Runner Insight

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As most of you know, I was struck with lower right back pain after a sneeze at the end of last year.  They diagnosed the lower right back pain as sciatica on December 30th. Since then I have been going to see my chiropractor Dr. Krieg.  It’s been just over 3 months now and I’m feeling really good and the lower right back pain is all gone. 

For a while there I wasn’t so sure how this was all going to work out.  Dr. K was aligning my upper cervical vertebrae when all my pain was lower right back pain creeping down into my right leg.  It didn’t really make a lot of sense to me, and the sciatica was intense and painful.  But I trusted that the doctor knew what he was doing, and he explained that if he didn’t start by getting my head and neck into alignment, nothing else would ever be quite right, and even if we fixed the lower right back pain for now, it could re-occur. 

Once I was past the worst of the lower right back pain and I got the go ahead to start running again several weeks ago, I was ecstatic to get out there and hit the pavement.  But as soon as I started running I found that my right calf muscle would get really tight and it caused the runs to be way less enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong, I was still glad to be able to get out there and run again once the chance of re-injury was past, pain or no pain. But the tight calf muscle hampered my enthusiasm somewhat.

Well it’s now been over a month since I’ve been able to run again, and each day that I run I can feel myself getting stronger and faster. And I haven’t had the lower right back pain come back.

But I must admit for a while I was wondering what he had done to me!  Was being in alignment messing up my running?  It sure felt that way my first few weeks. 

When I mentioned this to Dr. K, he told us a story about a guy he treated who was ranked in the top ten nationally in archery.  He had taken up archery later in life and had done very well, and was hoping to gain the title of National Champion, but could never place higher than about fourth place in the national events. 

After Dr. K started adjusting him, he found that he could not hit the broad side of a barn.  He asked “What the heck have you done to me?!”  Dr. Krieg told him that since he had been living out of alignment for so long, his body had compensated all these years for it, but now he was getting his body back into the alignment where he needed to be. It would take his body and his shooting some time to adjust to the new (proper) alignment.

Some time after that he was shooting better then he ever had. And the guy went on to win a national archery championship! Had he chosen to just live with his body out of alignment, he probably would have never realized his true potential.

With that story in mind, I realized that my body had to learn how to run again with the correct alignment, instead of the way it had been running (13.5 lbs heavy on the right side) for years and years.  So now that I’m running in alignment, I guess that means I’m on my way to realizing my true potential. Hey!  Maybe I’ll break my PB of 2:02 in the half marathon this year.

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

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As you know from my 4 part Back to Basics blog posts, I had an excruciating encounter with sciatica on December 30, 2008. If you haven’t read the dramatic story of my back pain saga you may want to click here to read it before continuing:here’s the link to the beginning, from there you can follow the links to the other installments: Back To Basics

To update you on my progress, I’ve continued the story here:

I had a feeling my mid-way re-exam at the chiropractor’s office was going to be a lot different from my initial exam.  And I was right. The changes were impressive and significant.

Dr. Krieg put me on the dual scale and instead of being 13 ½ pounds heavier on my right side, I was now only 1 pound heavier on my left!  Right within normal range. Wow!  Amazing!  My hips were no longer 1 ½ inches off: I was right on even!  Overall I had improved in all areas, and some of the changes were dramatic.

At that point though, I was still having a lot of pain in my lower back and down my right leg due to the sciatic nerve.  But, the good thing was that my alignments were holding; I only had to be adjusted about once every 2 weeks. So the initial work was going well and producing the results that we wanted. I had another deep tissue massage with Robin and that really helped with the circulation in my right leg.

I kept on seeing Dr. K twice a week.  Since I was staying in alignment, Dr. K started working on my lower back.  He took me to a different table.  Here he had me lay face down and then lowered the bottom half of the table as he kept his hand on my lower back.  As he did this, my back was stretched like I have never had it stretched before.  It felt great!  Dr. K explained that the little muscles in between the vertebrae can not get stretched with conventional stretching.  This process speeds up the recovery time it would take if I was to only to do stretching on my own.

