A Pain in the Butt

"Popliteal tendinitis. Hamstring strain." These are the new daily terms in my life that I have been cursing and obsessing over that were introduced to my vocabulary by my wonderful sports-oriented physical therapist. Based on my presentation and the amount of "crunch" he's found during Graston (more on this later) he is 99% certain I extensively irritated the insertion of the popliteal tendon because of a strained BF tendon (they follow similar tracks). Oh lucky me. He estimated 2-4 more weeks of no running (for a total of 7 weeks - gross!) but didn't see the need for me to get an MRI or see my BFF ortho surgeon yet.

So how did this occur? A variety of reasons. I up'd my speed on the treadmill by about 1 minute per mile for the same weekly mileage and added a few extra miles here and there. I have a weak butt. I have even weaker hips. I have tight hamstrings. All these things combined = bad news bears. Which is why instead of January being the month of speed and prehab, it became the month of the butt. Which my PT has been kicking, for reals. At the end of our HOUR LONG session, in which I literally do not stop moving, he had me sweating bullets and every muscle in my core and lower half were shaking. All these old people getting massaged and stretched on their pillowy tables watched me as I balanced on a board and had weighted balls tossed at me. This guy who probably has never run a day in his life, recovering from his knee replacement, made a comment about how much I was shaking as I did my 100th single leg dead lift for the night. I ALMOST KILLED HIM. Not to mention I was very hangry (these 5:30pm sessions after a long clinic day leave me ravenous). After getting my butt kicked, I get a nice painful metal to skin massage aka Graston to get all my crunchy scar tissue out and get the blood flowing to behind my knee. I feel sore for the hour after but great at night (then painful the next day, per usual).

For those of you interested in strengthening your booty, 5 days a week I do the following core and butt work. After I'm running again and have more strength, we will cut it down to 3 times per week.

Butt Booster:
-1 min forearm plank
-30 secs single R leg bridge, 30 secs single L leg bridge
-1 min air humpers (thanks OUAL for the name)
-1 min no arms bicycle
-1 min side plank R, 1 min side plan L
-1 min modified bird dog
-1 min clamshells R, 1 min clamshells L
-20 side steps with band to L, 20 side steps to R
-1 min single leg dead lift L, 1 min single leg dead lift R
REPEAT 2X for a total of 3x through the circuit.

Not me (thanks internets), but this is my life.

The entire process takes about 30 minutes plus or minus. I've only done these for a week and I am already starting to feel stronger. My knee still hurts, daily, which is discouraging but I am leaving for Nicaragua in one week where I will not be able to run as frequently for safety and work reasons so maybe this is good timing. I can embrace my month long rotation without worrying about where I can run or if I will be safe. I'm still mad at myself for getting injured but I am trying really hard to LET IT GO.