Running Explorations

I wish I had known these easy warm up and cool down stretches during my last couple seasons. Definitely worth watching, especially if experiencing hip problems like myself.

Although my textual research on barefoot running has come to a pretty solid, yet perhaps temporary, halt, my physical experimentation has been thriving within the past few weeks of the warm weather and park dwelling. At first it was infrequent encounters like tip toeing to the mail box or doing yard work unshod, but one visit to the trails of Mill Creek Park changed my love of free feet forever. A friend and I decided to go on a bit of a hike around a lake that is about five or six miles around. Normally I would run this route, but of course that was sadly out of the question. Never the less, I decided to seize the opportunity as Day One of Barefoot Explorations.

Were there rocks? Yes. Sticks? Of course. Were they sharp? You bet. But after a bit, one becomes immune to the pokes and prods of the trails. I think my favorite part was striding straight through heaps of mud where I would have otherwise straddled across somehow. It is a closeness to the earth that you have never felt before, being barefoot on the trails. And although I don’t think running would be very easy, walking is definitely a way to improve your agility and foot strength. Our feet, after all, are our foundation to running.

Through my numerous barefoot walks in the park I have found myself being a bit more delicate with my body. With shoes, you often find yourself ignoring the amount of pressure you apply to your body with each step. We bypass the shock it runs up through our bones and joints and remain absent-minded of the results it can often have. Although I do not blame my heel strike for my six-month idleness due to injury,  I do believe it is important to now take precautions with uneasy joints. Perhaps barefoot walking (and, maybe in the future, running) can benefit my steady recovery back into totally healthy shod running.

I have an orthopedic appointment coming up where I will either be told to rest SOME MORE or– dare the words drop out of my mouth like gum balls– start. running. slowly. I have begun to read “Running Within” (elaborated a few posts down) and have taken in a few ideas to ponder before my post-injury competitions, such as not being overly hard on myself when I return not as quick as I once was. I think my primary struggle will be learning to deal with having NO expectations for myself for a little while. Isn’t being injured just fantastic?

Although it is important to be a physically prepared runner, it is also important (perhaps even more so) to be a mentally prepared runner. I’ve struggled with my racing confidence in the past, and personally, I have found that reading books about being a “body, spirit, mind” runner really ups my attitude and gets me ready to compete. Through these past several months of dealing with my physical disabilities, I decided to strengthen my running confidence with a refreshed frame of mind.

Buy "Running Within" on Abebooks.com

A book I recommend to any runner looking to focus on his or her mentality  is “Running Within” by Jerry Lynch and Warren Scott. I’m currently making my way through this one and found it uplifting from the very start. The authors touch on essential subjects such as patience, embracing setbacks, relaxation, and useful visualization along with other techniques that will help you get through a mentally challenging race. I have personally struggled with a high level of confidence in training with an extremely low confidence in racing. This book does an excellent job of helping distance runners break out of their shells and reach their full potential. I bought this book in good condition on Abebooks.com for DIRT CHEAP! By clicking the book cover, it will take you directly to the site for purchasing splendor.

Buy "Running & Philosophy" on Abebooks.com

“Running & Philosophy” edited by Michael Austin is on my upcoming book list. It’s a unique piece that is comprised of essays from a multitude of runners, such as college-level athletes and philosophers who run in their spare time. This book answers questions like “What is the relationship between success in running and success in life?”, “What can we learn from pain?”, “Is running a religion?” and “How does running fit into the pursuit of a meaningful life?” Runnersworld.com recommended “Running & Philosophy” to those who need some “food for thought on a long run.” This book is also available on Abebooks.com for a very minimal price, and the link at the beginning of the paragraph will guide you to the site.

