Max Riffner
The Parlor
My weblog work journal. »Archives »Links
My Prediction? Pain
One of the things that bugged me about being in Jamaica was how unconditioned I was to the heat. I started sweating like a pig as soon as I walked outside, and I was exhausted by early afternoon from just sitting around in the shade. I was in the pool one night with one of the bride’s friends, and he had actually run with my dad in the Boy’s Town race a few weeks ago. We got to talking about running and he was surprised to find out that I had been a runner, and that I had pretty much given up since I hurt my Achilles tendon two years ago. He kind of looked at me strange and told me that maybe I should go have it checked out by a doctor before I completely give up on it.
I called my doctor the week I got back. Based off his diagnosis (Achilles tendonitis), I had my first physical therapy session last night.
First off, the good news: I didn’t rupture my tendon. I have about a 10 degree difference in mobility between my left and right feet, which is probably the main culprit of the pain once I started to up my mileage too fast, way back when.
The bad news is there isn’t much to do until I try running again. Basically, I have to push myself to pain so they can get a better idea of what is going on. I have some simple Dr. Scholl’s inserts which are supposed to help. If I notice they help, then that makes me a good candidate for orthotics. Serious icing and stretching will help also.
For an activity that I loved so much, I did not treat my body well in order to keep doing it. I didn’t stretch much, I didn’t crosstrain at all, and I would always push myself too hard, especially towards the end when I thought I’d try a marathon. As I am transitioning out of my youth and into middle-age, it is time to realize that I can’t do this to myself anymore.
I will buy new shoes tonight. I’ll probably go for my first run on Sunday, after I’ve broken in my inserts and done my stretches for a few days.
Wish me luck.
My knees actually feel good from running.
The main thrust of this new attempt is to see if I can do it at all anymore with medical help, because my tendons are starting to bother me a bit when I walk for an extended period of time too. So even if I don’t keep running after this, I should have help for just walking.
Store some whiskey and ice for when the pain becomes overbearing.
I have ice already; the other part of the plan is to get a decent road bike this weekend. I’m older now. I can’t expect to keep being able to throw myself into an excercise like running and expect no injuries.
From a health perspective though, I have never felt better, had more fun, and lost as much weight as I was from running. I’ll be crosstraining with yoga and cycling (both of which I’ve become much more interested in).
You can also browse through the Parlor archives.
Recent Articles
- April 27, 2010
- This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day
- January 11, 2010
- #CinematicShowdown
- December 4, 2009
- Guest Strip: The Loneliest Astronauts
- November 12, 2009
- Circling Back
- October 30, 2009
- I'm Still Here
Search
Get the Emails
Keep up to date with my email newsletter. Newsletters are sent at least quarterly.
Grab My Site Feed
Stay up to date with my Feed in your favorite newsreader!
See Who's Linking Here
Check out who is linking to me with my Technorati Profile.
Jun 23, 12:58 AM
You are sorta Sado-Masochistic when it comes to the running thing. I also thought you had knee issues?
I was going to also leave the comment “Que the new shoes” but you mentioned them in the end.
Store some wiskey and ice for when the pain becomes overbearing.
lol