I had really high hopes and expectations for finally fixing the hip issue and the imbalances that have caused the hip and countless other injuries at the onset of this year.

The physical therapy practice I chose to work with won’t be able to help me. I can’t really fathom why they can’t help me address my gait issues and imbalances, other than to say that it appears they don’t want to.

After 7 visits in December and January, I talked it over with many people including my coach and decided they were a waste of my time. When a PT says “Oh we expect we will be seeing you for a long time” and doesn’t actually attempt to create a rehab plan for you, it’s time to move on. Don’t just treat me as an “upper leg/hip” injury and prescribe me the same exercises as you do everyone else; enough with the bridges, clamshells, etc.

So I had to shift gears and move to work with a new practice. I’ve read/heard great things about what they do for people like me. Despite my best efforts, I can’t get my mileage up without my right side falling apart.

The tricky part is that they are an hour away, and it was 2+ weeks before I could get in for my initial appointment. I’m going to have to sacrifice some vacation time to go every other Friday but I am positive that this is my best option. I know that they work differently than everyone else I’ve ever been to.

My first appointment was this past Friday. A full body movement screen. I went over my history of injuries, they assesed me for areas that exhibited “normal” and “abnormal” in terms of range of motion, strength, etc. They went into great depth about some of what they were seeing, and walked me through some very interesting tests.

The initial read is that my core is weak overall, but I use my stronger, bigger muscles when I shouldn’t (to compensate). It’s an issue of firing and timing and we are working with teaching my body how to do things right. It’s the small movements that we will build and rebuild, things that I’ve likely been doing wrong for at least a decade.

So with this shift, we eliminate some of my favorite things. I, fortunately, get to keep running + cycling! However, everything else must go. No Pilates or Barre classes, no run strength class with my coach, no strength workouts of any kind. I can’t even hold a plank or do a push up until I see them again and get evaluated to see if I have progressed any.

I am allowed to do three very specific exercises, 2 that work on using my diaphragm to breathe and 1 that works on isolating my glute. I must do these multiple times a day, 7 days a week.

I feel pretty confident that I’ll be making some progress in the upcoming months, and I certainly have some goals in mind for this year. Most of my goals will revolve around fall racing, but for now, I’m trying to have fun, enjoy the rebuild and make the most out of it by trying new things. Run mileage is ever so slowly building, bike mileage is building a bit faster.

Patience builds character. Or something like that…

Jill