Chocolate Runner’s Blog

Posted By Jon on September 23, 2005

but I know what I like. This is a very long post about what happened at my ART treatments.

I went to meet the ART (Active Release Techniques) therapist (provider? doctor? person?) on Wednesday to see if I could do something about my heel problem. To be honest, I was secretly interested in dealing with the shin splints as well. Pam had said that she used ART for her shins splints so I thought maybe I could get a two for one deal.

In reality, ofcourse, its all related. Got a problem with the shin (which is a symptom of something else), that leads to extra strain some place different, like my achilles with is connected to my calf, which is part of the shin splint issue.

I met with Karen Slota at Michigan Chiropractic in Livonia. Yes, I know, alot of radar are bleeping right now at the “C” word. I have had issues with some things that the chiro’s have said to me, like they could cure my wife’s allergies to peanuts with a spinal alignment. Uh, no. But if world class athletes like Marla Runyan are using ART, then I think I can give that a try. Probably skip the spine twisting stuff though.

Ok, so I met Karen, and let me point out how refreshing it was to meet with a health professional that was fit herself, instead of my sedentary personal physician who cures every running injury with “Stop running, and rest until the pain stops. Please pay me $25 on your way out.”. Thanks, Doc.

Karen is damn fit. If I had biceps and shoulders cut like hers, I’d be damn happy, that’s for certain. Make no mistake, she could kick your butt. I would find out later that those muscles are part of the technique.

We spent alot of time talking about past injuries (adult and childhood) and current training. Karen talked about alignment and how when one part of the “chain” is out of whack, it throws everything else off. That’s something I learned when my sacrum was tilted and Shannon and I ended up spending time together.

After some examination she commented that I had very tight calf muscles, with alot of knotting, and so she set to work on fixing those. She ran her hand along my shin and then she would suddenly stop and press down exactly where the painful point on my shin was, she could find it just by the location of the knot.

Before beginning we talked about pain thresholds. Karen said (jokingly) “Now, there’s no crying in ART.” Good thing they allow screaming and teeth clenching.

Karen had me lay on my stomach and she would move (what felt like) her thumb along my shin, my calf, and also my PF tendon, until she found a knot and then she would press on it. I would point my toe until she found the spot (I could tell when she found it because it hurt like hell), then I would flex my foot while she pressed and squashed the living crap out of that point, until my brain exploded.

Pam had told me that ART hurt like giving birth. I now have a very good reference for childbirth pain. It hurts. Alot. It was so painful I was sweating. Its not a massage, just in case there was some confusion that ART was like a really good massage. Its not.

So the first day we did just the left shin and calf (side with most shin splints and with heel issues). I was pretty sore on the skin surface the next day, and my calf felt like I had been doing calf lifts at the gym two days earlier. I tried a short run but my heel was still sore from the inflammation so I stopped. I didn’t want to aggrevate it until it had a chance to heal. Ice and stretching when I got home.

I went back yesterday for a second session and Karen worked on my heel/foot this time. She worked along the sides of my feet though, and not directly on the sore heel spot. I had found on a website they talked about avoid people who wanted to directly apply pressure to the heel for achilles tendonitis because that would make it worse. Glad to see she was minding that.

We then went outside and she watched me run up and down the sidewalk. The first thing she spotted was my feet turning inward as they come up in the back (which I have seen in several race pics). Lara had made a comment about her foot doing the same thing in a race. I’ve seen pics of a friend’s foot doing the same thing in her last marathon. One thing in common is that we all have had shin splint issues and I’ve always wondered if it was related. Karen said that it can be caused by an imbalance between abductors and adductors, as well as by weak glutes.

This is a picture of my feet running next to Dianna’s feet to show you what I mean.

Notice Dianna’s beautiful running form. Good foot plant, knee bend back, lower leg almost parallel to the ground, toe is pointing down. Notice my lousy form. Front knee is almost straight, heel strike is imminent, and my toe points inward. There are so many bad form things I see in my race pics, it makes me want to scream. But the foot turning inward is the symptom of a problem that I am focusing on right now.

We went back inside and I layed down on the table-o-pain and Karen checked my…uh…that tendon/muscle that runs along the inside of your leg. Mine were very tight (which I knew) and had little flexibility. Her comment was that tight adductors can make your leg want to turn inward. So she worked on those, like she had done the calves. She pointed out that it may be more sensistive than the calf muscles were. Uh huh. They were. So now I have to work on those leg split stretches to improve my flexibility there.

Last night I went out and ran 5 miles just because I’m going nuts having not run for the last 5 days. My heel was a little twingy but not painful like the night before. After a mile or so it settled down and the run went well. Odd things are happening with the left shin. It would start to get achy which normally would happen, but then suddenly it would vanish. Like someone shut off a switch. Then it would start up again slowly, and then vanish again. Usually there is a slow painful buildup and then it eases away (or stays until I stop running). It was almost like I was running on an odd surface and had just stepped off of it.

My heel felt very good after the run. I was expecting the pain to come searing back once I stopped running but it never did. This morning its a little “itchy” but nothing else. My left shin is a little sore but much of it is still sore from the ART fun.

I’m heading back next Wednesday and we’ll see how things have progressed. Today is a rest day and Saturday I have 14 miles. I have a full tank of gas, a new pair of shoes, its dark, and I’m wearing sunglasses. Hit it.

Categories: Injury and Pain, Running
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