Water Aerobics Class

I went to water aerobics class at the gym yesterday morning, and the 60-minute class was wonderful exercise that wore me out! My right IT band is being fussy now too. <sigh> I'll continue my physical therapy stretches and see what I can do about that. It was great to get some good exercise for a change, and nice to be part of a class too. I've missed running with the Raleigh Galloway group.


Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Physical Therapy Starts Today!!

I begin  physical therapy for my left leg and right ankle after work today! Yippee! I can't tell you how excited I am about moving forward with treatment. I've already started looking at spring half marathons, which may be overzealous (and I have to be careful about that!), but it's fun to dream.

Physical Therapy Starts Next Week!

On Tuesday, I visited the orthopaedist (sports medicine specialty) about my left leg, and she confirmed the diagnosis of IT Band Syndrome. I made my initial physical therapy appointment for next week. I've had PT before, with a high success rate, so I'm looking forward to that!

This afternoon, I saw a PA (physician's assistant) in a foot & ankle specialty office about my right ankle, which has been giving me problems since my spring Couch-to-5K. (I could've seen a doctor, but the wait was longer, next appointment was sometime in November!) I saw my podiatrist about the ankle in June, and he took x-rays ("clear"), poked and prodded (no tendonitis), and prescribed an expensive topical cream (which I've used sporadically).

I gave today's PA the history of my right ankle, and she looked at the x-rays as well as the bottoms of my running shoes. In hardly any time at all, she diagnosed my problem as "varus hindfoot." Basically, I run on the outside of my heels, and seem to be right-leg dominant at it, hence the right ankle pain. My bottoms of my running shoes revealed more wear/compression on the outside of my heels, too. She prescribed ankle strengthening exercises to my already-scheduled physical therapy, and suggested I stop at a nearby orthotic/prosthetic business, the Center for Orthotic and Prosthetic Care in Durham. I stopped in, and they were able to see me right then! Since I already have custom orthotics, they were able to add wedges to the back of the orthotics to help balance my heels. I could tell a difference (and improvement) immediately! Tomorrow will be my first full day in the adjusted orthotics, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that they still feel good in 24 hours.

I feel a big sense of relief that my leg and ankle will be well enough to start exercising again soon! Maybe I'll be able to do some spring races!

Back to the Doctor

Ouch! IT Band Syndrome is back, definitely in my left leg, and maybe in my right leg too. The ankle pain continues to be pesky too. So I have two appointments next week, one with a sports medicine doctor, and another with a physician's assistant at the foot and ankle place. So, it may be a while before I can exercise-doing cardio, anyway. I bet there will be some physical therapy in my future!

Meanwhile, I had an hour-long phone consultation with a nurse in Duke's DukeWell program this morning. This first health goal I'm going to work on is keeping healthy snacks on hand at work and at home.

September Progress

I'm pleased with my exercise progress in September, which included 14.48 miles of walking and 18.10 miles of stationary biking, in addition to some weightlifting. With the plantar fasciitis returning to my left foot and a fussy right ankle (which the podiatrist says is not tendonitis), I may be looking at other ways of tracking my fitness progress, like cardio and strength training minutes. I've been thinking about taking some group classes at the gym, including water aerobics (no mileage but a great workout!) to vary the exercise and take a load of the foot and ankle. (I've even thought about swimming laps.) Another option might be the cycling classes at the gym. They seem a little intimidating to me, but I'll never know until I try!