Runner Insight

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In the winter and spring when it’s still too dark in the mornings to walk home safely after work, I call a taxi if I can’t catch a ride home with a co-worker or take the bus.  

About a week ago, one night when I called to reserve my cab for a 6 a.m. pick-up, the dispatcher told me the cab might be a little late, as they were already getting lots of timed calls for the morning because of Spring Break: over-worked and bleary-eyed college students wanting to escape the cold spring weather of Montana were heading to the airport in search of a climate more conducive to bathing suits.   

 I said it would be okay if I had to wait a few minutes, but inside I didn’t really like it, and I was feeling shorted, since it costs me about an hour’s wage for the taxi to get home. And I don’t really like wasting precious minutes waiting around after working all night when I could be home sleeping. So I was a little bit resentful of the wait.

At 4:46 a.m. my co-worker Diane called to say she was awake.  We have a system in place, whereby if she doesn’t call me by 5:10 a.m., I call her. This avoids the scenario where she sleeps through her alarm and shows up late. Anyway, 4:46 was exceptionally early for her to be calling, and I knew that meant she would be in to work a few minutes early. 

That’s when I started wondering about my taxi. Maybe I should call the cab company and tell them I was going to get off work early so they could pick me up before they had an airport run?  Maybe they could squeeze me in before the rush? 

But what if Diane was not early?  Then what? What to do? Should I call the cab company or not?

All of a sudden a light bulb went off (in my head silly, not in the room  ) I remembered the audio series I’d been listening to by Dr. Wayne Dyer, “The Secrets to Manifesting Your Destiny.”

The first principal is about recognizing that you have a higher self.  And one of the things he recommended was whenever you are about to act, if you have any conflict at all in your mind, you can ask the question “Is what I’m about to say or do going to bring me peace, more peace in my life?  Or is it going to bring turmoil, some kind of struggle or anxiety?”

So I asked my higher self what I should do. And the answer was clear.  I was already feeling anxious about the taxi.  So I decided not to call the cab company, as it would just create more questioning and worrying. I decided I would focus on manifesting that the cab would be ready and waiting for me; even if I was off early. Then I surrendered the outcome to the Universe, knowing no matter what the outcome was, I was at peace with it.

I had realized my forcing the issue, and wanting the cab to be there when I wanted it to be there was not bringing me peace.  I was stressing and worrying about it.  My ego wanted it, and felt that if I paid good money for a taxi, it should be there when I wanted it to be there. Thank you ego for looking out for me, but I choose peace.

Now, this was not really a huge ordeal at the time, but a lot of times we struggle needlessly with the myriad of small details in our lives. This was an eye-opening moment for me: recognizing that I could be at peace no matter what the outcome.

As I suspected, Diane showed up about 15 minutes early.  So I gathered my backpack and slipped into my coat.  As I went to clock out I could tell there was a car outside the doors, but with my low vision I couldn’t tell if it was my taxi or not.

After clocking out I went outside and to my delight there was my taxi cab waiting for me.

Sometimes it’s the little stuff that carries the biggest lessons that hit home the hardest, if we only wake up and pay attention.  I choose peace.

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

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I was still limping from the tightness of my sciatica, but it was improving.  The doctor gave me about 4 stretches to do for my back and hip where the sciatic nerve runs through.  One of the stretches makes me laugh every time I do it.  I get down on my hands and knees letting my back sag with my tummy dropping as far down as possible.  Then I arch my back up like a Halloween cat…Making the appropriate hissing sound to go along with it, just for fun!

I continued to see Dr Krieg three times a week, and I stayed in adjustment for the most part, maybe a little off every three or four visits or so. After a couple of weeks of getting me aligned, and me continuing to apply the Bio-Freeze and do my stretches, my right leg was still really tight and I was still limping around on it.  It was a bit frustrating, but I had learned that sciatica is one of those mystery ailments that seem to be on their own time table.  But as I said, each day was better.

My right leg was now feeling like it was getting more numb than tight.  And my right foot would get very cold, while my left was nice and toasty.  I told Dr. Krieg about this.  The good news was that after a couple of weeks, the alignment was holding for the most part, with occasional minor adjustments every few days.  So when he checked my alignment and I was still looking good, he began to work on my sciatic nerve on my right leg with pressure point therapy. 

Painful doesn’t even begin to describe how it felt when he was pressing on my leg, but I knew when it was done it would feel better.  He explained that he couldn’t work on my sciatic nerve before, because it would have been way too sensitive or “hot” as he put it.  That made sense as I could hardly stand the pain as it was after a couple of weeks of healing and adjustments.  But after that session my leg did feel a lot better. 