Others books that have been recommended to me by many runners, all of whom have nothing but fantastic reviews, include:

• “Once a Runner” by John L. Parker Jr.
• “Again to Carthage” by John L. Parker Jr.
• “Brain Training for Runners” by Matt Fitzgerald
• “The Perfect Mile” by Neal Bascomb
• “50 50″ by Dean Karnazes
• “Running with the Buffaloes” by Chris Lear

If one could run without getting tired, I don’t think one would often want to do anything else.
-C.S. Lewis

In my last post, I wrote “I will give  near-daily updates…” (or something along those lines). I believe that was on May 7, 2010. It is now May 17, 2010, a whopping ten days later. So as I sat down to a breakfast of poached eggs on toast– yes, it’s 1 p.m. and I consider this breakfast. Cut me a break, I’m a college student– I figured, “Hey, now is a good time to give your no-where-near-daily-update on Run Anyway, wouldn’t you say?” Here we go.

My visit to the orthopedic was a bit nerve-racking. For starters, I was the youngest person in the waiting room by about 25-30 years. I would cringe every time an old woman teetered through the door in a wheel chair or walker. “Oh, god. That’s going to be me,” I’d think. I contemplated every worst case scenario, an extremely foul habit of mine. Worst case scenarios:

1. Dr. Stefko: Well, you’re not healing. You say the pain is spreading every where? Tried everything you can? We’ll have to do surgery, but you’ll probably never competitively run again.
   Becca: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
2. Dr. Stefko: Well, you’re not healing. The next step would be cortisone shots. They’re going to hurt like a bitch. And, considering your pain is virtually every where, you’re going to have to get them in several areas. In addition, this stuff isn’t magic. It’s not pixie dust that will make everything vanish and never come back again. For as long as you run, you’ll get these shots every X weeks. Did I mention they’re going to hurt like a bitch?
   Becca:  Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
3. Dr. Stefko: Well, you’re not healing. I don’t like giving cortisone shots to young people, and surgery is reserved for those with debilitating injury. You just need to rest until this thing goes away. There’s no telling when you’ll run again.
   Becca: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Luckily (as usual) none of my worst case scenarios turned out to be the ACTUAL scenario. The actual scenario was a combination of #2 and #3, but didn’t end up with me screaming, “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” Phew!

The real scenario was Dr. Stefko explaining to me that the reason why I wasn’t getting any better was due to the fact I was over working my injured areas in rehab. Would you look at that? Work my ass (or hips) off for five months in rehab to find that it is merely counter productive. Also, he was perturbed that my school doctor did not order a M.R.I. with dye, because all my regular M.R.I. in February deciphered was that I did not have a stress fracture– nothing more. Considering a person is physically unable to withstand multiple M.R.I.s back to back due to the heavy radiation one is exposed to, I can’t get another that will show any tears in my muscles or ligaments for several months.

Therefore, it all came down to the shots. He said, “Well, you’re not healing. The next step would be the cortisone shots. We can do it today.” Although in my head I was clawing my way out of the door, my heart said, “I WANT TO RUN AGAIN!” So I decided to just get it over with.

I have talked to others about cortisone shots in the past. Words stuck out to me like HUGE NEEDLES! and STRAIGHT TO THE BONE! SERIOUS PAIN! I was getting one shot in each hip bursa; I have to admit, the needles were fairly large (in my opinion, 4″ needles are fairly large); however, the guy taking care of me was a gem. They numbed the surface first with a freezing spray (something everyone had failed to mention to me before), and the only pain I really felt was when it hit the inflamed spot. All in all, it wasn’t as bad as I had cracked it up to be.

Doctors orders for post cortisone shots:

1. Pack with ice (I use bags of frozen peas. They form to your body well and don’t melt into a puddle.)
2. Take it easy for the first week; you will notice the full difference after three to four weeks.
3. Take this prescribed anti-inflammatory (I’m on diclofenac two times a day).
4. See me in a month. We’ll tell you if you can start SLOWLY running again.

