Plantar Fasciitis on both feet that lasted over a year...I ran through it
Stress fractures. Twice on the right foot. Remember 'The Boot'?
Injuries are never fun but they are a fact of life if you're a runner. No runner is immune. Through experience...and a thick head...I've learned that the best way to speed recovery is to acknowledge the injury quickly, seek medical advice and treatment as necessary and rest, rest, rest! Until next time... ThatRunninGuy
This pain in my hamstring is a real pain! A few weeks ago I felt a tiny 'twinge' in the back of my thigh on a normal run. I didn't think much of it at the time. Heck, at this age and after all these years running, I'm used to a little pain every now and then. And then it developed into a full-blown hamstring injury
I immediately backed off running in hopes of minimizing the injury and speeding up the healing. Unfortunately I made the mistake of going out for a fast run with some gentle ups and downs and that did me in. It's been a couple of weeks of pain and frustration now and I don't like it one bit!
Recovery has included rest of course (not enough of that but you know me), Naproxin to reduce the inflamation and my secret weapon, Dr. Ho! And to prevent a reoccurance: pre-run stretching. On that last part, we'll see how that goes...I'm notorious for not stretching at all before running but after this hamstring episode I may finally have to change my ways.
Whoa...I didn't notice my last run! After over 3 years of nagging and repeated foot injuries I've had the most uneventful runs over the last week. I've just been running.
Fox Lake, Huntsville
I first noticed this while on vacation at Fox Lake in Muskoka a couple of weeks ago. The Cottage road in from the highway road was nicely hard packed gravel with a lot of tree cover. It felt like running through a green tunnel. There were frequent turns and lots of quick ups-and-downs to keep things interesting.
And there were no cars...I didn't meet one in four days. I cut apexes with glee!
I only ever saw one other person on the road and that was on Saturday morning, our final vacation day. And of course it was a runner!
Back home I've been out on my usual early morning runs and the easy running has continued. I have no idea how fast I've been running and frankly haven't given it much thought. I come back thoroughly soaked and happily exhausted though.
And no pain. More importantly, no thinking about pain. I don't want to jinx it but running is fun again! Vacation change of scenery, new shoes, running for fun...can't pinpoint one thing...probably everything has contributed to running easy once again.
So if you see me on the roads of Etobicoke you'll have no trouble recognizing ThatRunninGuy: I'll be grinning ear-to-ear.
I'm the poster boy for how to screw up the simple activity of running! Three years of foot injuries beginning with Plantar Fasciitis leading to two rounds of broken foot bones is the result.
A few years ago I decided to change my running style. I was caught up in the barefoot/minimalist running craze. I wanted to be one of the cool kids. Ignoring the fact that I had been running relatively injury-free for over 25 years, I totally absorbed myself in making the transition. Never mind that there was really nothing wrong with my running style.
It began with 'Born to Run'. This is the story of Caballo Blanco and his experience with the Tarahumara Indians of the Copper Canyon region of Mexico. These guys run basically barefoot up and down treacherous mountains. They've been doing it for eons! Great book...I took it too seriously to heart.
Next up was the theory that the crucial advantage humans have over every other mammal is that we can out run them. We're not the fastest but we have the most endurance. Again without any shoes to speak of humans can 'run all day' tracking animals and basically wearing them out. Lots of Googling, documentaries and books on the subject.
With that spinning around in my head I began the transition from heel strike to forefoot running. And the trouble began almost immediately. I was ignorant to it, or too stubborn to stop.
At the time we were living in Wasaga Beach and had the benefit of miles of hard-packed sandy beach to run on. I figured that running barefoot on the hard-but-soft surface would be a good way to speed the transition to forefoot running. With my existing running shoes at that time, I made the abrupt transition to forefoot running. I figured that the combination of beach and road running would get me through the transition. Unfortunately I went too fast.
Running is inherently a high-impact activity. Bones, joints, muscles and tendons all take a beating. After 25 years of training my body to run a certain way, the transition to the forefoot style was simply too fast. The basic difference between forefoot running and heel strike running are the muscles and tendons that are affected. They are different. Landing on the forefoot stretches the calf, Achilles and Plantar muscles and tendons differently than in the heel strike style. Plus landing on the forefoot puts increased pressure on the much smaller bones in the forefoot area of the foot. The injury to the Plantar in my right foot combined with my move to running shoes with less and less support contributed to the foot injuries I experienced next. The injuries affected the right side of my body: all the injuries have been to my right foot...I've had no similar problems with my left foot.
