I just ruptured my left popliteus muscle. That's what happens when you try to run through an injury; you just shift the stress to another part of the body that isn't used to it and it gets injured. Only an idiot and a fool would try to go from being barely able to walk to running a trail ultramarathon in 5 days.
I'm an idiot and a fool.
Do not try this at home folks. The plan is to take anti-inflammatories, then ice the area until numb, then work the muscles with deep frictional massage. I press on one muscle attachment with my thumb (to keep it from tearing loose!) and then use the heel of the other hand to work along the body of the muscle. After doing that in both directions, I work the body of the muscle from side to side and then press it as hard as possible against the bone underneath. This amount of time will warm the muscle back to normal temperature. I do this several times a day.
Then, because I've got problems with the calf and ankle beneath it, I create a "wobble board," which works similarly to a Bosu ball; a ball is placed under a board and I stand on top of it on the one leg, using the leg muscles to keep me balanced. Additionally, I'll be doing some improvised yoga-based stretching [One ordinarily should never stretch an injured muscle. This is being done to get me through the weekend and then I'll start the recovery process. Again.]
Then to keep some aerobic ability, I'll be biking, running in a pool or (preferably) powerwalking. Today I'm just mowing the lawn, which is an hour of walking.
I plan to toe the line Saturday, arriving early to work out the stiffness from 4 hours of driving. Whether I get past the Poplar River (less than a mile), is anyone's guess.
Interesting
3 days ago
10 comments:
[RBR shows concerned face]
Umm... you are infinitely more experienced at this than me (that is what she said....) but I would be remiss as your friend, if I did not say that I was a smidge concerned about the plan.
@G: FIRST!! Suck it!
If you plan on reaching the Pigeon River within the first mile, you'll at least have the trail all to yourself. Perhaps you meant Poplar River?
Wishing you a speedy recovery and no further damage...
Kel: oops! I was expecting more of a practical trainerish comment from you though. Thanks.
I'm an idiot and a fool.
Hey, welcome to where the rest of us were - what, a year or more ago? - when you dislocated your hip and slammed it back into place against a tree and kept running for 12 more miles.
I agree with RBR: I should SUCK IT. But she needs to be more specific regarding what this bodily "it" of hers is that she wants me to suck.
Also, I agree with her that this "plan" of yours is a bit alarming.
But I'll channel the anxiety it causes me into sucking RBR's "it" more thoroughly.
(God, I hope by "it" she doesn't mean her p*nis ...)
I had no idea that I even had a popliteus muscle...
You aren't going to increase fitness between now and Saturday. If you are dead set on doing the 50 km, why not do nothing but rest and massage (and ice?) between now and Saturday and forget about power walking, pool running, cycling etc.
Oh no. Ruptured popliteus? I'm sure you knew I would comment on this, but how many people can really diagnose themselves with this? And how ARE you sure that's what it is? (Granted my musculoskeletal examination skills are far from perfect and I would love to learn if you've got a secret).
Just as an aside, no one gets away with commenting on my blog and then erasing! I think that girl is actually quite pretty. Granted she does have strangely big eyes, but they are made to look much bigger in the first picture by pharmacological dilation of her pupils. Don't you think? So maybe her eyes aren't really that freaky.
Are you driving up Saturday AM? I have an extra bed in my room at Caribou if you need a place to crash Friday night. Just bring some cherry fudge and we can work something out.
Man, YOUR a fricken ANIMAL!!!
All these hurts and still full speed forward . I see your middle name isn't Steve "reverse" Quick.
My hip doesn't seem to hurt as much now as I read about your issue's.
Heal Fast , Helen what's to yell out,
" How's this blood taste , STEVE"!!
Since I more then likely will not get a chance. 99.99 % sure Turtle will be AWOL @ Superior ,with a CLICKING/grinding hip socket .
Best of luck, i'll keep my finger's crossed for you.
Oddly enough, the Popliteus strain and/or spasm is not all that uncommon. It seems to happen quite frequently with any kind of internal rotational strain on the femoral head's alignment with the tibia. It seems to me that the popliteus (which naturally acts to lock and unlock the knee in the early degrees of flexion) goes into spasm to guard against any additional torsion strains on the knee.
Even stranger still, I was going to post about ART--a technique I use a lot on popliteus issues. Here's a link to something on Running Times TODAY about it. http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19503
I agree with Piccola--get the leg taken care of and rest!
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