Alameda Runners – Get After It!

Perseverance is one thing all endurance athletes have in common. It is a good trait that helps us get things done and make it through the day when things get tough. Unfortunately, that same dedication and persistence drives us to push ourselves beyond our limits. We always get injured and then make things worse by not stopping to rest for a little while until we heal up a bit.

If you are reading this page, you are either an athlete or my mother. I know my mother is not going to swim from Alcatraz any time soon so this article is for the rest of you!

Rest and recovery is advice that we all get from friends, doctors and consultants on the Internet. Of course, we ignore all of the good advice and continue to carry on until we make things worse.

Most of us have visited the doctor for one or two of our injuries gaining nothing but some time off work to see someone who does not care about us hurting ourselves. It often seems that our doctors don’t care to treat something they can’t sew back on or give us a pill to treat it.

I always tried to treat my injuries myself until my son found a sports chiropractor while writing for an MMA site.  It seems those MMA guys are always tearing their backs up but that is another matter. My son told me to visit the sports chiropractor.

To learn a bit more about chiropractors and what they do, here is a bit of reading material.

Dr. Nejad of Chirosports USA (Union City, Calif. office) is my sports chiropractor. I don’t know if he is better or worse than any other sports chiropractor, but I am astounded by the quality of the treatment that I have received over the past year.

Dr. Nejad goes over my injuries and takes the time to look at them and find ways to treat them. If he gives me exercises to do, he checks to make sure I am doing them right and he tracks my strength to make sure I did them. Sounds like a normal doctor and physical therapist but it is much more than that.

Dr. Nejad gives you personal attention and tries to find the root cause of your injury and treat that. The root cause of my injuries is usually getting carried away and injuring myself. Treating that is not as easy as it may sound but he has been successful. I am now as healthy as I have been in my whole life (outside of my first year in the USMC).

He treats my injuries and the reason for them. Every time I visit, I am reminded of life style changes to keep myself healthy. I get to interact with other people with similar injuries and very dissimilar injuries. I learn from the couch potatoes and they learn from me.

Most insurance companies cover chiropractor visits but they don’t advertise it. If you have insurance or can afford an additional doctors visit, I suggest you give a sports chiropractor a call. Dr. Nejad has been very good for me. Hopefully you can find a sports chiropractor who is very good for you.

Ah, the power of the Internet!

American running seemingly fell off the face of the Earth as Kenya, Ethiopia and competitors from other nations persevered. Now, U.S. running is continuing to evolve for a number of reasons.  In the March 2010 edition of Competitor Magazine, Tracy Sundlun, who used to be an Olympic track coach, noted the power of the Internet:

“The Internet has been critical.  People are sharing their times and their workouts.  High school kids can watch the best runners train and listen to interviews with the best in the world.  These kids are finding out what other people are doing and then trying to do it themselves.  Seeing is believing.  When you know hard other people are working, you understand what it takes to be great.”

Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites have led the way, as regular athletes have a unique chance to chat with high-level pro runners and triathletes.  American 50K record holder, Josh Cox has almost 9,000 followers whom he is more than happy to interact with.

On a smaller scale, I’ve discovered a number of Alameda and East Bay runners I look forward to the possibility of running with in the months to come.  Special kudos go out to Runalameda and Powerfitness, who will hopefully make me faster.