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Friday, June 18, 2010

Feeling Old...

I have been absent from the blogging world. A lot has happened over the last couple of weeks. Let me update you. First off, I had a DNS for the Utah Valley marathon. My IT band decided it had had ENOUGH! and rebelled, so much so, that I thought I tore my meniscus. I couldn't put my weight on it, couldn't straighten my leg, and there were popping noises...ugh. So to the doctor I went...

The doc came in shook my hand introduced himself and the intern that was with him. The questions started...
How long have you had the pain? How many miles a week do you run? How often do you change your shoes? You know, the regular questions...He then asked if I was taking any anti-inflamatory meds. I said I was taking 800 mg at night. "You are doing it all wrong. You are just taking it symptomatically, you need to be taking 600 mg 3 times a day and supplement with Tylenol. That may sound like a lot, but you have got to get the inflamation down." OK, done! He then told me I was too old to be running...ok, not in those exact words, but that is exactly what he meant! He said, "running after the age of 35 is not wise..." and proceeded to tell me that I should stop running and take up cycling. I agree, cycling is an exellent form of exercise, but running is what I love, it's what I do! After the manual testing he diagnosed me with ITBS. He really didn't give me any advice on how to treat it other than the meds..so I have been reading and RunnerDude gave me some great advice, thanks again! I have had several ultrasound treatments, and have been stretching and rolling out my IT band with The Stick. It seems to be feeling a little better, not 100%, but I ran twice this week, with relatively no problems. So tomorrow I will try to go 5 maybe 6 miles and see how it goes.

I went to the bank yesterday to make a deposit for work...the teller asked me if I had a son, I thought it was a weird question, but I said yes, and she said, "he came in and made a deposit a few weeks ago..." The boy she was talking about is my boss's son who is 22!...22! Do I really look that old? Alright, so I am old enough to have a kid that age, but my oldest is only 9. I felt a little sad the rest of the night and kept looking in the mirror and noticing more wrinkles...oh well, it's bound to happen sometime I guess. This will be me next week, what with all the stretching and aging I have been doing...


Have a great weekend. Keep running!

11 comments:

H Love said...

sounds like we have been going through similar stuff. I tried my first 2 mile run today after 5 weeks OFF and it went OK..little pain behind my knee??? This is so frustrating. Hope your 5 or 6 goes great!

Generation X (Slomohusky) said...

Keep it going Stacey. I am older than you and NO ONE has ever told me I am too old to be running. I guess your Doc has not been running any HM or Full Marathon's lately. I feel like the youngest one around at most the races I do!

Sorry about the IT Band. As you know mine has been barking since SD. I am going to try a few miles this weekend as well. Injuries come and go. This one will go soon enough. Ice and rest it.

Did you get your Husky for your Birthday?

mmmonyka said...

Be careful about ITB, I have had on and off problems with it for past year or so and even got to the point when I had to take 5! months off running because it won't cure! Keep it easy.

Aka Alice said...

Too old to run? That's crazy...

If my doctor told me to stop running, I'd find another doctor :-)

Hang in there. I had ITB trouble last year. Once it healed, strength training (lots of squats and lunges) and stretching has helped and a prevented any further injury so far...and I'm going to be (proudly) 48 in August. One of my best friends who I run with is 10 years older than I am.

Too old for running...pfffffffft.

TokyoRacer said...

I agree with Aka Alice, and double it! That is the stupidest comment I have ever heard. The guy should not be a doctor. Tell him you have a blogger friend who is 63 and just ran a 3:08 marathon. And whose legs feel fine. And who loves watching other people (like you, doctor!) get older while he just looks and feels exactly like he did when he was 40. (Literally. People REFUSE to believe I am 63, or even 53.) Running is what _everyone_ should be doing!

ihaverun said...

As far as I'm concerned, you are NEVER too old to run. Running keeps you young. And by the way, you are young!!

Bummer about the ITBS, but at least it wasn't something worse. Glad you are starting to feel a little better.

Sarah said...

Your doctor told you that you were too old to be running...that is CRAZY!!!! I would say you need a new doctor...preferably one who runs. :)

Unknown said...

I'm WAY older than you and I will run as long as I can...it just takes a lot of work. 3x a week strength training for my IT band, stretching every night, warm up exercises...but it's ALL worth it. You need to find a good PT who is dedicated to keeping you moving forward. There are many of them out there! Good luck and don't give in to their negativity!

Kim said...

You poor thing! You are NOT old and certainly not too old to be running. Tell that doctor to suck it and go to someone is specializes in running or sports med...they will help you. I agree to get the inflammation down-but you also need to be doing stuff to stretch it out-which the doctor should have been able to tell you-but obviously didn't.

Take it easy. Do some research. And again...tell that doctor to suck it!

Jon (was) in Michigan said...

He really said that? Ok, you need a NEW doctor. He's a quack. If all he can do is prescribe pain meds, then he is useless. Sorry to be cranky, but I've had too many obese doctors try to tell me why running is bad for me. My current doc is fit and she makes sure I get any therapy and treatment I need when I have an injury.

Do some online research for ITBS. I had it, and it does get fixed, but with time. Google the Cho-Pat strap. It helped me run a bit while the tendon healed and I built up my abductors again.

Keep going!

Iron Mike said...

Wow, that's a tough week.

Your doctor is probably right, though. You may want to start reducing your mileage over the next 50 years or so.

And take care of that IT band!