What's my problem? 5/14/97

Well, for a while my chiro has been telling me I have something called spondiolysthesis where the lowest bone in my back is fractured (congenital). This causes an impingement on a nerve that makes my left leg weaker and more prone to injury. This has been the case for a couple of years for me now. I've been getting chiropractic adjustments which I think have alleviated the pins and needles sensation in my left foot. Well, I know that the sensation is gone, I just can't be sure it's the adjustments that are doing it.

Anyway, I haven't been the same since Easter. It's been one thing after another. It all started with a bad cough which my MD chalked up to allergies. Fine, I just need to use my inhaler more. The cough went away after about three weeks, but then one morning I woke up with a pain running up behind my left shoulder blade as if I had slept on it funny. It made taking a deep breath very painful, and my runs for the next two days were agony. That pain was diagnosed as a strain in the muscle that went up my back. I ran Penn Relays with this problem on lots of ibuprofen, and sucked it up with a 29:15. During the race I strained my left calf muscle (inside leg). Finally an injury that made sense. Run 25 laps on a hard track in spikes, and you just might do something to your calf or achillies. Three days off, and it wasn't healed. Another two days off, and I started running. Coming back easy with 13-16 a day, I decided it was time to do something fast. I ran a short hill workout and agravated an already bad psoas muscle. This is the muscle that lifts my left leg at the hip. I couldn't even make it 10 feet down the street the next morning. Another two days off, and I started walking/jogging.

This past monday 5/12, I went to see Dr. Joseph Feinberg at the Kessler Institute for Sports Medicine in West Orange, NJ. He feels that the strength descrepancy between my left and right legs is not related to the spondy condition. It could be disc related. He gave me some exercises and some stretches to do for my psoas.

Tuesday night, 5/13, I went out for my King St. 9.1 mile loop over hill and dale, and set my 3 year course record of 54:15. That was a little too much, and today I just ran once and took it easy. So the problem is now that USATF nationals are in 4 weeks. I feel tremendously not prepared having only done a couple of descent track workouts. At Princeton, I wasn't the type of student who could blow off classes for a semester and then ace the final. Which is why I never missed a class in four years (also consider that they're charging at least $100 a lecture). I'm not the type of athlete who's so loaded with talent that I can just haul a race out my ass (even though I do keep a lot of stuff up there). I need to be training hard for this to work. This is not an exam I can cram for. All I can do is hope I get healthy, be diligent about stretching, etc.. and hope for the best.

Update 6/1/97

Just ran a 5000 last night. It really didn't go so bad. I was in some amount of pain the whole trip with this hip problem, and I think I ended up changing my form somewhat. I was, however able to manage a 3200 split of 8:54. I had one workout last week that went well, but i could barely run 24 hours later. It's hard to describe. It used to feel like a hernia, now it's just like my left hip doesn't want to do it's job. My ham feel real tight when I run, but I can stretch it like no one would believe. I'm as flexible as ever. It will be day-to-day leading up to Indy.

Update 6/29/97

After my USATF 10000, I could barely walk the next day. I went "running" down the street, and my coach, Tom Fleming, said "what are you doing? If you can't walk, don't run." As of a couple of months ago, I was hoping to compete in Oslo on July 4 in the WR 10000 attempt. There are three things I've always wanted to accomplish in my running carrer. They are:

-olympic team

-run on the track in europe once or twice.

-win a major marathon.

This year was my opportunity to run in Europe. Well, I should have been able to run last year, but there was this problem in that there were no meets. I had been accepted to run at Bislette this year. After USATF, I decided to call it quits for the season, and take 2 weeks off. My back/ham problem has made running very difficult. I'll be back at some point - that I'm sure of. I just can't say when. Friday 6/27, I could barely run. Saturday 6/28, I ran twice slowly for a combined total of about 1:15. Today, I got around my 6.5 mile loop in 42 minutes. The two weeks off was not a cure, as I hoped it would be. But, strangely, I'm getting better with each run. With any luck, I'll be able to get back to 100+ mile weeks by the end of July. No racing for me until August.

Update 8/3/97

I just had an MRI. Results were a slighly herniated disc. I have to begin physical therapy. I'm back running my usual 15-20 a day now, but it is with pain. Every now and again I have a nice run, but for the most part, I just don't look forward to it like I used to. Still have this thing on my left side that feels like a hernia. On mine own, I'm trying to correct my form. I've always crossed my left arm across my body. I'm trying to straighten that out now. Seems to be helping a bit, the theory being that the problem is really starting in my upper back and shoulder and the twisting of the torso is not good.

