indiana. A new campground for us. The campground was quite busy but our campsite was nice. We went to a ranger talk about stars and constellations.
Sat – We kayaked on the chain of lakes. The connectors between the lakes were very peaceful. I really liked it!
Can you figure out what movie scene I was recreating on our hike?? It might have something to do with our upcoming European vacation!
Sun – 10 miles biking. I had to finish up my week of biking to get those 100 miles in. I also tried something else new – aqua jogging! I did buy a flotation belt, but before I tried that out I wanted to make sure the motion didn’t bother my leg so I used some other pool equipment. It seemed to be OK for the 15 mins I did it. I will make an effort to incorporate more of this into my weekly workouts!
I’ve got no kitten pictures this week, but Sam has been his usual spunky kitten self! Instead I have a picture of my daughter who is turning into my mini me 🙂 She got my old road bike when I bought a new one. She has never been a fan of biking, until now. She biked 20 miles tonight. Kudos to her!
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: Have you ever had dry needling?? If so, how many appointments did you need until you saw improvement?
Way to go on the biking! Wow, especially 30 miles BEFORE work! I had some dry needling last year, when I was seeing a PT for my hip/hamstring issue(s). It seemed to help a lot, but definitely not a “cure.” My PT gal also worked me hard with various exercises and she did some massaging. This was over the course of maybe 8 months (?). It sounds like things are improving for you, though!
It was a bit of a letdown after I had such a successful PT appointment! At least that removes any doubt that it was some sort of stress fracture.
Did you say 8 weeks? 🤣🤣 That’s my timeline. I know these hamstring issues do last a long time. Seems like forever.
I have had some relief with dry needling in the past. It takes a few sessions but I did feel like it helped. I also had lots of pain relief from Prolotherapy. I’ve used it for hamstring and glute issues in the past. You did have a solid week of workouts and lots of cycling so that’s good news
Dry needling was quite interesting. We’ll see what this week brings. Maybe some sort of a shot is the next step if I don’t progress faster. My patience is wearing out 😩
I have never had dry needling but I’m with you… if it will help, sign me up!
Your daughter looks EXACTLY like you! That’s so cool!
I want to know what movie scene you were trying to recreate! I’m so excited for your travel!
Sound of Music! 🤣 Maybe you had to be there to hear me singing 🎶
A great biking week… you are keeping fit but I’m sad about your injury.
I’ve never had dry needling. I’m a big fan of ART which is painful but I’ve had great results (not immediately of course.)
Fingers crossed you are on the road to recovery… finally.
I’m sad about my injury this week too! It wasn’t bad when I was being patient, but now I’m saying “enough already!!” At least I have travel planning for the trip to keep my mind occupied. The marathon is just a part of the trip!
You’ve been so patient, but I can only imagine the building frustration especially as the time drags on and Berlin approaches. It sounds like there was definitely some improvement and a “shift” in areas of pain after the dry needling? So maybe a couple of more sessions will be useful? Glad you got to end the week on a happier note with some camping.
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We just planned a longer camping trip for my husband and I when the kids are back in college. I do enjoy camping! So relaxing.
I agree, something is happening on my injury now and, fingers crossed, it is heading in the right direction!
I have not tried dry needling, but I would try it if I thought it would help. Your PT appointment sounds interesting- and I think the fact that you felt pain but it was “different” the next day is a very good sign. Anything different is good! Sometimes our bodies are holding onto old injuries that SHOULD be healed, and they need to be shaken up a little. I like your run/walk strategy, and also the fact that you’re trying pool running! Fingers crossed, but I’m thinking you’ll have a good week this week.
Thanks for the encouragement! And for getting me interested in trying pool running! I think it will a good workout for me. I agree – “different” pain means something good!
My husband had dry needling on his ITB and was a fan but I freaked out and couldn’t face it (this was about 15 years ago, I probably would nowadays!). I am worried for you but I suppose it’s all booked and can’t be cancelled / deferred? And I empathise, last few weeks I’ve had a sharp pain in my knee when I’ve run downhill or “faster”. I expect it’s “runner’s knee” and I’ve booked in with my physio hopefully for Monday but at this point really I’m like, if it needs this much effort just for me to run around a bit at 12mm, should I just give up? Oh, I’ve had scar tissue worked out on my hamstring last year owwwwwwww.
Yep, there is no turning back on Berlin now! A full marathon is a really long haul, but if I can make it through the first half with at least a decent run/walk pace I will be happy. The 2nd half could be slower. I just want to get to the finish! Dry needling was very interesting. I’m going back on Friday and I suppose more will be done!
I hope your knee improves. That is frustrating!
You’re always out and about doing such nice things! Such as hiking and camping and whatnot. The scenery there looks wonderful.
How cool that your daughter is getting into biking!
I’m so sorry that your injury is taking so long to improve. I guess tendons can be like that… ugh. It’s good that you have a physiotherapist involved though. And good that you’re getting some other (non-running) training done.
Are you planning to visit any other places in Europe or just Germany?
Our trip will include Germany (day trip to Salzburg… Sound of Music!), and France. I can’t wait!!
I’m very happy to see my daughter enjoying her bike rides. I haven’t convinced her to join a group ride, but that does take time to feel comfortable riding in a group so I don’t blame her.
I hope you see good results with the dry needling. I’ve had it two different times, both with and without electrical stimulation. It’s hard to tell how much it helped versus the other stuff because it was part of ongoing therapy for my spine issues. I always felt great after having it done, though.
You got some great bike rides in last week! And how great is it that your daughter is enjoying cycling. You guys can ride together!
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Right now my daughter pretty much rides alone, or with her boyfriend, but hopefully she will enjoy riding with us more regularly. She does enjoy borrowing my cycling jerseys 😉
Oh, I was going to ask “why did he not suggest dry-needling sooner”… and yes, I’d really like to know how long it takes wit the needles to see improvement/healing. I am glad it seems to have helped a little.
I have not had a dry-needling experience. Is it painful?
The dry needling really didn’t hurt. Not like getting a shot. It was maybe a little odd, or uncomfortable at some points – and super weird when it made my leg jump when he hit the tight muscle. I thought it might hurt, but nope! I felt the relief immediately, and then a bit of pain. And now – 8 days out – it is feeling good again! I was concerned that I would get some sort of exercise which would aggravate my muscle, so I waited this long to go to PT. Maybe I should have gone sooner!
You must be so frustrated with this injury! I’m glad that dry needling helped relieve some pain. I’ve never tried it, but I’ve heard great things about it. Fingers crossed that this is the treatment you need to get you moving again!