Injuries come and injuries go this hurt like hell.
Having completed my first Ironman in a season that saw a fair number of events and desiring to start working towards some new goals I found myself sidelined, benched.
As I mentioned, both my ankles were screaming. Unable to train effectively I pulled out of a Half Ironman for which I was registered. I had another event coming up, a trail 50k this time and set about getting healthy. New shoes, massage, physical therapy, stretching, the works and every time an attempt was made to get the run going it was back to the hurt locker.
The 50k came and went, another trail race missed after that. The triathlon season had begun and there was another Ironman looming in my future.
Enough was enough. It was clear that all previous attempts to get rid of my running pain had not worked out. No one so far had offered anything that had actually helped me and I was pretty pissed about it.
I had just hung up from a conversation with another sports injury "expert" who had another list of bullshit to sell me. I called back and said I wouldn't be needing that appointment and would be going a different route.
I had begun working a new training plan for my upcoming Ironman which had strong form component for all three triathlon disciplines. This got me thinking about my running form again only in a more focused way.
My education in proper running form started to take on real meaning and study of everything available on the subject became and continues to be part of my everyday.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The early days
The runners I've met began running for various reasons. Some for health or weight loss, some for stress release, some to recapture something they loved from their past and other reasons or some combination. For me, I began running primarily for weight loss and later it became a big part of a different lifestyle and a different me.
As I ventured down the road to this different life I hit several big bumps. Early in my running a torn meniscus tendon in my right knee, I think jumping off ledge while trail running but I can't be completely sure. It was a nasty set back for sure. It healed well and presented me no further problems other than the pain of healing.
Starting back to training I purchased a pair of serious stability shoes thinking this would help prevent future injury. A consultation with the folks at my local running store confirmed this idea a they were in full agreement.
Next came hip pain I think. A new pair of shoes, some exercises to help prevent it in the future that were in an article read on the Internet.
My feet went into revolt at some point as I recall. Pain across the top of my left foot had me limping around pretty good. I'm thinking this was around the time I ran my first half marathon. A trip to the shoe store and a new pair of kicks to fix me up. I remember a stretching routine found on a running website to fix this up.
After that it was the right shin, then the left calf, then the knee started to hurt, the calf again...................
Every season was new set of injuries, shoes, therapies, quack assholes with this device, that machine, etc, etc.
Through this I had trained for and completed a couple of half marathons, a couple of full marathons, fast 5k and 10k races, trail events. Diving into the world of triathlon I worked my way through shorter events, 70.3's and an Ironman distance.
Then came the final straw.
Along my road of training and competing, various levels of injury had become the new normal.
It was and is the same experience as those around me. In conversations about upcoming events and seasons there was often the "injury disclaimer". "I'l be doing this, this, and that, unless I'm injured that is".
Injury wasn't a question of "if", it was "when".
Injury had become a part of life. Stressing over the training plan that is being adjusted for hurt time. More new shoes. Shoe inserts. Seeking out the latest miracle cure. Looking back I did and watched others do some pretty silly shit trying to either fix the current injury or prevent the next one.
There was the occasional article dealing with proper running form. Some stuff about "forefoot running", keeping a higher cadence but nothing in comparison to the endless information shoe technology, compression gear, etc..
I played around with adjusting my running form but at the same time I'd read things about how "you run how run" meaning that changing ones form is no good. I remember some articles about how forefoot running could hurt you. In the end I didn't change much when it came to running form.
The "barefoot running" craze with the publication of "Born To Run" and everywhere I looked people were running in Vibram Five Fingers. I tried them. I didn't find crashing into the pavement with my now uncushioned feet to be that great so I comprimised. Articles where coming out about how maybe the heavily structured shoe was hurting us. I went to my local running store and restocked on now neutral running shoes.
The final straw was on it's way.
I showed up to the start line of my first Ironman in my neutral shoes, a sore calf and a knee I was trying to pretend was fine. Halfway through the marathon my hips caught fire with a deep and brutal burn that stayed with me for the entire run. I finished well and in agony.
I had scheduled a 70.3 triathlon for about 5 weeks later and after a couple of weeks of rest, some easy bike rides and few jogs I began some light training again.
Almost immediately during a relatively easy 8 mile run I pulled the tendons in both my ankles. I jogged home in pain as I had done plenty of times before.
This ended being a big deal in several ways. It was the last straw although I didn't know it at the time.
As I ventured down the road to this different life I hit several big bumps. Early in my running a torn meniscus tendon in my right knee, I think jumping off ledge while trail running but I can't be completely sure. It was a nasty set back for sure. It healed well and presented me no further problems other than the pain of healing.