As long as we're talking about my physical problems, I've got some other stuff. First, there are ants in my apartment. Not a lot of ants, but they pop up every now and again. I've put out some traps, and that seems to have helped. Also, I never leave food out. I think this stems from the one day when I left a garbage bag that was in my trunk for a while (and thus all sticky from the coke cans that are back there. you see I put my coke cans in my trunk to redeem them later). So the bag was sugary, and I found a ton of ants under it. So now I've got ants. They are mostly gone but Ellen saw one on the counter. Also, my mattress sags in the middle. I just bought this thing less than a year ago. The warranty says that's normal. I don't like it. It's summer and it's hot, so I moved the bed down to the basement. Now my bedroom looks funny because there's nothing in it except for clothes. The pressure in my shower is lousy too, and it drips. So there. And, at work, I struggling with an Oracle database. Oracle is a very robust RDBMS, but, so far, to the beginner, not all that easy to learn to use. I have to use it as a backend for a notes database that I wrote.

Update 8/18/97

So I went to the physical therapy place (Main Street Physical Therapy) here in Danbury. They were of little help. They told me that, because my doctor is more than 50 miles away, they cannot treat me. Couldn't they have told me that before I made an appointment and explained the whole thing to their therapist? Never heard of this rule. Back to square one. I don't know what to do now. I have a diagnosis and a prescription, and can't get it filled. Don't see the point in starting all over again with another doctor. Maybe I'll just try that back machine at the gym.

On top of that, I have an achilles problem (left). It's not really the achilles so much as the sheath surrounding the achilles. I took it easy for a while, it felt better so, genius that I am, I did some speedwork on it. It got a lot worse. I took a day off entirely, it felt better, I had a good run on 8/17, but it was still bothering me a little, so my coach and I collectively decided to scratch from Falmouth. This was a tough decision as Falmouth is a good payday, but I'd hate to have some money in my pocket and be thoroughly hosed for training for the next month. Sometimes you have to forget about the money and just run when you can. I'd rather have one $10,000 payday than ten $1,000 paydays. I hope to be back for the New Haven road race.

Update 8/26/97

I saw a local podiatrist about my achilles problems. He wrote a prescription for ultrasound, electric stim, etc... now I just need to get that done. Main Street Physical Therapy in downtown Danbury still made it impossible to get treatment. They are booked until 1998, and they refused because this podiatrist in not in their "network." I checked. He is in their network. I just don't get it. You have to go see one of their doctors or something. Different doctor, different prescription, same answer. If you live in CT, don't go there. They have no intrest in helping me. I have an appointment today for a place near where I work. Hopefully this one will work out. Still, there was a one week wait to get the appointment. Be a physical therapist, kids. You won't be unemployed. You'll have flexible hours and decent pay. Also, take up a "real" sport instead of running. If I were a basketball player, I'd have gotten treatment the very day this flared up over 2 weeks ago.

Update 9/07/97

So I went to this place where I work, they "evaluated" me. I thought the doctor already did that. Then I said "well, can we get started with some PT?" They said "No. That's next week, for now, just ice it, and blah blah blah." So I went someplace else, and they were able to treat me the next morning. OK, so Ahlbin Rehab is also on my ever-growing hate list of managed care nightmares. Now I'm going to someplace called HealthSouth. So there. I can run. As a matter of fact, I could go out for 10 right now, but I would just aggravate the thing. I've decided to not run again until my orthotics come back from being refurbished. Probably 10,000 miles on the orthotics since I last had them redone. I think they'll be in some time this week Just to add insult to injury, I saw the results of the New Haven 20K. That really hurts to see guys walk off with the cash running that slow (1:00:43 for the US title). I can't whine, though. If it really bothers me that much, then I should get healthy, get in shape, and beat them.

Update 9/29/97

I've been going to this one place in Trumbull for PT.  The achilles problem seems to be behind me for now.  Let's hope it doesn't re-appear.  I've doing a lot of pushups and it seems to help my neck which in turn helps my shoulder which ultimately helps my butt.  Ran a 21 mile loop here in CT in 2:21.  I don't actually know it's 21 miles.  It's at least 20, but I figure I was moving about 630 on average sometimes slower because of some seriously nasty hills here in Bethel and Redding, CT.

Update 10/13/97

These pushups and a lot more stretching seem to be helping.  Just ran 21.3 miles in 2:06:51 with a 5:02 measured mile from 19.5 to 20.5.  I know it was 21.3 because Tom Fleming was riding next to me and he had a little bicycle odometer on it.  It might be fun to borrow that thing, and measure my courses.  My neck, however, was absolutuely killing me.  Weird.  Will lay off pushups for a couple of days, but they really seem to be helping in terms of my keeping my head up while running and keeping my shoulders even.  Left ham still a mess.

