Q&A – 3 Steps to Healing Your Repetitive Injuries

Deanna M asks: How do you avoid repetitive injury if you allow healing time?

Repetitive injuries are common with runners because it gets frustrating sitting on the “sidelines”. But if you ask any experienced runner/athlete, they will tell you to rest rather than go all out on your next run. Here is how you deal with the possibilities of repetitive injuries while allowing it to heal properly:

photo credit: truthlying

1) Rest your injured body. This is very straightforward. Listen, if you have pulled your back or your shins are firing up to the point you can barely run or whatever it is, the best thing to do at that point is rest. There is no reason why you should be running or pushing yourself while sustaining an injury.

The one question that pops up is: “how long do I rest for?” The answer to this question is solely based on the extent of the injury. There are injuries that are more serious where the injury involves damage to the skeletal structure. For those injuries, your physician will have the most realistic rest period. For smaller injuries, rest for a couple of days at the very LEAST before jumping back into exercise or the same injury will reappear faster than you can say “OUCH!”.

2) Ease into running. Once you feel that your body is 80-90%, ease into running rather than immediately going for a 10 miler. It’s funny because I was in the situation where I had enough of just sitting around. The day I felt good, I ran like I never ran before and was running as if I were chasing freedom!

…when I got home, that inspirational and invigorating run turned into a world of hurt and pain. The best way to start running again is doing lower impact exercises. Go on the elliptical and the bikes before you start running on the paved ground. What many runners really enjoy is swimming during injuries. I swam a couple of times during rough patches of training and I have to say that I enjoyed the change of pace.

3) Track your results or prepare for more injuries. Tracking your training through tools such as journals or an online tool such as Training Peaks. Here is more information on what running logs are and how you can take advantage of them: Running Logs.

An injury is simply but repetitive injuries are even worst. I’m sure that with resting, easing into running and tracking progress as the body heals, running will go back to normal and enjoyable!