Grumble, grumble, grumble

So mumbled John throughout a slow night here at the T & G Sports Desk. Why? Beause he's John - he doesn't need a reason to grumble, it's just inherent to his nutty nature. I suppose you'd have to work here to see the humor in all of this, but on a rainy night when drumming up a means of mental stimulation proves a painstaking process, it's enough to keep me entertained.

But anyway, I digress...Still not running, but slowly making progress, or at least I'm trying to convince myself that I am. I saw Dr. Sjogren again this morning, who says structurally I'm back in good shape but mechanically I'm a mess. He attributes a lot of my problems to a weak right side, particularly the hip area, and believes this has caused various degrees of overcompensation which likely led to my past Achilles problems and current dilemma involving a strained muscle or two in my arse - specifically the gluteus medius and/or piriformis. This most recent calamity may also be contributing to a pinching of the sciatic nerve, which would explain the stabbing pain in my right cheek which radiates down through my hamstring. Doc performed some ultrasound today and more of the same is in order for Friday. Hopefully we've nipped the problem in the bud early enough that I can return to normal forward progress by this weekend.

Speaking of progress, I made some today by going for a walk this afternoon before work. Of course, I got a little testy and supplemented my leisurely strolling with some light running and was puzzled by how much less it hurts to run and walk uphill as opposed to going down. Descending proved a horrific affair complete with shooting pains down my legs but the ups were surprisingly, but uncomfortably bearable. The leg itself feels pretty much dead, so I was more or less just dragging it behind me anyway. Walking around afterward wasn't too bad but I popped a few ibuprofen with dinner just to be safe. Like I wrote yesterday, one day at a time right now, so I guess we'll just have to see what tomorrow brings.

And that'll do it for tonight. John's done grumbling so I'm taking that as my cue to go home. Take it easy.

Quote of the day:

It seems that people's pain thresholds aren't very big and if they're pushing (limits), they feel like the pushing is bad. But the pushing is actually good. But then you get the crazy runners that push too hard. I feel like I'm pretty smart about resting. I don't think that a lot of people are very good about resting. I think a lot of people who say that they've overtrained or thinking that they're overtraining are just underrested. If you rested a little more, your body can handle a huge amount of work — a high level of quality, and a lot of mileage, once you can adapt.
- Deena Kastor