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Tag: injuries – general

Running Addiction: Are We Just Rats on a Wheel?

Running Addiction: Are We Just Rats on a Wheel?

Pimento Posted by Pimento on March 22, 2017 10 Comments


We’ve all made the comparison between running and drugs before, that ubiquitous term “runner’s high” refers to that rush of endorphins our brains release during or after a run. It’s that feeling that keeps us pounding the pavement in search of more.

We need our daily fix, we freak out if we can’t run, and we do all sorts of crazy things to fit the miles in, like getting up in essentially the middle of the night to run, missing out on girls’ night out, or skipping a shower … again.

But is running actually addictive like that? Do we love running or are we hooked on our own feel-good chemicals, chasing an ever-harder-to-reach high as the miles increase our tolerance, so we constantly need to go further, or faster, or on new terrain to obtain that same buzz?

The research is out there, and the answer is yes. That edgy, moody, fidgety feeling you experience if you’ve gone too long without running is called withdrawal. Read more >>

Categories: Running and Mental Health
Tags: burnout, Exercise Addiction, injuries - general, overtraining, running addiction
Readers Roundtable: Doctors, Chiropractors, Therapists & Running Injuries

Readers Roundtable: Doctors, Chiropractors, Therapists & Running Injuries

Salty Posted by Salty on March 20, 2017 25 Comments

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Running injuries suck. But what can make them suck even more is trying to find the right healthcare provider to treat an injury. It’s hard to know which kind of practitioner to see and then, as we’ll all likely discover through the years, not all doctors, chiropractors, or therapists are created equal. Sometimes a medical professional understands you, identifies the injury, and gives you a realistic recovery plan.

Sometimes, a medical professional just doesn’t get it or worse, really doesn’t get it but keeps you coming back for treatment after treatment with no real fix or end in sight.

So, whether awesome or awful, we want to hear about your experiences with medical professionals.

Has a medical professional every worked a miracle on your running injury?

Have you ever been frustrated with a medical professional’s approach to you and your injury?

Do you have any tips for finding a great medical professional?

✬Don’t forget to join us for #SaltyChat on Twitter tonight and every Monday at 8:00 p.m. EST✬

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Thank you to today’s sponsor, Peachtree Road Race, Atlanta’s world-famous 4th of July 10k!If you’d like to sponsor a day, a week, or a month of Salty Running posts, contact us today!

Categories: Injury & Prevention, Readers Roundtable
Tags: active release technique (ART), doctors, injuries - general, physical therapy
The Running Injury Mind-Body Connection: How to Heal Your Body AND Your Brain

The Running Injury Mind-Body Connection: How to Heal Your Body AND Your Brain

Caraway Posted by Caraway on November 1, 2016 13 Comments

Caraway foam rolls her headImagine: you finished your last hard marathon-pace workout and reached the taper unscathed. Woohoo! Only two weeks until the marathon! You’ve worked hard all summer and you earned this rest day. You stroll down the sidewalk, sipping a #PSL and thinking about how much you love fall, when you step on a rock and twist your ankle, spilling coffee all over your boots. You roll your eyes, walk it off, and the next morning you can only hobble and limp because it hurts so much.

What happens next?

a) “Oh well,” you say brightly, because you’re always so chipper in the morning. “Guess I can’t run! It’s so great that I’ll have all that free time on marathon day!” You text your friends and make plans for brunch instead.

b) You experience a violent outpouring of unprintable words, panic, and desperate internal screaming that this cannot be happening.

Read more >>

Categories: Injury & Prevention, Running and Mental Health
Tags: coping with injury, injuries - dealing, injuries - general
A Runner’s Guide to Inflammation

A Runner’s Guide to Inflammation

Kyle Gorjanc Posted by Kyle Gorjanc on September 15, 2016 6 Comments

A gremlin from the movie, Gremlins.
Did someone say “INFLAMMATION”?

AHHH! Quick! Get some ice! Get some NSAIDs! Elevate the problem area! Hurry!

