Why so many injuries?!?

Shaungoater

I just can't seem to catch a break injury wise. Every time I get momentum together run wise and my times start to fall bang, injury. This time it's my it band. I then tried to go back too early and it hurts again. I am training for Barcelona in march but fearing if this doesn't clear I will be in trouble.

Any advice? I do foam roll, could be my runners?

average_runner

Shaungoater wrote: »

I just can't seem to catch a break injury wise. Every time I get momentum together run wise and my times start to fall bang, injury. This time it's my it band. I then tried to go back too early and it hurts again. I am training for Barcelona in march but fearing if this doesn't clear I will be in trouble.

Any advice? I do foam roll, could be my runners?

Do you do core work?
How many key sessions a week?
Did you get a gait analysis?
Did you follow physio exercises?

Shaungoater

average_runner wrote: »

Do you do core work?
How many key sessions a week?
Did you get a gait analysis?
Did you follow physio exercises?

No to core work
I do 4-5 sessions a week, but lately it's been two or three.
I had gait analysis done last year alright
Yeh follow them alright, tend to get a lot of dry needling done that foam rolling just won't cure

average_runner

Shaungoater wrote: »

No to core work
I do 4-5 sessions a week, but lately it's been two or three.
I had gait analysis done last year alright
Yeh follow them alright, tend to get a lot of dry needling done that foam rolling just won't cure

How many of those 5 sessions are hard?
Dry needling usually happens because muscles are tight, so any stretching?

Also follow a core program or do pilates.

Shaungoater

average_runner wrote: »

How many of those 5 sessions are hard?
Dry needling usually happens because muscles are tight, so any stretching?

Also follow a core program or do pilates.

Yeh used to do Pilates but small kids work running etc make it difficult to do it all. I do stretch but mainly foam roll pre and post runs. I know that's not ideal.

It depends what you mean by hard. When I am 5km and 10km training most of my runs were slow with some speed work one day and a medium session another. Now for marathons, I was doing one long run then the other days they were shorter and slower with one speed session

average_runner

Shaungoater wrote: »

Yeh used to do Pilates but small kids work running etc make it difficult to do it all. I do stretch but mainly foam roll pre and post runs. I know that's not ideal.

It depends what you mean by hard. When I am 5km and 10km training most of my runs were slow with some speed work one day and a medium session another. Now for marathons, I was doing one long run then the other days they were shorter and slower with one speed session

Core program is something you can do when your in your room waiting for the kids go asleep in the other rooms.

pconn062

It's impossible to say why someone is getting re-occuring injuries. Some people are just more prone to injuries than others. This can be down to a number of factors: sleep, nutrition, shortened tissue/tight muscles, biomechanical issues, poor running form, training errors (too much quality work), stress, surfaces (do you do all your running on the same route), etc. You need to examine each of these areas and score yourself out of five (and be honest). For example are you getting 8+ hours of sleep a night? If so that's a 5/5, if you are only getting 6 then that's 3/5, less than that and you're on 1/5. Do this for all areas highlighted above and see how you score, something might strike a chord with you.

It may also be worth going to a physio/therapist who has a background in sport, and if possible, an athletics background. They may be able to shine some light on a muscle imbalance issue or a bio mechanical issue if there is one.

ITBS (if that's what you have, this is not medical advice) is a classic overuse injury, but mild cases can clear up in a few days. Follow the ITB to the top of your hip and you'll find the TFL muscle. Spend a few minutes with either a tennis ball or just your fingers and loosen out that muscle, and the other surrounding hip muscles.

Tigerandahalf

OP there is an impatience about your first post.

How good of a base have you?

Too many people rush into marathons without having a good solid base of running under them.

Foam rolling to me means trying to apply a cure. You need to prevent it in the first place.

I would never stretch (or foam roll) before a run but definitely do afterwards - about 10 mins - doing all the core muscles of the legs for 15s × 2. Hamstrings, quads, glutes, groins and calves.

If I didn't I would be stiff as a poker the following day. All your leg muscles would have tightened up pulling on each other and causing possible injury down the road.

