"Posture" of standing, sitting or even walking is something that I have realized as the most critical aspect. We all are creatures of habit, and if you carefully notice, we can be identified from far by our gait, or our shadow too by someone who is known to us. Now, as long as we are not into any sport or activity that does not use our muscles and joints to their 'optimum' capacity, most people leading sedentary lifestyles may not even realize that their postures have gone really imbalanced, till at a certain point in time, it would show up in terms of pain and then they would go for treatment. Running long distance kind of accelerates this process of showing up, and very soon, one realizes that something is wrong. Even here, it took my body 15 years of daily running to actually show the effect of the imbalance in my posture, because posture correction was the core principle we followed in FreeRunners group too. I therefore, guess that the imbalance was very slight, and therefore showed up much later.
Most of the times, even if we are aware that our posture is incorrect, we are unable to make corrections because of our strong habituations. Even physiotherapy, yoga asanas etc.. may not be able to help here, unless one really dives deep into the issue and identifies the correct area of imbalance. I was lucky enough to get the 'right' physiotherapist Dr Tapisha Jain,(Balance Physiotherapy ) who, in my opinion, understands the human muscle and joints anatomy very practically, and not just the standard bookish way. She actually helps you to talk to those muscles, and I was lucky to be introduced to the concept of "closed chain" exercises, which are very subtle movements with careful control, and they are designed in a way that you simulate your body to become a 6 month baby on fours once again and start the process of strengthening your spine and related muscles in a very structured yet subtle way. In my case, the left glute and the associated muscles were not acting to the extent they were needed to and so the other muscles were more engaged, and the lumbar spine, hamstrings were getting loaded more and thus I was getting the pain when the stiffness went up and the specific muscle group was unable to take the load. The kinematics are very dynamic and they get impacted like a chain reaction, a very complex dynamics exist here, and that is where one needs a professional like Dr Tapisha Jain to help out.
Along with that, I focussed on a good yoga practice with Maria Yoga Pranayama Center (http://mariasyoga.org/.) The sessions are always uniquely designed, and are according to the season of the year. The most important part of the classes are the teachings of Patanjali Yoga sutra that she shares and also many more practical tips, during the resting poses. I cannot explain in words the amount of learning that I have personally had and how I have been able to apply it in my life. I stopped focussing on the problem, and just surrendered to the process of yoga and kept going for monthly physiotherapy sessions. I could find a lot of similarity in what Dr Tapisha was trying to make me understand and the Yoga asanas and the method of doing them that Maria teaches in her sessions. One basic advice: "SLOW DOWN" is something that has stuck to me and I am yet trying to become even slower, because that is the need for my body and mind at this moment. In Ayurvedic terminology, I have the "vata" dosha more predominant in my body.
In an year or so, I could see that I was able to run comfortably and the discomfort/ pain was almost gone. Yes, as I have been out of running long distances for some time, and therefore, it is going to take some time to get back to running longer. As of now, I am able to do a 10 km comfortably, but the yoga stretches and specific closed chain exercises are a must, that need to be done regularly, failing which, it is only a question of time, when this pain will re-appear. "Old habits die hard"- it is true!!
Based on requests from people in Undri who have been associated with me, I restarted a "running group' named as "Active Runners" and we meet thrice a week for running and one day is optional for Yoga / other activities. Here, I try and pass on all the learnings that I have had and try to help people to follow the right kind of posture and also use the 'yoga' techniques to correct our body alignments as well as relax our body and mind post a tough training session.
I still enjoy my solo runs and look forward to just running in jungle trails or roads overlooking the mountains. That is my 'addiction' which gives me a high or a 'kick' whatever one may want to call that. But I am definitely aiming to slow it down and be more mindful of all those stiff muscle complexes during my runs.