Really great article about injury

[OakLeaf]

http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-prevention-recovery/rethinking-running-health?page=single

The article is centered around runners, but the approach applies to any sport.

[Melalvai]

Thanks for sharing this. This is great advice. I like the story of the marathoner who backs off his training whenever he feels the slightest twinge-- and has kept up injury-free 90-mile weeks for years with this strategy.

[jobob]

Interesting article, thanks.

I attempted running late last year/ early this year -- I got running shoes, attended a running clinic, and joined a beginner's 5K training group at a local running store.

I initially had a sore right knee (ths was before I got the shoes and attended the running clinic), which cleared up with rest, and then, a couple of weeks into the 5K training group, my right hip started hurting. I worked with the running group coach -- the store owner -- and he suggested I see a PT.

Well. I have a high-deductible health plan and I pay for pretty much everything until I hit the yearly out-of-pocket max, which of course I'm willing to do for the important things, but frankly, trying to figure out why I injure so easily running is not in that category. It's probably a muscle imbalance &/or a leg-length discrepancy (I do actually have a slight length imbalnace, it's never caused me trouble in the past but I've never tried running before) but I'm not inclined to invest the time & $$ in PT or orthotics or sports massages to try to figure it all out. So I dropped out of the running group. Eh, I tried.

I've been doing some hiking with DH, which is much more important to me and I don't intend to jeopardize that more than I have by messing up my hip.

And, turns out cycling does not bother my hip at all ... probably a not-so-subtle hint that I should go back to that. ;)

[lph]

I was thinking that I'm glad I'm into doing different things now. In the course of a week or two I can do 4 or 5 different activities, instead of only climbing and then only cycling like it was for a while. It keeps the stress on the body varied of course, but most important to me is that I don't obsess as much about reaching certain goals in just one sport or activity and overdo it because of ambition.

[GLC1968]

That was a great article - thanks for sharing it Oak.

It kind of helps me put the last year of my life into perspective and it's given me a bit of validation to move forward with my training in a slightly different way. I mean, my injury wasn't running related at all, but I can say with all certainty that most of the aches and pains I have in other places on my body right now are because of this stupid foot. It's pretty clear to me that if I ever want to feel good again doing an activity, I'm going to need to redevelop/strengthen my whole body. Just running (or biking) isn't going to cut it anymore.

[Crankin]

I kind of feel the same way about running as Jobob. While I have unlimited PT, who wants to spend all of the time rehabbing one injury, then another. Really, I am in awe of those of you who do. I *have* been to PT 4-5 times over the past 5 years. All were because whatever pain I had was interfering with cycling. I now realize I have had a chronic issue with my left shoulder/neck for most of my adult life. I just am not willing to spend the time to work on this. Perhaps putting up with discomfort is silly, but I would be lying on the couch or at PT all of the time if I tried to deal with all of it. While I try to be pro-active in prevention, there are some things I just won't do anymore and I am afraid one is running on pavement. Having a variety of things I do, that are not as high impact is just better for my body.
And I totally agree with the type A thing in the article. I've spent way too much time paying for this, starting when I worked as a fitness instructor and had a horrible stress fracture and then plantar fasciatis because I wouldn't cut down on what I was doing. And I was young then :).