Holding the body together
I know I made a passing reference to using headaches as my main resistance to keeping to a regular fitness program and I joked about it. The truth of the matter though, it is a reasonable excuse in my case. I have been a migraine sufferer since the age of 14 and when I was only 19 I was in a rear end car collision that resulted in my first whiplash injury. Through most of my 20’s I put up with a stiff neck and debilitating headaches that lasted for 2-3 days at a time. I’d have to lie down in a dark room in silence waiting for the pain to subside and the painkillers to have some effect. No sooner would I get over one migraine then it would start all over again!
I’ve never been a fan of the traditional medical profession ever since I went to a doctor when I was only 16 to get some help with my migraines to be given the advice that it was all in my head – there was no such thing as migraines he informed me! He was right, the pain was in my head but it was real, not imaginary and I should have expected better advice from a so called professional. So since the age of 16 I have sought non traditional help to manage my headaches – chiropractic, massage, acupuncture – you name it – I’ve tried it. There doesn’t seem to be a sure fire cure to migraine headaches and exercise has always exacerbated the problem for me. The best I could do was to preserve my body the best way I saw fit. When I was in my late 30’s I had another rear end car collision and once again I was faced with constant headaches and a neck I couldn’t fully rotate. This time there was medical evidence I had degeneration in my neck. It took nearly 3 years to gain full mobility back in my neck and to ease the headaches and I still have regular massage and chiropractic treatment to maintain the health of my neck and back.
So that being said, I was quite aware that starting a new fitness regimen may not only spark sore muscles in places I didn’t know I had, but that the running may stir up my neck and headache problems. While on my runs I was extra conscious of keeping the shoulders relaxed and my chin tucked in and to stretch after each run and so far so good. However on 6th run just as I got back home I felt a twinge in my hip and automatically recognised that my pelvis had dropped – another quirky feature my body likes to throw at me occasionally. I immediately rang my chiropractor and booked in for an adjustment and thankfully he squeezed me in. I was expecting a lecture from him when I told him I had started running but when I explained the walk/run program I was following and how I was adding a small yoga after each session he gave consent to continue. “Keep up the yoga – it’s your saving grace” he said.
So hip back in place, I’m back in action!
by admin on April 27, 2010
Walk Run Program
Well I started my walk run program! I have the extremely good fortune of my home being exactly 5 minutes from the local soccer pitch, which is the recommended warm up and warm down time that needs to be incorporated at the beginning and end of the walk run program. Once I reached the pitch I timed my first one minute walk before starting the first of 7 runs. It was a little difficult keeping the timing exact for the 1 min swap over between the walks and runs because I’m as blind as a bat without my reading glasses. I did wear the watch with the largest face that I own but I still struggled to see the second hand moving! However I soon worked out that it took about 1 minute to walk one side of the 4 sided pitch and the 1 ½ minutes run was about one and a half sides of the pitch so I stopped trying to see the second hand on my watch and instead gauged the changeovers on the distance I ran around the pitch.
The walks in between the runs made them bearable and gave me chance to keep my breathing under control. I was breathing so heavy about the halfway mark that I felt a bit light headed but the feeling passed thank God! Then you start feeling muscles cry out in strange places – let the pain begin. You don’t realise how many things you have to think of while you are exercising – breathe deeply, suck in your pelvic floor to add to your core strength (very important at my age), keep the shoulders relaxed and chin in… was that number 4 run or number 5??? Keeping count is a mind game in itself. Ok I’ve only got 2 runs left – I can do it! One run left – I’m almost there. On the last run I got a sharp pain in one foot so I had to stop and stretch it – I’m not sure whether it was a cramp or just a pain but I finished the last run a little bit short and just walked the pain out until it felt ok. I still had to do the five minute walk home but I felt surprisingly uplifted on that walk home and that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I finished the session off with 10 minutes of dru yoga and 5 minutes of meditation and felt very pleased with my self for the rest of the day.
Day 2 – I opened my eyes and ears and heard raindrops. Surely I can’t exercise in the rain! It could have been so easy to use that as an excuse and not get out of bed but I thought I can hardly give up after one day. So I got up, got dressed and by the time I pulled my sneakers on the rain had cleared. It was actually refreshing breathing in the wonderful smells of damp grass while I walked to the park. Definitely one of the side benefits of exercising outdoors is to get in touch with nature. Beats working out in a gym any day!
My leg muscles seemed a little resistant to the first run but I soon got into the rhythm and before long I had made it to the halfway mark. Keep breathing, keep moving, visualise the wobbly bits getting firmer! Before long I was on the walk home having finished my second walk/run. The rain had stayed away and I felt ok until the last 100 metres to my house. All of a sudden my muscles started aching and I could hardly move my legs in front of me. I struggled up the steps to my front door and immediately headed for the bathroom to run a hot bath. I raided the pantry cupboard for the bi-carb soda and added a combination of essential oils to the running water that I thought would help relieve the aches and paints. While the bath was running I did my 10 minute yoga session and then I headed to the bathroom where I soaked in the bath for a good 20 minutes.
The bath helped dissolve the stiff muscles and day three I was up and running again. Day 4 was a day of rest and boy did I enjoy that! It gave my body a chance to recover and revive before resuming my program on Day 5. I was halfway through my first week of my walk run program and although it wasn’t easy, I was feeling more energised. Hopefully my body will hold up……
