Hello World =)
Ok so I really want to write fun, happy, feel good Christmasy stuff for you… and I will…. ’cause it’s the most wonderful time of year 😉 but I’m gonna share a little more about running and specifically my struggles these past few months about getting back on the road again.. and my recent stint doing some Airrosti treatments.
Perhaps my sharing might encourage some of you who are battling a sports injury and struggling or maybe I can offer some helpful recovery ideas for you crazy athlete people out there.
I think the frustrating thing these past few months has been trying to nail down exactly what the issue is that’s plaguing me. Going to an Airrosti sports therapy place was kinda like my last ditch effort to see if I could miraculously get fixed.
I mean come on… they promise to help you be better in a couple treatments… it was hard to pass on trying it.
One thing I had heard before I walked in the door from people who had gone were that you could expect pain. Ok whatever… if it helps let’s do it.
After getting my history I was on the table with the nice sports doctor doing some crazy things to my feet and calves… and yes… there were moments of total pain that I honestly stopped talking and reverted to using breathing that I did during childbirth.
Yes. There were moments of pain that intense.
Fortunately, it was short lived 😛 After my time with the nice doctor I was ushered over to a sweet young lady who worked with me on stretching, foam rolling, and other foot and ankle exercises.
I’m a runner. I know the benefits of foam rolling. They just were taking me to different places with the whole rolling thing. I was finding out about all these places in my body that need stretched and worked ( toe exercises???)
In the past few weeks I’ve learned more about the inner workings of my body ( muscles, fascia, tendons etc) than I ever knew. Y0ur muscles are all sorta wrapped up in this fascia stuff and it can get knotty and tight and bind to your muscles…. that’s the fun stuff they were working out… and teaching me how to really work, stretch and manipulate it at home.
I’ve never thought much about my feet running. I know they take a pounding and I put them through a lot but until I got injured, I honestly never thought about it.
Ahhh…. what you learn to appreciate.
Anyway, after they finished working on me, I got taped up, and actually it felt pretty amazing. The tape acts as a gentle support to the joints while allowing for freedom of movement. Not nearly as constricting as an ace bandage 😉
I got some great tips….
For example, instead of the bag of peas I was using for icing, they told me about ice cups. Literally, little Styrofoam cups you fill and freeze, then cut the bottom half of cup off after frozen ( the upper part you leave on and as your insulation 😉 I then rub this on my feet, heels wherever I need iced. It’s a little messy but feels amazing.
of course other things to get in those tight places… a lacrosse ball can really be worked into the arches of your feet. I use it while I’m getting ready in the morning just rolling my feet out on it. And a rolling pin isn’t just for making cookies baby… you can roll out areas that are harder to get to with a traditional roller.
A resistance band is great for small movement exercises. Ahhh it’s way harder working small little muscles than things like your glutes or quads!
Yet, as mentioned I’ve learned a lot about key roles these muscles play in my running and they need specific strength training too.
Now rolling…. specifically foam rolling. Nothing feels better on tight muscles. I was quickly informed that they would be getting me off foam and onto a pvc pipe for rolling… that my muscles would adapt to foam and not the get benefits they need from rolling. I laughed and informed them that was gonna hurt.
That’s pipe people! No give to it at all….
I was informed when you play hard, you gotta work at keeping everything maintained well. Intellectually, I know that, but like I said this was such an education for me to the inner workings of my body beyond what I knew. She tells me, “you know, like your car? How you maintain and do stuff to it to keep it running well?” as an athlete you need to remember you need to do these things to your body to keep doing what you’re doing”
Just when you think you knew a lot… and were doing all the things you were supposed to… you learn more!
Ah… yes… I understand… but I just wanna be over and done with this.
At one session when the doctor was working on me and we were talking all things running and he was asking me about what got me into distance running and I was sharing a bit of my story and then I told him….
“well, I ran a marathon, two half marathons, and a 50K within three months the first part of this year. I’d rather know I accomplished that and invested myself into the discipline of training and running them than doing nothing and wondering if I could. I’d much rather take some knocks from hitting goals than sitting around doing nothing.”
He agreed. When you play hard, it’s almost inevitable at some point you’ll get whacked with an injury.
I guess that’s where the rebellion comes in . I want to be back out there. I want to be pushing distances again and intentionally training for races. I’m not patient when it comes to this thing called a recovery process.
The treatments helped, yes. I learned a lot to use in the future for specific running recovery.
Am I over my issue? No. It antagonizes me, flaring up and then settling down again.
It makes me feel rebellious. It makes me want to fight back even more, to get stronger, to be able to do more.
Determined and head strong aren’t bad things when they motivate you to do what needs to be done to get back doing what you love full speed.
I’ve slowly and carefully worked myself up to 5.50 miles with my next goal being over 10K.
Close so close. From there I will set another small goal.
I’m learning I can’t just sail in from my run, do a little stretching and scamper off, but to take time to stretch my muscles really well from the workout they just went through. I’m learning to set aside time to ice my heels ( they kept stressing over and over how good icing is for injuries)
I have my sights set on a spring half marathon….I’m hopeful…. =)
Tell me… in the ways of treatment do you get frequent sports massages? Have you tried Airrosti before ? What things do you to stay sane and get through a total recovery process ?
sassyfitnesschick 