Saturday, December 3, 2011

What I've Learned... Being Injured - Week 2

Just the other day was officially two weeks since I got injured and I'm finally feeling good enough to give an easy jog a try later this evening. As far as what I injured, I still have no clue. Each day it feels like a different injury. One day it'll be on the outside of my knee (typical IT band) while the next day it'll be on the inside. Last week my blog post was what I learned about being injured in the first week, this week I wanted to write a little bit of what I've learned in week two and what I need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again.


  1. My BFFs: Ibuprofen, ice, warm baths and foam roller. There's been two new additions to my daily routine: warm baths and the foam roller. I'm taking ibuprofen and icing throughout the day, and at night I've made it a point to warm up the muscles and get a good foam rolling session in. I definitely have a love/hate relationship (don't we all?) with my foam roller. Funny how something that can bring you to scream out curse words tears, is the same thing that makes your muscles feel normal again. 
  2. Fear of getting hurt again. I'm afraid to run tonight, not going to lie. My biggest fear is that I go out for an easy mile or two and I'm brought to tears by the same pain that struck me the other week. I'm afraid of being out for yet another two+ weeks. I'm afraid of never running again. Okay, maybe I'm overreacting a little on the last one...  
  3. Fear of not running my Marathon in January. I'm not sure if I'll be able to throw myself back into training in some of my highest milage weeks. Worst case scenario the husband said he'll flip-flop race bibs with me and he'll run the full while I run the half. Sounds great, but in reality he's not all that prepared for a full either. The last long run that I've done was a 15 miler 3 weeks ago, I'm not sure from here how to jump back into training. 
  4. My twitter following is amazing. I know I said this last week, but it's the truth. Whether they're asking how my injury is healing, giving me advice on products to try or advice on strengthening, it's great to know you have the support of others.  Kelly (@lovingtherun) has been amazing this past week and I'm so grateful. Not only did she take time to recommend an incredible article written by Jason Fitz (@JasonFitz1) on how to strengthen your IT Band after injury, but also pointed me to the direction of Rock Tape. Taped up with my hot pink tape for the first time last night, and I can already tell we'll be together for a while. 
  5. Prevention. From here on out it's time for me to step up my training, not only keep up with my running but also prevent injuries from happening again. I need to quit slacking when it comes to hill workouts as well as my lower body strength training. I'm really good at remembering to do upper body and core, but somehow I seem to slack on lower body strength. From here on out, it's all about being proactive and preventing another injury, whether it's the same injury that has plagued me over the weeks, or Heaven forbid something worse. 

When injured during Marathon training, how do you get back on track? Jump right in, or take things slow?

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like you've learned a lot this week! I have recurring bum knees, but I've never had them in the middle of training for a big event, so I don't have any advice in that department. After your marathon, I would recommend having your form checked, reading some form books (ChiRunning is the last I read), and maybe even trying barefoot or minimalist shoes. These things have helped my knees more than all the rehab I ever did.

    P.S. Found your blog on Twitter via #runchat. I'm following you now!

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  2. Andie, hope the Rocktape is working? Just so u know, military gets 30% off....use code "military"

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  3. Greg -- I didn't. Thank you so much!! :)

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  4. I can relate. I'm not a runner but I'm injured by leaky gut. I'm in recovery mode and can't do any vigorous workouts. It's hard... but we just have to find what works for us :) Stay Strong!

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  5. Dont't know if this helps or not, but for years, I used to stretch before running and stretch after. When I did my first half, I developed knee pains that wouldn't go away. Then, this year, I read an article about not stretching before running. Instead, do a warmup jog at a slow pace. I've been doing that since the beginning of the year and did a half like that. Guess what? No more knee pains and quicker recovery. Even my plus 13.1 mile long runs, 14, 16, 18, and 19 today, no knee pains. Please note though, I never went to the doc to see why I had the pains, so I don't exactly what was going there.

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