Wait … why are we hurrying?

Relax, dear runner. Inflammation doesn’t have to be a gremlin. In fact, if you take care of it well and don’t feed it after midnight, inflammation can be a protective little guy who helps keep you running right.  Read more >>

Categories: Injury & Prevention
Tags: inflammation, injuries - general, injury prevention
On Injury

On Injury

Pumpkin Posted by Pumpkin on August 25, 2016 12 Comments

Pissed off PumpkinThis last Spring, I had the best training cycle of my life. After much hemming and hawing over whether I’d go with a higher mileage plan than I’ve done before, I decided to take the plunge with Hanson’s Marathon Method. I was originally worried to take on more miles, as the last two marathons I’d started training for left me injured before I could get to the starting line and I had begun to think that maybe my body just wasn’t built for marathons anymore. But after 18 consistent weeks, I was THRILLED to have made it through training injury-free. The final week before the race left me feeling some niggles in my right leg, but I passed it off as taper crazies.

As I recovered from the marathon though, I could no longer ignore the lingering pain in my lower right leg. As the other muscles returned to their happy state, the leg still felt pretty angry. After ice, ibuprofen, compression, prayer, ignoring, pleading, biofreeze and a few angry words I finally resigned myself to the reality of the situation and made an appointment with my sports chiropractor.

I had to admit it: that nagging, irritating pain wasn’t going away. I was injured.

Read more >>

Categories: Healthy Running, Running + Life, Running and Mental Health
Tags: injuries - dealing, injuries - general
Graston for Runners

Graston for Runners

Pumpkin Posted by Pumpkin on August 11, 2016 6 Comments

GrastonAfter running my spring marathon, I had so many plans for epic summer running. I couldn’t wait to change up my routine, check out some trails and remember the feeling of a hot, sweaty run. But while the rest of my body recovered from my marathon, my right calf was not healing as quickly. I tried to deny the familiar pain and just pretend it was a sore muscle, but deep down in my sinking heart, I knew it: TENDINITIS.

Ah, tendinitis, my old foe, had returned to derail my running plans. The last time we tangled it took me weeks to seek professional diagnosis and treatment, so at least this time I had the benefit of experience on my side. Once I moved past denial, I picked up the phone immediately and scheduled an appointment with my chiropractor to begin Graston treatment.

Read more >>

Categories: Injury & Prevention
Tags: Graston, injuries - general
Anatomy Trains and Running: Fascianating Stuff!

Anatomy Trains and Running: Fascianating Stuff!

Poppy Posted by Poppy on August 4, 2016 14 Comments

Hey everybody! Here comes the choo-choo! I’m talking anatomy trains; connected muscle systems that run up and down our bodies, also commonly called “kinetic chains” or “fascial lines.”

Have you ever gone into the chiropractor, PT, or for a sports massage, told the person your foot hurt, only to have them start working on your hip? Aha! The problem in your foot could be the squeaky caboose of a long line of problems in your body. It’s all connected.

As a massage therapist who works on many competitive runners, and as a competitive runner who has dealt with my fair share of injuries personally, I believe that all runners need to understand anatomy trains. Not only can it help with injury prevention and healing; it can also change the way you perceive your body in motion. Read more >>

Categories: Healthy Running, Injury & Prevention
Tags: anatomy, injuries - general, injury prevention
Back in the Saddle: How to Survive a Return to Running After a Break

Back in the Saddle: How to Survive a Return to Running After a Break

Parsley Posted by Parsley on June 28, 2016 8 Comments

I suffered a serious injury falling off a horse in practice once, but started riding again to overcome my fears.

When you fall off a horse in riding, the best thing you can do is get back on and ride again. It helps you overcome your fear of falling again.

Is the same true for running? Returning to running after a layoff, especially one related to injury, can be tricky. Two things typically happen. You’re either mentally raring to go, but your body takes longer to respond. Or, you’re physically ready to resume running, but mentally are scared or unsure.

