Not running

I'm not running at the moment.

Again.

Injuries again, I thought it was piriformis giving me sciatic referral pain. This, it appears was incorrect. The issue, or one of them, is sciatica. Lower back stiffness the probable cause. This caused by running, lots of running, and core work. 

I also have an inflamed sacroiliac - this is a ligament not a muscle. It's in the hip and is a shock absorber.

I've also strained my psoas. I did this doing lunges with 2 x 50kg kettle bells. I lie, they were 10kg each - no really. 

The fix for these is not that elusive. Quad stretches, back stretches and a lay off from running. 

I'd already determined to take February off from running so while not ideal it was easy to accept.

More physio on Monday means massage and ultrasound.

The lesson? There's always a lesson. As good as google is it isn't a trained professional physiotherapist. We, runners, think we know all this stuff but we don't. 

Professional diagnosis people. 

Sent from my iPhone

Sciatica

Sciatica is an awful constant pain. For me it's the outside of the lower leg. Mid way down the calf. A constant, consuming ache. The skin over the area has little sensation, like it's not my skin. The worse pain and discomfort comes from the simple action of sitting in a chair. 

Lucky for me this is something I only do every day while tapping a computer. Standing works well as does lieing down. If I'm not flexing joints then it's fine. In the evening when I sit down I tend to lie down to relieve the pressure. 

I have had diagnosis and the sciatica is a result of piriformis syndrome. The piriformis is a small stabilising muscle deep in the glute. Small and innocuous but a literal pain in the arse. When it's inflamed in rubs the sciatic nerve and boom there's your pain.

I've had for this for nearly a year. In the early part it was excruciating - every time I got out of a chair I could barely move. I found myself really tensing moly core to try and prevent and dissipate the awful pain. On a pain index it would go from being a 9-10 to 0-2 in a matter of seconds. Very painful seconds. 

This is what makes the issue an odd one. Piriformis syndrome is, I believe, an overuse injury - look online the remedy is essentially stretching and core work. I have joined a gym and been doing lots of that work. It has improved but so slowly.

It's the beginning of 2017 and I have plans. Those plans involve long runs and while I can do the runs I am not so sure that I can recover from them. I'm not even sure if I should be running with this but if I don't I don't feel like I am me. 

A recent call out on Twitter for someone that can really fix this has yielded a response. Hopefully they have the ability and knowledge to get into the area and help it along. 

Fingers (not legs) crossed. 

are you the running guy?

I've always struggled with this blog to keep it consistent, this is in part a case of what do i want it to be and that i don't want it to be repetitive. The themes are running and diabetes so this felt like something to weave into the title. But the name of the blog?? 

It dawned on me yesterday when, at work, someone i had not met before asked me if i was "the running guy". this made me smile as i get asked it a lot and it is normally followed by a question about running.... so a new blog title "are you the running guy?"

I like it. It may stick. Now i just need to post more!