I am so pleased with how my treatment is progressing.  I feel so much better.  I hardly have any pain from the sciatica.  My right leg is still a bit tighter then the left, but not nearly as bad as a few weeks ago.  Seems like what used to take weeks to see results is now happing in a few days, I now only have to see him once a week.

He also recommended a joint formula that I have been taking for about 6 weeks. That, along with the deep stretches and running, makes me feel almost new again.

I go in for my (hopefully) last re-exam at the beginning of April.  Dr. K will take x-rays and compare them to the ones he took back at the start of the year.  I’m looking forward to seeing those.  I’ll keep you posted on the results!

How ‘bout it?

Vision Runner

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I’m not sure why, but about two weeks ago a highly unexpected thought entered my head.  “Maybe I should start training for the Missoula Marathon in July.” 

What?  Not the half-marathon that I had already planned on shooting for, but the full 26.2 mile run.

I’m not quite sure what got into me.  I dunno. Maybe it was the beautiful spring day, or the fact that my sciatica seems to be on the mend, and I’m feeling like I’m getting back to my old self again?  But I just couldn’t shake the thought. 

To test my resolve, I told T I was maybe thinking about running the full marathon.  Her reaction was one of surprise and confusion.  “What has gotten into you?” she asked.  After all, I had barely started running again, and only 3 miles at that. Not one to discourage me, she just let me sort out my thoughts on the matter, supportive of my decision, either way.

If I could get my weekly mileage up by April 15^th, I could start the marathon training schedule.  It would be hard, and a lot would depend on the weather and my sciatica, but I was seriously thinking about it, and getting excited about it, too.

The next day, enthusiastic about my new plan to run the marathon, I was determined not to let a mini-blizzard stand in my way.  So as I dressed in my spandex shorts and heavier running tights, along with my long sleeve running shirt, and new warmer running jacket, I nestled my fleece hat onto my head and took the plunge into the cold, wind-chilled day.  It only took me, oh about a minute I’d say, to come to my senses!  It was freaking cold out there!  The wind was blowing the fallen snow, and I couldn’t see a thing!  I went back inside, a bit dejected, but glad I was wiser than years past.

The next day was cold again, but the sun was out and the wind had stopped for the most part.  Again, I dressed warmly.  Zipped up, I once again headed out the door, this time relieved to find my body was responding nicely to the 10 days of inactivity.  My right leg felt pretty good, and my lower back did not hurt at all.  I was only able to run about 3 ½ miles. I was feeling heavy on my right side and had to stop and walk a few times. 

Later that day, my thighs hurt from the run, but that was just normal aches and pains from not having run in a while.  But my right calf was very tight, like when I first started running again about 4 weeks ago.

Knowing the tightness was from the sciatica, I was disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong.  I was very happy about how my body was reacting to my running, but I knew there was no way I could do the mileage necessary to get me up to where I needed to be to start the longer marathon training runs by April.

I truly hadn’t been planning on running the full marathon this year, anyway. I just got struck by a whim that took a few days to wear off. So I gave myself permission to take it easy on myself.  After all I was making good progress with my back and sciatic nerve.

I have come to realize that getting myself aligned and healthy will allow me many more years of running.  I need not hurry the process and take the risk of re-injuring myself just because I want to prove something to myself:  That I could come off a debilitating back injury and run a full marathon in the same year. 

Well the heck with that noise.  I’m proud of me right now for not allowing the pain and fear of re-injuring my back keep me from running, like it does so many other people.  Even if it’s only a few miles at a time, I will keep running and continue to listen to my body. 

The most important thing for me to remember is: I run for me.  And me says, “Be gentle with yourself; I want to keep running for many more years to come!”

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

P.S. Special Happy Birthday message to T’s mom!!! Hope it was a Great One!!

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