![]() When I had major IT band syndrome in early 2009 that prevented me from running, it didn’t improve until I finally broke down and took the NSAIDs the doctor prescribed. Maybe I shouldn’t be so shocked: I know that I respond well to anti-inflammatories, probably because I almost never take them. While I’m fully aware of the power of the placebo effect, I just can’t believe a change like this can be due to anything but the cherries. Until last week, when finally it improved. And because I do all of these things so often, it hasn’t healed, even after I stopped the pushups and pullups months ago. Worst of all, it affects my sleep, waking me up multiple times a night. It hurts whenever I use a can opener, turn a doorknob, pick something up at the wrong angle, or lift my right arm above my head. (It’s a flare-up of an injury that happened about 10 years ago when I was into lifting heavy weights.) I’ve self-diagnosed it as a torn rotator cuff, but my wife, who actually knows things, tells me it’s absolutely not that, that I’d be in much more pain if anything were torn. I’ve had this shoulder thing going on since February, brought on by a month of everyday pushups and pullups. It’s actually this third point that I’m most excited about, and it’s the reason I’m going to stick with the twice-a-day cherry concentrate regimen even after my free supply runs out. The big surprise: a nagging shoulder injury I’ve had for months improved dramatically, and last Thursday night was the first night in a long time that I slept through the night without any shoulder pain whatsoever. The cherry juice didn’t miraculously turn me into Meb.)ģ. (Not all that surprising, all things considered. I felt very strong through the first four days, including two tough workouts, but I did find myself dragging a bit during my easy run the day after my hill workout. This was really surprising I expected that I’d at least feel something after my first interval workout and first hard hill workout after (no exaggeration) years without doing either.Ģ. This had nothing to do with how my body felt, and everything to do with a renewed interest in speedwork (and a renewed boredom with slow runs) that my return to interval training brought on. In this way, I’d be able to tell whether or not the tart cherries lived up to claim that they aid in recovery.Įverything went to plan, with one exception: I traded a planned long run on the last day for a second interval workout. ![]() The point of my experiment, of course, was to put myself through a training week that would normally create a lot of soreness and fatigue. While I’ve been running a fair amount this summer, my typical week prior to this experiment has been pretty relaxed … about four runs, 30 to 40 minutes each, and all at easy pace. It’s important to note that this running was supposed to represent a challenging week. ![]() (This is half the amount I wrote in the first post, where a reader pointed out my mistake and I corrected it before I began the challenge.)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |