After a few decades of training and coaching I can finally say that ‘I’ve got it’.
I began my marathon training 2 ½ years after I started running regularly. Until that time, I really hadn’t sustained any injuries, but as the mileage increased I found that things were showing up. Shin pain, Achilles pain, some hip pain. At the time, it all seemed manageable – with a little ice and ibuprofen.
I didn’t really have any idea how to train for this thing. I got my hands on a schedule that was 6 days per week and was the program for the UofC Honolulu Marathon training program (which I was subsequently able to help change and deliver many years later). None of my friends were training for marathons (this was late 80s), the information was not as easy to find as it is today and frankly, the training information that I could find was not what it is today. We’ve come a long way, baby.
I spent a great deal of time coercing a co-worker (student athletic therapist) to massage my Achilles tendons – but that was about the extent of my ‘therapy’. It got me through, sort of. Band-aid number one.
As it happened, once the marathon was finished, I was injured for the next 18 months. Not my Achilles so much, but my hips (gluteus medius I believe) slowly resolved with orthotics (Band-aid number two). As the years passed, the glute med got better, and then it was my piriformis (requiring lots of time-off, Band-aid number 3).
Then, because more is better, I took up Ironman training. Ugh. Now, registrations fees were astronomical – so the commitment and pressure was even greater. Fast forward to problematic sacroiliac joints (Prolotherapy (for which I am eternally grateful) and physiotherapy – Band-aid number 4… you get the picture). And then it was a torn piriformis (after an unfortunate in-line skating accident) and then… and then… the list goes on.
What I never did and could have done from the beginning if the information were better – was to get back to basics and re-train my movement patterns through stretching and strengthening and work on a more stabilized structure. If I had just known.
The reason for this blog is to help you if you have been suffering from a similar scenario. Injury generally results from poor movement patterns, previous injury, tightness, weakness – in no particular order. There has been plenty written on why runners shouldn’t stretch (decreases power output, mucks with motor control) -almost as much as has been written on why they should (opening hips to improve stride length, prevents poor joint movement). I personally think that there’s room for stretching and joint mobilizations.
I have recently tied into a book that I would recommend to any runner. Ready to Run by physiotherapist Kelly Starrett, PhD.. It’s available through Indigo-Chapters and worth every penny. If you choose to buy it, read it from start to finish AND THEN adopt what you identify with the most. I think that he’s definitely onto something. I’ve been doing the relevant stretches and there’s been a noticeable change in my flexibility in as few as 2 weeks.
When I see someone running, limping and looking pained… I want to tell them to ‘STOP’. No amount of ‘running through it’ is worth what it’s doing to your joints and soft tissues. Limping exacerbates bad form and contributes to more and different problems (see my experiences above). It beats you up mentally through poor performance, lost days, weeks and months of training and is killer on your sports medicine budget.
The sorry thing about the current pandemic is that many runners are forced to adjust and re-focus their training as many events have been either cancelled or postponed. The great thing about having this extra time is that THIS is a perfect time to go back to basics and work on proper mechanics, stretching, joint mobilizations and strengthening.
Do yourself a favour and contribute to a successful running (or triathlon) future. Stop running through pain and listen carefully to what’s going on in that body of yours. Use this time of social distancing to build your body back up. As they say… heal thy self!
From inside the safety of my home,
LiveSplendidly!