I Am Still Alive....

I know it has been forever since my last post.  Sorry about that, I have been so super busy.  Life just gets busier every year.  I want to give you guys an update on how I am doing these days.

I am happy to say I am running!  I am still feeling some discomfort in my calf (and now my knee) but it is not as bad as it once was.  And I am up to about 16 miles a week.  I am literally taking it one day at a time.  Or one run at a time.  I am still seeing Dr. LeBouef in the Woodlands but just once a month now.  I started seeing a massage therapist a couple of weeks ago and have had two massages from him so far.  Apparently he is a "miracle-worker" and I am VERY much hoping he is.

When I first went to get a massage the therapist was amazed at how much lactic acid I had in my muscles.  He had a lot of work to do to break it all up.  He was pleased that it wasn't as bad on the second visit.  He feels the tightness in the muscles is what is causing the pain.  We will see.  I have another appt this coming Tuesday.  I really look forward to those massages, Alton has a great way of breaking up all of that lactic acid but with little to no pain.

I have also changed my run form and am focusing on landing on my mid-foot instead of my heel.  I also slowed down a little.  As I think back to when this first happened and the progression of the injury I have realized it is most likely related to how fast I was running.  Although my body could handle the mileage and I was following the plan to a tee I was running faster than my body agreed to.  Even though it felt just fine.  I was just so excited when I realized I was half-way "fast".  I thought I would be in the back of the pack but often found myself in the front or close to it.  I now focus on being in the back of the pack.  I have to really concentrate on running slow and taking it easy.  I still don't have a Garmin to check my pace on so I go by my heartrate.  If I can hold a conversation then I am at the right pace.

I am also taking more walk breaks.  This is an interesting concept to me.  At first I didn't want to take walk breaks ( not even through water stations) because I didn't feel like I would be able to get started again, or to feel "settled into" my run if I kept interrupting it.  But now I realize it is important to give my body a break ever so often and I make myself do it every couple of miles.

I am going this Thursday to have a gate analysis performed by my doctor.  I am excited to finally get it looked at and hopefully get some tips on what I need to do to correct my form, so I don't continue to injure myself.  Have I mentioned I want to run forever? :)

My plan is to run the San Antonio Rock and Roll HALF Marathon in November and the FULL Marathon in Houston in January.  I am running with the Run Club at the Gym and they have a big group going to San Antonio together, I am excited about that, it will be a lot of fun.

I am feeling very blessed to be able to run right now.  I am making the most of every run and truly soaking it in, just in case my leg decides to get really bad and causes me to stop running.  It makes those early morning runs a little easier to do.

Thanks for all of your continued support.  I really do appreciate it.

I Am Still Here.......

I know it has been a long time since I have posted.  I have been so busy lately.  But I wanted to post something to let you guys know how I am doing.

In April I did a lot of research on barefoot running and minimalist running.  I video taped myself running in running shoes and barefoot.  I could tell right away my form was all wrong.  I was heel-striking A LOT!  It was a little better when I was barefoot but I still needed to do a lot of work on my form.  So I started researching everything I could find on barefoot running and correct running form.

I also made a desperate plea on FB asking anyone for a reputable ortho doctor in the area.  I figured let me try that avenue, haven't been to see one of them yet.  I was recommended to a doctor in Kingwood by a few different people so I made an appt with him.  I was super prepared for this visit.  I went to the first doctor and got the MRI pics, had both pair of running shoes to show wear, etc. Well it turns out it was a complete waste of my time.  This doctor pretty much said I have already done everything he would suggest and unless I fix my form I will just keep dealing with the problem.  ok, I can understand that, let me work on my form.

I practiced the barefoot running for a couple of weeks (which is supposed to be the best way to learn correct form) before I got some serious blisters on the bottoms of my feet.  I decided after that, and after talking with other runners, that maybe fully barefoot wasn't necessary.  But it was necessary to fix my form and learn to run correctly, and get some minimalist shoes.

This led me back to Luke's Locker for my 3rd pair of shoes in less than a year.  I went on a day my trusty sales rep Brian was there and we talked a lot about what shoes to buy, etc.  I went in with the thought of getting the Saucony Kinvara's.  But I really wanted to try the Newton's b/c I have heard so much about them and they didn't have my size in the Kinvara's.  After running up and down the strip at the store I actually decided to buy the Newton's.  The shoes I bought were supposed to help you learn to run on your forefoot instead of your heel.  Exactly what I needed.

