It’s no secret that I love physical therapy (PT). After injuring my ankles, I finally decided to stop self-diagnosing and to go see a medical professional. Best decision I’ve made during this whole cycle of marathon training. I thought I’d share a bit about why I love PT so much and what happens when I go.
For any athlete, it can be scary when you start to feel pain outside of the norm. I think the natural tendency is to just try and run through it, hoping it gets better. In my case, I took a couple of days off due to the pain…but then I ran 10 miles. Not the smartest move. When I finally decided I’d let a PT take a look at my poor, aching body, I was terrified. I thought I was going to get scolded and be told not to run (if you had told me a year ago, I’d be nervous about being told NOT to run, I would have laughed in your face).
I nervously made my way to PT and explained my problems. After doing some diagnostic exercises (which determined that, among other things, I needed some serious strength training), my PT watched me walk down the hall. I hadn’t gone halfway when she said, “Yep. I see exactly what your problem is.” As it turned out, what I thought might have been a strain was actually a problem with the way I walked (again, among other things).
At the end of the appointment, I was given lots of homework, told to walk primarily in supportive shoes (aka sneakers) and scheduled for twice a week appointments for the foreseeable future. I was also told to incorporate strength training in my regular routine. I’ve written before about my efforts to do so, but haven’t had great success. I usually feel so burned out from running that the idea of doing another workout is hard to fathom. But, as I told my PT, I’m very good at following instructions, especially when those instructions mean less pain. So I downloaded the Nike Training Club App (I’ll do a full review soon!) and committed to doing a NTC workout 2x a week.
The best thing about PT for me is feeling like I have a support team for my marathon. My PT and I talk about what’s happening in our lives, I let her know what my run schedule looks like for the next couple days and I report back after runs (especially after long runs). During one of our early sessions, my PT said “oh thank goodness you came in – you probably would have been limping from mile 18 of your marathon.” Oh. And the icing — that’s pretty awesome too 🙂
Do you go to PT? If so, is it a positive experience for you?
I was so fortunate to have a good PT experience for my knee. The actual doctor I didn’t care for, but my therapist was awesome. We would chit-chat the whole time, and yeah, the icing at the end was pretty awesome.
The icing is THE BEST 🙂
I went to PT after my back injury and it really helped me get back to my daily living. It’s hard to do that when you are in pain, or everything you used to do causes you pain.
PT has really really helped me — I encourage everyone to go if they have an injury!
Glad you sought medical attention and are getting good assistance!! Haven’t done PT (well, many years ago for a back injury after a car accident) but sounds like it’s helping!
Yes. It definitely has helped! And it’s a good thing when you haven’t needed PT 🙂
*knocks on wood* 😉