So I hope that explains my absence. In brief, the timeline was as follows:
- Injured on December 31st. Achilles sore to walk on after run.
- I'm thinking, "Ok, a repeat of Thanksgiving--two weeks and I'm back at it."
- Two weeks elapse and I am still limping around
- I cancel all of my flights/accommodations for indoor season and have to swallow the reality that I will not be racing another season
- I begin to sink into the dreaded running-deprived depression (diagnosed as RDD)
- At the suggestion of my coach, Dennis Barker, and team president, Pat Goodwin, I seek warmer climate
- Luckily, I have amazing friends and former teammates who have an extra bedroom in their apartment in southern California
- Boom, I book the flight and leave the arctic tundra, also known as Minneapolis
- I find myself surfing and saying "gnarly bro"
Ok, that last point is a bit of a stretch, but I did find a renewed sense of mind in being able to walk outside without prepping like I was about to summit Everest. The sand, sun, and surf distracted my mind from RDD as I sunk into another routine of swimming at the gym and enjoying warm evenings in the hot tub.
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| Sunset from Brian and Cort's Apartment in Carlsbad |
I sought out the help of a few different therapists while out here to get some other eyes on my achilles injury to make sure we weren't missing anything with my appointments back home. Disappointingly, I received the same feedback with each visit, until I visited a master Muscle Activation Technique (M.A.T.) specialist, Debi Huber. My first visit with her was a bit unconvincing, but she wanted me to come back a second time for an experiment. I decided to play her game and what happened next is recorded in my running log on Running2Win.com, which I'll copy here:
Went and saw Debi Huber for a second M.A.T. appointment. I was a little hesitant going in and seeing her again, but she said she wanted to do some strength tests, have me run lightly, and then retest me to see if she could find any specific weaknesses. If she couldn't find anything, she wouldn't charge me for the visit. So I agreed to her little experiment.
Got there, she tested some stuff, and then I went out and ran for 6 minutes, fully expecting my achilles to be sore by the end of it, even though it's been feeling so good lately. Well...I finished 6 minutes pain free! She then ran some strength tests on me and just kept working high up in my back and neck. And then she told me to go "play" again for 8 minutes.
I again left the office with exuberantly at the opportunity to run. About 80% of me was thrilled with 20% of me haunted with the thought of feeling pain on any one of my next steps. Eight minutes passed, I returned to her office, still without pain. I couldn't believe it. I specifically asked her, "What kind of magic spell did you cast on me? Whatever this anti-pain spell is, I like it." She was likewise happy and then spent about 20 minutes further working on my back and upper neck.
And here comes the kicker: she told me to go play for another 10 minutes. I was a little worried for my first day back, but she just wanted to make sure she wasn't missing anything and if my achilles started to hurt, she thought she mind find something else. Went for 10 minutes and returned pain free yet again! I literally could not have been more excited. I was grunting with joy (yes, grunting). The cars driving by probably thought I was a mad man, and they would have been right.
I returned to Debi's office and she worked on me one more time and then told me to take it easy the next week and let her know how I feel. She may or may not have me in one more time before I head back to MSP, depending on how I feel the next few days.
So here's my take on my return to health:
1. Rest. I have been resting more than ever in San Diego. I'm not even walking around much here. I even cut out Alfredson's eccentric heel drop routine because I wasn't responding favorably to that for the first few weeks.
2. The GTN patches. Yeah, the studies show significant improvement after 12 weeks of use in a double blind study, but doesn't mean that there weren't improvements after only 2 weeks. It just means they weren't statistically significant enough to report.
3. M.A.T. Specialist. I was disappointed after my first visit with Debi, as it honestly didn't really feel like she was doing much. And even with my appointment yesterday it didn't feel like she was doing much, but I guess that's because I'm so used to the A.R.T. "no pain no gain" style of treatment. But I think what she was doing with my back certainly can help moving forward in preventing the likelihood of re-injury in the future. Big thanks and shout out to Brad Gloyeske for recommending M.A.T. and helping me find Debi for treatment.
Got there, she tested some stuff, and then I went out and ran for 6 minutes, fully expecting my achilles to be sore by the end of it, even though it's been feeling so good lately. Well...I finished 6 minutes pain free! She then ran some strength tests on me and just kept working high up in my back and neck. And then she told me to go "play" again for 8 minutes.
I again left the office with exuberantly at the opportunity to run. About 80% of me was thrilled with 20% of me haunted with the thought of feeling pain on any one of my next steps. Eight minutes passed, I returned to her office, still without pain. I couldn't believe it. I specifically asked her, "What kind of magic spell did you cast on me? Whatever this anti-pain spell is, I like it." She was likewise happy and then spent about 20 minutes further working on my back and upper neck.
And here comes the kicker: she told me to go play for another 10 minutes. I was a little worried for my first day back, but she just wanted to make sure she wasn't missing anything and if my achilles started to hurt, she thought she mind find something else. Went for 10 minutes and returned pain free yet again! I literally could not have been more excited. I was grunting with joy (yes, grunting). The cars driving by probably thought I was a mad man, and they would have been right.
I returned to Debi's office and she worked on me one more time and then told me to take it easy the next week and let her know how I feel. She may or may not have me in one more time before I head back to MSP, depending on how I feel the next few days.
So here's my take on my return to health:
1. Rest. I have been resting more than ever in San Diego. I'm not even walking around much here. I even cut out Alfredson's eccentric heel drop routine because I wasn't responding favorably to that for the first few weeks.
2. The GTN patches. Yeah, the studies show significant improvement after 12 weeks of use in a double blind study, but doesn't mean that there weren't improvements after only 2 weeks. It just means they weren't statistically significant enough to report.
3. M.A.T. Specialist. I was disappointed after my first visit with Debi, as it honestly didn't really feel like she was doing much. And even with my appointment yesterday it didn't feel like she was doing much, but I guess that's because I'm so used to the A.R.T. "no pain no gain" style of treatment. But I think what she was doing with my back certainly can help moving forward in preventing the likelihood of re-injury in the future. Big thanks and shout out to Brad Gloyeske for recommending M.A.T. and helping me find Debi for treatment.
Returning to running after 8 weeks off is an indescribably exhilarating and freeing activity. No longer bound to the eerie waters of the gym pool, swimming countless laps, gasping for air, and counting tiles, I have now run along the beach boulevard with the sun warming my skin, a fresh breeze at my back, and the sound of the ocean waves crashing ashore. Just this morning I navigated to an abandoned road near the beach, closed my eyes, took a deep breath of the salty air, and ran in pure bliss. The rhythmic beating of my feet on the ground was matched by that of my heart. Cloud nine. I arrived.
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| Sunset Cliffs in San Diego |
As a final note, many thanks to my "host family" of Brian Berling and Cortney Staruch, former teammates of mine at the University of Cincinnati. They could not have been any more gracious to make me feel at home. I had a blast with them as they took me around San Diego to see the sights, explore the culture, and enjoy excellent beer!
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| Brian and Cort at Stone Brewery Tap Room in Oceanside |
