Jun 25, 2012

My Spoiled left Leg




My spoiled left leg.
My spoiled left and I have been together for more than 49 years.
We have travelled all over the world and shared many ups and down in life.
When left leg was age 7 he even had to wear them corrective black leather shoe braces because he had  intoeing / metatarsus adductus.
When I took up running 32 years ago left leg was always very supportive.
Left leg ran in snow, rain, sand, dirt , mud etc. and never complained. In fact he enjoyed every minute of the run.
When Left Leg developed  ." RLS" Restless Leg Syndrome In the mid 80’s. I did all I can to control the discomfort he was feeling.
Left leg has also experienced all kinds of running injury. Knee, Stress fracture, shin splits, pulled calf muscle, ITB  just to name a few.
In spite of the ups and down left leg has been very good to me.
BUT, I notice in the past 5 years left leg has been pretty moody / Cranky.
Sometimes when I run he is creaky, stiff and in pain.
He does not seem to have that “ Bounce “ that he used to have in his youth.
It also takes Left leg a few minutes to get going or revved up.
NOW , I notice Left leg wants and “ DEMANDS”  to be pampered.
He Demands the an ice pack be placed on him after a run.
And a warm compress when he sleeps.
He also demands I  give him a Massage at least 3 times a day.
Sometimes he also wants a professional Masseur to remove the knots and stiffness he feels.
Left leg loves it when I use the “ massage stick” on him and the “ portable ultra sound machine” I guess because it removes all the waste product in his slow and fast twitch muscles..
He also like to wear a leg sleeve when he runs Or when he goes to bed because he feels cold and tired.
I guess it’s a small sacrifice I have to pay to make sure that left leg is happy and Running in mint condition.
Left leg though may be spoiled is always reliable !