In the Long Run: Injury

Another fascinating tale in the continuing saga of documenting mine and Triple T's weekly Long Runs.

Injuries are a bitch.

Because I lost* all my races last year due to injury (Hip Flexor and then Plantar Fasciitis), I decided to go about my training this year by doing something I've never done before: Actually listening to my body.

I'll admit, a lot of my previous success was due to the fact that I used to ignore any pain or discomfort and plow through the miles as best I could. After all, when you've just ran 13.1 miles your body is supposed to hurt a bit, right? The sad fact is that this isn't the naivete of a youthful teenager, this was me at 35 acting young, dumb, and full of...well - you know.

The fact that I used to treat stretching like it was some sort of fad that "only hippies did" and believed the term "cool down" didn't apply to me, meant that I shouldn't have been surprised when my first injury hit. I must have had some bad karma going on at that time, because right after the Hip felt better, the Foot went to shit.

Only someone who has had Plantar Fasciitis can appreciate the pain and discomfort involved. When Triple T mentioned that she had it in her left foot, I swear I had sympathy pains in my right. I equate it to childbirth or getting kicked in the nuts - it's easy to shrug off if you've never experienced the pain, but once you have you never want it again. (Although the Wife did want another after the first child, while I have never chosen to be kicked in the nuts a second time. I think that means I win.)

I completed my run before Triple T did hers - and to be honest, it went great. The only issue I had was that with Triple T's injury looming large in my mind, every time my right foot gave any sort of twinge I immediately went into panic mode and started planning my post run stretch and sweating whether or not I'd be running my Half.

It wasn't as bad a distraction as you may have thought - I found out that when you are paying so much attention to your feet, time just flies by, and before I knew it, I was done.

Afterwards I stretched like I was planning on attempting advanced yoga or going to an orgy - I'm sure I sweated more on that mat than I did during the run.

It was a lot like this. Minus the hat, and with pants on.

Fear is a great motivator for thoroughness.

My foot and hip feel fine now - no issues at all. I'm hoping Triple T's run was the same - You can check her out here.

Stay safe, people - listen to your body.

Except when it says to order extra banana peppers on your sub, Just ignore it - the flavor's great, but you'll pay for it in the long run, if you get my drift..







Later.

*By "lost" I mean pussied out and did not enter. Injury prevented me from training properly, and if I was going to go and fail, I wasn't going to play. (This would be the running equivalent of taking my ball and going home.) Classy, eh?