Needles that soothe the pain

Regardless of much I lifted with my ankle weights, when I woke up on Saturday morning told I knew I needed to see Andreas Schwerte. My acupuncturist and giver of life. Andreas and I go back a few years when gave me the gift of walking. I had Sciatica that was so bad I couldn't stand up for more than a couple minutes without being in excruciating pain. His magic needles made me all OK. So I knew I needed him again. What makes Andreas so great is he mixes western and eastern medicine. He studied to be an MD for a few years in Germany before jumping ship to the "other side". Slowly he stuck pins in my leg and applied a voltage across the needles giving me a gentle massage.
I also made a few other changes to prepare for my return to running. I got some orthotics for my Shoes called "superFeet", I bought the ITBand brace I mentioned, and I took a lot of Ibuprofen. Man, I love Ibuprofen! It really does take the pain away. All of these things together helped me turn the corner.
It was a hard run, both psychologically and physically. Three weeks is a long time to take off and expect to get back into it easily. Most of 8 miles I felt like quitting, being so overwhelmed at the 16 miler and my resulting ITBand injury. I persevered and at mile 5 I was starting to feel better and started catching my stride. I paid very close attention to where me feet were landing and how my legs were positioned making each step as pain free as possible. Landing too far to the right effected one part of my knee; to much to the left effected another.
but at the end I am ready for a 10K Nike Run hit Wonder that I will be doing on Saturday.