On The Road Again!
After more than eight months of rest, physical therapy and rehab, I’m back to running! I hesitate to claim a total victory but for now it feels great. The first six months of last year I ran through Achilles tendon pain until I couldn’t even walk without pain. The lesson there is don’t run through pain. Take time off and rest it early. I knew that was the smart thing to do but I just didn’t take my own advice.
Get Help From Experts
I was fortunate to find a very good Sports Medicine doctor that is also a runner. He sent me to PT and I found a very good therapist at DMC PT and Sports Medicine in Troy. Together they developed a plan that strengthened my ankle, calf and leg to eliminate the Achilles pain. Then, in January just as I started a run/walk program I developed knee pain so had to back off again. Now, after a Cortisone shot and lots of leg exercises I’m in the third week of a new run/walk program.
Enjoy The Run
This week I’m doing three days of running 20 minutes/walk 1 minute/run another 20 minutes. At an easy, comfortable pace that means I’m running 4.25 miles again. I’m trying my best to not think about pace or speedwork or races and just enjoy being running again. As we age I guess we all need to adjust to the “new normal.” I still hope and pray that I’ll be able to compete in races this summer and bring home some hardware but for now it’s one step at a time.