31 Oct Astym Therapy is Like Wildfire Through a Running Community
At 49, I had finally started to admit I was going to have to give up running for good. After 13 years of low mileage running, I was to the point of such pain that I couldn’t run a 1/2 mile without stopping and stretching. It turns out that isn’t running. It’s jogging between stretching.
I had completed almost a year of physical therapy a year prior with the most effort I’ve ever given to rehab. I did exercises 5x a week and I hadn’t improved my pain much. I feared all the naysayers were right: I was going to be a middle aged running casualty and have to find something else to keep me happy and healthy.
Then I saw a discussion of Astym treatment in Runner’s World. My neighbor recommended a local therapist and I called that day.
The first treatment was a revelation.
I think I actually got a little high from having the sensation of carrying 10 lbs. of cement lifted from my left thigh. I ran that night and was ecstatic. No pain!
You can imagine how this news tore through our local running community. I would be on a run chatting with someone about my miracle discovery, and another runner would approach and ask me what that name was again. I think half a dozen runners have followed me to Astym therapy. They proudly show me their bruising the next week; the badge of honor of getting an injury resolved. We’re all giddy with the unexpected possibility of running without pain.
Many treatments later, I’ve done what seemed impossible a few months ago: I’ve added longer mileage than I’ve ever been able to run. I’m running trails. Having just completed a 10 mile race, I’m tackling my first-ever a half-marathon up a 2000 foot mountain trail. And I can do this without worry because of my rehab. It’s incredible to have my running back–and it’s great to be healthier than I’ve been in decade.
I told my therapist, Anna, that I’d proudly wear a t-shirt that said “Ask me about Astym therapy” and she handed me a brochure.
Ingrid, Runner, Professor, Mom
Tacoma, WA
Clinic: Elite Physical Therapy
