Injury Musings

So I thought I would follow-up on my previous post with a more informative, update post!    I am back running now, and have had 3 really great weeks of pain free, happy miles!  It took a year but I have a new body and rebuilt pretty much everything.  So this post is a little about the ins and outs of working through an injury cycle.  If you are an athlete of any sort - whether you walk the Breast Cancer Awareness 3 Day, play the occasional flag football, or are a crazy runner like me - -I am hoping some/any of this might be helpful to you!?

This is basically my top nuggets from a year of injuries.....

1.  Modern Medicine vs. Natural Healing
So I am starting with one that I know is going to cause a lot of conversation.  I will put my marketing super* in now - *I am not an expert, this is my opinion!  So first off, I classify modern medicine as:  go to sports med doctor, get an xray/MRI, take advil, boot it, surgery, or rest, get PT.  I consider Natural healing things like: trying massage, acupuncture, yoga, herbs, diet change (eat more fish to get out inflammation), ART, shockwave therapy, KT tape, chiropractic, etc.  Having said that, this past year I leaned 90% on natural healing.  Here is my conclusion.  I think modern medicine gets you back on the field faster - - I think Natural healing truly solves the problem and makes you stronger in the long run.  This year, given the goals I had, I probably should have taken the modern medicine route, and once I tore the ligaments in the ankle, got quick surgery, healed and I would have been fine.  Instead, I worked endlessly to FIX the root of the problem - fallen arches, weak ankles (years of basketball sprains), weak feet.  In the process I irritated my hips and my whole chain got angry.  So it took a year to rebuild my body, and I am still working on it - but we think I am close :)  Net, I have NEVER felt better, but it took a long time.  The upside - the best is yet to come baby!!!

2.  Avoid Google at all Costs
No further explanation  needed, you can turn a blister into a deadly foreign virus and determine you will never run again.  Let the experts tell you what it is and what to do - and then do it. Justin frequently has to be remind me to stay very far away from Dr. Google. (slight obsession on my end)

3.  Have your circle of "people"
So prior to this year I got massage when I was REALLY run down, I went to a chiropractic when I couldn't turn my neck, etc.  Net, I reacted to everything.  Now I have built my "circle" and am going to develop a cycle to keep me healthy all the time - before stuff gets out of whack - Becky, is my go to for everything, just an amazing, PT, stretch therapist, trainer, talk you off the cliff person.....Rachel is my massage therapist - it's not massage though - it's tear inducing body work.  She is phenomenal. And Doc Maynard is my Chiropractor - best in the business - doesn't crack bones, he keeps my hips even :)  Point is, do not wait until you break down, build your circle ahead of time so they get to know your body and you.

4.  Nutrition is key?
Mixed Emotions on this one?  So this year I REALLY cleaned up my diet and supplements even more.  Did it help me heal?  I do not really think so.  But I will say the 2 months I did run, I ran really well - 2 PRs, on basically no training.  So no conclusion yet on this one, I'll report back after an amazing 2016 :)

5.  KT Tape, Rock Tape, etc.
I laugh just thinking about this, Justin and I have many funny stories regarding the KT tape.  If you ever want humor, ping me let's do froyo and I will have you in stitches.  Ok so first, does it work?  Yes I believe it does, it braces and you can feel,  in my opinion, it holding whatever you messed up in place.  BUT - - if you tore your hip flexor - - you still tore it and no piece of tape is going to hold that in place if you are running 6 minute miles :)  SO, my thoughts - it is awesome at the very beginning of injuries and at the very end of them, when you are 90% ok just need a little love.  Don't tear 2 ligaments in your ankle, and then race a 1/2 marathon on it and hope to win.  (not that I would do that), GULP.  And for what it's work - Rock Tape is 100x better then KT tape.

