This is one of my first running injuries, and I’ve definitely learned a lot from it.
10. I’m allergic to every kind of tape they have at PT. Every. Single. Kind.
I suspect they have nickel in them (I’m allergic) or my skin is just really sensitive, but they no longer can tape me to remove the “fatty pad” swelling around my knee. It got so bad that I was putting Hydocordisone cream on it multiple times a day and taking Benadryl to try to get the irritation to go away. You can totally still see a faint mark of where the tape irritation was, even though I haven’t gotten taped in over a month. Lesson learned.
9. You have a training plan for a reason. Follow it.
I went into my half marathon having done most of the runs on my plan, but not much of the cross training and strength training. There’s a reason that it’s there, and you should be doing it. Also, follow your training plan. Just do it.
8. It’s all connected.
According to my PT, my patella is inflamed because of having week glutes, core and hips. They’re working hard at strengthening everything, and my hips are always tight/sore. It’s helping to get them stretched out, and to work on strengthening everything else as well.
7. Pay attention to the mileage on your shoes.
I trained for, and ran, my half marathon in my Brooks Ghost shoes. Though I don’t fault the shoes for my injury, I should have been paying closer attention to the mileage. I probably should have broken in and worn a new pair for the half, because my shoes likely contributed to my injury.
6. Less weight, less injuries.
I’m kicking myself for not losing more weight before the half. My poor knees have had to carry weight for so long, and it’s actually surprising that it took this long for me to get a knee injury, running inflicted or not. I owe it to my body to start dropping the poundage, and giving less work to my bones and joints.
5. Patience – even when you don’t want to have it.
It’s all about patience. If you go back too quickly, or don’t listen to your PT, you can end up right back where you started.
4. Just because you read about it on another blog, doesn’t mean you have to do it.
I signed up for my triathlon before I had even finished my half marathon. It’s almost like I felt this (self-imposed) pressure to do the things the other bloggers I was reading about were doing. They signed up for a tri? I can too! A marathon is definitely obtainable some day! While these things are definitely obtainable at some point, they don’t have to be done right now.
3. You have to do things that suck to get back into the game.
Do I like getting up early and going to PT three times a week? Heck no. Did I like getting my cortisone shot? Um, no. Girlfriend is afraid of needles. Do I like paying for these things? Also no, but thank goodness for health insurance which offsets some of the cost.
Unfortunately, these are things that needed to be done for me to overcome this injury, and I’ll continue to do whatever it takes to get back with no very little whining.
2. Don’t dwell on what you can’t do, instead celebrate what you can do.
I don’t see any more half marathons in my foreseeable future. I’m afraid to even go out and try to run right now, because I’m afraid of re-injuring myself, even though I’ve been cleared to try. Instead, I want to focus on taking down my 5K time right now. I can go to spin classes, I can walk, I can do core work. I’m lucky, and I need to celebrate that. Running is not the end all, be all of fitness, and anyone that judges you for “only” running 5Ks is not worth your time.
1. No injury can take away your accomplishments.
I hit a bit of a slump when I was injured so closely to finishing the half. I was upset, and I was disappointed.
But, no injury can take away that I crossed that finish line, and can call myself a half marathoner. Someday, I’ll beat that time, but for now, I’m going to celebrate it and my accomplishments.
Linking up with Amanda today. Let’s Think Out Loud about injuries.
Have you ever had an injury? What have you learned as a result?