Originally Posted by
walkerwek1958
The problem with running is the vicious circle effect. Usually they're caused by over-use/over-exertion, you rest till they go away, but then go out and repeat the activity that caused them in the first place. Trying to get to the underlying cause is difficult without professional medical help and that can be expensive without any guarantee of success. One of my yardsticks was to continue light training if the injury wasn`t getting worse, but sometimes that can prolong recovery and create a situation where the problem becomes chronic.
I was extremely fortunate, I worked for a big employer on a large site which had its own physiotherapy room for treatment of work-related injuries. I got free physio treatment 3 times/week if required and I learned quite a lot. After tearing an Achilles I was told it would never be the same again and strongly advised to quit running aged 26.....that didn`t go down well but over the years her prophesy has proved correct.
Simply doing too much running, or too much hard running, can lead to injuries. Everyone has a different threshold for training, just because the rest of your club can run 60+ miles/week doesn`t mean you can. Training hard every day means working tired legs hard, unfortunately that goes with the territory if you want to succeed, but it does increase the risk of breakdown. Running on alternate days and doing gym work (or cycling/swimming) on the others can work better for some, I did this in my 30s and felt a lot better.
People who work full time end up running on the roads in winter, that's a given for most folks, but I`d always advocate running on soft ground if possible, at least for some sessions. The pounding effect on hard surfaces does no-one any good, soft shoes help and replacing shoes regularly helps too.
Finally, I`ll share this one: After a trip to the gym recently I got the urge to have a run afterwards, it was a nice sunny afternoon so I parked up close to the woods locally and did some light running.....wearing a pair of shoes with no tread whatsoever. On encountering a patch of mud I ended up flat on the floor, falling on my right thumb and spraining it. It hurt, and it's still painful after 5 or 6 weeks. It stopped me working on watches for a while, and pints had to be lifted left-handed!
Be careful out there.