Update 10/26/97

Started the Pumpkin run 4 mile road race here in Trumbull, CT.  Felt ham start to curl up on me.  About 2 minutes into the race I pulled it.  It went snap, and I was forced to limp back to the finish line area.  This is my right ham which isn't the one I usually complain about.  Wow this thing hurts.  I don't think I've ever actually pulled a ham.  I've had strains and tightness, etc..., but never one of those moments where I jump up in the air clutching at it like a sprinter or wide receiver.  Barring some kind of miracle in the next 48 hours, I can't see myself running around the block next week never mind the New York City marathon.  Now I know how Michael Johnson felt during the WFH race in Toronto this year.  On a side note, it really bugged me how people said he pulled up faking it.  I don't think he was faking it.

Update 11/16/97

Right ham is OK.  Now it's still that same old left ham problem.  Seems to better on more running though.  I get all stiff and unable to cope when I cut back.

Update 6/7/98

I went back to my chiropractor in CT.  They wanted me to get adjustments in addition to starting some PT.  So I did these exercises ("The Dynamic Lumbar Stabilization Program") 90 minutes a day for 5 weeks and didn't run at all.  First day back was awful.  I gave up on the exercises, but still do some of them like the sit-ups and balancing on this wobble board I bought.  It's supposed to teach you to balance your pelvis properly in an unstable environment.  I'm really tired of physical therapists and the like.  I've tried every exercise and stretch anyone ever thought up.  Gradually, I got back in to running and am running twice a day, 6-7 miles each.  Getting faster, but I'm still running awkwardly.  Whenever I try to pick it up, my left leg drops and slaps the ground.  One new theory I'm thinking of is that it seems I can never push off my right foot properly.  This could have implications about the lifting of my left leg if I'm not getting the right amount of push off from the right foot.  My right foot always rolls to the outside when I push off.  So I've ditched my orthotics for the moment and am running in a pair of plain Adidas Equipment Universe's (shameless plug), which is a great shoe.  I'll see my podiatrist on June 17.  I'm also seeing a separate chiro in NJ who's versed in Active Release Technique (ART) - a very intense massage that works on soft tissue injury.  So the problem still is, that my left ham is always tight and my left psoas only allows my left leg to come up so much, so it slaps down early.

Update 6/28/98

I'm mostly just seeing this ART guy.  I don't really know if my CT chiro is doing me any good, but I feel better than when I wasn't seeing him.  My latest theory is that I'm not pushing off my right foot correctly, hence having problems with my left leg.  I went to see my podiatrist Dr. Brian Fullem, who is in the midst of building some new orthotics.  My old one's broke anyhow.

Update 11/27/98

I made a video of me running on a treadmill from different perspectives at different speeds and gave it to Robert DeStefano who showed it to Michael Leahy, the man who invented Active Release Technique, who is famous for telling Michael Johnson's trainer that Michael was going to pull a quad before the WFH race in Toronto, 1997.  Mike looked at my video, and said "what's his complaint?  wait, let me guess, left quad and psoas tight, did he pull his right hamstring, and his left shoulder is bothering him too."  He hit all major points right away.  Said that my pulling my left arm across my body is torquing my lower back more in one direction than the other.  I've been working on letting my left arm swing more in it's trak better, and it has helped.  I no longer loathe long runs.  There's still a lot of tightness left over in the left ham and glute, but I'm optimistic.

Update 3-September-1999

This past monday was a good workout.  Ran 4 x 1600 in 4:29, 4:30, 4:33, 4:35.  I was a little disappointed with that last one, but I had run 21 miles the day before, so it's not so bad.  Anyway, 1/2 through I feel this tugging way on the inside of my left ham, almost in my groin area.  Genuis that I am, I ignore any pain/discomfort, and complete the workout.  Hey, if I stopped every time something hurt, I'd never get more than 2/3 of the way through any run.  It hurt more during my warmdown.  It hurt so much I don't run Wednesday morning.  Did some fartleking on Thursday night (wanting to test it), by Friday morning (3 September) I can hardly walk.  Feels as bad as the pull on the right ham from October 1997.  Except this wasn't one big "pop!"  It came on over the course of a few days.  Out of the Labor Day 20K.  I thought I had a good shot at that one too.

Update 3-November-1999

Tom Fleming has an idea.  Since I keep hurting myself, let's just do distance distance distance until I get strong and injury free.  I think it's a good idea.  Along the way I got some good advice about what to do about my chronically tight glutes.  Lie down on a tennis ball, and massage it that way.   I actually don't use a tennis ball.  I'm using one of these massage balls called "Goose Bumps" and I put it on the left and right sides of my butt.  It's the best advice I've had yet for all my back/ham problems.

Update 13-March-2000

Up until February, nothing had really gone wrong for me since December.  My recovery from the California International Marathon wasn't hard, and it was a nice change of pace to just run 50 miles a week for the month of December.  In January, I ran weeks of 136, 147, 150, 151, 83 (intentional rest week), 150.  Then I said to my wife "training is going well" and the next day I felt sick.  The running gods must have heard me because my right achilles got all inflamed, the muscle over and to the outside of my left knee cramped up on me, and I got a cold.  I got a second, much worse, cold just in time for the Gate River Run on March 4.  So now I've had four weeks at less than 100 miles a week, but I just ran 29 miles yesterday, and I'm hoping to crank it back up.  I've put a Spenco Lift under my right heel, and will start taking some anti-inflams.  I'll have to watch the achilles.

