How many have you have stopped running due to injury?

I broke my ankle just over 8 months ago and still am not healed enough to attempt to run.

I'm determined to get back out there though.

Highly recommended finding a good physio

I've got so many running injury stories I wouldn't know where to begin.
Shin splints. Sprained ankles. Torn meniscus. Tennis players leg.....
Ran through them all. The problem with runners is that we keep going through discomfort. That's the name of the game. Right? We want to stop, but we keep going, despite the pain and discomfort. Sometimes we lose common sense.
All that said, no, normal, regular running is not going to hurt a person or their knees. Researchers have followed long-time runners and looked at their knees with imaging machines. Barring a serious injury to the cartilage or ligaments that do not heal (like a torn ACL), they do not see evidence of accumulated damage. On the contrary, older runners seem to have healthier knees than the general population.
Sometimes, doctors get the mistaken impression that something is harmful because they only see people when they are sick or injured. Guy comes in, his knee hurts, and he is a runner = running is bad for your knees. But the doctor never sees all those other guys who run all the time but don't come in.
Researchers even once followed a group of runners running this cross-Europe, 2,000-mile race, with an MRI machine. They found that the runners knees showed evidence of being slightly inflamed and stressed for about the month. Their knee and ankle cartilage seemed to get degraded during that time. But after that the cartilage appeared to rebound and stay healthy for the rest of the race. It even seemed to regenerate.
That suggests that running is actually good for your knees and ankles, and perhaps the other involved joints too.
https://press.rsna.org/timssnet/Media/pressreleases/14_pr_target.cfm?id=1848

If it hurts to run, don't run. But don't quit running because you might get hurt. Warm up, stretch wear great shoes that support your feet and ankles and have a great play list!

rybo wrote: »

I was relatively lucky, I never had a running injury sideline me longer than a week to rest up.

Many times a "running injury" is nothing more than a pre-existing condition that has been exposed or made worse by running. I think with smart programming, proper precautions and some common sense, most running injuries can be avoided or minimized.

I totally agree with this. Many people want to blame running when it's actually poor form, bad shoes or as rybo said - a pre-existing condition that causes the injury/issue. Flat feet, weak ankles, arthritis, a previous non-running injury, etc. are more likely culprits. If you want to run, you'll find a way to run. If you don't - you'll find a reason not to.

marikaCL wrote: »

I broke my ankle just over 8 months ago and still am not healed enough to attempt to run.

I'm determined to get back out there though.

Highly recommended finding a good physio

You can do it! Time, patience and doing your PT exercises religiously!

currently dealing with a bout of Piriformis Syndrome, which is causing sciatic pains down my left leg. Not quite sure what the initial cause was but have got some stretches to do, finally bought a foam roller and am going to do the stupid thing of continuing to run.
Mostly because I have a 100km run planned in September and my 12 week training plan starts today and secondly because if I'm not running then I become a really miserable person.

i'm currently injured myself. first time since i started running. 2 overworked muscles on the same leg, really close to each other. it's been 2 weeks already, and i have no idea when i will run again. i've been feeling better , but haven't tried running yet.i 'm hoping in the next couple of weeks i'll be able to start again.fingers crossed!

11 months ago I crushed my ankle between a guardrail and my motorbike, I've got 2 plates and 11 screws. I've had three surgeries so I couldn't weight bear for at least 6 months, leg wasted away with all the atrophy. I had three orthopedic surgeons and even a plastic surgeon tell me that I would probably never run again.

3 weeks ago, I started running on the treadmill, slow run with walking intervals but I'm running. I have a lot of work to do cause range of motion is still bad in the ankle and my leg is considerably smaller then the other leg. It was A LOT of hard work to get to this point, 3 times a week of physio, 3 times a week of acupuncture, 2 times a week of deep tissue massage and I was doing hydrotherapy as well but stopped, not enough time.

I swear the impact of the running has made the range of motion better on the ankle, forcing it to move. A lot of scar tissue has built up around my ankle because I've been sliced open 3 times in 3 different areas, some twice. Anyone want to share stories of how to deal with ankle hardware, I would love to hear it cause I have lots!

Ryokat wrote: »

Tattooedmom44 wrote: »

Ryokat wrote: »

Tattooedmom44 wrote: »

I used to enjoy running, but it got to the point that my knees and hips constantly hurt. I finally had to give it up and started lifting instead.

Was that before or after your stroke?

