Massage Therapy: Taking my lumps and getting them out

How about those Buckeyes! Wisconsin sports are having an “ok” month. I’m finally starting to feel like a runner again. I had my first workout this week, my long runs are progressing, and I also ran my first run that I would categorize as “brisk to semi-hard” effort. Needless to say, it’s been an interesting week of running which is highlighted by the “brisk” run. On this particular day, I really just wanted to open up my stride a bit. The roads aren’t completely clear, so I tried not to worry about the consistency of the mile splits. On a 9.5 mile run, I ran the 2^nd mile in 5:44 and thought that this run was going to be flawless. Well, needless to say it wasn’t. At about 2.7 miles, I was cruising and slowed down to take a corner. Unfortunately, not enough and I bit it. As every runner knows, this happened in slow motion and all I could think is “get the knees, hands, and arms out…protect the hip”. Needless to say, that hurt. I hobbled for about a quarter mile and then got back to it. Somewhere in the middle of the run I had a 5:40 mile and the run was gaining some momentum. As I turned to head home down Okemos road, I was feeling a little tired, but had a great sense of accomplishment. The run had gone pretty well, and then I got hit by a car. Now I realize that a lot of drivers do not stop before the cross walk (which I do not condone), but I guess I take it for granted that they’re actually going to stop. Now I didn’t get the best look, but from my point of view, it wasn’t completely the driver’s fault. To the driver’s defense, he was driving his wife and kid somewhere while talking on his cell phone and taking a drink. I completely understand how he didn’t see me in my Brooks night life jacket in broad daylight or that big red stop sign. I jumped up, got hit, slammed my hand on the hood (not intentionally), and actually landed on my feet without falling. It still hurt, but not too badly. All and all, I ran a slower first mile, fell, got hit by a car, and actually managed to recover from it all and have my first post injury sub-6 minute mile run. My hip survived and I hope I can keep building momentum.

            All and all, I am being fairly aggressive with my post injury build up which is definitely causing some unwanted knee, shin, and muscle pain. I hate to say it, but I actually have missed this pain. In my 2 year injury free stint, one thing that I really began doing is massage therapy. It all started with a half marathon in Columbus. I had been running for the summer and like always, began to develop an injury. This time it was terrible knee pain. I thought I was pretty fit and I thought my injury was going to cut my season short so I decided to hope for a PR and run the half marathon anyway. I was experiencing pain in my hamstring and really thought that was the root of my problem. The day before the race, there was free massage therapy so I decided to go ahead and see if they could help me. I warned the massage therapist that I was having knee pain and to be gentle with my hamstrings. She complied, but rubbed out knots in my calves. I had been experiencing no pain in my calves so I was in utter amazement that she was barely pressing on them and I really couldn’t tolerate the pain. I let her keep going and I could hardly walk the next morning. Needless to say, I ran absolutely terribly at this race, but it really was a changing point in my running career. I went back home and decided that I to rub out my calve muscles. About a week later, the knee pain was gone and I didn’t miss a beat training. I couldn’t believe it. I ended up dropping my half marathon time that season by 3.5 minutes. It’s amazing what consistency in training can do. I am certainly no expert in massage therapy, but it’s pretty easy to imagine that if you have a large knot in your muscle, your muscle is much shorter than it should be which can lead to a lot of extra strain on your tendons leading to joint pain. By getting the knots out, your muscle goes back to the proper length and your joint pain can subside. Aside from resolving injuries, it stimulates blood flow to damaged muscle tissue which allows for faster recover from harder runs. Massage therapy really has helped me stay healthy. Like any profession, there are good massage therapists and not so good massage therapists. In my opinion, a good massage therapist understands the mechanics of the body, isn’t afraid to get into the muscles, and focuses on the individual athlete rather than having preconceived thoughts. Susan Henderson is an excellent massage therapist and has helped me get through a lot of injuries. I really can’t thank her enough.