After completing the forms I was invited into his office and we started talking about my recent and past athletic exploits. As I was talking to him I gazed over his shoulder and low and behold a picture of Dr. Mike running across the finish line at the Anchorage Marathon! Nice! I said. "You're a runner"?
"I sure am"! He replied.
I then realized I was in good hands.
We talked of "IT bands, hip flexor, hamstrings and all the standard running issues runners have to deal with.
After a quick exam of my back he informed me that I have "Scoliosis". He explained how this would throw everything off kilter. After reading more about this I discovered that the great marathoner "Bill Rogers" has the same issue so, not to worry, he's still plugging along at 63 years old.
I've been to Chiropractors before so it wasn't all new to me. It was the standard fair of intense local heat on the effected areas, vibrating table with spine mas-sager. I will say the atmosphere was very relaxing with very soft spa music, quiet and typical Asian calming vibe.
Dr. Mike is a bit slight in build so I was interested how he was going to manipulate my gangling neanderthal body around...
There were no surprises but, his technique was superb and professional. By the time he was done I felt like I had just smoked a bit of the reefer and all the pain had been vanquished! I realized at that point how bad my back had gotten.
I slept really well last night and other than having to get up at 2 in the morning to go out and break up parties in two of the buildings I manage, I felt pretty decent this morning.
I felt energetic and decided to head out on the bike and do a local high intensity ride to Daley City, around Lake Merced and back. I think I ended up getting more personal records than I can remember. If I'm feeling like this next week when I run the Santa Rosa Marathon I'll be happy. Tomorrow I'm going to try a short run and see how the hip flexors are holding up.
Sunday:
Back pain has arrived again. Probably over did it Saturday on the high intensity ride.
My big goal today was to spend time with my three daughters (of the canine variety). It's rare that I get a day now with just my three doggies so, I wanted to take advantage of it. We had a great time and took a mystery walk through the Western addition and up to Japan town then, returned. They were toast and went into deep nap mode on their return home. It freed me up to take a run and test the waters.
I felt pretty tired from yesterday's ride but just forged ahead and trotted off towards the Bridge. I couldn't get any speed up and the back was really painful. At mile 5 my hip flexor pain returned but since I was getting close to the bridge I figured what the Hell...just go for it.
I ended up getting 8.5 miles in and if this is any indicator of how I'll be next week then I'm kind of in deep shit. With my injuries I don't think I'll get a Boston qualifying time in Santa Rosa but, at this point I just want the medal...It's beautiful and even if I have to walk the last 10 miles I'll do it.
Probably the reason I'm in bad shape for running is I really didn't take a break after the SF Marathon and kept up the same level of training..."Stupid".
After next weekend it's 2 weeks off running and just riding the bike only. After which I begin trail running training for the Fall and plan to gain some weight and get back to the Gym...I'm getting a bit thin and starting to burn a bit of muscle that I can't afford to lose which could be the source of my running injuries.
I'm liking the Dr. Mike visits though. Hopefully I can afford to keep it up.
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