So much has happened during that time.
After traveling to Portugal with the Canadian Men's 200m Kayak Team for 2 weeks, I was home for 1 week, then back down to Florida for 2 weeks to work with the Canadian Canoe and Kayak Team.
After being home for 2 days, I moved into a new condo. I did almost all the moving myself, with the exception of the heavy furniture.
All the while, I kept up my running.....doing lots of trail running in Portugal, then moving into flat road running in Florida, then back on the trails when I got home. My focus in Portugal was distance, then speed on the road in Florida. So getting back to Kelowna in April, I was running the fastest I've probably ever run, while keeping my mileage high.
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| Trail Running in Portugal:) |
With all the traveling, I was ignoring the tightness in my back, and then the intense pulling in my hamstrings. I was able to run through it, and every day vowed to start stretching....
I had 2 bad consecutive long runs.....hobbling near the end of the 3 hours.....feeling like my glutes and hamstrings were starting to cramp on me.
Then on a hilly run on May 30th, I was running downhill, stopped, and everything decided to seize up on me. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life.....barely able to get to my car and drive myself to the clinic, where Greg saw me right away!!! He diagnosed me with what I was ignoring for so long....Disc irritation, causing bilateral sciatic pain. We think it was irritated especially from all the traveling, then all the heavy lifting with moving.
He got me moving again, and I went home that night, took some anti-inflammatories and was hoping for the best.
Over the next week, I was severely humbled.....continuous pain down the back of my legs, unable to sleep, walk, sit...... Fortunately for me, I stand with my job and change position often- I felt the best when I was working!!
I got in for a CT scan within 5 days and it showed I had a disc bulge at L4/L5.
I got IMS needles 2-3 times a week by Greg Redman, and Martha Sirdevan, and massage once a week by Tao Farrell. This team was amazing, and kept me in check yet optimistic when I was feeling down.
I spent 3 weeks of doing absolutely NO activity except light core exercises, and back extensions, and feeling my fitness slip away, and seeing my race in the Alps in September seem unfeasible......
The constant pain was wearing on me....not sleeping, feeling emotional, and quickly slipping into a depression...
So many things were racing through my mind...... I didn't want to let down my partner, Rene......I didn't want to let down our sponsors......and I wanted to do my race in the alps in September!!
I met with Rene and we talked about what was happening....she offered tremendous support, and we set a deadline of July 1st. If I wasn't running by then, then I wouldn't have time to get the fitness for the Trans Alps Race starting Sept 1st.
I left that meeting and went straight to see Martha for physio. I felt AMAZING after that....I had no sciatic pain- even with sitting!!! I was Mtn biking on the greenway 3 days later, hiking the next day, then ran for the first time 2 days later!!! It seems like my back just needed a deadline for recovery:)
It feels so great to be running again, but so amazing to be pain free!!!!
The reason that it has taken me so long to blog about this, is that it's taken some time to trust my back, and feel like my confidence has returned. I'm now into my 4th week back running, and have managed to get my weekly running volume to 14 hours this week.
And I feel like I have the best running partner, a girl could have- Rene has been an amazing support through all of this!! Can't wait to start training again with her!!
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| Rene and I dorking it up at race package pick up at last year's TAR |
I can't thank Greg Redman and Martha Sirdevan (suite physio) from Wave Physio enough!! Not only have they been amazing physios going above and beyond to get better, but great friends and a great sense of support through all this!!!
I'm ready to train. 6 weeks. I'm excited and ready to put in the miles!!!
