[Erica]

Erica on January 23, 2022 at 11:04 am · in reply to: Failed discectomy, eager to run #62470

While I didn’t have lumbar surgery – I did have two successful spine surgeries last year (artificial disc replacement) C5/6 & C6/7. Cervical and lumbar are different in many ways – but I just wanted to offer a little solidarity. I know how absolutely frustrating and what a mental health struggle spine injuries can be as someone who is also a runner/climber/mountain-things-person. I too was grounded from running and most every activity I loved for over a year other than walking and my peloton bike! I suffered and fought with insurance for over a year, got 2 surgeries 6 months apart, and finally as of Dec 30 I’m given the green light to go back to everything I love, and am totally pain-free and am now training for the Leadville Marathon in June.

A thoughts from my experience that may be helpful:
– discectomies rarely work and are generally considered a technique that is becoming outdated. Most insurance requires them be tried before fusion, so its not generally the surgeons fault, yet most really good orthopedic or neurosurgeons dont do them anymore and move right into into fusion or artificial disc replacement.
– injections also rarely work, and at best buy some time, but again they are mostly an insurance requirement and a waste of time and money (sadly)
– fusion or ADR will likely give you your life back, but ESPECIALLY for lumbar I would only go to the most reputable surgeons in the country. Spine surgeons are definitely not all created equal….and for me when it came to my spine I wasn’t going to settle. Be willing to travel! I saw 5 surgeons before finally settling on Dr Peloza at the Steadman Clinic in Vail CO. Hes one of the best in the world and would recommend him hands-down (they treat olympians and athletes from around the world, so getting people back to sport is what they do best) – the other is Texas Back Institute which has a stellar reputation. A good friend travelled to Mexico City for her lumbar fusion and was on a plan back home 3 days later. I highly recommend looking for a surgeon that does lumbar ADR, which is very new and much preferable to lumbar fusion if you’re a candidate!
– there are some great FB groups that really helped me navigate my surgeries and gave me great support. This is one group, but there may be other lumbar specific ones. https://www.facebook.com/groups/23575544356598

Hang in there. I know how hard it is, but if you stay diligent and look for the best possible care you can definitely get back to what you love!

*Erica*

[Erica]

Erica on January 17, 2022 at 3:58 pm · in reply to: When do adverse conditions outdoors hinder our training? #62268

Thank is helpful – and I wouldn’t have thought about adding the weight of a pack so thats a brilliant addition. Thank you Carolyn!

[Erica]

Erica on January 17, 2022 at 1:42 pm · in reply to: Group Intros! #62256

Hey ladies! I’m late to the game here – but I’ve loved reading everyones intros! There are some badass women in here (of course!). I live in Colorado at 8500′ bouncing between Conifer and Grand Lake.

I’m a wildlife photographer and graphic designer, and I love doing all of the things in the mountains – right now mostly trail running, ice climbing, long distance backpacking, XC skiing, yoga, alpine scrambling, and mellow easy hikes with my 3 great danes!

I’ve had a streak of back luck with my health and injury since 2019 that has really kept me from reaching any big goals in years. Most recently I’ve been dealing with spine injury from a lifetime of snowboard/skateboarding/climbing falls…that were compounded by a bad chiropractic adjustment that left me nearly paralyzed (be careful with “twist-and-crack” chiropractors, ladies!). After a year of insurance battles and 2 spine surgeries – I am officially back to all of the things I love and allowed to resume a normal active life again with no restrictions! I’m SO excited! My primary focus right now is trail running, and I’m celebrating my return to normalcy with training for the Leadville Trail Marathon in June. My only goal is to not get injured while training, and to finish before cut-off…and I’ll be thrilled!

I’m also hoping this training will get my endurance and mountain legs back so I can spend the rest of the summer doing big days and long trails again in the mountains.

If any of you in Colorado want to get together I would be stoked to! erica@ericaruch.com 978.810.5118.

[Erica]

Erica on October 22, 2020 at 1:43 pm · in reply to: Discouraged after AnT Test #46183

I think my reply must have been confusing. Sorry about that. I’ll probably just do my tests over. thanks!

[Erica]

Erica on October 18, 2020 at 9:12 pm · in reply to: Discouraged after AnT Test #46054

Thanks for the replies! I am using a chest strap monitor.The weird thing about this is I knew to aim for 152 from cycling because historically 152 is where my HR feels like an extremely hard effort (which is strange because its such a narrow range)…

Since I posted I did a couple AnT interval runs that were in the training plan, and I went into them aiming for 152. And 150-152 is definitely very very hard for me – one run required 4 min intervals and I went accidentally as high as 153 and that felt absolutely HARD (like potentially asthma attack hard) and barely sustainable for 4 minutes.

I now am thinking perhaps my real AeT is lower than 144. 144 feels hard for me and never feels “easy” like the runs say..so maybe my AeT isn’t accurate anymore. I think I’m going to re-test that again and see how it goes? All this seems like it would make more sense if perhaps my true AeT was even 140…am I correct in suspecting this? The 150-152ish range for my AnT seems like something I cant dispute simply because I just can’t push past it at all…whereas my AeT probably has more potential of being inaccurate since I might have been translating “easy” as incorrect?

And Rachel – thanks so much for sharing your experience training with asthma! Thats super helpful and reassuring. Initially I was suspecting that it might have been an off day and to do it again, but its seeming accurate (but also with all the smoke in the air this past week, it could just be my asthma acting up again)

[Erica]

Erica on September 11, 2020 at 4:04 pm · in reply to: Re-doing AeT test questions #44971

Thank you guys for your help!

[Erica]

Erica on May 6, 2020 at 11:06 am · in reply to: Adapting the marathon training plan to local trails #41231

These are great ideas and info – thank you!I’ll keep plugging away with what I’m doing and see what races I can find late this year that look do-able…that Taos race sounds great, I’ll def look into it (though that might be biting off more I can chew for my first marathon with that gain ha!)

Thanks again!