Saturday, November 9, 2013

WHY RUNNERS GET INJURED -- PART 3

The third major cause of running injuries is the most preventable. Yet because runners are psychologically unstable without their daily run, it is the most common cause of injury.

3. OVERUSE

Why are most dedicated runners crazy and push themselves into overuse injuries? I believe it is because they have crossed over to the psycho side of running. Most people regard running as something painful. If they must do it to lose weight or improve their cardiovascular system, they will grudgingly do it, but they definitely won't like it. To most people running is uncomfortable. It requires precious time, time when one could be sleeping, reading, or watching TV. And then there's the hassle of putting on the proper running clothes and shoes and the discomfort of stretching to get the muscles ready for that shock of activity. The worst part is the running itself--mentally it is challenging to keep going mile after mile; physically with each mile one runs, the pain intensifies.  Most people view dedicated runners as psychos.

And we are. How did we become psychos? We kept running despite the hassles and discomforts. Day after day we kept at it despite the time, energy and effort it demanded from us. We kept going until we reached the psycho side of running. Once a runner crosses over, he or she becomes like one of them--one of the crazy ones. They have changed. Normal people often wonder if their running friends were abducted by aliens and replaced with cyborgs.

The truth is what once was painful has become pleasurable. The exercise that once repulsed us, we now crave. We have become addicted to the runner's high, the endorphins that stream through our blood system as we get out there day after day. We get this mental sense that we have become Super People-- faster than most high school kids in a 5K race, able to run ten miles in a single workout, more powerful than all the stresses that build up during our work day. Look, up on the road! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's just my neighbor Joe out for his daily run.

Once you have crossed over, your biggest enemy isn't Kryptonite. It's overuse. Because you crave the joy of running, because you want to get faster or at least maintain your fitness level, because you want to eat that piece of pumpkin pie loaded with whip cream, because you want to set a PR in your next race, you push yourself into an unnecessary overuse injury. The knee hurts, the hip hurts, the Achilles tendon feels strained, but you're sure once you get out there the pain will go away.

Here's my advice to avoiding overuse injuries. Stay off the psycho path. If something is hurting more than a couple of days in a row, take time off. Try biking, deep water running, or the elliptical machine. Incorporate cross training as a regular part of your workout schedule, perhaps even two to four days a week. You may discover that your times improve with cross training. I guarantee you will have less overuse problems which result in fewer injury disruptions in your training schedule. Keep in mind that this advice is coming from one who doesn't always follow his own advice. Why? Because I'm a running psycho. I'm crazy. I want to get out there on the road. I want to set a PR at the next race. I want to qualify for Boston next spring. Somebody help Meeeeeeeee!!!!!

Questions or comments can be posted below or sent to joecellis@comcast.net .
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