Losing Power

Saturday night we had a snowstorm that knocked down trees and leafy branches and the power went out. After three nights in the dark, we finally got power and heat this afternoon. Unfortunately, that didn't help my running. Total miles 2 weeks ago = 4 miles. Total one week ago = 2 miles. This week = nothing so far. There are two reasons for this: one,  I feel really tired and two, while my hip feels good and strong I do feel really imbalanced. So I went to the doctor about feeling tired and they did some tests and I was extremely low on vitamin D. They have me doing 50,000 iu once per week for 8 weeks to see if I can get the levels up. I did write about Vitamin D a while back (here and here)and was doing 2,000 iu a day for awhile, but I stopped doing that last winter when I wasn't running. If you are feeling tired, get your vitamin D levels checked.

While my hip feels fine. I was not sure running on it was the best as my muscles just don't feel in balance. I have no problem with that as I had been running for years with imbalances and didn't expect it to change overnight. Knowing what to do about it, is a problem. The PT works on my hip muscles, but the more I do of the exersises the more others things feel off. I had my 3 month checkup last week with the hip surgeon's office. The PA didn't have much to offer as she said that they look at the joint and not the whole body. So she referred me to the Spine Center at the hospital. I went yesterday and the doctor moved my leg around a little, asked a few questions, and ordered an MRI for my lower back. He said he doesn't do the legs, so if he finds nothing on the MRI he'll send me somewhere else. I wish I could find a doctor that actually looks at the whole picture and not just one specific spot on the body!

I think they need to look at my ankle and my knee as something is making my foot evert out to the side again. Some days it seems pretty straight and others days it doesn't. The doctor yesterday did remark to me, "You know your foot is twisting out!" At PT we are working on that some, so I have a lot of question for tomorrow's visit.

Anyhow, when the power was off I did some reading. I read a biography on Mickey Mantle: The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood. He was quite a heroic figure playing through some tough injuries, but he was also quite a cad. The treatment for athletic injuries back in his day was pretty rough. I also found a book at Barnes and Noble called Foundation: Redefine Your Core, Conquer Back Pain, and Move with Confidence while I was charging my electronics and using their wifi. I had seen the book advertised before, but it had a forward by Lance Armstrong and I don't always trust what Lance signs up to support plus I thought with the word "core" it might just be another "abs" book. This one is very different and the exercises are targeted to the posterior muscles. They were new to me and the program is simplistic enough that I will give it a shot for awhile.

This video gives a peak into the type of exercises. I will write more after I try the program out. I like how it says it addresses muscular imbalances.