Looking for CKR from the TMSHelp forum

Hello,

I am the triathlete who is currently about to do a 70.3 mile race this Sunday. And I have some of the worse TMS plaguing my right hip as of the last 3 weeks. It's so bad I can barely get out of bed. It will be a huge painful struggle to finish the run portion which is 13 miles. Just doing an easy 3 mile run yesterday was painful.

I am looking to track down a poster from the TMSHelp forum called crk. He/She is a marathon runner like myself who has battled terrible TMS and ran through pain. There are a few very good posts

http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5118

http://tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1135

Does anyone know if this person is here on this forum? The posts are old so maybe this person no longer visits the forums.

I could sign up for the other forum to see if I could obtain more info on ckr. I just want to reach out and ask how the running is going and tips for training through bad pain as this person did. Knowing other athletes have gotten through bad pain while running would be so helpful. I feel so alone.

Thanks in Advance.

Joyce


PS - I am really struggling with my own TMS. Overcoming the fear of this pain and my upcoming race is a huge battle. I've never pushed this far with my TMS. Normally I just give up, wait 2 months and then go back to my running. I just can't keep letting my TMS win.

 

I couldn't find any listings by crk. But many others are posting regularly about pain while running or in marathons.
They're looking into the psychological reasons for their pain.

I hope that when you run you think about how great it is to run, and if there is any pain, just accept it and tell yourself
it is not structural, that you are not hurting yourself by running.

It would be so helpful if other runners would share their experiences, especially how they run with minimum pain or none at all.

 

The funny things is that on the drive up to Quebec my husband and I talked about an action plan regarding my job which is the main source feeding my reservoir of rage. While my TMS was still bad when we got to the hotel, it started to feel much better the second time we walked around the village. And it made a big change while standing and listening to the athlete briefing at 6pm. I was surprised at the improvement. Once we walked into the Ironman expo tent I noticed it wasn't hurting to walk around. And it continued to feel better while visiting some of our triathlete friends who are staying in another nearby hotel/condo. In bed it didn't hurt like it has been and even in the morning getting out of bed it wasn't painful where I had to grab onto a wall for support. While it's not 100% this morning, it is a HUGE improvement. Knowing I have some control over my life and having the very good possibility of just quiting my awful job must be relieving my TMS. Also just being here is a factor. I love the race atmosphere. This is my passion! It's so exciting and like being in another world. Today we get to do a practice swim, ride our bikes a little bit, eat a lot of food, and relax some. Tomorrow is race day. Yesterday's HUGE jump in improvement is a very good sign my TMS is indeed TMS and not a "running injury".

 

Wishing you all the best in your competition tomorrow! Let us know how it goes.

 

Good luck on your race tomorrow Joyce. I'm so glad you're feeling better and excited about it. That is huge, since it's all about the mental game at this point. Your body is ready and 100% strong and fit. It sounds like today your mind got on board, so tomorrow should go just as you hope it will.

 

Thank you Ellen and Camila! Unfortunately the soreness is not really totally gone. It's SOOOO much better to walk and get around. But I did try to test it in the hotel (10 second jog) and it is still sore when I try to run. But it should be OK enough to finish the triathlon.

 

Today was very disappointing. I did have a decent swim and a great bike. But when I started running it was sore and after a few minutes I was limping with pain while running. After a the first mile I didn't see how I could run in this kind of pain for another 12. There is pain you can run through and crippling pain that is not feasible. Sadly I had to withdrawl. It was a very awful feeling to quit a race I've been training so hard the last 6 plus months. I got a ride back to the finish area but my hip seized up so badly that I couldn't walk or put in a weight on my right leg. I had to be carted to Medical in a wheel chair. So horrible! I physio therapist worked and massaged the area so after an hour or so I could hobble around. I was also given some meds. My husband found me after he finished his race and we slowly made our way back to the hotel. Very sore to walk. I feel like I've hit rock bottom. So sad after I did so well after a very hard and hilly bike. It was not only hard but the course was crowded and it felt dangerous at many times. And add a few showers and wet roads. At this point I'm not going to run until my hip heals. Challenging the TMS didn't work and only made things worse.

