Well, since our last podcast, I've had people ask me about the nerve condition that I mentioned on the show. So I thought I'd spill my guts and fill you guys in. Here goes... I have pretty bad scoliosis which has progressively gotten worse over the past couple of years. Due to the alignment of my spine, my muscles are becoming out of wack and nerves are beginning to become pinched, causing severe pain (and at times numbness), down my rear and to my toes, especially during running. My backbone makes a pretty C shape in my lower back causing my pelvis to shift wrong and leads to many problems.
My sports medicine doc suggested last year, during my marathon, that I consider stopping running all together. Afterwards, I significantly decreased my mileage and picked up triathlon. The runs for Sprints and Olympics are much shorter distances than I was training before but I still got a great workout with the three sports combined. I was happy with that. However, since my last tri, my body is telling me to stop. It has been highly suggested that I probably shouldn't run anymore due to the impact that it has on my back and overall body alignment. The docs (four to be exact) have suggested pretty aggressive physical therapy for a while so I'm thinking about doing that.
The catch to all of this is this. The physicians that I've seen about this have all been surprised about my physical capabilities. They were even more suprised that I didn't have more problems as a child. They all said that my activities are probably what have kept me in better condition than what was expected due to my scoliosis. They have also said that my nerve issue is going to worsen with age, regardless if I run or not. It will just happen sooner than later if I decide to keep running. So what's kept me healthy all these years is both helping me and harming me. Talk about a catch 22.
I have options though, let me lay them out for you.
1) Do aggressive physical therapy and see if that prolongs the issue.
2) Have back surgery that has more risk involved than a good outcome (this is not even an option for me. I won't do this at this point in my life. Period).
3) Fight through the pain (I'm tough but not that tough).
4) Stop running all together and stick with other, no impact sports. Grrrr....
So, as grim as these options are, I think I'm going with the physical therapy. It sounds like the best option at this point in my life. And who knows, I might get great results from it. I'm going to do more swimming and cycling and keep my running to a minimum for a while and see what comes from that. Who knows, this might be just what I need to get better at swimming, right?
But all in all, I feel thankful. I'm thankful to be alive and healthy. I might have an unaligned body but that isn't keeping me from being an athlete. And I might have more limitations for a while but overall life is good and I just have to remember that everyday. It's great to be alive!!! Okay, I'm off to the pool...
