Injuries & Chiropractic
Wait, how did that happen? I didn’t do anything! I didn’t feel a pull, I didn’t fall, and I didn’t really do anything. However, at this point, I can barely run. It’s sort of like “sleeping funny” I guess, I’m not sure. Five weeks from today (on May 5th), I have plans to run my 11th marathon, or at least I hope to. Just last Tuesday I set out to run nine miles, and about 1.5 miles into it, I felt a strain in my right leg. I continued to run, hoping it would just go away (as often times muscle tightness does), and the pain only got worse. I had to stop and my 9 mile run turned into just a little more than 2 miles, and I was ticked off & wondering what happened.
The only thing I can think is that it really is similar to sleeping funny, when you are in an awkward position for an extended period of time, and you wake up and your muscles aren’t happy. You can’t turn your head and everything hurts. Just two days prior to this injury/run, I did a 20-mile training run while in Florida (yes, 20 miles, I am training for a marathon after all), then sat awkwardly on an airplane after it was delayed four hours. The flight took off at 12:30am and I tried to “sleep funny” in a plane, and of course that is never easy. The next day I didn’t run, but I didn’t notice any leg pain however two days later that pain set in. Since then, I ran two miles and stopped because I could feel the pain just slightly and I didn’t want it to get worse.
Right now I am in the middle of taking three days off of running, not something that was in my training plan and not something that makes me happy just five weeks away from a race, the time when I should be logging the most of my mileage. However I am hoping this rest will actually make me stronger, let my leg recover, and I will be able to get to the starting line healthy and un-injured. I know if I kept on running the pain would have gotten worse and as hard as it’s been to take that time off, I think I am making the right decision. I hope. I pray. We’ll see when I head out on Tuesday for a run. I hope and pray that the leg pain is gone.
During this time, I’ve done everything that I know of to help myself recover — ice, some heat, getting chiropractic adjustments & a massage, applying Traumeel and essential oils (Deep Blue & Helichrysum from doTerra), and I’m doing that over and over. I haven’t stretched as I think that would irritate it at this point. The leg feels okay, so we’ll see how it feels when I start running.
Injuries are always very annoying, but are a good lesson. Pay attention to your body, don’t over train, take care of it right away, rest when necessary and get back to the starting line healthy. The next time you are injured, or have that back pain or neck pain, don’t delay in taking care of it. Call our office; see if we can help, as there are many things that can impact your recovery.
