Let’s talk about injury recovery. When it comes to injury recovery, I, unfortunately, have a lot of experience. In my first 7 endurance events (Marathons/Triathlons) I had an injury within 3 weeks of the event in 5 out of the 7 events and found a way to finish each one.
But, cart before the horse. The best way to run is to avoid injury in the first place. The best way to do that is to simply slow down and listen to your body. Don’t rush anything. Don’t ramp up too fast, don’t run too fast on most of your workouts and don’t skip the after care of stretching, rest, nutrition and hydration.
Most of my injuries were from overuse and/or ramping up too fast. It has been said that it is better to enter race day undertrained than injured. Undertrained you may not run your PR (Personal Record) but injured you may not finish and definitely won’t PR.
If you do get injured with at least 4 weeks to go, don’t panic. Take time off to heal. While you are healing, cross train if you can, to keep up your cardio and work on that injury, don’t just rest. Ice, Heat, Physical Therapy, whatever the doctor orders to get you back on your feet. They say you don’t start to lose endurance for 2 weeks. I sprained my calf 2 weeks before the 2019 NYC Marathon and took those last two weeks off completely and felt like I had as much endurance as I was pacing before the injury when I crossed the finish line.
Bottom line, don’t ignore an injury. Go to a doctor if that pain or unusual feeling doesn’t go away after another workout or two. Listen to the doctor and follow the plan. If it is PT (Physical Therapy), make the time to go and do your homework. Take time off to heal and consider cross training and keep working out your healthy parts as you heal (if you can). Start Slow on your way back. Take your training back a few weeks when you start back up. If you took 2 weeks off to heal, maybe you go back 3 or 4 weeks in your plan and see how that feels. You should be able to get back to where you left off within a week or two if you healed properly.
There is no magic in running 20 miles or 3 hours for your long run. If you don’t peak at those levels you will still be fine on race day. Respect any pain you feel and don’t just medicate it away. Pain is your body telling you to get treatment for that area. Always warm up and cool down, especially in recovery. Use Strength / Resistance training. Running only works out a specific set of muscles and over develops them. You need to work out the opposite muscles with cross training or weight lifting. And maybe most important. Eat well and get enough sleep. The body does its best repair work on bones and muscles while you sleep.
And the best way to recover from an injury is to not get injured in the first place. So, if you are reading this and you are healthy. Stay that way by taking it slow and trusting the process. Do your warm ups and cool downs. Stick to your pace. Don’t ramp up too fast. Slow down or skip days when you are not feeling well. Eat well, drink lots of water and get enough sleep.
Here are some pro tips on recovering from injury…
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Stay healthy!!!!!!
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