Quote:
Originally Posted by sm177
it seems like we're losing a lot of people. whats going on? for those who are injured, do you have any tips to avoid injury? i'm getting paranoid!
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I'm not injured, but I have been in the past. Here are my strategies to avoid injury and running "down time":
- Don't ramp up mileage too quickly, 10% per week is rule of thumb.
- Get high quality, properly-fitting shoes and replace them every 300-500 miles, just like they say. The cushioning goes way before the outside shows wear.
- stretch, and stretch, and stretch. Everything.
- cross train, especially strength training to balance leg muscles, strengthen muscles/ligaments around your joints, and to strengthen core muscles.
- pay attention to the little aches and pains and take action if they worsen. Change your shoes, change your training program, and take days off if you need to. That may keep the little pains from working into a real injury that will require weeks and months to recover from.
The most common cause of injury is trying to do too much, too soon. That's exactly what happened to me when I first started running as a 40plus year old female -- I pushed too many miles, too quickly, and ended up with a mild case of hip bursitis, a several week layoff and physical therapy. Fortunately it resolved quickly and I was able to learn from that and build up more sanely, and I haven't had any real problems since.
But, the unfortunate fact is that, even when you try to do everything right, sometimes you still get injured. That sucks, but everyone is different. For some, the high impact pounding is just a bit much for their body to handle.
Oh, and I'm at 204.6 miles year to date!