While at Luke's I asked Brian if he knew of any doctor's I could go to to finally figure out exactly what is going on with my calf/Achilles and to fix it once and for all.  My exact words were "I need someone who is not going to stop until we figure out what is going on, and I want a runner".  He mentioned two different doctor's names.  Of course the only one that took insurance was a doctor in the Woodlands.  Just my luck, but whatever, what difference does it make at this point???

My first visit with Dr Eric LeBouef was on April 21st.  I once again came prepared with everything, MRI results, shoes, etc.  I started in on my long story of how this started and ALL of the different treatment options I have tried and where I was currently at.  I told him, "you are actually my 6th doctor to see, I know that is crazy."  He didn't even flinch when I said that.  After I finished he said " I am not surprised I am your 6th doctor, I can't tell you how many people come in here saying the same thing, with the same symptoms. I know exactly what is wrong"

Well that is a little hopeful.  He did a very thorough exam and pretty much told me the body part that is effected is where the calf muscle meets the tendons and that I needed to make that part more flexible.  He did a little acupuncture on my calf and then slightly massaged it.  He then showed me some exercises to do every day, including balancing on both legs to build my ankle strength.

I have since been seeing him every week, for 6 weeks.  He now does some electro thing on me when I first get there, which sends little electric waves thru my leg, it feels very good. And then does a little massage, sometimes pretty deep.  He says the range of motion is getting much better.

I ran my first race on 5/7, a 5k.  It felt WONDERFUL to race again.  Just to be there with all of the other runners, the excitement of it all.  I LOVED IT!  Man did it fuel me to start training for the marathon.  My calf held up very well and didn't bother me at all.

Since then it has started to bother me again.  This past week has been pretty bad.  It is starting to bother me more often.  I have been running around 3 miles about 3 days a week.  And it is pretty much starting up again.  Seems like when I start running consistently it starts bothering me.  I am wearing a Strassburg sock to sleep in.  It is a sock designed to cure Plantar Fascities but the doc says it will help this as well.

So unfortunately I don't have the greatest news to report.  I am signed up to run a 5k this coming Monday, I am excited about it b/c I will be running it with friends.  I need to get this under control very soon b/c training starts in about 1 1/2 months for the marathon.

I Am A Warrior...........

I did it.....I am a Warrior.  Warrior Dash was so much fun.  It is a crazy race where people dress up, you get mud in all areas and the rinse off area is the lake.

The best thing about this race is Mario and I did it together.  It was so great running a race with him.  I have a small hope that he is going to eventually like running a little and will do 5k's with me, but we will see.  But it was really neat to actually have him beside me for the race instead of waiting at the finish line for me.

We ran the race on Sunday at 11:30am.  We had to park down the road and be bussed into the race.  It was very interesting.

 Once we got there we saw exactly what we imagined.  It is like a Renaissance Festival 5k.  There are people dressed in all different costumes and matching outfits.  There are turkey legs and pints of beer everywhere. 

There was a pile of shoes in the middle of the road that people are donating to charity (I looked up which one so I could tell you guys b/c it was a great cause but now I can't find it anywhere).  The shoes from Saturday were there so it was already a big pile when we got there, Lance and Andi added to the pile.  I hate to be the person whose job it is to clean all of those shoes.  There were some pretty nasty ones.

Mario, Andi, Lance and I ran the race together.  My plan was to walk most of the race because my calf had been bothering me again after the indoor tri.  But of course once we started off and we were jogging it felt really good.  So I was going......being careful......but going......

Andi and I ran together for a while and then walked for a while, we alternated that for a little bit and then Andi decided she was done running.  That was fine with me.  I wanted to do this with her b/c this is probably one of the only races I don't care too much about my time and since we run at such different paces we never get to do races together.

Lance and Mario started running together but Lance soon realized he would rather walk as well.  We did most of the obstacles together.  After a while Mario and I started running to the obstacles, just to run, and would then wait for Lance and Andi before doing the obstacle.  It was really fun to do it all together.

I think my favorite obstacle was the cargo net.  I enjoyed climbing, that is something we as adults don't do that much anymore, not as much as kids do.  I also thought the jumping over fire was pretty cool.  I looked at the pics the WD people take and I didn't realize I could jump that high.  I was going to make sure there was no way fire was touching me.

