canklecat

Yeah, my spine is twisted, caused primarily by being struck by cars twice in 20 years: first time when my compact car was t-boned by a full size SUV that ran a light at highway speed; second time when I was hit during a bike ride about three years ago.

I knew my back and neck ached all the time but didn't know how bad it was until a year ago when my docs ordered full body imagining -- X-rays, MRI, CT scan. It's not quite as bad as my mom's, who was born with moderate scoliosis. But bad enough that it can throw off my ergonomics everywhere.

I do a lot of physical therapy to offset the imbalances. However I can see from the wear pattern in the outsoles of my running shoes that my foot strike is somewhat uneven, although not too bad all things considered. Before those injuries shoes would last me for years because my foot strike was so evenly distributed and "soft." In Navy boot camp I remember watching guys in formation grind down the heels of their marching boots over the course of 10 weeks. I kept my utility shoes for years after that for some work situations and they were still in good shape decades later.

But my leg length is skewed a bit now by cocked hips trying to offset the scoliosis. I can feel the ergonomic issues on longer rides, running and walking.

I've seen chiropractors who claim they can fix these problems but it's BS. What *can* help, besides PT, is deep tissue massage, but most chiropractors don't want to be confused with masseuses so they don't do proper massages. The pandemic limited access to PT clinics, etc., so I bought a percussion massager -- that thing really does help. I use it daily, sometimes twice a day, before and after physical activities.

The combination sure seems to help, when combined with other approaches. The past few months neck spasms have kept me off the bike -- I can handle maybe an hour, but that's all. So I switched to running back in November. It's harder than cycling, but easier on my neck.

After regaining some basic running conditioning my first goal was a sub-30 minute 5k. Modest goal, but my days of sub-20 minute 5ks are long gone. A few days ago I managed 32 minutes. Last night, after resting from a very easy jog/walk session, I used the percussion massager, did some range of motion exercises, and decided late last night to try a 5k time trial. Almost no traffic after 10 pm here so I could run the streets and not worry about uneven sidewalks or having to run on the grass.

I ran that 5k in 27:23, and had personal bests in every distance segment. I felt pretty good but couldn't read my phone app display without reading glasses so I had no idea of my pace. I was shocked to discover I'd knocked 5 minutes of my previous 5k, a minute and a half off my previous best 1 mile, etc. It's still slow, but fast for me at my age and conditioning.

The pre-run routine seemed to have helped -- deep tissue massage, light stretching (neck only, not legs), exercises claimed to "activate" lazy muscles in the glutes, adductors, etc. I often neglect those exercises for my running sessions earlier in the day, and often need a mile or two just to begin to warm up and feel a bit looser.

It'll be interesting to see whether any of this translates to cycling. I'll still keep my rides to 60-90 minutes because nothing will cure the neck pain -- the injuries are too far gone and my C1 and C2 vertebrae are almost bone on bone grinding now. But I'm looking forward to trying a cycling time trial soon. I haven't done one since October when I set a personal best time, but then had to take a break from cycling to give the neck time to relax.