When it rains...

Well, I'm in recovery again. No long runs recently, but I'm getting back to it. I have to be ready for the Ohlone Wilderness 50k this weekend.

Trouble is I got myself into a bit of a pickle last week, which is why I haven't really been posting anything, since there wasn't that much to write about. Anyway, here's what happened.

My wife & I were engaging in some "adult gymnastics" on the Sunday before last, and something got tweaked. I think this is only the second injury, in my life, from this kind of activity. ;-) Two injuries 20 years apart. Not bad a bad record, I suppose. ;-)

Anyway things felt like a muscle strain, or cramp. Obviously activities had to stop and I spent some time trying to relax and let the muscle return to normal. I thought it was a psoas cramp. Relaxing seemed to help, but Monday morning I was still in pain and sitting or moving around seemed to aggravate the condition.

I tried a Yoga class at lunch to see if stretching would help. There was mild relief, but nothing long lasting. I was still having trouble.

By Monday afternoon I was still in pain, so I called my chiropractor and got an appointment to see him to sort out the pelvic alignment. It turns out that my sacrum and lumbar were locked up and he was able to free that. This gave me a little relief, but not much.

Tuesday morning seemed better, but not really. After walking around for a while things became progressively more painful. So, I called my GP to see if I could get to see him. My wife was leaving early anyway, so she came to drive me home, since we'd carpooled together earlier in the day. By this time the "muscle strain" had transformed to a feeling like I'd been kicked in the nuts. Ugh! This was painful!

I had a couple of hours before my appointment with the Doc, so I rested laying down on the couch. This helped enormously, so that by the time we left the house, for my appointment, I was feeling more normal again. At least for a short while.

As the doc checked me out, he decided that my abdominal muscles seemed fine, as did the intestines, and there was no sign of a hernia, either. I didn't have any apparent symptoms of an appendix problem, so all that was good, too. However, I did have some slight swelling of the vas deferens and epididymis, near my vasectomy site, which lead the GP to consider that I might have a slight infection in that area. He gave me a prescription for antibiotics and suggested that I see a urologist, just to be sure. I filled the Rx immediately and started taking the meds, then tried to get an appointment with another doc.

I was able to see a urologist almost immediately, so off we went to the other side of town to see that guy. He confirmed my GP's diagnosis, after using a little ultrasound wand to check that everything else was in order. In addition to the antibiotics, he recommended 600mg of ibuprofen three times a day for the next two weeks, along with hot compresses and more supportive clothing, until the infection is well under control.

This also means that I shouldn't be running for a week or so. Ugh! That's going to be tough. Even riding a bicycle could be painful in this situation! How am I going to get my exercise?

However, the following morning I felt like a different person. No pain to speak of, although the occasional twinge to let me know something is still going on, but otherwise I'm fine. It's as though yesterday never happened. Weird! Those antibiotics and the anti-inflamatories were really working.

I was able to use the recumbent stationary bike at the gym today with no problems, so I'll probably be able to use those for the rest of the week, until I can run again. Still, I'll be glad to get back out on the trails again. I have a 50k race on May 20th and I need to get out and run, so that I'll be somewhat prepared for it.

I have been able to run over this past weekend. Things have been feeling pretty good, so I think I'll be ok for the race. Of course, I just ran at lunch and now my right calf is sore. Ugh! I've iced that, so with any luck I'll be OK tomorrow. Hopefully, this won't affect my ride home -- I've ridden my bicycle to work twice this week, as part of Bike-to-work week. It's pretty good really. As a promotion for the company's commute alternatives, I get a free lunch and a free t-shirt, just for pledging to ride at least one day this week. Then, the gym are running a raffle for those who ride in. Each day you ride, you get an extra ticket for the raffle. Cool, eh?!

Tomorrow is the Race Walking seminar, then Thursday I have an appointment with the Endocrinologist about my thyroid, Friday I have an appointment with my chiropractor, Saturday is a 7 mile run with San Jose Fit and then Sunday is the 50k.

I think I'm doing pretty well, as the doc said to take it easy with the running for a week. I lasted 3 days. ;-)