Love that Dirty Water....Boston '09 Race Report Part 1

Imagine my surprise when I check my email after avoiding the computer for 48 hours....58 encouraging comments from my nearest and dearest friends! You guys are awesome. Seriously...your encouragement and support mean the world to me. From the bottom of my heart, I send out a giant Aloha to each and every one of you.

So...let's get right to it. The back update. The flight was not comfortable, but it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I got up a lot and stretched as much as I could. I went to town with my tennis ball in the Minneapolis Airport, which elicited some stares from people.

As soon as I arrived, I suddenly remembered the kinesiotape I raved about a few months ago. I made it my mission to find a place to tape me up. After many leads but dead ends, I finally found Boston Bodyworks online. They were able to squeeze me in and I got a session with an amazing therapist. I only went in for taping, but upon hearing my problem he asked if I would be open to ART (Active Release Therapy). Although I was nervous about trying something new, I told him sure. At this point I am up for doing all I can.

He found some trigger points and determined that it was certainly some nasty stuff going on in my piriformis, but he also suspects there is inflammation in my SI joint. He started with some massage, then moved onto the ART. Good thing the walls were soundproofed; I was yelling obscenities at the top of my lungs. Holy guacomole, batman. That hurt way more than I anticipated. When he was done, everything felt amazingly better. I am certainly going to keep ART in mind when I get back to Hawaii.

He started taping, and explained he would tape my SI joint in a way to allow lymph to move freely, and would put a little more structure with the tape on my piriformis. This is the final result:

He assures me the tape should stay through Monday. I am being super cautious about every movement, and am going to limit my showers as much as I can.

Everything is still pretty tight, but the pain is dwindling. I know I am healing. Granted, it's not as fast as I'd like, but I'll take what I can get. It hurts the worst in the morning, and walking around makes it feel way better. So I have been stretching as much as possible and just loosening things up. Still dosing with the Advil....600 mgs, every 4 hours. Walking is great...what a difference from a few days ago. Even if I have to walk, I am confident I will find a way to the finish line.

The town is all geared up for the marathon, but so far there don't seem to be too many runners here yet. I have been spending the past two days with my old college girlfriend and have been reliving the city. I've enjoyed all the food I can't get in Hawaii---cannoli, chowder, good mexican food....and the most important thing of all: Harpoon IPA. I've shopped my heart out at H&M, Trader Joes, Bill Rodgers Running Store, Marathon Sports, and City Sports. I traipsed around my Alma Mater, saw the result of the big dig, and spent the evening at Harvard Square.

Tomorrow I meet up with the Ohana and we will check into our own version of Athlete's villiage and head to the expo. I am going to shop like a fiend. It will be good to see the Ohana and get the running vibe going again. I know once I get surrounded by all things running I will get excited. This is my 26.2 party, and I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it!