PT Day 1

I had my first appointment for physical therapy this morning and it was pretty educational. I met with Bob who is a PT and evaluated me today. He watched me walk around for a while with my shoes on and then had me do a few flexibility tests, which I really excel at. He then had me stand on one foot and raise up and down on my toes a few times which hurt a VERY little bit in my left ankle. One of the more interesting tests I thought was standing shoulder with apart and keeping my heels down, bend my knees keeping them pointed forward and go as low as I could. There is a surprising difference in how far I can go down on my right side vs left side. My left ankle has a smaller range of motion than the right. Chalk that up to my deformity i guess! He then ran me through the exercises in the picture and they were surprisingly difficult for me to do(really only the 3rd one).


His theory in a nutshell is that I am muscularly unbalanced. I have very strong quadricep muscles and weak hamstrings. I can "push" really well but can't "brake" very well. So the good news is is that he believes this is going to resolve my problem and I have to meet once a week for the next couple of weeks to check on my exercise form and maybe add some as the process moves along.

It was a good meeting and I finally feel like I know the direction I need to take this. He said I am clear to do all forms of exercise except running, which he wants me to do some "power" walking for a little bit. Hopefully I can find those 2 lb dumbbells I have laying around to join my neighbor on his walks! I have to use an ice cup after any strenuous workout just to protect the area from inflammation. So that means I am not to far off where I need to be, since my base training phase starts in a week. I can at the very least be biking again, which when it comes down to it, is really all I care about! I need to start caring about running soon, but it feels good to know I am not allowed to start yet!

Here is how the day went:

8:00 - vanilla blueberry walnut smoothie
10:45 - coffee
11:00 - a few slices of pear with parm cheese dipped in balsamic
12:00- 2 chocolate holiday balls(not bells)
1:00 - chicken, egg, tomato w/ balsamic on lettuce
4:00 - apple
5:45 - 3 mini meatloaf balls(thanks Lindsey!)
7:20 - PowerGel
9:45 - salmon, salad, apple, artichoke

swim practice:

400 swim
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10 x 50 @ 1:00
5 kick
5 drill
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25@'30
50@'50
75@1:10
100@1:30
200@3:00
400@6:00
200@3;00
100@1:30
75@1:10
50@'50
25@'30
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4x75 @ 1:20
IM order
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200 pull

Total Yardage: 2700

I have added a Training Log to the left side of this page to keep track of all the distance that I cover. Can't wait to see how much I log over the course of the year.