AVOIDING SPORT INJURIES Running doesn’t seem complex; placing one foot in front of the other, leaving the ground on each stride is as simple as a sport gets--yet the repeated movement sets up a chain of events from your head to your toes, and vice versa. Be out of alignment at either end, and your entire body can be affected. It’s a fact--Physical therapists are guaranteed a steady flow of sports injury patients. In spring, baseball players come in with pulled shoulders from excessive bat swings or throwing; in the fall, footballers arrive with leg problems, not having kicked a ball for months. Runners are not immune--though training year round, they often move from endurance to speedwork or vice versa with no preparation. “FIND THE CAUSE...ACT ON IT.” “Or to be long winded--do something to correct the weakness or the problem which exacerbates an injury. “Simple actions often prevent an injury, such as cutting the tabs off your shoes and other remedies suggested earlier. “The skill is in locating the problem. Is your noggin at a bad angle; does your shoulder droop from a skiing crash; or, are your feet unable to move in those lovely shoes.” “To get faster, we’ve been pushing the body harder in terms of effort or mileage. Every runner has a training threshold at which each additional effort will give a decrease in performance--the law of diminishing returns has set in. For the lucky ones, it means frustration; for those who can’t recognize it in time, it leads to injury. “Train don’t strain, is this planets old motto. Those three words, plus the six at the top of the page, are all this part needs. But you have a book to write, a destiny to fulfill, so listen closely.” That commenced our post-run fireside chats. A winter of advice to fill the next two parts. Here’s what the Guru said.
“Six months of consistently running say 50 miles will allow steady progress. A few weeks at 60 miles may result in an injury. While recovering from the injury you lose training time; you lose a significant part of the fitness gained in prior months. You often go back to square one. “Unfortunately...earthlings have different capacities before injuries occur. Each runner can handle a certain mileage without problems; increase the load beyond YOUR limit, and your body soon breaks down. You can only learn by experience how much your body can take before something gives. “The prudent runner spots an impending problem early. When you recognize there is a problem, the simplest action, yet the action which runners resist most, is to...cut back on training.” Sport Injury warning signs. “Stress is often present--sometimes from the running itself, or from work, money, family or house moving etc. Signs to watch for include:- 1/ Feeling tired, perhaps not sleeping well. 2/ Illness, sore throat, colds or flu, skin conditions, mouth ulcers. 3/ Swollen lymph glands. 4/ Loss of weight. “Stress or fatigue may express itself in your running speed--your pace may decrease for a given effort. You think you’re running well at 7 min miles, but on checking the final time, it works out at over 7½ min miles.” “So I should reduce the stress level before an injury occurs?” “Right,” he said. “A reduction of mileage by 20 percent is a good start. Cut a mile or two off of most runs, and take an extra day off. Swap relaxed sessions of fartlek for track work or repeti¬ tions. The cause of the stress should be addressed. Do something about the stressors you have control over; live with, or completely run from those which you don’t! If necessary, the running becomes something it frequently is not after you’ve reached a higher level--pure recreation. “When moving house and or jobs, it’s logical to have an easy four to six weeks of running. Do a weekly quality tempo, or session of reps--short or long--it doesn’t matter which. Run moderately long also, and you can retain 90 percent of your fitness for months. When settled, you can return to your former intensity. “Overtraining fatigue related to an increased non-running schedule, should be distinguished from Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), which is the muscle aches and pains you feel after a particularly hard workout or race. This may last several days, but walking at the end of the session and easy training for a few days should see you back to normal.”
Self-inflicted injuries “Plan your weekly schedule to put stress on a different aspect of running on consecutive days. You may be able to handle 10 efforts of 200 meters up a hill on a Monday, but you wouldn’t want to repeat it on the next four days....and ‘kill’ your Achilles in the process. Don’t run a hard six miles and repeat it each day either. Spread the fast and steady running throughout the week and over future weeks.
American Massage Therapy Association (847) 864-2448
Or send $17.95 per book to David Holt at PO Box 543, Goleta, CA 93116. (includes shipping and tax)
Or send $17.95 per book to David Holt at PO Box 543, Goleta, CA 93116. (includes shipping and tax)