A Balance, Redefined

One other question: did you say you Gu every 30 or was it 45 minutes during the marathon?

I think I misspoke, I told you 30 min. What I have shot for was every 5-7 miles or ~30-45 min. For SLC I had my second one by 13 but I was up to my 4th one by 18. I think I should have taken one more at 22.

:) Glad you are trying something for that knee. However it is not going to go away with one treatment. This is a lingering injury, so will take some time. And might need a DR's opinion. But I hope the scraping helps. BTW-what do you do Phoenix?

I am actually lukewarm on scraping. I mostly get deep tissue and ART (active release treatment?) done on me. I only toy with the scraping.

Josse, I'm a physiologist/biochemist working at the U on regulation of metabolism, similar to Adam. I'm also doing a postdoctoral fellowship. Our labs often share resources and work together.

ASTYM was the catalyst that eventually got me past achilles tendonitis and running pain free. After several treatments, I figured out how to use the plastic device that holds a men's razor to treat myself. I showed Adam how I do it. Getting into to someone who actually practices would probably be a very good thing.

Michelle, I agree, with deep injuries in larger muscles, deep tissue and ART have advantages over ASTYM. In my case, ART was helpful, but not quite as much ASTYM, deep tissue even less so. I think because the achilles is very accessible, and very fibrous, ASTYM is particular suited as a mode of treatment. If I had, say, a deep quad injury, knock on wood, I'd lean towards ART/deep tissue for sure.

Also, both Josse and Michelle, your blogs are great. Its inspiring to see your commitment and success.

I was sold on the Aystem as well after it helped me get over tendonitis in my medial head of my gastroc. I use scraping tools on myself and others and love it. In my experience it works the fastest at getting rid of injuries and not letting little nagging pains turn into injuries. I use tools that I bought off of guashaorthopedic.com they are great.

Sorry about the misquote Michelle. I couldn't remember for sure. The theory behind the ASTYM seems solid and I'll continue with a few treatments. I wish I would have been paying more attention to the nagging pain and caught it before it turned into whatever it is. I had mentioned earlier on the discussion board that the difference between an elite and serious runner is the difference to have the time to sleep enough and get all these treatments. I stand behind it. Working 60 hrs a week on top of running 80-90 mpw just didn't sit right on my legs without proper sleep and maintenance outside of the runs... Thanks again for all your comments and encouragement.