The last obstacle is where they get you muddy.  We had to crawl under barbwire in the mud.  It was very gross and to top it off Mario dropped his expensive sunglasses in there when he did a belly flop so I was feeling around in the mud as well. We never did find them.  But we did all finish and took our "finisher" photos and got our medals.

As you can imagine there was mud everywhere.  All in our shoes, squelching between our toes, in our shorts and Andi found a good amount in her top.  It was pretty gross.  Mario was wondering what in the world was in his pockets and he thought, did I put some crumbed up paper in there, etc.  So he stuck his hands in to see.....this is what it was......

......two globs of mud!

The funniest thing to me was the rinse off area.  The lake.  And to get to the lake you have to go through about 20 yards of mud.  Very interesting.  I did go out there just b/c I was sooooo nasty but it didn't too much good.  But I never did take my nasty shoes off until I got back to the car.  There was no sense in changing into my flip flops, I would just get muddy again.

After we rinsed off we went and got our free beer.  Luckily for Lance I don't drink beer so I gave him my ticket.  You had to turn in your timing chip to get the ticket and his somehow came off during the race. (he's not an official finisher)  We then listened to the band that was playing and went to the finish line to see if we could see Niki cross over.  Her wave was an hour after ours.  We got a great view of everyone jumping into the mud pit, crawling thru it and then crossing the finish line.  And we did see Niki finish as well.  You could tell she was having a blast she was grinning from ear to ear.

We then decided to head back to the car.  Mario and I had a softball game later that day we needed to get ready for.  We all changed at the car.  We just held towels up and changed.

The entire experience was so great.  We had such a great time and we can't wait to do it again.  We are all four signed up to do the Beach Palooza race in Sept already.  And we will be back for WD next year and maybe some of the other ones as well, like Muddy Buddy, etc.



Here We Go Again....... Part 2

I absolutely hate to post this.  But this is the best way for me to get it out.  I am back to square one!  My calf, or what I now know is actually the Achilles Tendon, is hurting again.  I have not been able to run in over a week.

I ran the 20 minute tri on Sunday, 3/6, at a higher pace than normal but nothing too wild, it felt great.  Then the following Monday I ran 5 miles.  Once again, felt great!  One of the best runs yet.  But it was pretty much all down hill from there.  It started bothering me on Tuesday and has bothered me ever since.  I have taken a few days off (well kinda) to see if it would subside and it hasn't.  I have foam rolled and iced every day, as well as stretch.

So, here we go again.  Back to the beginning.  Back to the search for what is going to fix this. Back to the doctor's appts, etc.  I am beyond frustrated at this point.  Runners get this injury all of the time, why are they able to heal so quickly?  I have heard the same thing from all three doctors, "some people just heal faster than others".  WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  There is no reason why I should be injured with an Achilles Tendon for 4 1/2 months.  Especially after trying all of the different "solutions" I have tried.  I mean come on now!

Ok, so now that I got that out (thank you for listening)....let me say I am not giving up.  I have had 4 people say to me, "maybe running isn't your thing."  It is!  No one is going to tell me otherwise.  I feel so happy when I run and I get such joy and relaxation from it.  How can it not be for me? 

So for those that know me well know that I already have the next 3 steps planned.  The next 3 steps to get me running again.
1.) Visit doctor in Kingwood that is supposed to be GREAT with these kind of injuries.  The running coach at the gym suggested I try him out.  Apparently he is a "miracle worker".  Yea, well apparently I am going to need one of those so let's just see how good he is.
2.) Once I am running again, even if for 20 minutes at a time I am going to get a biomechanic test done on my run form.  This will pinpoint problem areas to change so I can reduce risk of injury once I do get healed.  My god, I do not want to go through this again.
3.) Research minimalist running style.  I am currently reading the book Born to Run.  It is an absolutely amazing book that spotlights the barefoot running theory.  It follows a Mexican tribe that runs thru the canyons of Mexico for long distances at a time in home-made sandals.  It explores the theory that our bodies are made to run and we could run further with less effort if we 1.) adopted the running form our ancestors used when that was their main mode of transportation and 2.) chucked the running shoes and ran in a more minimalist shoe.

