Doc Visit

Had a really good visit on Saturday afternoon with Mike Carey, a chiropractor who recently joined Michaud's practice. Mike is a PC '89 grad who specializes in active release therapy and has done work with some big guns like Meb and Shalene.

I explained to him the lengthy history of my leg problems, dating back to the infamous C-Dance jump and all the injuries that ensued on the left leg. He was not surprised by the frequency or severity of the injuries after conducting some gait analysis. Since I have limited dorsiflexion, my foot turns out at toe off and creates an abnormal amount of torsion along the bottom of the tibia (hence chronic shin problems).

The evaluation wasn't necesarily news to me, but what was interesting was that he believed we could make significant progress through a series of active release sessions and re-casting a pair of orthodics Michaud made me several years ago that didn't originally work out. After just a few minutes of active release my foot actually felt a lot better. He also confirmed what had been my susipicion - that the issue with the foot was just compensatory - but surprised me by pointing out the root of the problem was the posterior tibialis. He worked on a spot in my calf that was just about as tight as anything I've ever experienced, and that's after five weeks of no running.

I'm headed back for a follow up visit next Saturday and am looking forward to fixing things and getting back on the roads. Still no timeline, but he did say I could resume cross training because it's not complicit in creating pain or inflammation.