So I haven’t really run for nearly four weeks. I went to a physical therapy place that is attached to the YMCA. I gave them the prescription and did my initial appointment, but, for some reason, they only scheduled me for 3 followup appointments. I didn’t even get an appointment that entire week after Thanksgiving – so it was two full weeks between appointments. That was really pretty disappointing. With the long holiday weekend in there, I didn’t really feel I could get started in time with a new place.
Anyways, the therapist has given me a couple long rubber bands and given me a few exercises with them. And a couple stretches. And a balance exercise to help strengthen the muscles. I was “allowed” to run starting 5 days ago – but just for 10 minutes a day, 3 days a week. So I’ve done that twice now, on a treadmill at the therapist’s suggestion, and felt no shin splint pain. Woohoo!
As for the Rock N Roll / Competitor people.. Yea, I won’t do any more of their races. The people that emailed me were less than friendly, and they made it seem like injured runners were a burden on their system. I was told that if they actually honored requests that they couldn’t put on the events. Making sure that runners are happy is not something they are are interested in. For $145 for a half marathon, they damn well can honor those requests! The 500 Festival Mini Marathon was only $55 and I can sell my bib for a $20 administrative fee if I’d like. The only reason Rock N Roll doesn’t allow transfers, deferrals, or selling of bibs is pure greed. It would be a few clicks to change my registration to a different race.
I ended up canceling the trip to Vegas completely. The hotel gave me a full refund. The airlines is letting me use the funds on a different flight. Rock N Roll were the only ones to keep my money without providing me any services. Complete rip off!
I copied the CEO of Zappos, the title sponsor of the Las Vegas race, on one of my messages and suggested to the Rock N Roll people that they talk to Zappos and learn about customer satisfaction. The good folks at Zappos responded and apologized and offered to sent me a gift to help make up for the poor experience. Now Zappos is a company that cares about making customers happy. Rock N Roll / Competitor Group is a company that does not. Kudos to Zappos.
Yes, I’m bitter!