Saturday, March 2, 2013

Call Me Crazy

I'm still cracking up about the nurse that I saw before the nurse practitioner saw me yesterday. I go to a small doctors office in a rural town in the middle of cornfields, so I doubt they see many middle aged men since farmers are way tougher than me. Even more unlikely is middle aged triathletes. Anyway, the conversation went something like this.

Nurse: What brings you in today?

Me: Lower back and hip pain.

Nurse: What happened?

Me: Well, I've had lower back pain off and on over the years since I hurt it diving for a frisbee in college. It flares up if I carry something heavy the wrong way or if I'm under a lot of stress. Work is stressful right now and my back was bothering for a couple weeks keeping me from running much, but it felt better Saturday, so I ran six miles in the woods in 6 inches of snow.

Nurse: You did what ?!?!!!! Your crazy!!!!

Me: i got into endurance sports a few years ago and I run that far all the time, just not in six inches of snow. Probably over did it.

Nurse: What else do you do besides run?

Me: Swim, bike, triathlons, half marathons, half Ironmans, that type of stuff.

Nurse: You are crazy!!!! How does your wife keep up with you?

Me: She doesn't. She just puts up with me :-).

Then the nurse practitioner came in and we went over everything again, how I could barely walk Monday and Tuesday after running, how my right hip felt like bone on bone if i moved it a certain way. How it was actually feeling better, just a little tightness in the lower back. He didn't call me crazy like the nurse, but I could tell he was thinking it. I think he wanted to say "Are you surprised you hurt yourself running that far in deep snow at your age? I'm not."

Anyway, after he did some tests, he ordered an X-ray just to be safe, but said he didn't see any reason I couldn't run. Woohoo! On the way out of the office the nurse said "you're crazy, I'll pray for you" :-). Cracks me up!

So today I ran six miles in the woods :-). The snow was no deeper than an inch or two and had melted on about half of my route. Here are a couple pics.


 

Saw a beautiful wood pecker out there, but he didn't want his picture taken.

Oh, I almost forgot. After running last weekend, I used my foam roller for the first time and may have overdone it. I rolled both hips, outer thighs, glutes and calves for about a half hour. Could I have loosed my IT bands up enough to hurt my hip and lower back? Anyone ever injure yourself with a foam roller? My hips and outer thighs were sore to the touch for a couple days.

13 comments:

The Unexpected Runner said...

Haha! That's usually what my patients say to me if I say I have the following day off & I get to run!

ajh said...

I use a foam roller but I am wimp and use it for a short time. Running in 6 inches of snow is tough. Hope you're truly feeling better. Not running is the pits!

I walked 3 and ran 1 on the treadmill today. Heaven. Absolute heaven.

Kate Geisen said...

I love our woods in the snow. :)

My dr is a marathoner, so she doesn't think I'm crazy, but my co-workers do. And I love it. A good dose of crazy would help a lot of people.

Hope you're feeling all better!

Jill said...

Omg, you're the first injured soul I've heard got so from a foam roller. A half hour? Are you crazy? Oh, that's right - the nurse said you were :). Really, a half hour? Of course, mine sits in the corner of my bedroom and I'm thinking there's about 3" of dust on it; it never seemed to do anything for me when I did use it so .. um.. gave that up for Lent - 2 years ago :). I'd think if you aren't a habitual foam roller and you jump in with a half hour, that could have aggravated your hip. Regardless, I hope it's all good to go now. Take fish or flaxseed oil; they are natural inflamatories.

Loved your title...I thought maybe you were going to do a little "Here's my number, call me maybe..." number on us! ;).

Snow is poison white crap, as far as I'm concerned. I can barely move my hip flexors after a long run Wed with snow up to my mid-calves. Sucks.

What days are you in Denver again???

KovasP said...

Never have foam rolled for so long, not sure that's what injured you, but who knows?

Jford said...

Yeah, I am not tough enough to foam roll for 30 minutes! Love the pictures and I am jealous of those trail runs, but I am ready for sunshine and warm temps!

Karen said...

Agree with Jill - I do own a foam roller because someone told me I should use it. That is about as far as it got. ha ha. Love the exchange with the nurse. You did what? You must be crazy ;)

TR said...

hahah love the honest reaction from the nurse! lol!

I've never really spent much time foam rolling before..probably should!!

Dawn said...

That kind of Crazy is the good kind.
Except for that long with the Roller.
That's just insanity;)

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Gotta love explain ourselves to "normal people"

Well, that is the first time I ever heard of someone might getting injured from using a foam roller

Unknown said...

Haha! That's a great story.

Teamarcia said...

I swear that right after uber rolling my right TFL area was when my whole TFL strain issue came on last summer. I'm never rolling that so hard again. As runners we tend to forget that what we do is completely foreign to some people. Hilarious!

Debbie said...

hehe, i would have reacted the same way....you must know your crazy!!

i don't run, i don't like to sweat ;)))