Two Weeks to Registration & Yoga for Runners DVD Review

It is exactly two weeks until my personal registration deadline for The North Face Endurance Challenge. August 19 is when the fee jumps. I am feeling great and am on track to take that leap of faith. I am still recovering from last Sunday’s run, but at least today it has gone from pain and soreness to less noticable and dull achiness.  Still no sign of ITBS since and even my piriformis muscle has calmed down! As far as I can tell, Yoga for Runners: The Essentials by Christine Felstead has been my saving grace.

The DVD is broken down into chapters, which I believe is essential for yoga DVDs of this nature, because it allows you to target certain trouble spots and create  your own workout. The moves are basic, yet tough. Finding proper form is easy because the voice instruction is so detailed and thorough that if you listen, you will get there. And you will know it – because you’ll feel it. But don’t worry, the voiceover is soothing and full of essential reminders (soften the face, drop the shoulders, breathe).

The Hamstrings and Hips sections of this DVD are the ones I use regularly and I find them invaluable. It has been amazing to watch myself transform and improve each practice. I went from shaking and collapsing on lunges to being able to hold them longer and steadier than some of the performers! Now I find myself pausing the DVD to hold the poses longer and get more out of them. After each session I feel taller, leaner, looser, stronger, and ready to run! I have hopes for a follow-up DVD, one that goes a bit deeper, introduces new poses, and has a section for the abs… Happy running!

What Did I Ever Do to You, Piriformis?

There are many types of muscle pain that pop up as a runner. And most are understandably my fault; I was too lazy to stretch, I did too much hill work, I increased my mileage by too much… But the piriformis muscle confounds me. Out of no where it will rear its evil head in my glute and have me wincing while simply walking. Or sitting. Or laying. Not the day after a run, but two days after a run. Or three. And for no apparent reason, when everything else is just fine and dandy. This tiny, direct, and sharp pain is so deeply hidden it can barely be reached. And only at home – for sake of office etiquette.

And the worst part is the relief method.  Tennis ball massage. This involves sitting on the floor with a tennis ball under your glute, with all of your weight on the ball, and slowly rolling until you hit the piriformis with the ball.  You will know. It is the closest I have ever come to unbearable pain. The last relief session I did caused an entire nerve to radiate in pain all the way down my leg and made my toes curl. But you do reach a point where the pain subsides, sort of, and there is some type of relief. I think of it as poison dissolving away. And I guess technically there is some truth to that; built-up toxins are being released. What did I ever do to you, piriformis?

Leg Lifts, Yoga, or Tennis Ball Massage?

I’ve never been one to stick to something long enough to see how well it actually works out. I suppose  you would call that a lack – or fear - of commitment?  When I hit a roadblock in life I seem to either 1) run away and move on to something else entirely or 2) try something inconsistently and become frustrated that things aren’t improving, or 3) try so many different solutions at once to fix the problem that when things do turn around, I’m not sure which ones are helping and which ones to stop.  The latter explains my current situation.   I couldn’t leave the sport of running entirely, not an option, and after a bout of inconsistent attempts at a variety of rehab techniques, I finally nailed it down to five that seemed to carry promise and stuck with them.  I have surprised myself with my consistency, but for some reason, the part that surprises me most is that it is working.  Working so well in fact, that I am afraid to stop any of them.  Yoga for hips, yoga for core, side leg lifts galore, a 90-90 psoas stretch, and tennis ball massage on my piriformis.  I suppose one could argue that all of the above are essential activities for a healthy running lifestyle.  But who has all that time???  I suppose the fact that I am running three hard miles and rising with no knee pain means I need to make time.  So I will.  Though I may get a few stare at the office when rolling around on a tennis ball under my butt…

A Running Resolution

I never thought I would have to make running my New Year’s resolution.  That would typically consist of training to run an October half.  Not this year.  This year my goal is simply to get back into the act–safely, and for the long haul.  To do so, I need to get excited about meeting short-term goals–the first of which is to get my border collie happy again.  I can’t keep dreaming about the wet and winding tangled trails at my local preserve. The slushy streets of our declining neighborhood might not be much to zen out to, but if I can do it, I will need to see that as tremendous progress.

The Runner’s World ITBS Support Group forum has been a wealth of information, encouragement, and empathy throughout my research and planning stage.  It has helped me play detective, get to the root of my issues, and identify a few action items I hope will jump-start my recovery process.  This involves dealing with a leg-length discrepancy, known to cause ITB and piriformis syndrome, making sure I am absolutely in the correct shoe, and a daily yoga routine I hope will help keep my hips and surrounding muscles loose.  Who knew that little piriformis muscle could come out of hiding and wreak so much havoc!

I’m a bit nervous as to how my plan will pan out.  I’ve already been through quite the ordeal– rolling around on the living room floor atop a tube of  styrofoam, doing an excercise that resembles a chicken dance, and practicing, what I call, dead frog pose…  Staying positive will be key.  I am kicking-off my journey with a New Year’s Day yoga session and a January 5th appointment with a sports PT.  The news there will, hopefully, shed some uncertainty.