Final entry

After having begun this running blog in November 2008, it saddens me more than I can say to now be making the final entry in it ... decades before I had expected to. However, I've been unable to run since last December 6 anyway, due to, first, back problems, and more recently (since May) knee troubles. I am still undergoing treatment for the back (and am, in fact, receiving a steroid injection in the back tomorrow). But, as regards the knee, I had a consult last week with a highly regarded back surgeon, Dr. Edward Wojtys, that a running friend about my age had recommended. He attributes the damage to arthritis, which I find stunning at my age! And when I asked him point-blank if he saw any hope in my being able to resume running at some point, he shook his head and said that, no, based on what he was seeing in the MRI and x-ray views (while he could intervene surgically, it would carry a high likelihood of leaving me even worse off than I am now in regard to daily mobility), I should make my peace with the fact that my running is now done, and should plan to get some alternative form of exercise that would be low- or no-impact. So, I'm planning to attempt to morph into a cyclist in upcoming months ... but still, this is a very hard adjustment. I didn't realize how much running meant to me until now, deprived of it.

THE END?

To say that I am "distressed" by this is a significant understatement, but I'm afraid I may be done running. I had hoped to continue for decades yet .... but in light of the significant back and knee problems which beset me now, I said to the physical therapist helping me on my knee this week (Matt Balzell), "Though I had hoped to be able to resume running, I'm wondering now if I shouldn't reconcile myself to the thought that it may be over." And he said, "Yes, absolutely. The bike ride you told me about on May 11 probably didn't cause the problem, but in conjunction with the arthritis you told me the MRI showed in your knee, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I suggest an alternative form of low-impact exercise ... such as riding an elliptical." So ... farewell, running blog! Farewell, familiar routes! And farewell to the familiar joy of lining up with hundreds of others for a race.

Continuing problems

I write on June 18, 2012, and still have not been able to resume running since the back problems that afflicted me on Dec. 4, 2011. Yesterday morning on my way to church, I saw a number of runners who were participating in the inaugural Ann Arbor Marathon, and I felt such envy for them! My work with the chiropractor to whom my doctor referred me in late March has borne no fruit, so now we're going the next step, as I'm being referred to a back specialist at the university, and hoping that takes place in the near future.

I am distressed, too, at races that are passing me by. I had run in every Big House Big Heart run since it was begun in 2007 through last fall, until when, this year, they moved it to a spring event - and, sadly, I had to give it up. And now comes another. Last August 6 I ran the Heart of Detroit, which began outside Comerica Park, went down to the Detroit River, and then came back up and finished inside the stadium, at home plate. But this year, it will be run on June 24 - so, once again, I regret that is an event I will have to pass on.

2012 Big House BIg Heart

As I write, on April 13, 2012, I still have not been able to resume running since the back problems which afflicted me in early December. After sessions with Ann Arbor Therapeutic Massage in January and February, and work with Probility Physical Therapy in March, failed to resolve it, I began work with a chiropractor early last week. That has been encouraging, though no dramatic miracle turnabouts have occurred yet.

When I asked the chiropractor WHY this had happened, he said, "That's a very good question." He then told me that such situations usually stem from a childhood injury of some sort - likely unremembered - to which they body learns to adapt successfully for many years until, suddenly - WHOOSH! - it gives out. And when he showed me my x-rays, it was very evident how my pelvis is badly tilted, and numerous of the vertebrae badly misaligned, thus causing severe tension and strain on muscles in the area.

Unfortunately for me, this is the year when the Big Heart Big House race decided to move from a fall event to a spring event (this Sunday, April 15). (The picture here is from when I ran the 2011 edition of it, October 9, as I approached the finish line inside Michigan Stadium, clearly beginning to experience some back problems at that time, too.) I have run it each year since it began in 2007, and had hoped to continue that string for many years yet. The chiropractor has given me the OK to do the one-mile portion of the race (though not the 5K, as I've run in the past). But, given the combination of my not having run in over 4 months, and the fact that I am still only moving with difficulty and discomfort, I have decided not to do it, thus surrendering my dream and goal. I still do hope, however, to be able to resume running (easily) in the relatively near future.

Problem still unresolved

I have put up previous posts about my long layoff from running, which began in early December when, during the December 3 Holiday Hustle 5K race, I was afflicted with a back problem that I encountered before (in 2010) - a tightened QL muscle (quadratus lumborum) that pulled my right hip up way higher than my left, thus shortening my right leg, altering my stride, and causing me tremendous discomfort. I last ran on December 6, and since then have tried numerous sessions at Ann Arbor Therapeutic Massage during January and February, and, during March, work with Probility Physical Therapy. I was quite hopeful about Probility, as they helped me to overcome the same problem in 2010. However, today I had the 6th and final session with them, and have seen no real improvement. I can think of one thing left to try. My senior running friend Len Gajda (age 74) told me that a couple of years ago, when he fell and threw his back into spasm, the doctor recommended heavy doses of over-the-counter Ibuprofen to control the spasming ... and that worked like a charm, and had him running again in short order. He recommended this approach to me, and I think that next week I am going to try it (resuming running, of course, with some very easy, short, slow runs). I am waiting a few more days because this Saturday, I have an appointment to give blood, and don't want to make that questionable.

A concern I had during January and February was that the sessions with Ann Arbor Therapeutic Massage may have been compromised by less-than-optimal ergonomic conditions at work. But the University's ergonomic specialist has come by and made some adjustments to my chair and work environment, so that should no longer be a concern.

Continued hiatus

I am extremely disconsolate over the fact that now, well over two months since the injury to my back (Dec. 3) that necessitated my layoff from running, I am almost unchanged in regards to improvement, and don't know when I'll be able to resume running, frankly. This is particularly disconcerting because I have a regular rotation of races that I like to run each year, and in recent years I've added the Shamrocks & Shenanigans 5K in downtown Ann Arbor on the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day. Unless a miraculous healing occurs in this very near future, though, I will not be able to do it this year. And even if I could somehow do the race, with my long suspension in recent weeks, I would be very, very slow. But I'd certainly be willing to accept that if only I could run it somehow.

Health

I'm still dealing with the discomfort from my tightened quadratus lumborum ('QL muscle') and have not been able run since Dec. 6. I had a helpful session with Ann Arbor Therapeutic Massage this past Saturday, but the therapist told me my back was a mess, with the muscles "in spasm," and that it was going to take several sessions to retrain them. When I was leaving, I asked if I should still hold off on running, as I assumed, and was told, "Oh no, no, no, NO! You mustn't run ... and I wouldn't even do long walks for now."