December Running Challenge

johnsonnelly wrote: »

When I read of the fears that people have regarding injury it gives me memories of the past 1.5 years of my life. When I decided to start running last year I thought that I just needed shoes and determination so I did zero research and ended up pushing myself too hard, too fast without any clue how to carry myself or the importance of GOOD shoes. I ended up with a fractured tibial plateau in my right leg. That took me out of running and put me on crutches for a couple of months. After I was released to run again I had started to do some research and learned quite a bit. I had heard of barefoot running so I bought a pair of barefoot shoes and took off again. Well.....AGAIN, I had no idea how to ease into a different way of running, and guess what? I fractured my OTHER tibial plateau (no, I do not have brittle bones....as a matter of fact it turns out that they are rather strong....I was just not being smart or careful). After taking some time off to let that heal I had done a lot more research and decided to protect my legs and try to follow a plan to increase my pace and distance. I ended up with a pulled Achilles tendon early this year from playing Softball but I was very careful and it healed quickly. After realizing that I need to listen to my body and not try to meet someone else's goals, because if my body is in motion beyond a walk I am running and that is the goal, I have been able to gain ability and strength and have been injury free for almost a year! My advice is that if you go for slow increases and listen to your body (which includes STOPPING if something starts to hurt, that is how my fractures happened was pushing through the initial pain) AND you have GOOD shoes you should be fine. I have read several books written by runners and done a lot of running research that has helped me come up with a plan that works for me. If you have any doubt about health or injury please see a doctor and do not attempt to diagnose yourself. Happy running!!! By the way, I have only been running for less than a year, because of the time off for injuries early on, and I have lost (and maintained) 41 pounds (as well as bringing my cholesterol numbers, which were high for my age, down over 100 points into a healthy range) and feel better than I ever have so in my opinion running can be a life saver!!