 

Thanks for letting us know how it went Joyce. So sorry you had to withdraw from the run. It's quite remarkable to me that you could finish both the swim and bike portions of the race under the circumstances. You must be one tough person! Hang in there. I hope you see some relief from the hip pain in the coming days.

 

Thanks Camila. It is not painful to swim or bike and I was well trained for those parts of the race. So there is no surprise I could complete them. But it was very painful to run due to the impact. I plan to stop running for a little while and get myself better. I know my hip will heal and then I'll be able to start running again and gradually build back up my base. I've done this many times with my TMS/running injuries. It's a bummer to have to keep starting over again with my running. Yet I won't give up. I enjoy my endurance sports too much.

 

Hey Joyce, Sorry to hear about about having to drop out. I know how that feels. I dropped out of a marathon a few years ago.. more because of a bonk than pain though. But was still a huge let down. If it makes you feel any better, you're not alone in not being able to beat TMS by exercising through the pain. I've struggled with that myself. It's the reason it took me 18 months to get back to regular, hard training. I tried many things before I improved. Maybe this means that there's another approach for you to take. I hope you figure it out.

 

Hi, Joyce. You shouldn't feel bad that you dropped out of the race part of the marathon. You were able to swim and bike, and hey, are you expecting to be Superwoman? Enjoy your endurance sports but also let up on the perfectionist part. That's probably what is causing the pain.

 

Thanks Enrique. Yeah it's really tough having to drop out of a race you've put so much into. I am thinking that running through a lot of pain like I did is a bad idea. It usually gets worse for me and I can't stop freaking out and worrying about it. I know MRIs are a "no no" with TMS. But I am getting one scheduled to rule out a stress fracture or tear which would cause me bigger problems if I don't let it recover properly. If the MRI shows nothing significant like my my last MRI 6 months ago for my left hip, I'll know it's just a bad case of TMS.

I'll let things settle down around my hip and then when walking is no longer painful, I'll start running on the Alter G treadmill at 20% of my body weight and increase it gradually. This is what I did with my left hip and my TMS therapist loved me doing this. After a month of this gradual increase in body weight I was back to running normal outside. Wish me luck!

I'm also thinking that maybe I'll just walk the marathon portion of the Ironman in August if I'm still not running. Or maybe a combo of jogging and walking.

 

Yes, I do think I'm Superwoman!! And Dr Sopher thinks so too..... in so many words.

 

I got my MRI results back and I have a stress fracture below the femoral ball which makes sense as my pain is on the outside of my hip as well as the front. So I really am injured and really do need to take care of myself and rest. I'm on crutches for the next 6 weeks. Hopefully I can swim in a week or so and start biking in a few weeks. Running could be a while but I'll take it one day at at time. So I learned a big lesson: do not run through pain or soreness even if you are certain it is TMS. Stress fractures are painful and scary. Not to be taken lightly. While I do think many running "injuries" are TMS, not all of them are TMS. I thought I should share this in case other runners/triathletes experience similar symptoms of hip pain.

 

As much as all TMS people balk at the idea of getting an MRI, I think that you did the absolute right thing. When you are an elite athlete such as yourself, I think you are very intuitive about your body and as much as we would all like to believe that most of our orthopedic issues are TMS and many are, there are those cases when there is a true structural issue that needs to be addressed. I am dealing with MRI confirmed bilateral hip labral tears, one extremely symptomatic and still on the fence about addressing it surgically. (I cannot run at all; can also swim and bike fine but have all the classic symptoms). I which mine was a fracture that will heal with time but these tears are in a totally nonvascular area and I have read studies that 60% of the population have labral hip tears that are not symptomatic so not sure what to do. I am glad that you have an answer as to the cause of your pain. Keep on with the tri-life!!!!

 

Oh I'm so sorry you have a confirmed labral tear. That must be so frustrating. When I had left hip issues 6 months ago the MRI didn't show a stress fracture or tear but it was concluded that a tear was possible. I had my MRI results sent to Dr. Schubiner (TMS doc) and talked with him about it. He thinks labral tears are usually TMS. So maybe there is a possibility your pain is still TMS. It's so hard to know with labral tears. They are tricky. I am sending TMS healing thoughts your way.

Yeah at least I know bones will heal in time.

 

Joyce how are you doing? I can run but after i am always sore left side butt pain. piriformis.