Happy Tuesday! Did you all enjoy the Super Bowl? I thought both the game and the halftime show were pretty good! I also enjoyed some yummy foods and a beer – so I was a happy camper π Today’s topic – have you ever been sidelined from running because of an injury?
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I would estimate that 95% of my running friends have been sidelined by some type of injury. I’ve been sidelined by running injuries – sometimes only a few days but other times a few weeks. For me, the injuries came once I started to run longer distances. Now that I’ve added in strength training I don’t get injured as often, but I still have aches and pains every now and then.
When I have been sidelined from running due to an injury, I did a few things to get myself “back in the game”.
Physical Therapy
A few years ago I had pretty bad IT band pain. It actually felt like I was dragging my right leg when I was running – it was pretty painful. After getting evaluated, it was decided that I should do 6-8 weeks of physical therapy. I went to PT 3x a week for a few weeks and boy was it hard work! My session felt like 60 minute workouts and I still had “homework” to do once I was back home. It all paid off because I was able to run pain free after that experience.
Embrace Cross-Training
What’s a runner to do when they can’t run? Cross-train of course! When I’ve been injured in the past – no matter how long – I really focus on doing more cycling and strength training classes to make sure that I keep in shape.
Sign Up For Races
It might seem bizarre to sign up for races while you’re injured, but I feel like that’s the perfect motivation! Knowing that I have a race on the schedule gives me something to look forward to once I’m able to run again.
Have you ever been sidelined with an injury? If so, how did you deal with it?
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Topic for next week – What was your first race?
All good tips! When I was sidelined with my Achilles tendon, I had physical therapy and I also thought it was hard work! I didn’t look forward to it at all.
I especially like your idea of signing up for a race. What a motivator!
I was also surprised at how hard I had to work in PT – it was tough!
I was injured when I first started running. I think I was building mileage too fast and before long my knee shouted Enough! I was out for 5 weeks and going for physio sessions. Learnt my lesson and took a more step by step approach to my training after that!
Yup – been there done that, lol! My IT band injury was from overuse so I learned my lesson the hard way.
So many injuries here…sadly. Once I learned to embrace strength training, the injuries became much less of a thing.
I will totally agree with that! Sure, I still get some aches and pains but now that I’ve done strength training consistently for years, I haven’t been sidelined by injuries.
Signing up for a race while injured doesn’t work for me, but we’re all different! I’ve been lucky, I guess, that when I have done PT, it’s usually only been one or two sessions & then just the homework (which is endless).
You’re so lucky that you usually only need 1-2 PT sessions! Mu IT band injury really did a number on me so that’s probably why I needed weeks of PT, lol.
I think the best we can do, and you eluded to this, is to embrace what we CAN do rather than dwell on what we (temporarily) cannot. Cross-training (especially strength work) is a valuable weapon to prevent most injuries, and both help us move forward while sidelined as well.
Itβs taken me a long time to learn how important cross training is.
Me too, but luckily now I really enjoy it.
All great tips from someone who has been there. At this time last year, I was not running at all (except pool running) and it was driving me crazy. As it turned out, PT was not for me. I think it was just not a good match with a therapist in my case. Once I went to an ortho guy, he got me straightened out in no time.
I think the PT specialist has a lot to do with making the experience enjoyable – I lucked out and found one that I really liked. I’m sorry that your experience wasn’t that great π
I’ve absolutely had my fair share of injuries. PT, massage, and acupuncture have helped me – and strength training/cross-training is the real key!
I still need to try acupuncture!
Embracing my cross training really helped me to keep up my cardio and fitness level while I could not run for 8 weeks. Also: coming back conservatively w intervals , keeping up my PT exercises and stretches has done wonders for me.
Yes coming back conservatively is so important!
Yes to having an injury. Not the best experience but it happens to many of us.
Yeah I think once you’ve been running long enough, it’s bound to happen unfortunately.
I am probably going to jinx it now, but I’ve been very lucky that in 5+ years of running I have not been sidelined by a running-related injury. (Knock on wood!)
I can only imagine how frustrating it must be if you want to run but can’t due to an injury that might have been preventable.
Wow that’s awesome that you haven’t experience any running injuries yet (knock on wood)!