All things Running
The before, during & after
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The four R's of running... Rest, Run, Recovery, Repeat....I can say I successfully cover one of those words on a day-to-day basis. In my personal opinion and through my experience as a collegiate athlete, I don't think the topic of recovery is stressed well enough. Sure we are made well aware of the accessibility of our athletic trainers and athletic training facilities, and yes every coach has the team stretch post workouts...but is it ever enough? I think not. When your coach / mentor isn't harping at you to stretch or literally watching you do it...are you doing it? Are you taking the time to foam roll prior to and after every run? Are you icing or using Epsom Salt? Are you allowing your body to recover? Probably not, and i'll be honest that I am part of that "probably not" group. Nope, I barely ever take time to recover. I run 7 days a week, lift 3 days within that week, and attend spin class at least once..I don't do the whole "day off" thing. I haven't been a competitive road racer for very long so I just do as I'm told and I make sure not to disappoint my coach. Yes, if I fall or feel something funky going on I notify my coach (Jeff) and we plan accordingly...but quite honestly...a day off sounds terrible. Jeff doesn't give me days off, does that mean he's clueless? Nope. Does it mean he has no idea how to coach? Nope; he knows what works for me. I'm a competitor, I want to be THE BEST and I want to run my fastest; I won't let anything get in the way of that. I've had my series of injuries don't get me wrong, last winter season I was out for just about 9 weeks because of an awful IT band issue, and I've had some foot, hip, overall lower body issues..so what did I do? I went to a PT and a massage therapist . I find that whenever I have an injury or a weird pain my first instinct is to figure it out on my own. My dream is to become a Physical Therapist and I'm currently trying to find ways to attend college once again to pursue this dream (even though it's absolutely terrifying). So of course Amanda thinks she's going to figure out the cure for every injury on her own...well I've given it my best shot at least. In the end I always end up at a doctor because these guys know a hell of a lot more than I ever will. Recently, I've given massage therapy a shot. A teammate of mine recommended Stephen Ryder LMT (licensed massage therapist) CKTP (Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioner) and let me tell you, it's been one of the best experiences I've ever had. Steve works primarily with athletes of any and all levels to improve range of motion, decrease pain, and treat exercise induced injuries. He uses methods such as ART (active release therapy), Graston, and Kinesio tape to ensure every athlete remains healthy and ready to compete to full potential. Steve does single sessions or you can hop on his maintenance plan (guess where I wound up), he works anywhere from 30 minutes up to an hour and luckily he's generally pretty flexible...especially with my wild schedule. Sure, it's painful but it's a good kind of painful and I've had nothing but success since I've started going to Steve. The coolest thing we've done so far introduce the Graston technique to my maintenance plan. Pardon my gross looking feet in this image (to the left), but these are Graston tools! HOORAY FOR PIECES OF METAL THAT CAUSE GREAT PAIN....kidding...sort of. So what's the "Graston technique?" Graston which is the name of the stainless steel tools pictured that are used as a manual therapy to perform muscle mobilizations. It's generally seen as a soft tissue mobilization process by most chiropractors, physical therapists, osteopathic physicians, and the list goes on. So what happens? Basically Steve will use lotion to smooth the area where fibrous or scar tissue (a knot) may appear, and he proceeds to use the Graston tools to break up that scar tissue or restore mobility. This technique of fascial manipulation allows for instant pain relief as well as increased mobility at the same time; something that might not be possible through a static stretch. Here's a little anatomy lesson: your body's fascia is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches, stabilizes, encloses , and separates muscles and other internal organs; this is what Steve is trying to "break up". Does this stuff hurt? Hell yeah it does, but I leave Steve's office feeling great and ready to run. I believe that Graston is an extremely effective way to break up scar tissue and fascia, and a little more effective than a foam roller. For someone who's not really into recovery, I've found that since I've been having sessions with Steve my body feels so much stronger, and it has made me more conscience of when my body needs to recover. I've started to listen to my body a little more even though I am still running 7 days a week, I've gotten new recovery tools to test out, and I make sure to see Steve at the least once a month (that turns into 3-5 real fast). If you've got a massage therapist near you who's willing to do the Graston technique I HIGHLY recommend giving it a try, otherwise know that recovery is just as important as time spent out on the roads. I'm slowly learning to take better care of my body even when I don't feel like I am in pain. Your body needs to be healthy body inside and out, don't forget that! Until next time.... Stay Green, Amanda
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February 2018
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