I Can Run Again!

Just got back from the doctor (my primary care physician) and got some good news. She wants me to try to run. Nothing fast or long, but she wants me to give it a try for no more than 15 minutes. Of course, its not as simple as just getting up and going. No, that would be too easy. Here is the run down of how my appointment went:

To my surprise, the doctor (not my regular one) who treated me today is running her first marathon and recently overcame an IT band injury. Go figure... Well, I think that is the reason she treated me instead of my normal doc. I was glad to be dealing with a fellow athlete, especially in a general medicine office.

So, remember my minor Achilles injury last October? Well it was that injury that prompted me to get checked out by the local running store, which came to the discovery that I was a mild over pronator. I ended up buying 2 pairs of shoes to rotate between while training for the marathon, both being stability control shoes to prevent my Achilles from flaring up. Fast forward to several weeks before the marathon, and you'll learn that I dealt with a knee injury. The reason: stability control shoes place less an emphasis on the Achilles and more on the knee. Long story short (too late, I know), one problem caused the other.

So what do I have to do to get better? Well the first step is to up my ibuprofen intake. I was taking 200 mg 3 times a day, but according to my doctor 200 mg "is child's play". So, that gets bumped up to 800 mg 3 times a day for the next 5 days to hopefully relieve the tenderness. In the meantime, she said to keep doing what I'm doing. That means, continue swimming, cycling, stretching, strengthening, and icing. And if I'm feeling special, I can give water jogging a try, though I hate it when water joggers take up precious lane space, so I may not do that. Oh yea, and the last thing I should start doing: running!

Flat surfaces only - treadmill (blah) or track and only a max of 15 minutes at a time. The other thing is that she said I should try changing my running style to see if my IT band feels better or worse in one style over the other. In the meantime, I need to go see a podiatrist to get fitted for orthotics. She believes that orthotics placed in neutral running shoes will keep me from suffering suffer from the IT band issues, while also resolving any Achilles inflammations. We'll see how it goes. I'm working on my appointment with a podiatrist now to get in there ASAP.

But the good news is that I just got back from the gym and ran for 15 minutes with minimal discomfort. I changed my running style to a heel striker and it seemed to be easier on my IT band. So for now, thats the plan.