My Self Inflicted Injury

"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will and the other comes from a strong won't."  Henry Ward Beecher

It takes a strong will to prepare for a marathon. Whether the goal is to run well or finish, you have to be consistent in your training. You have to run when tired, had a bad day at work or when fighting injuries.

While training for Boston I fought a number of injures, first to my Achilles in both legs and then my knees. The knee injury was on the muscle on the medial part of the knee and it was on both knees.  Really unusual because all my injuries always happen on my right leg. It's where I got the stress fracture training for my first marathon. It is the Achilles tendon that is always tight and hurts.

So it was surprising when both knees had a problem.  I was still able to keep training, but it was puzzling that they were not only not getting better, but a bit worse.  One day Dr. Mark was asking me all kinds of questions about my shoes and my orthodics.  I had changed shoes but was using the same model.  I had only been running on them for a month.

I know my orthodics were good. They were designed by Dr. Barczak who is a former All American runner.

All the questions made me pull out my running shoes when I got home.  I have inserts that are specially built to go into my shoes to put my feet in neutral position. Lots of runners have them because they help prevent injury. They are critical because of the CMT.

I pulled out the inserts to look at them and discovered I had them in the wrong shoes. The right one in left shoe and vice versa.

You would think I would be able to feel that, but I couldn't. There is s test the neurologist does at my yearly appointment. They take a needle and prick the skin starting at the foot and go to the knee.  I know a pin is pricking me but  I can barely feel it. So no I can't tell when my inserts are in the wrong shoe.

The knee injury was self inflicted.  Once I got my running shoes set up correctly, the knee problem went away.

This is not the first time I have done something like this. Twice this year while on ski patrol, I put my boots on the wrong feet. The sensation a normal person has to tell them that is wrong, is just not working for me anymore.  Embarrassing because the second time it happened one of my fellow patroller's saw it. We had a good laugh about.

I laughed about it too because it is funny, but it is also serious as well. It could have cost me a chance to run at Boston if I had not corrected the problem. It is also a reminder that my disease is marching on. There is no running away from that no matter how much I train.

Right now the strong will is still winning and the strong won't is helping to find a solution to every problem CMT presents. It won't stop me from running Boston at least not this time.

Chris Wodke
Founder & Manager Team CMT
www.run4cmt.com

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure for CMT. We have almost 100 members in 17 states. If you wish to join us visit our web site.

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing loss.

Running, triathlons, impaired athlete, paratriathlon, USAT, running and CMT