It is a little strange to be talking about running a marathon just under a year from now, when I haven't jogged for even a minute since last Sunday's half marathon. That's because I'm trying to avoid the almost inevitable setback that every runner deals with at some point: the dreaded INJURY.
All in all, I have been very lucky and avoided injuries. But I finally got one last year, and it's changed my running ever since. The story:
I ran the Spring half marathon with a less-than-thrilling time of 1:48. New course, more hills - whatever. A respectable time, but not the greatest run. But as always I was very pleased to simply have got out there and done it.
About a week later, I am walking around the office and notice a strange pain in one hip. Hard to describe. Not terrible, not debilitating, but not normal. It fades within a day or so and I forget about it and go running. And go running again a couple of days later. Or something like that. Bottom line - not too long after that, I am out running one morning and notice the same pain. Within a few steps it has gone to major pain and there is no way I can run; in fact I can barely walk back to the gym. By the time I'm showered and dressed, it's just a dull roar.
So - brilliant me - I decide to take a few days off. Hip feels fine. I go running. Hip feels fine. I go running. Hip starts to hurt again. Lather, rinse, repeat. In the end, it took me a month to figure out that something was actually wrong and to go to a sports medicine doctor. Who never did make a definitive diagnosis. The possibilities were stress frature (only diagnosable by X-ray), or muscle overwork. The treatment was the same - rest and strengthening exercises - so I opted to skip the X-ray. How many rads do I need in one lifetime?
Initially I was advised to stop running for a month, which was tough but I did it. That wasn't enough, and I ended up being off for close to three months. And then working up very slowly. Finally by Christmas I was running 10 km again, but with trepidation.
The good part: discovering the elliptical machine - almost the same calorie burn, none of the impact. The elliptical has become my friend :)
Anyway, all the way up to the weekend's half marathon I was paranoid about injury, but made it through just fine. Then the next day there was some "discomfort" in the same place in the same hip. Not really pain. Just something not quite right. It's almost completely gone, but I am not running for two weeks. And then only for about a half hour. "Some discomfort" does not necessarily equal "recurrence of injury". And "caution" does not necessarily equal "paranoid overreaction". A marathon is a long distance. Two weeks off now may save me two months off down the road.
But I miss running. The elliptical is my friend but it's just not the same.
All in all, I have been very lucky and avoided injuries. But I finally got one last year, and it's changed my running ever since. The story:
I ran the Spring half marathon with a less-than-thrilling time of 1:48. New course, more hills - whatever. A respectable time, but not the greatest run. But as always I was very pleased to simply have got out there and done it.
About a week later, I am walking around the office and notice a strange pain in one hip. Hard to describe. Not terrible, not debilitating, but not normal. It fades within a day or so and I forget about it and go running. And go running again a couple of days later. Or something like that. Bottom line - not too long after that, I am out running one morning and notice the same pain. Within a few steps it has gone to major pain and there is no way I can run; in fact I can barely walk back to the gym. By the time I'm showered and dressed, it's just a dull roar.
So - brilliant me - I decide to take a few days off. Hip feels fine. I go running. Hip feels fine. I go running. Hip starts to hurt again. Lather, rinse, repeat. In the end, it took me a month to figure out that something was actually wrong and to go to a sports medicine doctor. Who never did make a definitive diagnosis. The possibilities were stress frature (only diagnosable by X-ray), or muscle overwork. The treatment was the same - rest and strengthening exercises - so I opted to skip the X-ray. How many rads do I need in one lifetime?
Initially I was advised to stop running for a month, which was tough but I did it. That wasn't enough, and I ended up being off for close to three months. And then working up very slowly. Finally by Christmas I was running 10 km again, but with trepidation.
The good part: discovering the elliptical machine - almost the same calorie burn, none of the impact. The elliptical has become my friend :)
Anyway, all the way up to the weekend's half marathon I was paranoid about injury, but made it through just fine. Then the next day there was some "discomfort" in the same place in the same hip. Not really pain. Just something not quite right. It's almost completely gone, but I am not running for two weeks. And then only for about a half hour. "Some discomfort" does not necessarily equal "recurrence of injury". And "caution" does not necessarily equal "paranoid overreaction". A marathon is a long distance. Two weeks off now may save me two months off down the road.
But I miss running. The elliptical is my friend but it's just not the same.
posted by Jogger Barbie | 9:12 PM
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