foam rolling

My shin splints returned. In a way this was a good thing because I've been working on my breathing so I can't run like I used to and it motivated me to get into the habit of foam rolling.

Here's a YouTube video tutorial (someone else's) on rolling out the shins. It's a really good technique for injury prevention, improving short-term range of motion and mobility.

Foam rolling effects deep myo-fascial release between layers of fascia where lymph is free to flow. Powerful therapy! Rock Tape performs a lot of research on best methods. They recommend longer time spent foam rolling post-workout, when your muscles are warmed and worked, than for pre-workout, when your muscles are relatively tight. It's akin to starting superficial and getting deeper as a massage progresses.

The foam rolling was great at managing my shin splints but I discovered that I was placing my right foot wrong. I remembered that, back in the day, my dance teacher would instruct me to evert while pointing my feet, to overcome a natural over-inversion. I tried doing this while running, paying particular attention to my right foot strike. I'm still having to pay attention as I haven't completely habituated to the new practice, but my shin splints are completely resolved rather than managed. Foot strike rules again!!!

Those injuries do drain.

Last week I was running and I felt so fatigued. I did an inventory of my muscles and there was no one to blame...my lungs ached, but my lungs always ache...I had the faint awareness of a burden on my back, between my shoulder blades. That's when I remembered that several days before I had injured my back while lifting the third five-gallon bucket to the mouth of my fish tank. I felt the crunching sound you hear when you get adjusted at the chiro and I felt it cracking—not good. But afterwards, I forgot about it because it didn't hurt. This was an excellent experiential reminder that injuries impact us even when we don't feel pain afterwards.

Five days after the injury I went to my chiro appointment and was adjusted. I forgot to tell the chiro about my back injury (again because I wasn't feeling pain) but he found it. It made the same sounds and had the same feeling as when I injured it. But now it was back in place and my energy has improved.

Barefoot running & knee/leg problems

For four years I tried to start running only to be waylaid by shin splints. I would cease training to allow them to heal and then try again, only to continue the cycle. I bought better running shoes (which made a difference but did not solve my problems), massaged and needled (acupuncture) my legs and practiced various stretches and exercises. But each time I tried to start up again, I would succomb to the shin splints. I have also experienced a disturbing lack of control over my left foot when my leg muscles seized up, usually around the second mile. I was unable to lift my left foot voluntarily. It wasn't painful and if I slowed down I could run through it, but it couldn't be healthy.

A friend told me about the research that was being conducted at Harvard University on barefoot running. Careful scrutiny and measurement from video of people running reveal that people raised in cultures where shoes are not worn never heel strike. They land on either the balls of their feet or in the midfoot and then roll through their feet. They also never complain of knee and low back pain associated with their running. Apparently the heel strike is unnatural, caused by the improper alignment of the foot to the rest of the body while in supported shoes, and it sends an enormous force through the joints.

I started toe striking last year. It took conscious effort in the beginning but I quickly adapted. I'm still in my supported running shoes, but just changing my foot strike solved my leg issues permenantly--no more shin splints and no more lazy foot. I hope to transition further toward the unsupported slippers over the next year. Transition is imperative as changing one's foot strike requires use of different muscles and one can sustain significant injury without a slow, deliberate transition.