Paddling a couple of weeks ago

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Prolotherapy - treatment #3

last post on this here: http://beyondkona.blogspot.com/2009/11/prolotherapy.html

I went in 2 days ago for my third prolotherapy treatment. Each of these treatments is $100 out of pocket. The treatments are 1 month apart.

I was hoping for much more significant improvement, but with the way my foot felt, I am not surprised that there really wasn't much improvement since the last time.

It may be my fault to some extent. I continue to ride the bike, do elliptical, paint the house on a ladder, and after reading "Born to Run", I've been getting around in bare feet much more than I should.

So treatment #3 he tells me is going to hurt much worse and I should have to use pain relievers (but not anti-inflammatory meds). Well, I'm tough and so far haven't used them. Actually, I really don't like to mask pain (to a point). I figure that if something hurts, I should compensate (e.g. walk with a limp or not walk at all).

So yes, it is much more painful (not during the treatment of course, but a few days after). The reason for the additional pain is that he not only put dextrose in, but also fish oil. The idea is to invoke a healing response... that part seems to be working - let's hope anyway.

Well, the good doctor also tells me he is back from a conference where he was showing my ultra sound to his podiatrist buddies and they all seem to have had a good laugh on my account. Bastards! Apparently, the tear was very significant and barely hanging on the bone. He admitted that being the patient in this situation isn't the best thing, but he and his friends were looking to learn a lot from me. GRRR

So I'm trying to take it easy. I'll be swimming for sure. Probably biking. Avoid barefoot walking. Trying to use the boot around the house to stabilize things a bit.

I'll be going back in 4 weeks. Hopefully we have some good progress this time and don't have to resort to PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) treatment, because each of these is over $800 out of pocket and I'm just not down with that!

Swimming for speed

I swam tonight and whilst driving home, had a few thoughts...

- did 25meters in just under 15 seconds
- did 50 meters in 34 seconds (very fast for me)
- if I learn to flip turn, can I do 50 meters in under 30 seconds?
- can I then manage 100meters in 1:15?
- getting a bit carried away - I was exhausted at 34 seconds for 50 meters
- my swim stroke is just about there, so if I focus on speed, will my stroke automatically get better?
- I've been doing 50m repeats on 1 minute (finish in 45 secs with a 15 second rest) - I recently did this 16 times in a row
- Can I do 50 meter repeats on 45 seconds? sounds painful - would have to do 35 sec 50m - would definitely need to learn to flipturn
-My fastest 100 meter is 90 seconds - I'm not ready to try to break that record

I worked on my kick - my new theory is to do 25m kick, 50m freestyle, repeat... instead of 400m kicking. The reason is that when I freestyle, I forget to kick! I think if I can get my brain kicking, then do freestyle, the kick will start to be a natural part of my stroke. Seems to be working... time will tell.

I'm also working on my pull... something I've never really done, so I'm pretty weak in that area. It really shouldn't be a 'pull your arm' instead it should be a 'pull your body over your arm'. Well, I was pulling my arm a lot and my arms got tired. I've got a lot of work to do on this.

So, I think my body and head position are good. My breathing is almost there. Now if I can get my kick and pull working well, and do a kick turn, I should be on my way to being a moderately fast swimmer. Goal is to be able to swim 2.4miles in open water in under an hour - very challenging goal - my best time so far is 1:09.

rules of the road revisited

In previous blogs I attempted to justify blowing through stop signs and traffic lights. Bottom line, I will follow the rules of the road from now on.

Why the change of heart? I've been reading a lot about this issue and talking to people about it. I'm not in that big of a hurry. I don't really want cars to be be pissed off at me when I'm on a bike. I usually follow the rules of the road anyway. I don't have THAT many stop signs and traffic lights that I deal with. By making my own rules, I run into many cases that are not so clear-cut, so I was sometimes finding myself in precarious situations that really were not necessary.

I've already started this practice and it really isn't that hard. It does take a different mind set. In only a few cases is it frustrating (coming downhill to a stop sign with absolutely no traffic around), but I can live with that.

Prolotherapy

"Prolotherapy uses a dextrose (sugar water) solution, which is injected into the ligament or tendon where it attaches to the bone. This causes a localized inflammation in these weak areas which then increases the blood supply and flow of nutrients and stimulates the tissue to repair itself. "

It turns out that my Plantar Fascia is torn - the wonders of modern miracles - the ultrasound...

So all of this stretching I was doing for a year to improve my PF has probably continued to make it worse... not to mention the night splits and Strassburg sock that continued to pull on my foot at night, not letting it heal...

I've had 2 Prolotherapy treatments - Sept and Oct... next one is Nov 23rd. It doesn't seem to be getting much better - we'll see.

I can always go for the PRP (Platlette Rich Plasma) treatment, but this is $800 a pop out of pocket. My Dr. tells me that will be a much quicker healing process (2-3 treatments), but that's a lot of dough.

So, I'll stick with the $100 Prolotherapy treatments for a bit longer - Dr. tells me 4-6 treatments, but could be more.

Unfortunately this is all taking too long and I'm going to want to run this winter or I might just go insane! I wish I had started earlier in the summer!

Swim Tip - breathing

I read a while ago that you should look straight down at the bottom of the pool when swimming... wrong.

Recently I stumbled upon much better advice that seems to be working well.

First, your head position should be looking slightly forward, not straight down. This position helps with the next step.

Next, try to keep one goggle eye in the water and the other one out when taking a breath. This helps to make sure you don't lift your head too far out.

This seems to be helping me quite a bit. Still working on my right side, which wants to pull my head too far out.... I get it right about a quarter of the time on that side and about 3/4 of the time on the left side.

Squeeky bike... some quick fixes

My bike was making this terrible creaking noise evertime I climbed a hill and put a little torque on the front. It sounded like it was coming from my handlebars.

I hate taking my bike to the bike shop - I want to be the master of my domain as much as possible, so I began my research to try to figure out what was wrong.

Based on advice from 'experts' on the web and my "Zinn and the art of bicycle maintenance", I ended up taking my whole head tube apart and greasing it up. No joy.

It turns out, that all I had to do was take my front wheel off and on again and the noise went away.

The other creaking noise I've found easy to fix is at the cleat/pedal. Just spray a little lube on your cleat and this often solves the problem.

Of course, there may be much more serious problems, but I like to start with the easy fix first.

Group Ride - not so meditative

I recently wrote how long solo rides create a meditative environment for me allow me to experience a timeless internal state of relaxed awareness. The wind blowing in my ears, my steady breathing, automatic shifting of the gears, steady pumping of the legs all contribute to creating that environment for me.

Yesterday was a group ride and there is clearly too much going on at one of these to get that meditative experience. That isn't a bad thing because these rides are great for the social side of things. I got a chance to talk to Jules about his Philosophy instruction business while riding down the road at 20 miles an hour. Jules is one of those interesting guys on these rides - he rides a sturdy (heavy) touring bike - no cleats - cotton T-shirt - sneakers, etc., yet somehow manages to hang with a pretty fast pack of riders in the latest cycling technology known to man. He is a Dutchman that takes multi-day cross country international cycling tours with his family, including children and wife.

We also had a few flats in the group yesterday. Everyone pitched in to help - no complaining even though it was raining and cool. 14 riders all patiently helping or waiting for the task to finish so we can get on with things.

When we got to the 10 mile stretch down 282, 6 of us took off and moved at ungodly speeds, pushing our bodies to the limit. My legs were fried.