I am very intrigued with this book.  I have done some research already and apparently this one book alone has transformed a lot of people into barefoot runners or minimalist runner.  I am going to look into it more though.  I am going to "interview" runners who run in these type of shoes, check out the barefoot running websites and read the authors and other runners in the book websites.  Maybe it is the answer.  Who knows.....but what do I have to lose at this point?  It makes a lot of sense to me.

On a good note, 2 things:

1.) Mario, Andi and I are doing Warrior Dash on Sunday.  I am not running all week so I can do it on Sunday.  I don't plan to run much at the race but will need all I can get.  I can not wait, it is going to be so fun!
2.) I have made headway with the swimming.  I have figured out that I only need to take a breath every 5 strokes instead of 3 as I was doing.  And because I was taking more breaths than needed I was filling my lungs with unneeded air, raising my heart rate.  At least that is what I think. :)  Either way it is better.  Still much to be desired but better.

Thanks for listening.  If anyone knows of anything else I can try to heal my leg please let me know.  Or if you know of someone who has had this same issue.  I am open to anything right now.

I TRIed It.....and Loved It!

I completed my first "triathalon" on Sunday!  The indoor triathalon at the gym.  It consists of a 10 minute swim, 30 minute bike and 20 minute run.  And you earn points based on distance covered during those times.

I have been taking swim lessons for this, for a month.  I wanted to learn how to swim freestyle with my head in the water.  I did finally learn how to do it, although I still really need to work on it.  I just can't get the breathing down yet.  It is very frustrating but I know I need to just keep practicing and I will eventually get it.  But as of right now I don't really care for it.  But I think I will as I get it.

So it was the part I was dreading the most at the tri.  The worse part was you had to share a lane with someone and since my plan included a lot of backstroke (a stroke that is much easier for me) I was worried I would smack them.  But then I remembered my friend Niki was signing up for the tri as well I didn't feel as bad smacking her. :)  She will forgive me.  Another good thing was it was very relaxed and you could stop anywhere in the pool, walk the length of the pool, or just stand there if you wanted to, as long as you got in the water.  So I wasn't too anxious about it, just glad it was first b/c I just wanted to get it over with.

So Niki and I met up at the gym at 7:30am.  We checked in (got a really nice performance tee), set up our transition clothes, and headed to the pool.  There was one wave ahead of us and they were already in the water.  I expected to see at least one person walking, standing, something, but they were all swimming, really well. Oh well....I will just do the best I can.  The plan was to do 4 lengths freestyle and the rest back.

And we were off....the swimming was as hard as I figured it would be.  I have a lot of work to do on swimming.  My goal was to complete at least 10 lengths, and that is exactly how many I did.  Although I didn't make 4 lengths freestyle, just two.  I couldn't handle all of the turbulance and swimming right next to Niki.  So I just swam backstroke for the rest of it and only hit Niki twice, on the last two lengths.  I said "sorry"! :)

I was very glad to get out of the pool and change for the bike riding.  We headed up to the cycle room and when we walked in the guy said we have 30 seconds to start.  Oops....apparenlty we took a little long changing.  We jumped on, I was able to at least adjust the seat before getting on, but the handle bars wasn't high enough.  The volunteer was nice enough to come raise it for me and then push my seat forward, as I stood up and pedaled.  I averaged about 29 mph and kicked it up a little higher in the last 10 minutes.  I ended up going 14.4 miles, higher than I had been doing so I was happy with that. Best thing was my legs weren't even jiggly afterward, I was ready for the run.

I definitely did the best in the run, shocker, right?  I ran at about a 10min/mile for 10 minutes raised it to 9min/mile for about 5 min and then went to about a 7:45min/mile for the last 5 minutes (that is 8.0 on the treadmill).  It felt so great to run that fast.  My legs weren't bothering me at all.

Afterwards Niki and I stretched out and headed home, glad that we did it.  We both really enjoyed it and we are looking forward to the Super Sprint Tri in May.  I just have to conquer my fear of swimming in lake water to do that.

Oh.....this just in.  As I was finishing this up I received the results from the tri.  I tied for 6th place out of 10, in my category.  23rd out of 32 overall.  :)  The swimming killed me.  I have pretty competitive times in the running and biking. Oh well I will keep working on it.

Now on to Warrior Dash in two weeks!  And hopefully a Half Marathon in 3 weeks!

I Am Released.....

