Final follow-up on my Platelet Rich Plasma Treatment

I saw the sports doc for the fourth and final time since my PRP treatment back in September. It's been about 18 weeks now. He's had one patient with a serious shoulder problem who saw significant improvement in the 4-6 month time window after the treatment. But, that seems to be the exception.

I am certainly healthier now than I was before the treatment. But, did the treatment cause the healing or was it simply a matter of time and other treatments? I'll probably never know, but I'm guessing the treatment contributed to the progress I've made.

The doctor is happy with my progress, but he still wants me to consider a second treatment as a future option. I told him that a second treatment during ski season is not feasible. I expect that my running mileage will also remain low through ski season. So, I've suggested that I see how my running goes for a month or two after ski season. If my stride still feels compromised, I may have another treatment. Or, maybe not.

So, I'm still not sure what my future as a runner will be. And to be honest, I'm not too concerned. I'm having my most enjoyable winter in years right now. It's really difficult to try to run 200 miles per month in the winter while teaching skiing on the weekends, working a full time job during the week, and still trying to have time with my family. It's nice to plan for a 60 minute workout every day and that's it. In April, I'll get back to running more earnestly, find out how much fun it is, and I'll see where my conditioning is. I doubt that I'll run any significant races this year. Perhaps this is the year where my streak of running at least one race of a marathon or longer every year since 1986 will finally end. Or maybe not.

I had a great weekend of skiing. My group is simply a fun bunch of girls and we skied hard this weekend, and had a lot of fun as well. It's really hard to believe that I get paid to teach skiing to such a great group of girls.

Tonight, it's back to the gym. I've spent the last six weeks doing a strength-focused weight program. For the next four weeks, I'm changing my focus dramatically. I'll be using a program called Warp Speed Fat Loss for both my workouts and my meals. The program spells out every workout and meal for 4 weeks. I've used it once in the past with good results - 12 pounds lost in 4 weeks. We'll see how it goes this time around. One of the nice things is that everything is planned for me. I just have to spend an hour a day in the gym and eat what they tell me to eat. After these four weeks, I'll go back to a different strength-based program for the last month of the winter.