That was after my stroke. I used my treadmill daily to learn how to walk again. Then gradually increased the speed until I could run. I started training and ended up running a 5 K, but my old joints just couldn't take the impact of running.

Please forgive all the questions, but I am interested in other stroke survivors who run/were able to run after stroke. What was your gait pattern like as compared to before the stroke? If it was altered, do you think that contributed to your injury? How did your stroke arm fare while running?

My gait pattern changed during running because it would cause nerve pain flare ups on my affected side which would cause me to start limping. Under normal circumstances you can't even tell that I've had a stroke, but when I get tired or have a nerve pain flare up, I start to limp. I have limited sensation in my affected foot. My affected arm has completely returned. Only my hand is affected. I can only feel half of it. Please ask me anything that you like.

MobyCarp wrote: »

Avoiding injury while running is a learning process. Runners who run for distance and keep doing so for years learn when to back off to prevent injury. They learn when to back off and when to stop to keep a minor injury from becoming a major injury. This is a frustrating process, as there are no bells that ring when you get it right; there is only pain when you get it wrong.

I can understand people who give up running because learning how to run without getting injured is too difficult. I can understand people who simply decide that running is not their thing. That's okay. I do wish that those who give up running because they got injured would not try to convince us that *everyone* should avoid running because it causes injury.

It is possible that running may be contra-indicated for your personal health situation. I find that sad, but it is true that the risk of injury while running is too great for some individuals. It is not true for all individuals.

^^ This is very well said.

I have lived this process, as have my training partners and my coach, who is an ultra runner and 4 time Ironman. Injuries happen and recovery can sometimes be frustrating. With that said, I still find the benefits far exceed the risks.

I had to give up running after being a lifetime running. I have chondromalacia patellae and it can't be fixed. The cartilage is so torn, two orthopedic docs said they couldn't do surgery. It wouldn't matter. Plus, I have degenerative osteoarthritis in my knees too! I had a double whammy at the orthopedic office that day. I was told if I want to keep walking, that I had to give up running!

I recently had to stop due to issues with Achilles Tendonitis. I pretty much stopped running for 4 months. I just upped my swimming and biking. After giving my ankle time to heal, I'm slowly adding running back in to my cardio rotation and feeling pretty good. I didn't lose too much speed or endurance.

I have trouble running, but not because of an injury caused by running. An old car accident finally caught up with me 25 years later, in the form of arthritis in one ankle. There are days where I can still run, but not consistently, I have gradually become a swimmer. I miss aerobic/dance type exercise even more though, my ankle is not letting me do any jumping

I was never ever a serious runner. I also never really injured myself in my attempts to become a runner. I also tried hard to understand the mechanics of running so that I was as easy on my body as possible. But, I found it extremely hard on my body. Achy legs (not muscle aches....bone aches), complaining hardware from a surgery, tweaky hip. I tried all sorts of things to make it better, but just could never seem to get it quite right, and it wasn't something I enjoyed enough to solider through. I ran to make myself fitter for other things I enjoy far more, but running was starting to make those things uncomfortable because of all the niggling little issues it was causing. So, I stopped. If I enjoyed it, I would have pushed through. I know how to do that having pushed through much worse things for other things I enjoy doing. But it didn't have enough appeal for me to think "I love this. I will tough this out."

MobyCarp wrote: »

Avoiding injury while running is a learning process. Runners who run for distance and keep doing so for years learn when to back off to prevent injury. They learn when to back off and when to stop to keep a minor injury from becoming a major injury. This is a frustrating process, as there are no bells that ring when you get it right; there is only pain when you get it wrong.

I can understand people who give up running because learning how to run without getting injured is too difficult. I can understand people who simply decide that running is not their thing. That's okay. I do wish that those who give up running because they got injured would not try to convince us that *everyone* should avoid running because it causes injury.

It is possible that running may be contra-indicated for your personal health situation. I find that sad, but it is true that the risk of injury while running is too great for some individuals. It is not true for all individuals.

This is very true. I am currently sidelined from running with high hamstring tendinitis. Looking back, I can pinpoint the exact mistakes I made that led to the injury and I know I will not make them again.

In the meantime, I am focusing on keeping my cardio fitness up by biking and swimming and I am also focusing in strength training, especially my core, and doing balance and agility exercises, as I have learned that these things go a long way in helping to avoid injury. The biggest two mistakes that runners make that lead to injury are running too many miles and ignoring strength training.