Starting back to training I purchased a pair of serious stability shoes thinking this would help prevent future injury. A consultation with the folks at my local running store confirmed this idea a they were in full agreement.
Next came hip pain I think. A new pair of shoes, some exercises to help prevent it in the future that were in an article read on the Internet.
My feet went into revolt at some point as I recall. Pain across the top of my left foot had me limping around pretty good. I'm thinking this was around the time I ran my first half marathon. A trip to the shoe store and a new pair of kicks to fix me up. I remember a stretching routine found on a running website to fix this up.
After that it was the right shin, then the left calf, then the knee started to hurt, the calf again...................
Every season was new set of injuries, shoes, therapies, quack assholes with this device, that machine, etc, etc.
Through this I had trained for and completed a couple of half marathons, a couple of full marathons, fast 5k and 10k races, trail events. Diving into the world of triathlon I worked my way through shorter events, 70.3's and an Ironman distance.
Then came the final straw.
Along my road of training and competing, various levels of injury had become the new normal.
It was and is the same experience as those around me. In conversations about upcoming events and seasons there was often the "injury disclaimer". "I'l be doing this, this, and that, unless I'm injured that is".
Injury wasn't a question of "if", it was "when".
Injury had become a part of life. Stressing over the training plan that is being adjusted for hurt time. More new shoes. Shoe inserts. Seeking out the latest miracle cure. Looking back I did and watched others do some pretty silly shit trying to either fix the current injury or prevent the next one.
There was the occasional article dealing with proper running form. Some stuff about "forefoot running", keeping a higher cadence but nothing in comparison to the endless information shoe technology, compression gear, etc..
I played around with adjusting my running form but at the same time I'd read things about how "you run how run" meaning that changing ones form is no good. I remember some articles about how forefoot running could hurt you. In the end I didn't change much when it came to running form.
The "barefoot running" craze with the publication of "Born To Run" and everywhere I looked people were running in Vibram Five Fingers. I tried them. I didn't find crashing into the pavement with my now uncushioned feet to be that great so I comprimised. Articles where coming out about how maybe the heavily structured shoe was hurting us. I went to my local running store and restocked on now neutral running shoes.
The final straw was on it's way.
I showed up to the start line of my first Ironman in my neutral shoes, a sore calf and a knee I was trying to pretend was fine. Halfway through the marathon my hips caught fire with a deep and brutal burn that stayed with me for the entire run. I finished well and in agony.
I had scheduled a 70.3 triathlon for about 5 weeks later and after a couple of weeks of rest, some easy bike rides and few jogs I began some light training again.
Almost immediately during a relatively easy 8 mile run I pulled the tendons in both my ankles. I jogged home in pain as I had done plenty of times before.
This ended being a big deal in several ways. It was the last straw although I didn't know it at the time.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Running don't hurt
So I was let down. Completely and utterly. Some that let me down did so out of ignorance, some were motivated by profit. Some, I just don't know what they were thinking. All I know for sure is that I went to the "experts" and basically got screwed.
There I was, in my forties working to get in shape and healthy after a bunch of years spent earning a living. I was fat, sedentary and feeling it. Like many I decided to change it before I was too old to do anything about and set about fixing it. I had some basic dieting knowledge, filled the fridge with real food, bought a bicycle,, joined the gym, etc, on my way. No big surprise, it was working. I was getting in better and better condition and wanted to incorporate some running. I had never been a runner before and had not developed much endurance yet. I did what one would do. I went to my local running store, got fitted for a pair of shoes and so began my journey from one royal screwing to the next. An odyssey entered my life that took me from one failed experiment to another, cost a bunch of cash and dragged me through a butt-load of pain.
Finally figured it out. Just ignorant enough to keep trying and stubborn enough to not accept the status quo.
There I was, in my forties working to get in shape and healthy after a bunch of years spent earning a living. I was fat, sedentary and feeling it. Like many I decided to change it before I was too old to do anything about and set about fixing it. I had some basic dieting knowledge, filled the fridge with real food, bought a bicycle,, joined the gym, etc, on my way. No big surprise, it was working. I was getting in better and better condition and wanted to incorporate some running. I had never been a runner before and had not developed much endurance yet. I did what one would do. I went to my local running store, got fitted for a pair of shoes and so began my journey from one royal screwing to the next. An odyssey entered my life that took me from one failed experiment to another, cost a bunch of cash and dragged me through a butt-load of pain.
Finally figured it out. Just ignorant enough to keep trying and stubborn enough to not accept the status quo.
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