Good P.T. and Run Today

I had a pretty good physical therapy session for my left shoulder this morning! You may remember I posted a few weeks back about how poor I felt the quality of my physical therapy was. Well, after discussing it, my therapist has agreed to cut back to only once a week visits with daily exercises at home. He has also stepped back and is allowing the sports trainer to work with me instead of doing it himself. This is a much more effective strategy for me. It is not what my surgeon ordered. He wants me at P.T. 3-4 times a week, so I imagine I have been reported as a non-compliant patient. I am gaining strength and mobility like crazy now that I am not wasting all my time being babied at the physical therapy center, so I wear the label proudly.

Today there was a small woman at PT who was probably about eighty. She is being treated for lower back pain. The PT joked with her that if she did what he asked, she'd be ready for the Olympics in no time. She replied that she was already ready. She went on to describe a life of participating in and coaching basketball, softball, equestrian, and swimming. She had been to the Senior Games at the national level many times. "So tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'm an athlete." She demanded respect from the young therapists and she got it. This was her first session there and she wasted no time setting things straight. It made me wonder what had taken me so long to take charge of my therapy!

After PT I drove the short distance to the Route 35 parking area in Standish for access to the Sebago to the Sea Trail . This area between Otter Pond and Sebago Lake is about 5 miles, mostly dirt. There are numerous options for more double track, snowmobile trails, and single track in this stretch. It all depends on how adventurous you are feeling and how much you mind getting lost. (If that's not your thing, just stick to the trails on the map, which you can find on the above link.)

The temperature was right around 50 with a heavy over cast and an occasional drizzle. In other words, it was great running weather! I ran out to the lake on the main trail, working in my three miles of tempo. The point where the trail comes out to the lake is a beautiful secluded beach. I swam there a few times in the summer. It is very close to the Portland Water District boundary, but not within it so swimming is allowed. I skipped the swim today. I did some exploring on the way back and ended up with about a twelve mile run.