Listen to your body.
This is a mantra of us natural health practitioners, the importance of checking in with yourself. You are the one that lives there! There is something even more important, that is to ACT. A lesson I recently learnt.
I am a runner, not an elite olympian or anything but a regular none the less, completing my third marathon recently.. but lets rewind for a second.
Two months ago I was starting to feel a little out of whack. Niggling aches and pains, tightness here and there, Tight gluteus, sore hamstrings, waking with a stiff neck more often then not. All sure signs that the regular osteopath appointments I had stopped doing, my body was now missing. Rather then book in with my favourite body worker like a sensible person, I chose to let other things take priority. Not bad things, family, work, running. Yes running.
I like running and training for this latest marathon the feelings of being ‘out of whack’ started to manifest more obviously down into my left calf. The week before the marathon I was slightly limping after training.. yes I know, not a good sign.
Doing the last minute panic I booked in with the local sports chiropractor who clicked and clacked me back into some sort of alignment the Friday before Sundays big run. He expressed concern for the tight calf muscle I had and suggested tapping it the following day, Saturday, before I left for Carcoar. Unfortunately our stars didn’t align and I had to leave before he was back in his clinic..
Sunday arrives, I slather myself in some liniment to help loosen the muscles. Did my obligatory dynamic stretching and some more specific leg and hamstring work .
And away I go on my merry marathon.
While running I felt pretty good but every now and then my calf would go a bit weird and I’d limp. Like a true master athlete, I pushed through and finished the race.
Straight after I could barely move, which is kind of normal for me after almost five hours of running. I lined up for my free massage, hobbled back to my room for a shower and drove the two hours to my next stop, a two night stay at Mount Tomah Botanic garden. Once out of the car I limped inside and crashed..
Monday morning I woke feeling pretty dam fantastic, patting myself on the back for the fantastic plant nutrition program I have been following, see plant based helps with recovery right. Body feeling great I was ready for that recovery run …well that was until I stood up.. and stumbled.. so begun the new zombie like limp … uh bloody oh … argh! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! … well I did now.. shite.. yep, officially injured..
Thankfully what I have done is damage the muscle belly of the gastrocnemius, i.e. my calf.. I am grateful it is the muscle, with its rich blood flow it heals much quicker then the more limited flow in our ligaments and tendons. I am grateful that I have stopped running (well the zombie walk makes it tricky anyway) Im grateful for the healing properties of rosemary essential oil and arnica cream, I am grateful I am listening to my sports injury guy and *hopefully* I can return to my chosen sport sooner rather then later having starved of achilles damage (which is the path I was on)
I have learnt my lesson and have returned to a regular 6 week body check. Something I recommend to everyone who comes through my clinic and you too, no matter what you do. Our bodies are designed to be out and about, hunting and gathering but the modern world has the majority of us doing repetitive, restrictive moves, on a daily basis, making it more important to stay on top of our muscle and skeletal systems.
This is maintenance, this is prevention.. this is being fabulously loving to your body.
As you are the one who has to live in it after all ..
*bows head and limps of solemnly *
and the dog, never really up for a run, is happy to join me on my early rehab walks
XXX
