Saturday, September 15, 2012

I "love" A.R.T.

I have a strong love/hate with A.R.T.  Over the past 4 years, Active Release Technique (A.R.T.) has been very effective in breaking up adhesions and getting me back to running.  Dr. Scott Neubauer is a phenomenal doctor and, though he makes me almost scream in agony as he tortures treats me, is my go-to person when I am injured or a "niggle." After last week's DNF, I immediately scheduled time to be tortured by him.  He can work magic and, best of all, is a top athlete who understands me.  I highly, highly recommend him to anyone in the OC/northern San Diego area...well worth the drive to Lake Forest, CA.

Monday he confirmed what I knew - the plantar fascia was extremely inflamed, so much that the inflammation extended below it into muscles.  Awesome.  He dug and discovered knots deep in my calf and found the ones I knew were in my hamstring.  After an hour of his digging into my muscles and I was thankful because I knew all the pain I felt during the session would bring relief in a couple of days.  He told me to ice my foot a lot because it was so swollen (yes, I am soooo relieved I DNFed last week) and gave me other instructions, all of which I have been following.  PF is flaring up in my left foot so I am babying it also.

I spent the week icing, cross training, and wearing super supportive shoes all the time (aside from when sleeping).  I went out for 2 miles on Thursday and Friday and felt "okay."  Today I did 6 slow miles in the scorching heat (temp of 96 but felt like 103 thanks to sunny skies).  I am very questionable for next weekend's ultra as I know I need to get through this latest bout of PF and get my hamstring back to "normal"  I ordered a Rumble Roller and am eager to test it out on Tuesday, the day it's scheduled to arrive; I'll post a review of that torture device as soon as I see if it's worth the hype.

Run on!

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