Guest Post from The Fly Fish Chick

KT Tape is thrilled to feature a guest post from Christine Johnson, a single mom and writer who blogs about fly-fishing and other adventures on her website FlyFishChick.com. She is training to race in the 2010 Texas Water Safari in order to raise funds and awareness for a disease called Rett Syndrome and is writing a book about the overall adventure, expected release Spring 2011.  She's a KT Tape believer, and passed on her tape experience to us: KT Tape -- The Breakfast of Champions From the Fly Fish Chick: Last weekend I participated in my first competitive athletic endeavor since I played soccer in middle school. Okay, so that’s not entirely true. About ten years I did a walkathon. And last spring I played one tennis match. But really, that’s it. Last Sunday I competed in my first ever paddling race, a simple 6-mile course here in downtown Austin, TX. My partner and I are called Team Paddlefish and this race is one of the many steps on our journey toward the Texas Water Safari, a 260-mile canoe endurance race that we are taking on next June. We are in serious training mode, paddling every week and strength training for the many portages in this brutal four-day eco-endurance challenge. Did I mention I have two herniated disks in my lower back that despite surgery continue to give me pain and tingling all the way into my lower leg and toes? So I awakened last Sunday to prepare for my first paddling race. I stretched out on the yoga ball. I mixed up a fruit and spinach smoothie with hemp protein and chia seeds. I hydrated with lots of water. I cooked some wacky organic chicken apple sausage and rice for breakfast. And I taped my lower back with KT Tape. Aside from feeling like I was playing dress-up as a badass athlete, the KT Tape actually worked! Trust me, I have been through the ringer with my back issues. I have done pain killers, surgery, physical therapy, nerve pills, pilates, diet changes, ointments, ergonomic chairs. And some how, some way KT Tape actually took the edge off my back pain and eliminated sciatica during and after this race. How it works is a complete mystery to me--I'm learning through the videos and info on the KT Tape website--but I paddled through a violent headwind for several miles, taxing every muscle and disk in my shoulders and back. I couldn’t believe my back pain didn’t flare up. I literally could not believe it. Bottom line? KT Tape is like the healthy organic sausage I fixed for breakfast – I don’t know what’s in it and I don’t need to know. I just know I like it and it got me to the finish line.