2.25 mile run + nice sunny weather = a happy puppy!
happy puppy
running
thoughts on injury prevention for runners
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about health and fitness/exercise along with injury prevention. I’ve been injured recently and several of my friends have had torn ligaments, knee issues, stress fractures and shin splints.
I started running about 4 years ago, and last year really increased my mileage. Up until recently, I was injury free. And yet a year ago, I was told by a massage therapist to consider another sport. (Some people just don’t get it, do they?) He felt that the high impact of running was bad given my ankle injury from 2008 (three screws in my left talus bone). With his apparent general dislike of running and his suggestion to “use the elliptical machine instead,” it was easy to ignore his advice and to stop seeing him.
Well, turns out pretty much all the muscles in my legs are super tight and my hips are weak. The tightness is from a lack of stretching and the impact of running. The weak hips are a common problem and require special attention and some strength training exercises.
Since my knee injury in April, which turns out to be ITBS, I have been going to PT and doing research on injury prevention for running. ITBS is commonly caused by a tight IT band due to weak hips. The tightness all over in my legs probably exacerbates the problem.
I used to rock climb regularly, and I’ve been trying to do yoga at least once a week, but I have never been consistent with any sort of core, strength or stretching routines. This seems to be all the areas that need attention, if I am serious about injury prevention.
A few weeks ago, I posted some of what was recommended through PT. I have been trying my best to do those things daily, but it’s tough (I’ve been traveling; first a vacation, then a 10 day business trip to Munich/Romania). In addition to those exercises and stretches, I’m also trying to follow this ITBS rehab routine that I found on strengthrunning.com. And on top of that, I want to start running again 3x/week, yoga 1x/week, and I’m doing a 30 day plank challenge. Oh, and I want to start a regular core exercise program 3x/week and stretching before/after running.
Maybe I’ll even find time to sleep. And just because I love photos, here’s a shot of the shorts I bought on my vacation. Perfect for my new core / strength / stretching routine!
QOTD: Have you been injured? What did you do for rehab? Anything special to prevent future injuries?
color me rad!
Earlier this month, I asked to be an ambassador for Color Me Rad! What this means is in exchange for blogging about the race, I was given a free race entry and a discount code to share with my readers (you!). So sign up now through Wednesday July 31, and enter the code “radfun” for 20% off the registration fee. This code is good only for these three days, but is good for any race location!
Since Kari and Ashley already invited me to run with them, I thought this would be a cool opportunity. Normally, the races I sign up for are your typical road or trail run, and not themed or flashy. I did the Rave Run 5K earlier this year, and while fun, it was sort of disappointing. I am hoping this will turn out to be a blast and something that we’ll do every year. 🙂
You can learn more about Color Me Rad by following any of the links below.
still injured…
I went hiking about 10 days ago with some friends, and had a blast! We hiked about 6 miles, uphill for the first half, and had a great view from the top.
The only problem with this hike was the downhill part really hurt my knee. So much so, that I was pretty much unable to walk the remainder of the day.
The good news is this motivated me to finally make an appointment for physical therapy. Ortho gave me a recommendation about 5 weeks ago, but since I was going on three separate trips in July, I thought I’d wait until August to get started.
I’ve only had two appointments so far, but I have tried my best to do the stretches (side-lying quad stretch, supine hamstring stretch, and supine glute stretch: 3x of each for 30 seconds, 2x day minimum) and exercises (hip extension, adduction, abduction, and flexion with resistance: 3 sets of 5 each plus 1-2 sets of 10 wall squats) as prescribed. Today we added more to the list: calf stretches, step-ups, and normal squats. Pretty soon it will feel like I do nothing but stretches and exercises all day long!
So far, I haven’t noticed much improvement, but I also haven’t noticed any further incidences of severe pain. My therapist did say it felt less tight today than it did last week, which is good. She also used a technique called “instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization.” Let’s just say that it was not fun.
I was in Maui last week on vacation, and I went snorkeling, sailing, swimming, snorkeling some more and attempted to surf. I really wanted to go for a run on the beach, but I’ve been told to take a break from running (boo). Hopefully I’ll be able to start back up again this weekend or next week. I’m leaving for Romania on business tomorrow, and I will be spending the weekend in Munich. I may see if I can do some swimming or a light treadmill run at the hotel this weekend.
It was only on the way home, after sitting in the plane for 5 hours that my knee started hurting. And actually, the WRONG knee started hurting. I’m not sure if this is a good sign or a very, very, very bad sign.
This knee injury is really putting a wrench in the PR I was hoping to have at the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon in 38 days. I am way behind in my training plan, so I guess this means I’ll just have to pick another 1/2 marathon to run next year for my PR. 🙂 Maybe I’ll try Big Sur or go back to Santa Cruz.