PT Update

I met with my new physiotherapist on Monday, Kathy. She's very experienced and thorough. I was really impressed with my assessment appointment. I was contorted into all kinds of great pretzel-like positions, twisted, turned, lifted and bent. We also had a nice chat about footstrike, shoes, ChiRunning and more.

The interesting news is that my foot hasn't hurt at all since the half marathon. A little bit the day after, but really, it's nothing compared to two weeks ago. My lower back was quite sore, though, which should give you an idea of where I'm going with this....

Her conclusion is that my upper back (thoracic spine) and gluteus medius are not doing their jobs. Honestly, my glute is non-existent and that's not good when it comes to running long distances. Their underperformance means that my lower back does all the work and bears all the weight. And when I ask too much of it by running long distances, it freaks out, compressing the nerves, making my feet hurt.

So the new approach is to address this over the long term. We want to work on opening up my upper back and strengthening my glute. I think this is a good idea, given that the pain has subsided and my back is no longer in freakout mode.

I ran a short run on Sunday morning on her advice, but I had quite a few cobwebs in my legs and it was ridiculously humid, so it was only 3K. But no pain or tightness in the foot. Tonight I'm going to play an ultimate frisbee game (my first since late 2009) with Husband's team and then PT in the morning. Hopefully she'll give me the all clear to resume running regularly again.