For reasons that close readers of this blog (don’t be so naïve,
Larry!) know well, my experiences have not been all that favorable on the
physical therapist and massage table. The nightmare occurred in Winter 2011,
when I was in the care of a physical therapist office, whose sole goal was to
assess my slight hamstring tear to determine if it was reasonable for me to
rest and then continue my training for the Boston Marathon of that year. But
after one deep tissue massage that my therapist insisted on giving me despite
my misgivings, I very nearly passed out a half-hour after my treatment with the
pain of a full-blown hamstring tear while on a simple errand run in busy New York
City traffic.
That was going on five years ago. Now I’m thrilled to report
that I’m a PT believer. Why? Thank the good folks at NYU Langone Medical
Center, who steered me in the direction of a place called One on One Physical
Therapy on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
The first day going to the PT Wizards I got into a funky ’70s-style
elevator – think Eastern Europe, the Cold War years – with a fellow athlete who
seemed surprised when I told him to hit “6”. (He had just pressed the button
for “7,” home of the athletic club in that Eastern Parkway building.) As I was leaving,
he said, with all earnestness, “Good luck.”
Which, in the end, is what I didn’t need. From the moment I
arrived I felt welcomed – and better than that – understood. G and the team of
PT specialists did and do precisely what I was looking for and didn’t find back
in 2011. They listened closely to me, to my fears, to my goals, and we
immediately started to allay them, and to work toward them.
Under their careful watch, I feel a total, mid-training-style
health is only weeks away. It’s been only five sessions (Nov. 24), and I’m back
on the treadmill. Only five minutes, the lightest of jogging. But I’ve the
tools I need, thanks to a muscle stretching and strengthening program that has
me confident again – just three weeks since I thought all was lost when I
stumbled home in terrible knee pain after escaping injury on a rapidly moving
treadmill.
When I’m off to see the PT Wizards, it’s with a smile on my
face. Which is some kind of gift, I can tell you.
Next: Running for Your Life: More Beatlebone !!
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