Up and "Running"

Well, I now understand why so many people have so much time between posts. I have a multitude of reasons but they all sound a lot like excuses. I did not get a lot of time to putz with the system either, guess it will have to take shape on the fly.

I was hoping to get back into training sooner than I have, but have yet to run more than 3 miles at a crack in 6 weeks, and that only a handful of times.

I do not have any intention of making this blog a place for me to whine, but want to make you aware of where I'm starting from.

I injured myself at the Superior Trail 50K race '07. I had some slight twinges prior to this but the race is when it settled in and stayed for good. I went through the typical stuff, Ibuprofen, ice, rest, PT..... I ended up getting an MRI which revealed a disc herniation, something which about 25% if individuals my age have. Went through more PT, Yoga, 4 injections..... Still at the same place. The pain I have is in the glute/hamstring/calf, not constant pain, mostly a dull pain in the ass and major tightness in the hammy and calf. I looked into all the other stuff, SI joint, pirifomis, blah blah blah. Had another MRI this week, disc is worse and no hip issues to speak of other than a little tendinopathy. Soooooooooooooooo.

What the heck to do.

I am going to start running regularly, a dozen or so miles a week and ramp up slowly, like all summer to get to 30/week kinda slow. I'm hoping that Yoga, eccentric hamstring exercises and some glute/core strengthening together will do the trick. I have about 50 different exercises given to me my 8 different "experts". I also have a roman chair used to strengthen specific back muscles, this seems to help quite a bit.

My Doc said “ever thought of trying a different sport”. Now I have to admit he has tried about everything to get this to subside but I can’t even imagine not running. I know that some cross training is in order but I could not leave the camaraderie of this sport. I will continue to volunteer when I can but my goal is to get back to racing.

So here goes nothing. Going to the cabin to run in the woods.