All this Exercise is a Pain in the Neck

...and shoulder, and back.

Therefore, I've gone back to physio.  Physical therapy.

I've been a bit off-kilter for years and all this exercising has just exacerbated the issue.  I've mostly ignored it but little things like swimming to the right, some muscle spasms during long runs, and pain when I yawned finally drove me to get help.  My last PT (and current friend) Jenna recommended one of her esteemed colleagues to work on my perplexing issue.

This lady is named Janis.  Janis is special.  She's Canadian!  But also, she's a physiotherapist AND an occupational therapist.  A PT/OT.

Not really.

The first time I met with her we went over my basic history, which included my racing experience. She tried to pinpoint when I had pain.  We discussed cycling first.

She readjusted her expectations.

We moved on to the topic of running.

Yep.

I talked about how I always swim to the right and have no clue why.  I told her of my grand plans to one day do an Olympic distance triathlon, as well as a full marathon.  And then Janis found the silver lining in our conversation:

Such a good motivator.

She started to have me do things so she could see my body mechanics in action!  At one point she asked me to do a push-up.  I got myself into a solid plank and did a nice, strong push-up.  I came out of it and looked at Janis for feedback.

Oh.  Well, okay.

As I returned for more sessions to work on my "potential", Janis began doing the usual things, like massage, and the not-so-usual things, like mobilizing my spine.

While stretching me out, we've had many discussions about my unevenness.

"Discussion" might be an exaggeration.

One day Janis had me stretch out my left side while pulling on a table leg.

This likely explains the swimming-to-the-right deal.  Anyone else's head tip to the right when you raise your left arm?  I dare you to try.

The newest stretch involves hanging me.  Wait, no, that's right.  Hanging me.

I think it's going well.

Our most recent goal has been my posture.  For starters, Janis told me to sit up straight.  So I did.

So I did.

I'm nothing if not a rule follower.

I might have walked out a little crooked, but I think I've figured out what I'm supposed to do.

Turns out the Athletic Stance was right all along!  I just need to keep finessing it.


UPCOMING POSTS: BLOGGER MEETUPS, TREADMILL RUNS

Linking up with the great writers at Yeah Write again this week!