Bouncing back from an injury (guest post).

by

monica-lb-half

Bouncing Back from an Injury

I am a runner.

Well, I was a runner until an injury put a complete halt on my running endeavors…

I ran the Disney World Marathon January 10 and a week later had some pain in my knee. I ignored it and kept running. Over my next few runs it got worse. This teaches us our first lesson of the day:
NEVER run through knee pain.

After a few more painful runs I finally bit the bullet and went to the doctor. She diagnosed me with IT Band Syndrome.

And then I heard the words no runner ever wants to hear…

“You’re never going to qualify for Boston” No, not that (even though that might be worse).

My Physical Therapist told me, “No running for eight weeks.”  Noooooooo! (Imagine me screaming this in a dramatic slow motion sequence.)

I somehow managed to contain my composure and not start crying or breaking things. But, I did have a slight panic attack on the way home. And that’s when I decided to make the best of this time off and explore new avenues of exercise (that were PT approved).

Suddenly a whole new world of opportunity opened for me and Spinning, Kickboxing and Yoga were all new potential suitors. I tried them all and had a good time, but always knew my true love is running.

So, I was ecstatic when my Physical Therapist cleared me to begin running again just 5 weeks later! I credit this early return to my diligent practice of the “homework” she gave me (hip exercises) and respecting that I could not run.

How I bounced back from an injury:

1.    When my doctor told me not to do something I didn’t do it! (Seems obvious, but I know athletes are a stubborn group)
2.    RICE – Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation : I made an effort to be kinder to myself and spend some time nursing my wounds
3.    Respect my limits and listen to my body: Once I was cleared to return to running I had to start off slow.  I can’t run as far or as fast as I did in January, but pushing myself too early might irritate the injury again.
4.    STOP if it hurts.  Seriously, stop at the first sign of “injury pain”.
I don’t wish any type of injury on anyone, but if you are ever “benched” from your favorite activity I hope you take it easy on your body and bounce back soon

You can read more of Monica’s musings at her blog RunEatRepeat.

POSTS BY EMAIL

Never miss a post. Enter your email to get my latest posts delivered to your inbox.

Comments

  1. Good, straightforward advice, Monica. It’s great that you tried other things when you couldn’t do the one thing you love. That’s great discipline.

    Heading over to check out your site now.

  3. I can’t thank you enough for this article. I am one of those people that has high tolerance for pain and a low tolerance for taking it easy. I need to start tuning into my body aches (like my knee!) in the short term so they hold up for the long haul.

    Thanks!

  4. So glad you didn’t go hardheaded like some people do! You bounced back because you were smart about it. But I am a little bummed that the RICE wasn’t real rice. Like the kind you eat. No food therapy to fix knees? dang.

  5. Such great advice. I’ve been dealing with knee pain (chondromalacia in both knees) for more than five years and the greatest thing I’ve learned is to slow down and really take time to recover. I rebounded way too fast when my knees first started hurting and now I have so little cartilage left. Resting for a week, eight weeks, or even five months is nothing compared to never running (or walking without pain) again!

  6. Such great advice with a real life example to show it all. I am really bad at this taking it easy stuff when things don’t feel right BUT back when I was young & doing 5K’s, my knee started to hurt. I found that I was always pushing myself too much & hard in the races so I stepped back & stopped the races because I can’t get away from being competitive in them. No I mix it up & do running by what feels right to me.

  7. Congrats on the quick recovery! I concur; there are some situations where, instead of “pushing through”, we need to take a break and let our bodies relax. Once we do that, we’ll be even stronger than before.

  8. This makes me want to cry a little bit as I am laid off from running right now due to injury. I want a fast recovery, but I don’t want this to become chronic, either.

    Glad you recovered!

  9. I once had a physical therapist tell me that her hardest patients to treat were runners because, “well, they won’t STOP running!” Then she looked at me and said, “Stop or you’ll make it so bad you’ll never run again.” That’s the only sentence worse than “don’t run for ___ weeks.” I stopped and lived to run another day. I also love rolling the IT band – or most any other tendon type injury. Foam rollers are great but an old fashioned rolling pin works really well too!

  10. Great advice!! I too have an injury. Stress fracture in my left tibia.

    Orthopedic doc- “no running for 3 months”. Holy shit!!! What am I going to do. I HATE SPIN!!!!

    I have just had to suck it up. I am going to miss the half that I registered for just a week before the diagnosis. I will be able to run again on June 20th. So I will only have about two weeks to get ready for the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on July 4th.

    But, I am trying to use that as a motivator… so I can get ready by getting on the elliptical and do other things that I can do to get ready.

    Thank you!! I am REALLY enjoying your blog and your podcasts…. I am going back and listening to old ones.

    WeighDownSouth.com

  11. I hated that notion of I couldn’t run for 8 weeks. Especially after taking a year off for back surgery. I was devastated. But you are right…following orders and doing homework got me back to running and better now because I know how to handle my body more gently.

  12. I learned the “stop when it hurts” and “increase miles slowly” lesson the hard way when I went out on a beautiful day about 2 years ago just after I started running, and because I was enjoying pushing myself, I ran double my normal run, way further than I had ever before. My heel hurt so bad the next day I could barely walk, and I had to stay off it for 2 weeks. I’ve learned to listen to my body more, and I’ve had ouchies here and there, but never longer than a few days of taking it easy…

    I hope not to have to endure a major injury!

  13. Love it! I am so bad at rule #1! So I love hearing about other people who took a break from their exercise and lived to tell the tale:)

  14. Self Myofascial Release every time you run. Before and After. I am serious if you want to be a runner and you want to prevent injury make sure you are foam rolling. If you don’t do active stretching it will make a huge difference as well. Seriously look into these things you will thank me later.

  15. So many of us think we don’t have to follow the rules, this is a good reminder.

    I’m glad you are getting better.

  17. good info, monica!

    i was faced about 18 mnths ago with a torn meniscus in my left knee after running for 11 years. i knew i couldn’t just use running as my only form of cardio any more. i joined a gym to cross train and found out that i actually enjoyed using the elliptical, precor and bike. i eventually found kickboxing too, which i love. i also found weights! who knew how awesome strength training could be!?!?

  18. Happy to hear that you can go running again.

    I’ve had an injury about two years ago and listened what my PT said too but when it was healed I was scared to go back to exercising again since I got my injury in a Steps class. It took me a few weeks before I dared to try it again.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This