That sage advice “Listen to Your Body” confuses matters even more; running is work and can make you uncomfortable, especially when you’re out of shape and getting back into it. How do you know if that discomfort is good for you, rebuilding your fitness, or if that discomfort is causing or prolonging your injury?

And after that injury is healed and you’re cleared to run, you may be scared. How do you know you won’t become injured again? Even though your body isn’t showing any signs of injury, what if you cause the exact same thing to happen again? Or maybe you’ve settled into a new, runningless routine and are hesitant to risk the disappointment again?

My advice: take a deep breath and climb back on that horse. Read more >>

Categories: Healthy Running, Injury & Prevention, Running and Mental Health
Tags: comebacks, injuries - general
What’s Worse for Running, Injury or Illness?

What’s Worse for Running, Injury or Illness?

Parsley Posted by Parsley on June 8, 2016 17 Comments

Injuries or illness?When you’re sidelined with a running injury things are pretty cut and dry: you can’t run for a prescribed amount of time until your injury is healed. And while it’s difficult to miss out on running, especially if you’re in full training-mode for an event, it’s almost a badge of honor. You got injured because you were working your body hard.

In most cases, you can cross-train through injury. While you may not love these different exercises as much as running, at least you have the ability to exert yourself physically and you can still get the endorphin boost from working out. And you might find that when you do return to running, the cross training has actually helped improve your overall fitness and given your body renewed energy from switching things up.

Illnesses, I will argue, are almost more difficult. There’s a lot of grey area. Should you or shouldn’t you run? Is exercise going to make you feel better, or exacerbate your issues? While not directly related to your running, they certainly affect it, as it’s hard to do any type of exercise when you’re feeling bad. Read more >>

Categories: Healthy Running
Tags: injuries - dealing, injuries - general, sickness
Readers Roundtable: When Do You Train Through Pain?

Readers Roundtable: When Do You Train Through Pain?

Salty Posted by Salty on February 29, 2016 15 Comments

imageNear the end of my treadmill tempo last week, I noticed a little soreness in my knee. I blew it off and did my cool-down according to plan. The next morning, my knee was definitely sore. Thus, I faced a conundrum all to familiar to all of us: do I attempt my easy run through the minor discomfort, cross train, or take a day off? Do I assume injury and head straight for a medical professional, go with my own instincts for self-treatment with my foam roller, ice, or other tools, or ignore it?

In the past, I often trained right through pain and while it was annoying for weeks or months, I could get away with it and never injured myself worse. But now, after more setbacks than I care to count and finding myself on the other side of 40, what I did in the past isn’t necessarily the best gauge for what to do in my present. So, as I floundered my way through this dilemma, I wondered what you would do.

So tell us:

What do you do when something hurts? When do you train through the pain and when do you admit defeat? When do you consult a medical professional? How has your approach to pain changed through the years? 

Categories: Injury & Prevention, Readers Roundtable
Tags: injuries - general, injury diagnosis, pain
Aqua Jogging: An Alternative to “Real Running”

Aqua Jogging: An Alternative to “Real Running”

Sage Posted by Sage on December 1, 2015 14 Comments

Flickr commons image by Nancy <I'm gonna SNAP!
Flickr commons image by Nancy <I’m gonna SNAP!

Injured?

Is the weather bad, but you’re sick of the treadmill?

Looking for cross training alternatives to improve your running?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then maybe you should consider giving pool running (or aqua jogging) a try.

Why aqua jogging? Running is high impact. Running in water is almost no impact, as your body weighs about 10% of your land weight in water. Your weight-bearing joints and muscles can be given the time they need for recovery while you’re still able to maintain your training schedule and muscle memory. Running is an excellent cardio-vascular exercise. Running in water allows you to maintain, or improve, your cardio-vascular conditioning. I’ll explain the basic requirements of aqua jogging, the benefits, form required, the gear needed (or that’s nice to have), and land versus water workout equivalents.