I was a happy girl at the end of the trip. Any one who tells me there is a chance of running again in a month is a hero in my eyes. I was a bit stiff and sore the day of the shots, but the pain lessens more and more every day. I write this because I know how bad it sucks to have hip problems, and the development of knowledge on hip problems is fairly new to the medical world. I hope that my painful experiences can help others out there have less painful experiences and a faster recovery.

Over and out,
Becca

Becca, Bursitis, and Blah Blah Blah

Hey there, this is Becca Rae reporting. I am an avid long distance runner and a professional writing major in Columbus, OH. Although running is my passion, I have been dealt with some ugly cards this year. After some serious over-training in my first season of college cross country, I have been diagnosed with bursitis of the greater trochanter (fancy term for upper leg. You know, the part where you hip bump people in fits of joyous dance.) Against the better advice of my family physician, I continued to work out and run despite my pain. I’m a “I’m invincible and no body can tell me that I can’t do what I love” kind of girl. Needless to say that didn’t work out too smoothly, seeing as I now have been diagnosed with tendinitis of the hips (front tendons below one’s hip bones that connects the muscle to the bone. Feels kind of like a circus tight rope, except painful. Real painful.)

In a nut shell (or as condensed as I can possibly put it), I came from a low-mileage high school. My coach believed that under training was worth avoiding injury in young girls, which is understandable, yet not a widely adapted attitude. All athletes and coaches are different– not a bad thing, that is, until their training is drastically upped. Injury, in turn, occurs simply when one does too much, too fast, too soon. My first cross country season began well; however, I was done before it was over. To put it plainly, this chick’s legs were cooked.

The final resolution amongst my coaches and I was: Hey, we learned our lesson. Next year we won’t do that. After our two-week break between cross and indoor track, I knew something just wasn’t right. I felt as if I simply was not ready to return. My invincibility attitude chimed in, however, and I essentially told myself to man up and quit complaining. It was on a typical, ordinary seven-mile run that I began to feel a pinch in my right hip, followed by a pop. This, ladies and gentleman, was my grand introduction to the not-so-wonderful world of bursitis. The trainers said, “Yikes. Bursitis is a slow-healing thing, you know,” but I managed to shake it off. The bursitis, however, did not. It only progressed into full blown tendinitis.

MORAL OF THE STORY: When in pain, ALLOW ONE’S SELF SOME REST! Days off may feel lazy, but the body will be grateful in the end. Also, if pain is relentless, unforgiving, and chronic, SEE A DOCTOR! Don’t waste time with self diagnosis.

My spiraling road of injury began in December of 2009. It is now May of 2010 and I am still not running. My last race was a crumby 1600 leg of a distance medley relay in early February, a large mistake within itself.

Introductions to Barefoot Explorations

See what I mean? Damn, girl. Photo credit goes to Michael Scott, 2010.

It was a friend from high school that had mentioned his roommate that became a barefoot runner after chronic hip problems. I haven’t read much on the issue of barefoot running; all I really knew was that some were for it, some were against it, and Kenyans doing it looked like hard asses. After being injured for four months, however, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to look into this barefoot running business. To my surprise, studies have shown that due to the body’s self-adjustments to running with a naked foot vs. a shod foot, one is forced to run lighter, creating a smoother landing, thus easier on joints such as hips.

Websites such as Sportsci.org, Barefootrunner.com, and WebMD helped me get a better understanding of what it’s all about.

All in all, I’d say because I’m desperate to run again, I’ll try basically anything to get back out there. Even if it means risking a few gashes or nasty blisters. My mind wandered farther, and because I realized I knew so little about barefoot running, I’m sure others do as well. (I mean, I can’t be THAT far out of the loop, right? …Right?!) I decided that I would take a near-daily diary of my explorations of barefoot running. This will include any data I find on research on the topic as well as my personal experience with deciding on whether or not this could potentially be helpful in my care of hip bursitis and tendinitis.

Feel free to include any knowledge and or questions on the subject as well as personal anecdotes that can add to the experience. I’m an open mind ready to learn and run again.

Happy running, over and out.