At this point, I have been going to see Dr. Krieg for about a month.  I’m seeing him a couple of times a week now. We’re going to have my re-exam this week, and we’ll see how much better everything is. I’m sure the results will show that I’m nowhere close to an inch and a half off from my left hip to my right hip, and hopefully my weight is more balanced on my left and right side. My leg is doing much better, just a slight limp and tightness.  I did have a couple of deep tissue massages with Robin where she mainly worked on my right glut and upper back and neck where I have been getting adjusted.  That really has helped expedite the healing process in my leg, as it no longer feels numb or cold.  I may have another one soon.

I’m not back to running yet, but I’m sure as I continue to see Dr Krieg over the next several weeks, he’ll have me back in my running shoes just in time for the beautiful spring weather.

So this brings me to why I named this blog “Back to Basics.”  For years I have been ignoring my back.  I was not doing the things that I knew I should be doing to insure I would have a strong and healthy core.  I suffered for that when I ran my first marathon, and now with my lower back and the sciatica. It’s horrible to be disabled and unable to do the every day things you enjoy…like sitting and standing!  

I am now a newly-converted believer in good chiropractic care.  And not just when your back hurts, but getting a screening and making sure everything is working the way it is supposed to.  It’s all about being proactive in my health and well being.  Wellness instead of sickness!

This is a continuing process and I will be sharing my progress with you as I go along.  Oh yeah Dr. Krieg also holds wellness classes every month at his clinic that we’re planning on attending.  They sound like just what we are looking for: planning for a healthier life style.

How ‘bout it?

 -Vision Runner

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For my first adjustment, we were led into one of the adjusting rooms.  Dr. Krieg had me stand at the foot of an upright exam table that was positioned vertically.  He then lowered it as I laid on it face down so that it laid me down from my natural standing position.  As I lay face down on the table, he had me bend my knees up and back down.  Then turn my head to the right and then to the left, and back to center, looking down toward the floor.  He then asked T if she could see my legs.  She said yes, even from across the room she could see the difference in my leg lengths.  My right leg was 1½ inches shorter then my left!  When he pulled my right leg down to where it matched up with my left, boy did that feel weird and uncomfortable.

He then raised the exam table up, and we moved over to a very low adjusting table.  It was only about a foot off the ground. He positioned me on my left side with my head in a donut like pillow.  He did some adjusting of my head and then applied pressure to my head with his hand and I felt a slight drop and the table make a loud POP…But it was the table, not my neck. 

It didn’t hurt. In fact it didn’t feel like much of anything really except a firm but gentle and non-violent push to my head.  That was it.  We then were shown to the resting room where for 15 minutes I reclined and relaxed. T was having fun with all the different massage settings on her recliner.  

When we left the chiropractor’s office, I didn’t feel much different.  However later that night watching TV, I started to have some bad indigestion. I never have indigestion, but it was bad enough that I took a couple of chewable antacid tablets…although it was clear to me that the Maalox was not going to even touch it. I have never really had problems with indigestion before. It was awful. 

In fact, if we hadn’t known that this could be a side effect of being adjusted, I would have sworn I was having a heart attack, that’s how bad it was.  Finally I had an inspired thought to lay on my trusty ottoman with the heating pad on my chest and stomach, and T and I did some Theta Healing on it.

Finally, finally, after what seemed like hours of indigestion (in actuality, it was probably about an hour or so) I got some relief from the awful heartburn!  And thankfully, it didn’t come back. 

Before bed I used some of the Bio-Freeze that we got in sample packets from the chiropractor.  It’s a natural ointmet like Icy Hot or Myo-Flex or Ben Gay, but natural, without the chemicals.  It smells like Vicks Vapo-Rub, but for only a few minutes, then the smell dissipates.  I used it on my neck and shoulders, and also applied some to my lower back and hip of my right leg.  Boy, the effect was almost immediate and lasted for hours.  I love this stuff!  Barkeep….Bio-Freeze for everyone!!  (Actually I tried to get some sample packets from the Bio-Freeze company cause I wanted to offer to send samples to you, my blog readers, if you wanted to try it, but the company only gives samples to health care professionals…and I guess being a Call System Operator at the hospital and a blind runner who blogs doesn’t really count. Oh well. “C’est la vie” say the old folks…)

The next day at the chiropractor’s office, I told Dr. Krieg of my indigestion reaction to the adjustment yesterday.  He was delighted that I had some sort of reaction because this meant that things were happening.  After all, the spine is the nervous system’s super highway.  All our nerves come from the spine, and by making a cervical adjustment to a spine that has been out of alignment for over 20 years, it would have been surprising and even a little disappointing if I didn’t have a reaction.

So once again he had me stand next to the exam table and layed me face down on it.  After he had me do all the head movements left and right, and bending of my knees, my right leg was almost even with my left this time!  Maybe a ¼ inch difference. What a dramatic change! 

Overnight!

After just one adjustment…

Come back for more on Friday….

While fixing sciatica is a process, we’ll get you caught up to current on my whole back pain/sciatica healing journey.

See you on Friday…

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

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