How Not To Be an Injured, Stubborn Runner
As a runner and running coach, I’ve been through my fair share of running-related injuries. My athletes know I treat every injury and potential injury very conservatively. Maybe too conservatively at times. But there are a few things I’ve learned over the years.
Let me begin with a backstory: my first marathon. I had a pretty good training cycle — until I didn’t. During my first week of taper, I began feeling a tightening/clicking sensation in my left knee. It felt like something was locking up. I went to see a chiropractor who assured me it was no big deal. It happened again during my second week of taper and I began to panic. At this point, I had one week left until my marathon and I could not run without pain past four miles.
Despite knowing I was making a mistake, I stubbornly ran the marathon. By mile two I was in so much pain I was in tears. But I popped some ibuprofen and kept going. At mile 21, my body forced me to stop. I literally could not run another step. I did finish the marathon — by walking. And then I suffered the pain of my decision for three weeks following my race. My IT bands have not been the same since and that was almost a decade ago.
I tell you this story because I’ve been there. I’ve had clients who have been there. And my goal, as a wiser running coach, is to help you avoid the pitfalls of being a stubborn runner.
Here are six reasons you should avoid being a stubborn runner:
It is infinitely better to rest early than late.
What does that mean? It means an injury can be treated with minimal impact to your training if it’s recognized and caught early. If you treat it early, you’ll almost always still have time to continue your training cycle and achieve your goals. Of course, there are always caveats to this rule. But, by and large, it’s true.
Ignoring a potential injury will almost always make the injury worse.
Stubborn runners/athletes create stubborn injuries. The longer you ignore the signal your body is sending to you, the longer it will take to recover.
Your body knows best.
Our bodies are very smart. They know what they need — and what they don’t need. Your body will absolutely not let you continue training through an injury indefinitely. It will shut you down whether you like it or not. (See marathon story above.)
Recovery time for early injuries is significantly less than late/ignored ones.
By acknowledging your body needs a break, you will inevitably set yourself up for a shorter recovery time. If your body is minimally damaged, it will take less time to heal. Let’s use a car as an example: let’s say you have a small spot of rust on the bottom of your door. It will take much less time and money to fix the small spot than if you let the rust sit there and fester, and spread across the entire length of the car door.
Injuries are similar. If you treat the small painful spot early, it will cost you less time (and actual money if you’re paying for treatment) than if you let it fester and get worse and worse.
Ignored injuries, when your body shuts down, have a 2-3x longer road to recovery.
I don’t want to reinvent the wheel here. Reread my marathon training story above if you need proof.
Ignored injuries can results in long term consequences.
Not to beat a dead horse, but did you read my marathon training story above? No, but really. I ignored the heck out of my issue. Had I not been a stubborn runner, and simply took the rest that I needed — even if it meant missing my first marathon — I would most likely not still be dealing with the same issues almost ten years later.
The question you must be asking yourself now is “so, how do I avoid getting injured in the first place?”
First of all, everyone is different. Some of us are more injury-prone than others. But typical overuse injuries caused by running can be held at bay by following a few simple guidelines.
Pre-habilitate your body.
What’s pre-hab? All the stuff you should be doing. Foam rolling, warming up properly, doing runner-centric yoga, stretching after a workout... When one of my athletes says “my quad feels tight,” can you guess what my first question is? If you said “do you foam roll?” then you win the grand prize. If your calf, quad, hamstring, whatever-it-is, is feeling tight, do you foam roll? And if you answer with a “yes, I foam roll,” the next question is — do you do it properly?
Foam roll slowly. It’s not actually rolling. It’s more like, “placing a foam roller under the body part that hurts and then putting all your weight on that one spot for 30-45 seconds.”
Do the pre-hab. Do the foam rolling. Stretch.
Make good caloric choices.
What are you eating? As an athlete, it’s easy to grab a bag of sugary candy and call it good in the name of quick calories. But what your body really needs as an athlete are lean proteins, complex carbs (and yes, some simple ones, too), Vitamin D, minerals, calcium, etc, etc. Make good choices. Calories, and where they come from, matter. If you have to ask yourself if a food will help your training, then it’s probably better to skip it. Eat across the rainbow, as they say.
Respect the day of REST.
Honestly, guys. How many of my clients and athletes have callous disregard for the day of rest? Almost every single one. REST. REST. REST!!! Rest is when your body repairs itself and reaps the benefits of your training. By not resting, you’re not giving your body ample time to heal, repair, and become stronger. In fact, you’re putting even more stress on your bones, ligaments, and muscles, setting yourself up for failure in the future.
Listen to your body.
You’d think this was a no-brainer. But as you’ve read above, many of us ignore our bodies. Tune in and listen. It will tell you what it needs, I promise.
Cross-train efficiently.
And this doesn’t mean walking. Walking is great, it’s a wonderful low-impact form of exercise. But it uses the same movement and body systems as running. The elliptical is similar. Walking and the elliptical are great to use for cross-training when you’re coming back from injury and can’t necessarily withstand the impact from running. But while you’re in a heavy training cycle, it’s better to cross-train by doing something unrelated to running. Ideas include: pickleball, swimming, rowing, and cycling.
Run everywhere.
There is a principle of specificity when it comes to training, and it does hold water. Simply put, you should train on the terrain you’re going to be competing. So if you’re training for a trail race, run trails. If you’re training for something flat and fast, maybe the track is the way to go.
Most of your runs should be slow. The ones that are fast should be intentionally fast. And you should try to vary your terrain. Add some hills here and there. Or if you only run in a hilly area, seek out a flatter option once a week.
Variety is the spice of life, and it applies to running, too.
My goal is to help my athletes avoid being stubborn runners. There is a learning curve because sometimes you don’t know you’re injured until you’re too injured. But hopefully after reading this, you’ll have a good idea of when to dial it in and when to back off and take a rest.
Run strong, friends!