The Verdict.

:(

This is about my knee issue. I went to see Clay, crazy kung fu honey badger rolfer, and the verdict is in. I guess due to the vigorous triathlon training and then additional weight training I've been up to, I over-worked and over-built up my quads, which puts a lot of strain on my patellar ligament, and if that gets bad enough, it will tear the ligament clean off the shin bone!

YAY THAT IS AMAZING NEWS!!!1

Now, I'm not currently injured. As Clay put it, I'm not dealing with an injury (yet), but a situation. And I have to fix that situation. There are stretches for my hip flexor, 20 minutes on/off of icing to do, and I'm to completely lay off any exercises that work out the hip flexor/major quad muscles, like running, biking, hiking, anything that is fucking fun.

Swimming is ok but only if I don't kick. I will have to do this for about two weeks, hopefully, and then once I live the high life, AKA the pain-free life for another two weeks, I can start integrating running back into my workouts. I know it's only a month, but I love working out, so this will suck. I think I need to add in at least one more swim to my weekly workout routine. 


Another thing I learned is that I have Ahnold quads, under-worked hamstrings and I have focused on my abs  to the detriment of my back. I learned about the seven layers of muscle on the back. Seven! They're incredibly thin layers so they can't compete with the huge quad that is tightened up (I had weird back sensations that he said was directly related to the knee issue. The hip bone connected to the leg bone, etc). Anyways, I got tips on how to strengthen my back. And guess what, planks hardly do it, so

I also learned I have a big ass. Thanks Clay! So he gave me moves to work on my glutes and firm those up, as well as moves for my hamstrings.

Apparently women rank in the top spot for tearing the rotator cuff of the shoulder, due to not working out the shoulders enough and doing weird things like, say, reaching behind them while driving to soothe a child, pick something up, etc. So I got exercises to strengthen those.

Clay also told me that he read a study which showed that inactivity, I mean real couch potato stuff, is actually worse for your overall health than SMOKING. WHAAAAT. So couch potatoes out there, you better get your ass to the gym.

The overall thing I want to stress though, is if you feel pain like I do in your knee(s), go to someone, and get it checked out ASAP. Also, don't overtrain certain muscles/muscle groups. That will cause injury, and create a major imbalance in your overall physique, like moi. I'm excited to do different things, even though I'm severely limited in the cardio department.

The best news here is that I'm not really injured, and that with any luck I will be back in the triathlon business again.