Read more >>

Categories: Cross Training, Injury & Prevention
Tags: injuries - general, pool running
Running Injury Insurance: The Low Cost Plan You Might Already Have!

Running Injury Insurance: The Low Cost Plan You Might Already Have!

Jasmine Posted by Jasmine on September 15, 2015 3 Comments

MRI = Cha Ching no more! Image via wikipedia.
MRI = Cha Ching no more! Image via wikipedia.

We’re all going to get injured. I know that is not something we like to plan for or even think about, but it happens. Did you know that there is injury insurance out there that is incredibly cheap, might reduce your out of pocket costs for treating injuries to zero and … here’s the real kicker … that you might already have it!

I pick on USATF for a lot of things, but the insurance that comes with any old $35 per year USATF membership is a bargain. When combined with your primary health insurance, the USATF Group Accident Insurance can reduce or eliminate out of pocket costs incurred for treating running injuries. As long as you have your bases covered by checking that your races are sanctioned and practices are registered, this could reduce your out of pocket costs to treating injuries to $0. Sound like a pretty good deal for $35 yearly membership? It could be, but you must keep several things in mind: Read more >>

Categories: Injury & Prevention
Tags: health insurance, injuries - general, USATF, USATF rules
Basil’s Non-Training / Injury Update Log – 5.31.15

Basil’s Non-Training / Injury Update Log – 5.31.15

Basil Posted by Basil on June 2, 2015 3 Comments

The surgeon said I was “lucky.” Not the word I would’ve chosen when I heard the news that I have a femoral neck stress reaction or fracture! But the more I think about it and process the results of the MRI, the more I’m inclined to agree.

The week of my MRI, this was the chronology:

Monday – first track workout in nearly a year. Hip was a little sore afterward, but nothing that felt out of the ordinary.

Tuesday – MRI with a steroid injection. The radiologist warned me I’d feel sore for a couple of days, so I wasn’t surprised when I had some discomfort for the next two days.

Wednesday & Thursday – Ran some easy miles but hip was still pretty sore.

Friday – Off, resting and deciding whether to race the 10k on Saturday. Called the surgeon’s office to get the MRI results before racing. The surgeon was out of town, and the PA who read the results told me it was okay to race as long as it wasn’t “like 26 miles or something.” In retrospect, that was not the best advice. But when a medical professional tells me I CAN run, I don’t question it!

Saturday – “Raced” a 10k and came in a solid 3 minutes slower than I’d secretly hoped. Hip hurt quite a bit before and after the race, pretty much the second I stopped running. I’m used to hip pain, but this felt different…..

For the remainder of the long weekend, I rested the hip and googled hip arthroscopy. I knew from the conversation with the PA that I’d need surgery to fix the labral tear, but didn’t know any of the particulars. I also knew that something else was going on. If it was just the labral tear, the steroids should have relieved the pain within a few days. But the pain was persisting, even at rest. As desperate as I was to deny it, it felt like stress fracture pain.

On Tuesday, I called the surgeon’s office and repeated my question to his nurse. Am I ok to keep running? She told me that he and PA were in surgery until the afternoon, and that he’d call me afterward. That afternoon, she called me with a message, “Dr. L said NOT to run, and he will call you tomorrow.” Ugh!

The call finally came from the surgeon late in the afternoon on Wednesday. The MRI indicated a stress reaction/ possible fracture on the femoral neck. And based on the chronology and my symptoms, we caught it the day after it happened. He said typically this sort of injury can be disastrous as it often goes undiagnosed until after significant damage has been done. Had I kept running on it (as I would have done, just assuming it was pain from the labral tear), it could have easily progressed into a complete fracture or more serious stress fracture. I would’ve been on crutches for weeks, with no running for months…..and that was if it healed well. As it stands now, though, I don’t need crutches and it’s likely I will be able to run again in 4-6 weeks.