Plain and simple, I've been overthinking my running. Enough already!
Shortly after I published this blog post I received a really good article from my good friend Dan Cumming (he of Running In the Zone and Reggae Marathon). In the article was a really, really good video on running technique for distance runners. I watched it immediately and will be practicing this once I get back to running. Injury Free!
I love running. I want to keep running for a few more years. Yes I want to be that old running guy shuffling along with a grin on my face. Once these broken bones heal again I'll be back to the running style I started with all those years ago.
I had an epiphany: I am what I eat! That is a 'Duh' moment for sure.
Over the past few years as Sally and I 'Cleaned up' our eating (Sally is gluten and lactose intolerant...we prepare and eat really tasty and -good-for-us meals that include lots of fruits and vegetables) I've been lax in paying attention to what I eat. In fact even though I know they are good for me, I don't like vegetables and would completely forget about adding them to my diet if I had my way. And if you've followed me on this blog for a while you know that I have a weakness for salty snacks and diet soda. As a long-time runner I've managed loose weight and keep it off while staying relatively injury-free even while not eating particularly well for many of those years.
And then the epiphany! I've gained a few pounds. My joints ache. I get injured and I don't spring back from these running injuries as quickly as I used to. Time to start thinking about nutrition more seriously. Specifically what nutrition can help with injury recovery. There's a lot of talk and discussion about this subject online. Oxidation, lactic acid, free-radicals ... all confusing and in many cases contradictory. Given my personal experience in eating without gluten and lactose, I've come to understand the value of this 'fruits and vegetables' thing.
The benefits of Vitamin A Vitamin C, Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Zinc and Protein are laid out in this article from RunnersConnect. like this article as well because it also includes the specific meat, fruits and vegetables that contain high levels of the specific vitamin, mineral and food. Yes, most of these are available in food and there are many supplements to choose from to top up on the specific vitamins...we came back from our local Costco where we passed a product display wall 8 feet high with bottles of Omega 3 capsules!
"All of the above" are discussed in length in this article from Runner's World. They go further though and talk about adding supplements such asglucosamine and chondroitin sulfate which have been shown to decrease inflammation and improve mobility. Read it here: Food Rx
Fruits and vegetables and nuts and supplements...all are essential in speeding up recovery from an injury. Now on to protein and the role it plays not only in injury recovery but in building muscle. Is there such a thing as enough protein? Chicken, beef and my favourite pork are all excellent sources of protein which has been shown to aid in muscle recovery. In this article, lots of information about Protein for Runners.
And then there's my personal experience with injury recovery. Back in 2009 when I was training for the Reggae Marathon I added JuicePlus+ to my nutrition regimen. I started about 6 months before the race and continued on after of course. It's not a magic pill but with the concentration of fruits and vegetables it was a convenient way to 'top up'. The result? The post-race recovery was much shorter that I expected...I was running regularly again within a week (and I had a tough race that day). Check out my experience at Reggae Marathon here. Go to this link to find out the benefits of JuicePlus+ at this link: S-P JuicePlus+ (purchase directly online as well).
Yes I'm eating better: more variety and smaller portions. I still have a weakness for salty snacks but I've managed to cut out the diet sodas. Raw vegetables are still not my favourite so I take supplements. I watch my runs and treat any small injuries right away. The 'Duh' moment finally sunk in.
Running injuries suck. Plantar Fasciitis sucks even more!
I got thinking about the running injuries that plagued me for nearly three years after I started the transition from heel-strike to forefoot/mid-foot running. I was a classic case of do-it-yourself itis. I Googled the topic and read countless articles on how to make the transition successfully. I'm pleased to say that those injury-prone days are behind me since recovering from the broken foot in late 2012. I'm running comfortably and I actually like running again. But dam I wished I could get those three years back!
Running injuries go beyond those that I've experienced. Knees, hips, calves...everything below the waist can and will get injured at some point. While Googling the topic of running injuries recently I came across the infographic below that does a nice job of identifying most of the common running injuries. What I especially like are the suggested remedies:
You're a runner. I know running injuries will only slow you down. Good luck with your recovery.
