Power Crank Report & A Leg "Massage"

Last week, Carlos wanted me to call his massage therapist since he specializes in pressure point therapy and thought that he would be able to help with my knee area problem.  It wasn’t until I started using that foam pad and roller that I actually thought that there might be something to this.  So, as a result, I gave him a call yesterday and set up an appointment for today.  When I called and introduced myself, he told me that Carlos had filled him in on the problem and asked if it was on the outside of my leg.  When I told him that it was, he immediately concurred that it was most definitely a muscle issue.  Before heading up to Anthem to pay him a visit, however, I had to knock back a 3700 swim in the AM and a Power Crank/Run in the afternoon. 

Before I get into the workouts of the day, let me just reflect on the Power Cranks a bit.  Today was only the second time using them.  They seem to mimic running real well and definitely let you know that there are some other muscles in the legs that aren’t getting much use.  I would like to use them more, but Carlos said we have to be especially cautious.  While they aid in running, they also help with cycling, and since I’m doing plenty of that (approximately 11 hours last week alone), he didn’t want to overdo it.  The idea is to use them along with actual shorter runs.  With that being said, here is how I used them this afternoon:

·         20 minutes on PC

·         20 min run

·         10 min on PC

·         20 min run

·         10 min PC

·         10 min Run

Here are my notes:

“Everything felt great until the last part of the 2^nd 20 min run when my knee area flared up.  It came back on the first 10 min run and became very uncomfortable.  It was less uncomfortable on the 2^nd 10 min run, but still unpleasant.”

After the workout, I took a shower and headed out to get my leg worked on.  When I got to Mike’s house, I explained the whole thing over again, showed him where it hurt, and answered a few questions.  He went on to explain that the muscle tightness could also be originating from my glutes and/or IT bands.  He also said that I may not realize it, but I might have a slight imbalance that makes me run with slight asymmetry.  This is now the THIRD person that has explained that to me.  Don (from the FMS test at Frank’s), Chris (the bike fitter), and now Mike have all seen it.  I work on it when I can, but honestly, it’s tough.  I’ve been stretching more, but the volume of training doesn’t allow for any type of downtime for the muscles to relax.  I keep beating them up over and over with the asymmetry.   

Mike started to get to work.  Tell me if it’s too much pressure and I’ll back off”  “You can’t hurt me!” I said.  Um, as I soon found out, that wasn’t entirely true.  While he did say, “Man, I would never want to tango with you, cause you can take some pain!”  I did have to find a “happy place” a few times to escape the pressure he was applying.  No sooner did I find that happy place, he would say, “OK, now I’m going to go deeper”  YIKES!  Next came the hot towels.  Mike wrapped a steaming hot towel around the affected area and started to massage right through it.  I’d say that about 45 minutes, of the hour, was dedicated to my lower leg area and 15 was on my glutes and IT bands.  Finally, when he came to “the spot” just below my knee, he said, “OK, I’m going to strum this muscle like a guitar, are you ready?”  Before I could say anything, he was strumming the exact area/muscle that was causing my pain.  Back to my happy place!  Overall, when I was done, I was as loose as a goose and told him that I felt like I had Jello legs.  “Good” he said, “then it worked”  When I got home, I was telling Kristi about the experience and was showing her what he did when I saw that I was bruising already.  He told me that it might happen, but I didn’t know it would be so soon!  At this point, I will probably have to pay Mike a visit once a week until the race.  I’ll report back and let you know if it worked.