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Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Recovering (still); "Wait and See" period

Arrived in Minnesota late Saturday. Three-day drive, not so bad. On Sunday, June 30, I ran in the Mid-Atlantic/NJ Masters meet at Kean University in Union, NJ. I only registered for the 400m. It wasn't a great meet--the heats were organized so strangely. They had a heat for each 5-year age group, so some heats only had two runners, and a few had 4-5 runners. There was no other runner for my age group, so they tacked me on to the 70-74 group, which seemed odd because there were two runners in the 65-69 age group. I asked to be switched, but I had to stay in lane 7--the other two guys were in lanes 2 and 3. I never really saw them during the race, though I did hear Jeff Flock's footsteps when I rounded second curve, so it kept me motivated, so I'm grateful I got into his heat (he's a strong runner at 66!). I ran 1:05, two seconds slower than my first race on June 3rd. Also, in the last 100 meters or so, my hamstring began to hurt again--not enough for me to have to stop the race or significantly slow down--but still, I had to mentally manage it. In the week after, I took it easy, doing Pilates and weights but no real running or stair climbing. After my last acupuncture and cupping session with Dr. Aaron, (which was the Wednesday before that meet), I had areas of numbness along the back of my upper leg. I looked online, and it said if you experience that after acupuncture, tell your acupuncturist, because it means the treatment is working.  But I had also been experiencing a tight right glute before that treatment, and another website said its possible that I had:

"Hamstring syndrome is a condition caused by pressure on this nerve. The nerve may be pinched between the hamstring muscles and the pelvic bone or by the band of tissue that connects the hamstring muscles. This condition can cause pain in the hip and buttock and sometimes numbness down the back of the leg."

so . . . I am not sure what is going on. I still sense some numbness. The long and short of all this is that I am supposed to leave for Sacramento, for Nationals, a week from tomorrow. The 400m heats are on Thursday, July 18, the finals the next day. I need to make a call as to whether or not I will go. Yesterday I saw Sandy and she gave me an incredible massage/treatment. She found tight/sore spots on outer of upper leg/hip area and glute, and she really worked in there. It felt so good, such relief! I went for a 3 mile slow run yesterday before seeing her, and my hamstring did feel tight/sore/weak still. Today I did 30 minutes of the stair climb at gym and chest. I did some of the hamstring strengthening exercises yesterday, too. I guess I will repeat tomorrow.  Sandy says people use the track at the Pequot Lakes High School--I went by yesterday, but no one was running and the place looked locked up. 

I will post again soon, just so I have a record of this long and vexing recovery! 

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