Even at that I still had trouble with my glutes so I started doing a core routine 2/3 times a week.
1 minute plank
30s side planks for each leg
30 push ups
Flip over onto my back and do
20s x 3 Straight leg raises (I rise both straightened legs an inch off the ground, then after 20s raise them a further couple of inches and then 20s later back down to an inch for a further 20s - hard but get great for stomach core).

Then I do 3 more leg raises (20s each) with the knees bent and my back lifted up - lying on my lower back. This really works the core.

To finish I do leg crosses (glute work) for 20s each where I swing one leg across my body to touch the ground near my opposite elbow (doing it lying on ground).

The above is the only core/stretching routine that I do and it only takes 10 mins at the end of a run. It works for me but you need to learn what works for your body.

Shaungoater

Thanks for the replies, I probably do rush back from injuries quickly which doesn't help. I will try some core work and more stretching.

I plan to make a trip to the big schmoke to get further gait analysis next week and new runners.

I am also on my way to get a tennis ball!

I would have a good base of running, I run all year round. I have done numerous parkruns, 5kms 10kms half and marathons. It's getting my times down now I am after but injuries keep happening and have done for as long as I remember

IvoryTower

What works for me is strength work. 2 days in the gym. Seems to keep me right, no injuries yet.

flash84962

Hi all. I would like to add something to this. Just to offer some background I am a musculoskeletal physiotherapy and avid runner/cyclist. I also have some training in strength and conditioning and exercise physiology. I am not going to annoy the mods by giving the OP medical advice etc and I will avoid discussion of previous treatment. So I will keep it general. There will be no old wife's tales or spoof, everything is from my own personal and professional experience and can be backed up by recent scientific research. I won't add references but if you want more info I can add it later.

1/ overtraining is the number one cause of running injury. The key here is load management. A good rule is not to fluctuate your training by more or less then 10% from week to week. If you run 100k this week next week it's between 90-110k. No more no less. Strava or Garmin give weekly totals both in distance and time graphs and can be tracked easily. Obviously this will not apply with a taper.

2. Set a goal and plan. This is a good time of year for it. 3-4 big races a year, with a planned training phase to build up to it. And an easy phase after. This is a graded exposure to increased load/training. This also aids point number one. Hal higdons program are all excellent at this. Fitness/good running is like a savings account the better the planing and the more time you put into it the bigger the windfall on race day. Avoid the temptation to race too often both from a fitness and injury point of view.

3/ 2 days a week of body weight strength work is proven to reduce 50% of overuse injuries and improves 5k times. Stretching has never been proven to effect likelihood of injury. Check out kinetic revolution, their 30 day challenge is an excellent start for the new year. Saying that I do a bit of strength, stretch and rolling on a semi regular basis.

4/ in teenagers the number one predictor of injury is amount of sleep. Research was published about 6 months ago that found that 80% of sports playing adolescent who slept less than 7hrs a night developed an injury compared to 20% who slept on average 9 hours. Your body puts itself back together during sleep. This can be difficult in a house with kids in it.

5/ recovery after running is so important and nutrient I feel is the most important thing. Personally 2 scoops of protein powder and a load of fruit/veg blended with water as soon as I get makes an unreal difference. This is the advice the provincial rugby nutritional guy was advocating a few years back. Obviously on top of a good diet generally.

6/ vary your training. Distance, gradient, pace, speedwork etc. Following a marathon plan as in point 2 should incorporate that.

7/ have a look at your cadence. Most Garmins now do this for you. Goal standard is 180 beats a minute. If it's below this try working it up by 5. Loads of stuff on line on this recently . Really effective way to reduce over striding.

8/ there is no substitute for planning and hard work. No amount of fancy runners or k tape, needling to the arse will hold you together if you are training incorrectly.

I don't think anyone can ever not develop some type of issue but certainly we can make ourselves much more robust and less likely to get a long term injury.

Tigerandahalf

Flash

I think what you say about sleep is definitely true. An extra hour or two can make a huge difference not just to recovery but the immune system too.

Also at this time of the year with the lack of sun a vitamin D3 supplement is well worth it.