If you know me, I KNOW you are saying, "Tim, Running, HAHAHAHA". Thanks. Which is partly the reason why I want to start. That and if i keep myself in shape, I won't have to kick my my car in frustration over not being able to play basketball or run or do anything athletic, really, without my shins coming down with literally knee buckling pain.
Which brings me to how i got this way to begin with. In 2003, I tore the anterior cruciate ligament in my right knee. this was after a year and a half of pain free running, basketball, and other fitness endeavors, after rehabilitating from my first round of shin splints. Then, after a hard round of leg workouts (including 600+ lbs leg press), i walked onto the basketball court just to loosen up a bit. A group of guys was looking for a sixth man for a game of 3on3 basketball, and i said I'd be that guy. Bad idea. Halfway into the game, I jumped for a rebound (and got it over a 6'3" guy) and came down stiff-legged. Because my muscles were fatigued after the leg weight workout, they couldn't support my body upon landing, and my knee buckled. I heard two pops. Within seconds, a member of the staff at the gym was in front of me, asking me to sign waivers stating i wouldn't sue the university for having gotten injured while using their facilities.
I went to the local hospital, spent roughly 4 hours in the ER waiting to be seen. I saw a triage nurse, she gave me crutches, and ibuprofen. After the 3rd hour of waiting, i said "at 9pm, I'm leaving." 9pm rolled around, the ER had made ZERO progress in seeing people. I'm glad I wasn't suffering stroke like symptoms.
The next day i sweet talked a receptionist at a sports medicine clinic into scheduling me the following day to see a doctor (who turned out to be the number two doctor for the University of Florida Athletics Program). They took x-rays. Nothing abnormal. The doc came in, tugged my leg and manipulated my knee through various ranges of motion. He said "yup, you no longer have an acl in this knee. you have two options, surgery or no. surgery will give you a strong chance of returning to your previous level of activity. No surgery, but rehab, will give you the ability to run, but not stop, to walk, but not quickly change directions, so a lifestyle change would be required." Surgery it is!
3 weeks later, i had the surgery. 6 months later, I was released with my hurt leg stronger than my "good" leg.
Now, it gets hairy. I lost the muscularity and strength that i had gained via rehab from my first bout with shin splints. So, even now, three years after that, the shin splints reared their ugly head. In may 2006, i began a new round of PT for them. After 2 months of work in the PT clinic, i STILL couldn't run or play basketball without severe pain after no more than 5 minutes of activity. I had done everything the way you are supposed to do it. I had gotten fit for shoes at a reputable running store. I was wearing recommended aftermarket insoles. i was warming up, stretching, and had lost weight. I wasn't running through the pain. it would start, and i would stop. I was running on soft impact surfaces, and shooting hoops on wood courts (much softer than concrete outdoor courts). Still the splints (formally medial tibial stress syndrome) persisted.
I got a new appointment with another sports medicine doctor. He didn't seem too worried about my plight. He said "well you just need to keep trying to minimize your impact activities". Not good enough. If i can't run, i can't do any of the things that had been my escape.
New physical therapist, new protocol. My first session was Friday (march 2). It is the first physical therapy session i have ever had where they didn't have me do ANY exercises. I did some stretching. They did some meat cleaving, er they did some deep tissue massage. Today, the day after, the back of both my legs feels i took baseball bats to both. The idea is that there was scar tissue binding up some muscles back there, causing pressure to build up, and hurt. The massage was done in order to begin breaking up that scar tissue. No pain, no gain, right?
Next session on Tuesday (mar 6). when all this is said and done, and i return to activity, i will begin training for a 5k. Some sort of couch to 5-k program. Cardiovascularly, i can handle it. just gotta learn to run (again).
So, now you all are caught up. Probably more than you ever wanted to be.
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