Update 14-March-2001

Pulled right hamstring down by the knee, almost recovered from that, now some nerve problem going down my left hip.  Almost time to quit and take up skiing (which is what I've been doing lately).

Update 5-June-2001

The nervy problem in my left hip is largely under control, and doesn't really hold me back.  This right hamstring thing is looking like a chronic problem though.  My whole right side starting at my low back running down through my butt, ham and calves is tight and feels week - like there's nothing there.  What am I doing about it?  A couple of Ibuprofin every day until I retire won't kill me.  Ice after runs on the hamstring.  10 minutes sitting on a bag of frozen peas, then jump in the shower to get heat to the area.  And, of course, stretching.  I do some of that Jim and Phil Wharton stretching (email me if you're unfamiliar and want to know more), and then I also hold my stretches when I know I'm good and lose.  I'm as flexible as I ever was at any time of my life, but it doesn't keep me from getting hurt - explain that one.  Also, I've begun to wear my orthotics again..  I've worn orthotics since I was 14, then towards the end of 1998, I ditched them in an effort to run more naturally.  There was a little bit of soreness running down the inside of my right calf due at least in part I'm sure to overpronation.  After about 14 months without orthotics, this pain worked it's way up to the inside of my knee.  Did this lead to a hamstring pull down there?  I dunno.  I think the extra support on the inside of my right foot will help.

So I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal last week about the efficacy of the drug I take:  Synthroid.  Seems that, despite the fact that this product is the third most prescribed medication in the country, and it's been out there for over 40 years, there are still problems with its manufacturing process, and that generics may be better.  My doctor believes firmly that I should be using the brand name, so I do.  Nevertheless, the FDA is saying that patients go from being hypothyroid to hyperthyroid every time they refill their prescriptions because the company who makes this stuff has poor QC, and some of it comes out at the wrong dosage.  Last year prior to the Olympic Trials Marathon, I had symptoms that could be explained entirely by being hypothyroid.  Loss of appetite, fatigue.  Then again, they could also be explained by over-training, but that's so unlike me.  I did get a new Rx shortly before the OTM last year, then started to feel lousy.  I had been on the drug so long at the same dose that I didn't know what to do.  It's rarely let me down except for a little last week, and now I'm thinking last year.  Feels like you have the flu, except no temperature and no sneezing or coughing.  The FDA has required the company (the name escapes me) to apply for some kind of permit to sell the drug by Aug 15 of 2001.  For whatever reason, they've been selling it for 40 years without one.  Will be interesting to see where this goes.  My guess:  the same company will be given the license and keep on doing what they're doing.  Possibly their manufacturing processes will improve - that will be the best and most significant thing to come out of this.  They're too rich and powerful a lobby for the FDA to do anything but green light this.

Update 11-August-2001

The nervy problem in my left hip is largely back  This right hamstring thing, OTOH, seems to be somewhat under control since putting my orthotics back in.  I shouldn't say that as the running gods might hear me again.  I think it's a strained muscle back there somewhere, and it really kills to land on my left foot, and push off.  Separately, I'm doing some rowing now on my Concept II ergometer.  I wonder if it has anything to do with my problem.  I'm thinking it might, but I hope not.  It's the only form of alternative training I really like.  Anyway I can run, but it hurts, and I'd rather not.  As they got Billy Crystal saying on Howard Stern "you know, it's just not fun."  As usual, I'm out of Falmouth.  Still hoping to run the NYC Marathon, but nothing else can go wrong for me.

Update 2-June-2002

After injuring my left hamstring in the Pittsburgh Marathon (completely unexpectedly I might add) I took up rowing again.  I really like my rowing (Concept II erg) machine.  It's a good aerobic workout which is also good for my upper body.  Makes me feel all buff and whatnot and things of that nature after I get off.  Makes me want to do one of those angry Vince McMahon poses.  So I'm pretty sure the rowing machine hurts my low back down where things connect to my hips, and this time I figure I don't have much to lose, so I'll just keep rowing no matter what happens.  I feel fine when I'm actually doing the rowing, it's after when I try to run that it's bad.  Some muscle right at the top of my butt feels like it pulled or something.  So I rowed a few times, and now I'm doing nothing but getting fat.  Should go see my chiropractor, but I'm too lazy/busy with other stuff (juggling two consulting jobs right now.)  So, while my condition was pretty good back in April (19:13 for four miles in central park), it's about as far opposite of that as you can get at this point.