6.  Cross Training.
Pool running, swimming, Elliptigo, elliptical, Step Mill are my mainstays.  I  use to hate swimming, honestly I did it so much this year, I am not going to lie, I am pretty darn good at it now!  I can swim 1.5 miles!!!  Legit.  And after awhile it becomes kind of peaceful, NO one can talk to you underwater, it's very meditative, and totally YOUR TIME. I had one of my best years at work and I think it was because I would be in the water with just my head right?  No teammates or music, so I would come up with all these ideas.  In fact I know I drove people at work nuts because I would get home and spend a good 20 minutes just emailing out my ideas!!!  But in terms of what keeps you in best shape, I think it is swimming, it's total body, and your lungs really get strong, my endurance is sick deep now.  Pool Running just doesn't do it for me really and your head is outside the water so I freeze.  Elliptigo I love, but it makes me yearn to run SO bad, Elliptical I fart around on too much, it's at a gym right?  So I chat, watch TV, etc and don't really work hard enough.  Step Mill is killer, and I like that, so probably a close 2nd to swimming.  Net - nothing replaces what you love to do when you cannot do it.  Nothing :(

7.   The Mental Piece of Healing.
This one, I cannot stress enough how important this is.  And I realize I am the kettle calling the pot black here. But what is in your head is GOING to effect how your body reacts.  Stress has a CRAZY influence on the body.  Scientifically proven, it causes inflammation which is the root of all injury.  This year by far was the most stressful for me in a long time - My job scope increased significantly, wedding planning, future planning with fiancee, deaths in the family, moving,and not to mention the stress of  qualifying for the Trials.  You have to to have an outlet and let that go - - I internalize EVERYTHING and say "I'm great".  It's not until the last 2 months here that I began to actually throw-up the garble in my head....and it's helping.  A lot.  Net - - Fix your head, your body will fix itself.

8.  People.
They're amazing.  In a year with a lot of not so cool things happening out there in the world, this year showed  me personally the beauty of people.  I had so many people help me  through this, the skin off their back.  Selflessly give hours and hours to try and get me to the line.  Others to just hug me when I couldn't  talk it out, and others to be  there for me even when I wanted to crawl under a rock.  I could tell you 100 stories - about the amazing Becky, Rachel. or Doc Maynard, about my Mom, my hero Mrs. Cyr, My coach, my teammates, my sister, about Paul who owns the Pilates studio, or Sumit and Dayna from the Yoga Studio,  my amigos out East (Brooker, Z, Jeff), my Cincy amigos(too many to mention), my Chicago amigos, work peeps, my PHX amigos (Ted, Rosy, Kristi, Shelly, Lauren, 'W", Katie Tina) and on and on, but instead I will tell you one that will give you chills.  My last post generated so many texts, messages, comments, emails it was very overwhelming, I was...well floored.  I got messages from people I did not even know who follow my blog.  One of those, I am not sure I should mention her name? so I won't, (well heck I can say her first name!  Julie), reached out to me, and asked if she could run the Houston Marathon and dedicate  it to me.  I know what that means, b/c I do it every race I run,and I take it VERY seriously.  I won't tell you the details of the conversation but it brought me to tears, that someone would do that for me.  Net, people are amazing, they have really big hearts.  There is more good out there then bad.  And if you let them in, you'll be better for it.  We're here in this world together for a reason.

9.  Pilates/Yoga

One thing this year did was really get in me into pilates and yoga - and in all honesty for not having surgery on 2 torn ligaments in my ankle I am pretty sure the combination of these 2 practices naturally healed and strengthened my ankle.  Now don't get any visions in your head of me being this elegant yogi - my standing tree looks more like a burning bush - but my balance has gotten noticeably better, it mentally takes the edge off for me, and my hips/glutes/total core are 100x stronger thanks to pilates.  Most importantly they each have these pockets of community that are totally separate from running that can be kind of a nice escape; just different circles that are humbling, yet welcoming.

Pilates Buds (this picture was much harder then it looks) :)

My yoga peeps..don't they just make you want to hug people?  It's like an aura they carry that screams LOVE :)

10.  Time

It's amazing....but time, well it heals EVERYTHING :)


Anyways,  that's a wrap.  I hope there was something in here that maybe could help you at some point, and as always if you have ANY questions just holler.  I've been there :)