? For Runners--injuries in one area affecting another

alaliberte

I have been struggling with some foot pain from running. Long story short, I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with it, but the swelling is going down and it's getting better. For some reason as I re-introduce running other leg muscles are being affected by my foot issue. Is this common? Is it that I could be overcompensating and "nursing" the foot and putting pressure elsewhere?

How am I supposed to keep the level of fitness I have if I back off of it completely?

scottb81

That happens if you change your footstrike or stride to compensate for the pain. If you have to stop running because of the pain you will not loose any significant fitness in a week. In 2 weeks you lose a little bit. After two weeks it starts going pretty fast.

You can maintain most of the fitness by crosstraining until you can run again. If you have access to a pool then pool running is probably best. Another option is cycling.

Pisc2749

VERY common. Everything is connected after all. When one part of your body is injured, other parts tend to overcompensate and it causes strain on those parts, setting them up for injury.

I've been dealing with a hamstring injury for a few months now (thanks to running). It affects my knee, lower back, hips. Knocks everything out of alignment. My other leg, which is fine, suffers as well because I'm automatically easing up on my injured leg.

And, honestly, you can't keep the same level of fitness while recovering from an injury. You can't perform the same way, so it's impossible. What you can do, is do other things until you can run again.

I turned to strength training and killer cardio workouts to keep in shape, so I never stopped working out - but even now, when I'm easing myself back into running, I can't go as far or as fast as I could before. I'm having to gradually progress all over again and it sucks, but being injured sucks more. I hated to stop running but I finally realized my leg was NOT getting any better. I was just running through the pain. My runs sucked and I was in constant pain. It's not worth it.

alaliberte

Good ideas for keeping the fitness up.

I have decreased to running only 2 miles one day and between 1-2 on one other. The rest of the week is biking, hiking, yoga and one swim. I'm concerned that I won't be able to do the Triathlon I signed up for on August 12. Just not up to snuff on the running yet.

Oh--supplements you recommend for speedy recovery? I like the Emergen-C, but what about Calcium and magnesium?

Thanks!