I started running  when I was about 15 years old.  I would roll out of bed, grab my Sony Walkman and head out to get a few miles in before school.   Just me and the music getting shit done, starting the day off feeling good.  I would mainly run in my neighborhood up to the local shopping center and back.  It was about 2.5 miles round trip, all on concrete. 

Running was my primary go to cardio through college, my 20s, 30s. Whenever I moved, I mapped out a new running route.  Eventually, I expanded my daily mileage to about 5 miles.  Even when travelling, I sought out new routes. Running was the most consistent thing in my life and it helped me feel like I could conquer the world.  When I was running, it was just me,  the music and my goals:  beating my personal best, getting up that next hill, feeling strong. I went into my 40s believing that since I had made regular exercise such a large part of my life already, I was going to run into my golden years.

Apparently, my body had other ideas: a few months after I turned 40, while out for a run and felt a sharp shooting pain in my left pain.  Luckily, I was almost home and limped the rest of the way.  My podiatrist diagnosed plantar fasciitis and shot some cortisone into my heel.  I had no choice but to back off running for a bit.  As most injured runners do, I turned to cycling!  I found great stress relief in spinning/indoor cycling.   Slowly, I started running again but my hamstrings felt chronically tight.  I tried balancing running with cycling,  hiking and yoga. My hamstrings seem to just get tighter.  When I turned 46,  my lower back would bug me a bit after biking, especially when I did hills.  At 47, my back killing me, my legs were chronically sore, I was super stiff when getting up from my chair at work.  Sometimes, when I walked, I got a sharp shooting pain in my left buttock causing to me to alter my stride.  I self diagnosed chronic high hamstring tendinitis. My back pain progressed from being occasional to constant.  I couldn’t do housework, I couldn’t focus at work.  Even exercise started to hurt.  Stretching no longer brought any relief.  I started to worry I was overstretching my hamstrings with too many “uttanasanas”/forward bends.  I went to a sports doctor, had x-rays, physical therapy and finally a CT scan on both hamstrings.  I did indeed have proximal hamstring tendinopathy (PHT)  in both legs (a little worse in the left) as well as a twisted pelvis resulting in one leg seeming a little longer than the other when I was standing. 

Getting an official diagnosis unfortunately brought a little comfort.  I really wasn’t getting any guidance from the doctor or the physical therapist on how to deal with this.  Now what?  I am too young just give up.  The sports doctor recommended a chiropractor that practices Active Release Technique (ACT).  I had never considered a chiropractor….ever.  I was always scared of getting sucked into the need for continual back adjustments.  The doctor explained there are good and bad chiropractors.  The guy he was recommending was one of the good ones.  At that point, I had been suffering debilitating back pain for about 2 months straight.  I actually started crying on the phone while making the appointment.  I would do anything to get relief at that point. The chiropractor was amazing.  He helped to fix my overall alignment, explained the twisted pelvis was a result of muscle imbalance, specifically over development of the quads combined with weak abs and glutes. For years,  I was a cardio junkie always looking for that endorphin high. If I had 1 hour to work out before heading to work, I used the full time for cardio.  I had skimped on abs and stretching my hip flexors for about 30 years and apparently, it was payback time! Using ACT, my chiropractor to start release my hip flexors, applied electro-stimulation on my lower back  to stop the muscle spasms. He gave me a combination of stretches to open up my hips and chest (bring the shoulders back) and strengthening exercises for my glutes, abs and back.  The constant pain and tightness started to fade.  It has been a little over a year since I started going to my chiropractor.  I still exercise but I have shifted my focus.  I do my stretches, strengthening exercises (weights or using my own body weight) and foam rolling daily.  I limit my hardcore cardio to 3-4 days a week: 1 spinning session, 1 interval running sessions,  2 days of kickboxing/boot camp style workout. Some weeks I will add a full yoga class on Sundays, sometimes I just do yoga in my living room.   I am not going to lie: I do miss running a few miles non-stop as opposed to intervals…..but when your body is in pain from the “healthy” stuff you are doing,  it’s time to listen. 

On some level, I guess I knew I would not be able to do the same things I did at 20 when I was 45 or 50.  I just had no idea how that transition would happen….