Blog

Doctor’s Appointment

I saw Dr. Klion today. The good news is that there’s nothing actually wrong with me. The “bad” news is that there’s no quick and easy cure. He took some x-rays and the bones look fine; he even said that I have good space between my disks (or something encouraging like that). Essentially, he said I just have back pain – nothing that I should be surprised about, given the running and other training I’ve been doing. He gave me some suggested stretches and core-strengthening exercises. He said that I don’t need to completely lay off the running, but that concentrating on the swim and bike for a little while would probably be a good idea. That’s perfectly fine because that’s the December game plan anyway.

As an aside (sort of), Dr. Klion is great. He’s an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine doctor, but he’s also an accomplished triathlete with five or six Ironman finishes. This is the second time I’ve seen him in the last 14-or-so months. He listens and offers constructive advice. I’m sure he knows that if he told patients like me that they had to stop running for six weeks and go to regular physical therapy, those patients wouldn’t listen to him. I imagine that his experience as an endurance athlete gives him insight into helping his patients with reasonable solutions. I know that I’ll do my stretches and core work and see what happens. If it doesn’t get better or if it gets worse, I’ll go back and figure out the next steps.

Bike – December 2
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 123
Indoor ride