As of last Thursday I am officially released from Airrosti treatment.  I am a little uneasy about it but excited at the same time.  I have been doing well, there is no doubt my leg is improved.  I ran 4 miles twice last week and it felt fine.  Didn't hurt at all.  And it didn't bother me much afterwards.  I am still icing twice a day, sometimes more.  I have this handy ice pack I use at work now that wraps around my leg and sticks with velcro.  Now that is making the most of your time. (something I have perfected over time)  I am also foam rolling at least once a day. I now foam roll calves, shins, quads and it band.  It is actually to the point it feels good now!  If I run I foam roll twice that day, just for good measure.

I guess I am uneasy b/c I still feel some twinges throughout the day.  Nothing major, in fact anything but.  But I just thought they would go away completely.  I am worried that as I get higher up in the mileage it will just start all over again.  But I won't know if I don't try, right?

So I am done wearing the pretty kineseo tape everyone so enjoyed.  To let you know what everyone has been staring at, I posted a few pics.

So now the goal is to run 5 miles/twice this week and then maybe 3-4 miles once.  I ran 5 miles tonight and it felt great.  Much better than I thought since I have been under the weather but I had to get out there and do it, it takes a lot to stop me from running.  I will put ice on it tonight and a lot more tomorrow.  I am going to swim and cycle tomorrow, giving my legs a rest and then try and run 5 miles again on Wednesday with the 3-4 mile run on Friday.

So I am now heavily considering running that Half at the end of March.  I keep going back and forth in my mind, praying about it, etc.  I don't want to push myself and injure myself further but I feel like I won't.  You just never know.  I think if I run the first 1/2 of it and then use the 5:1 technique (run 5 minutes/walk 1 minute) for the rest of the race I will be fine.  Plus there is a super long time limit so if nothing else I guess I can walk it when I need to.  Not really how I planned to run my first Half but it is better than not doing it at all.  I really, really, really want to complete a Half Marathon.

I am going to see how the next two weeks go.  The registration deadline is next Friday so I have two weeks to see if I can hold up.  If I make it through the 5 miles this week I will run 6 next week a few times to see how it holds up.  Wish me luck!

Don't Count Me Out Just Yet.......

I know it has been a while since I posted but I am posting with good news.....hopefully!

Let me start from the beginning.  Thru a trail of emails it was brought to my attention that one of my vendors from work was a runner.  A REAL runner.  She has run 21 marathons and 10 half's.  She is also a Certified Running Coach and is co-owner of her own running training company.  She is living my dream!

Well after discovering this we started chatting.  We both love to talk about running and now we have someone we can talk to without getting the blank "I don't care" stares.  I quickly let her know about my blog.

Within a few minutes of reading the blog she emailed me back and said, "can I offer a suggestion for your injury?"  Are you kidding me....yes please do.....I will try anything at this point.

Here is a quote from that email:

"Let me lay it out like this first:   Since July of 2009, I battled injury after injury.  It all started with a stress fracture on my right foot. As that healed, I was determine to run my marathons I had signed up for (Houston & Austin).  After dealing with the stress fracture (wearing a boot for 8 weeks!), I developed a neuroma (pinched nerve) on that same foot under my toes.  Got my cortisone shot and ran the Houston marathon!  During the race, I started having severe pain in the left foot (heel area).  It was discovered afterward that I had plantar fasciitis and a possible heel spur on my left foot!!!  Anyway, a few weeks later, I ended up breaking my big toe on the same foot…it bent out to the right and broke the sesamoid bone.  Back in a boot and not able to run.  I did electromyopulse therapy, cortisone shots and all kinds of other therapy on it and nothing seemed to work.  So, I broke down and went to an airrosti therapist for treatment.  My friend had told me about it, but I kept resisting that “hokey” stuff! :)  He determined that I actually had Achilles tendonitis that was pulling on my heel making it hurt so bad.  You probably won’t believe this, but I went into his office in a boot and came out in a running shoe and ran the next day. It took three treatments and it “went” away."

I was beaming from ear to ear, if she had done this and it worked for her, maybe it will work for me.  I had HOPE again!

That night I went home and spent 1 1/2 hours researching Airrosti.  It seemed too good to be true and why hadn't any of the other doctor's I had been to mentioned it?  I could not find one bad thing mentioned about Airrosti.  In fact every single person who tried it said it worked.  I even had mom research it and she couldn't find anything bad as well.  Ok now you got me. Although all of the reports did say it hurt like hell, I really don't care at this point, as long as it means I can run again.

