Create.

1 mile swim

12 miles (including 5 x 2000 meters with 1200 meter easy between)

** Finals are over and I now have a couple of weeks until my internship!!! YES!! Have a couple of pre-internship assignments to get done but nothing too substantial. WAHOO!!! :)

The last few days I have been having some L lateral distal thigh pain. I attributed it to straining my lower back a handful of days ago (compensation &/or nerve) and just tried to ignore it. Now the pain is worsening (stink) and I think I will have to address it. Blah. Going to scale everything way back until I can get it under control. Part of the problem is that it feels better when I run faster. Perhaps my endorphin level rises enough to make the pain unnoticeable (or perhaps I am looking at some connective tissue stiffness that just needs the heat to make it more extensible). Not quite sure yet. It isn't falling into any "this is textbook" issue making the differential a little more tricky. Hopefully some trial and error (less error) will bring things to light. :) 

Fulcrum test: negative, hop test: negative, Ober's test: negative, VL trigger points: latent at best, tightness in L adductors, MMT: quads 5/5 with slight pn, HS 5/5, hip abductors 5/5, hip adductors 5/5, hip flexors 5/5, patella alignment normal, swelling 1+/girth 34 cm (10 cm above femoral condyles). STM: L TFL, gluteus med, VL, ITB and adductors. Ice and sensory TENS to distal L lateral thigh x 30 minutes. 

20 minutes upright bike

75 minutes elliptical

** So, this afternoon on the elliptical I was really trying to concentrate on what I was feeling in my lateral L thigh and concentrated on putting more of the pieces together. If I had to pick one word to really describe the pain it would be an intense burning type pain. So, here are my thoughts: Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve injury/irritation? It very well could be. All my muscle strength is fine and it makes sense. The LFCN stems from the femoral nerve which exits at L2-L4. Hence, the strain of my back could have very well caused something to get pinched along its course. As noted yesterday my L adductor muscles were extremely tight (and my hip flexors were also a bit tight). The LFCN courses under the inguinal ligament and then branches all along the lateral thigh. The pieces are fitting together. Luckily this is often treated with TENS and ice (which I already did yesterday) and so I will continue with that treatment for the time being. Not 100% sure this is the cause, but it is worth exploring. Let's see what the next few days will bring. Who knows. :)

TENS L lateral thigh x 30 minutes (both morning and evening)

Ice x 30 minutes (morning, afternoon, evening)

STM and stretching: inguinal area, adductors, hip flexors. No STM on the lateral thigh. 

Ibuprofen: 400 mg every 8 hours. 

SPROLY AT THE GYM!!! :) :) :) (That is what I am going to call my new triathlon distance which is exactly halfway between the sprint and olympic distances. :) :) :) )

LOVED this workout!!

I definitely could have run today. The pain/burning was greatly improved this morning. However, it is still noticeable and so I decided to play it cautious (and swap running miles for the elliptical) in the hopes of having it completely under control very soon. I am optimistic that I will be able to do a decent long run on Saturday. I may or may  not run a handful of easy miles tomorrow. Who knows. 

Pushed hard today and feel great!

Bike: 30K, 1:01:23 (random/3)

Elliptical: 7.5K, 32:25 (random/3)

Swim: 1125 meters, 25:xx

********* 

STM: L adductors & hip flexors

Hydromassage via jets in the hot tub at the gym concentrating on L2-L4 area x 15 minutes :)

Nerve glides biasing LFCN x 15

TENS L lateral thigh x 30 minutes BID

Ice x 30 minutes  TID

ibuprofen: 400 mg every 8 hours 

45 minutes upright bike

6 TM miles, AP 8:36

* Things felt pretty nice. :) 

*****

TENS and ice 2 x 30 minutes

STM L adductors, hip flexors, L2-L4

dynamic stretching LEs 

ibuprofen: 400 mg BID

20.2 wonderful miles, AP 8:22, mostly on the canal road with JohnnyV and Dave. LOVED running on the dirt and the wonderful company and conversation.  Also, was able to get a little Spartan training with some fence hopping! :) Things felt so much better than I expected. In fact there were several times that I realized I hadn't even thought about any sort of pain for miles. In truth, I never was in pain. Happy Happy Day!!! :)  :)  :)

Breakfast with Ry. :) :) :) 

*********

TENS x 30 minutes (120 pps, 100 microsec pw, high sensory, modulated), BID

Ice x 30 minutes, TID

Light static stretching (adductors, hip flexors)

STM: L2-L4 area

ibuprofen: 400 mg, TID  

Update: 11:00 pm, feeling good still. In fact, it was kind of hard to force myself to do the interventions because I felt much better than I expected. But better safe than sorry. Very optimistic. :)