So yes, I’m feeling lucky. Lucky that I made it through training and running Boston on a bum hip, that the stress fracture happened AFTER Boston,  that I got the MRI when I did. I already miss running, but I’ve been through this before and know it’s not the end of the world. I can and will come back stronger. It might take a couple of years, but I’ll get there!

Now, back to the reason I got the MRI in the first place–the suspected labral tear. It’s definitely a tear! And it’s due to the structure of my anatomy (CAM impingement) not due to my running mechanics. That’s good news and bad news. The good news is I don’t need to relearn how to run properly. (It wasn’t my fault! It’s not just a weak core or lazy glutes!) The bad news is it’s 99% likely that I have the same impingement issue on the other side and will likely wind up needing surgery on the other hip as well.

The surgery is fairly intense–such that I’ll be on crutches for 3 weeks and unable to drive for a couple of weeks. The earliest I could begin to slowly, cautiously return to running is 9 weeks out. I’m still trying to figure out when I can schedule it, but am thinking it would be late fall or winter at the earliest. I’m feeling at peace with it all, and glad to have mapped out a way forward, back to full strength.

In the meantime, I’m feeling very LUCKY to have avoided crutches and to be able to enjoy this beautiful Alaskan summer with my family!

IMG_8181

Categories: Training Basics, Training Logs
Tags: Basil training logs, hip injury, injuries - general
Readers’ Roundtable: Do You Experience Phantom Injuries During Taper?

Readers’ Roundtable: Do You Experience Phantom Injuries During Taper?

Kyle Gorjanc Posted by Kyle Gorjanc on April 13, 2015 11 Comments

When you've trained long and hard for a marathon, injury can seem catastrophic! img cc via thelatestslub on flickr.
When you’ve trained long and hard for a marathon, injury can seem catastrophic! (img cc via thelatestslub on flickr.)

Lots of us are tapering for our big spring race, myself included.  No, unfortunately it’s not Boston.  It’s New Jersey!  Everyone’s second choice!  (Badabing!)

But seriously, I’m excited for my third marathon on the beautiful Jersey Shore!  My goal is conservative, but that doesn’t mean I’m taking training any less seriously.  I’m approaching my taper with a little more experience under my belt, and if this is like last time, a few aches and pains will likely start creeping up my legs any minute now.

I don’t think it’s any cause for worry…or is it?  I never experience these phantom injuries during a taper for a half marathon, and having only done this a couple of times before, the taper crazies have me wondering: is my sore foot a serious case of PF?  Is my sneeze indicative of a case of SARS?  Does that wonky feeling in my back mean I have sciatica!? Does that click I heard mean my kneecap is going to pop off and roll down the street!?!?

Please tell me this is normal!  Have you experienced “phantom” injuries during a marathon taper–that is, nagging aches and pains that you haven’t felt during your training?  Do you (or would you) take them seriously?

As always, we’ll take your answers in the comments!

Categories: Injury & Prevention, Marathons, Readers Roundtable
Tags: injuries - general, taper
Recovering From Injury? Avoid Being A Helicopter Parent To Your Body

Recovering From Injury? Avoid Being A Helicopter Parent To Your Body

Ginger Posted by Ginger on March 10, 2015 Leave a comment

How it looks to recover from an injury. Image via Flickr user topgold.
How it looks to recover from an injury. Image via Flickr user topgold.

The analogies are endless.

Just as a purple bruise initially hurts and then turns a healing yellow, so too does a running injury.

Just as a cut initially burns but then begins to close up, so too does a running injury.

Just as the storm comes before a rainbow, so too is the process of a running injury.

Just as we may fall down mentally and emotionally, a painful experience often means we are on our way to a breakthrough. Again, the same can be said for a running injury.

But quite possibly the best analogy in such a situation is that of our tendencies to be helicopter parents to our recovering bodies. Stop it, NOW! Read more >>

Categories: Healthy Running, Injury & Prevention
Tags: comebacks, injuries - dealing, injuries - general

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