Is Running Rewired the Cure?

Running is touted as an easy sport. Just a pair of running shoes and one foot in front of the other is all that is really required. This way of thinking has rung true for me for many years. Running for the most part has been easy. What has made it more difficult for me in the last few years is being plagued with injuries and that has certainly changed my running philosophy.

I have had just one injury after another. I even had to defer the New York City Marathon in 2015 because of injury. It took 4 years to get in! I did run it in 2016, however. But even then, I just didn’t feel like I was in the best condition. I ran Chicago last year but had lapses in training due to brief injury layoffs, so I didn’t do as well as I had hoped to.

And this year, I was barely running a few miles a week –  building a base- and now I am out of running pretty much for the season. It’s frustrating!

To be fair, all I want to do is run. Nothing else. Still, I have tried hip strengthening exercises,  stretching,  and yoga at times in hopes that I could gain the strength and stability that would keep me running injury free. At one point, I was icing, stretching, and foam rolling every night. I still ended up injured!

I am beginning to believe that accumulated years of poor posture and lack of strengthening has caught up to me and all of those compensatory muscles, ligaments, and tendons are overloaded. And this leads to constantly being injured.  Again and again.

So, here I am now dealing with another running injury – hamstring tendonitis- along with tight calves and weakness in that same leg. I have seen a chiropractor, physical therapist, and a massage therapist who, I believe, can eventually get me back to running. But if I don’t figure out the underlying problems, I am just going to end up back in the same boat (or broke). My chiropractor has talked about getting specific muscles to fire and making that neurological connection. That conversation was a little over my head so I thought I would research what that was all about. And I found Running Rewired by Jay Dicharry.

In the book, Dicharry talks about how running is a skill like any other athletic venture that has to be learned. He explains how my injuries (yes he is specifically talking to me ha ha) weaknesses, and mobility problems impacts my running and until I learn how to run (move) properly, I am going to continue to be plagued with injuries. That is my take away from it anyway. He does discuss the running biomechanics and neurological connections which is interesting and he explains it very well, but at this stage, all I want to do is run and to prevent future injuries. I just want to know how to do that! I AM SO TIRED OF BEING INJURED ! ! !

One fact that he points out is that with every stride, the body puts 2.5 to 3 times its body weight on all those bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments & etc…that are involved.  That is a lot of stress. I can imagine then, how certain muscles groups can get overly stressed when others aren’t engaged and helping out due to weaknesses or imbalances. So, the point is to get these muscles firing and engaged (rewired) to run efficiently, share the load, and decrease the risk of injury.

And he is going to tell me just how to do that in this book. This week I will be working on the posture fix. He has a hip mobility test, ankle mobility test, and a posture test in this section. He lists potential results from these test and whether or not what is being experienced during the test needs to be fixed. If so, he gives exercises that should help to fix these problems.

I am really excited to get started! I will continue to do the exercises prescribed by my PT, but I will incorporate the ones in this book as well. Now is the time to get moving the right way!

Things that are keeping my days brighter…

36 weeks – She gave me a scare when she had to leave work early in her shift and was admitted to triage for evaluation for preterm labor and other complications. She was sent home on bedrest with a follow-up appointment already scheduled for tomorrow….whew! Still just a little too early.

And today, I got to have lunch with her….The best daughter ever. Just love her so much!! Looking forward to my new grandbaby! It won’t be long….but not too soon….

And the weather has not been exactly running weather but the sun had the nerve to slip out of the clouds right into sunset the other night. The first sighting of the sun all week!! Although, I’d run in the cold, wind and rain if I could just run 🙂