Dear Physical Therapist - you are AWESOME!

Here is a long rambling story about my awesome physical therapist:

I went in for a free evaluation and she told me the million and 1 things that are wrong with me which are causing my IT band, knee, calf, etc. pain and injuries. I was a little disheartened but it finally convinced me to sign up for some PT sessions. The issue is the cost - I def. could not afford to go 3x's a week for a month. I told her really I can only come in 3 x's total and need to learn as much as I can during that time. She was REALLY understanding about it and it did not bother her at all.

My first session she did some deep tissue massage for my calf and also just did a more thorough evaluation. She gave me some good stretches and exercises to work on at home, but I was still feeling a little skeptical about the whole thing.

She was on vacation last week so I saw another woman who put me through the paces as far as stretches and strengthening exercises and also did major massage work on my calf and made it feel SO much better!

This week she was back from vacation and after being put through the paces on my stretches, etc. she did some manual stretch work which was painful but helped. We then had a good chat about what else I can be doing since this was my last visit. She gave me more things and told me to make up a rotation to follow every day to get planks, lunge stretches, rolling, wall squats, etc. in on top of eveything else she has already given me.

She was SO nice through the whole thing and really seems to care that I get better, not just that I come and pay their fee. She said if I want to check back in a few weeks, she can give me more exercises if I need them or if anything seems to be hurting again she can readjust my plan - through a free evaluation, not a normal session. Seriously not normal and so generous of her with her time. Really grateful for that office and all they taught me in the past 3 weeks! Looking forward positively to keeping up with my exercises and stretch routines and adding on the mileage again slowly.

Aside from being so nice - she is hilarious and makes the session a lot less awkward by her conversation and funny comments. She even narrates the thoughts of the dogs being walked by the windows on the jogging path outside - I totally do that ALL THE TIME with Luke haha, glad I'm not the only nut who does that!

Definitely was a great experience, did not break our bank, and was well worth the time, effort, and money.

For now I am doing a .25 warm up walk, stretching for 5 minutes (mostly calves and hamstrings because that is where I am the tightest), running 1 mile, walking .2, running my last .8 (keeping those 2 miles under 20 minutes even with the walking - o yea!! :)) and then doing another .25 cool down and a 5 min stretch afterward. It sucks to eat up 15-20 minutes of my running time with warmup/cool down and stretches but hey, whatever keeps me going and injury free!

Next week I will push the first mile up to 1.2, then walk .2, then run my last .6 - gotta keep going this way slowly until I am doing 2 miles straight and then I can start adding on mileage outside to go longer. She said the walking may be annoying but it is the best way for me to add on mileage while I am trying to strengthen and stretch without stressing anything out or getting injured again. I will take boring/frustrating over painful! Wish me luck :)