So I called and made an appt for the next day.  I am having to pay out of my pocket, they do accept insurance but mine is out of network and cheaper for me to pay out of pocket.  But they offer a payment plan and I don't have to start paying on that until mid-March.  It isn't really that expensive, I am just broke. :)

I was so nervous going into that session.  How much was this going to hurt?  Can I take it?  After about a 15 minute consultation with the doctor we got to "work".  He was very upfront and said, "yes, this is going to hurt."  ok, but for how long?  I am thinking 30-45 minutes, when he said 15-20 I was elated.  This part of the treatment is a very deep tissue "massage" using the thumbs to loosen up the fascia around the muscle.  He explained that every muscle has fascia around it and when our muscles are injured or tighten up the fascia likes to "hug" the muscle.  Since the fascia doesn't have any sort of blood supply to it, once the muscle loosens up or heals the fascia doesn't know to "let go."  So they go in and smooth it out and loosen it up.  It isn't very pleasant but he did a good job of trying to distract me while he was doing it.  He also went ahead and did both legs, not just the injured one AND did my shins!  That was by far the worse pain, although it was discovered I have shin splints and now I can get those fixed for the price of one. :)

After the massage you meet with another person who shows you how to use a foam roller and the importance of it.  Luckily I already have one of these but didn't really use it properly.  She showed me how to roll out my calves and shins.  Afterwards they put kinesio tape on you, 4 colors to choose from (black, nude, hot pink and turquoise), to promote blood flow to the area, decreasing inflammation and swelling.  I choose black the first time. :)

I quickly asked if I could go to spin class that night, after the treatment, I am training for that indoor tri in March.  He said, sure go for it.  In fact we want you to be active, it will promote the healing process.  Heck yeah.....I like this type of thinking.  Then he said, and I want you to run tomorrow, up to 3 miles.  Even better!  Also, put ice on it twice a day and foam roll twice a day.

Spin class went well.  I actually did better than I have ever done, although I don't think that had to do with the treatment, I was probably just amped up.  But I did get some funny stares from the gym-goers with the black tape on my legs, but whatever.

The next day I was a little sore from the treatment but nothing like I thought it would be.  I went running that afternoon and it felt GREAT!  I forgot how good it felt!  I was on cloud nine.  I only made it 2 1/2 miles b/c it was soooo hot and humid that day and I hadn't run in the humidity in a while.  But I didn't care, that was the longest in about 3 months.  I was so excited I went to my neighbors house and told him, I had to tell someone in person.  I was absolutely stoked for the rest of the day.

My leg felt fine after that, I had a few "twinges" here and there but nothing out of the ordinary and certainly no worse than before.  Went to my second appt (of four) on Monday.  Went thru the same treatment, apparently I am getting used to the pain, it didn't hurt that much.  I think I just know what to expect now.  I then went and learned how to foam roll my quads and IT band as well as the calves and shins.  And then opted for the blue tape.  My daughter told me last time I should get blue since it is my favorite color, why not?  I didn't realize he was going to tape the front of the leg this time, great, the time I pick a bright color.  Needless to say I got LOTS of stares at the gym.  Seriously people, have you never seen kinesio tape before?  My marching orders were to run that night, up to 3 miles, foam roll only once a day and ice twice, and stretch a lot.  No problem.

I ran 3 miles on Monday.  It felt soooooo wonderful, it is hard to put into words.  I was just so excited.  Until yesterday........

I started feeling that "twinge" in my calf yesterday morning and as the day went on it got a little worse, nothing unbearable, just a reminder it is there.  I went ahead and biked for 25 minutes and swam for about 40 yesterday and it didn't bother me during those activities.  Came home, stretched really good and foam rolled everything. Then emailed the doctor to let him know what was going on.  He has suggested I ice today 3-4 times and stretch throughout the day.  I will email him soon so we can decide whether I should run tonight or not.  At this point I am thinking I will, it feels pretty good.  I have my third treatment tomorrow morning.

So I am still hopeful that this treatment is going to work, I will probably lose my mind if it doesn't.  I highly suggest anyone with muscle-related injuries try it out, if you have tried everything.  You can go to http://www.airrosti.com/ to check it out.  If you click on Testimonials you can view a video there of the treatment process.

Wish me luck...... I hope to post in the near future that all is fine and I am running in a race soon. :)