Physical therapy

I had my first PT session yesterday and walked away with my knee sore and taped into place. I was assessed, poked, prodded and ultrasounded and my knee, which was fine when I walked in, was sore and swollen when I left. My instructions were to try a short run on the treadmill to see if taping helped, and to follow the 2 pages of exercises/stretches twice daily.

I was concerned about the whole taping business since I have an adhesive sensitivity. Just a plain old bandage will leave a rash outline if I leave it on for a few hours. But I'm willing to put up with just about anything to get back to running so I went along with it when he sprayed on an adhesive, placed one layer of light tape and another layer of (I'm sure it was) duct tape to hold my kneecap in place. With all that I couldn't bend my knee fully but it didn't feel bad.

After I got home I headed to the treadmill, popped in the latest episode of Brothers and Sisters and started running, slowly. It hurt where I normally get the shooting pains but I only had a dull aching pain with every step so I ran 2 miles. After that I gave up, figuring it was probably a bad idea to continue. Then I sat down and began the exercises which took 45 minutes to complete. I was totally wrung out when I finished, as if I had done a very hard run for two hours. And I'm supposed to do those twice daily??

This weekend I did my first upper body workout in -- oh, I dunno -- two years?? I was worried about starting to swim with no upper body strength and I was right to worry. I did one of my old tapes and used weenie weights, 4 pounds each. Since then my triceps have been talking to me. "Hi, remember us??" and why yes, I certainly do! Pitiful that such little weights are painful. I'm not going to be able to move for a week after my first swim.

I've gotten lots of knitting and knitting related work done in the last couple of days. I finished my mohair shawl and it looks great. I'll have pictures sometime soon. My cashmere scarf has dried and I love how soft it is. Last night I started an easy beaded silk scarf for which I think I won't have enough yarn, but maybe I can find something complementary at Stitches to finish it off with.

To celebrate our beautiful warm, sunny weather the Gratuitous Bear of the Week is Spring Butterfly Bear. Makes you want to go outside and commune with nature, doesn't he?