RUNNERS - What would you do?

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  • funjen1972
    funjen1972 Posts: 949 Member
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    Is there a compromise? Maybe you can walk or swim the extra distance without additional risk of injury?
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    Ask your doctor whether walking is a safe alternative. If it is, finish your miles by walking.

    I would personally be very tempted to run, so I understand how you feel. But I would try very hard to not run and to tell myself that I’d rather have long term health over the short term satisfaction of meeting an arbitrary distance target.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Well, of course, as rational, objective individuals, we're all going to tell you: Stop running.
    Wait for the appointment.
    If you continue to injure yourself further, your recovery will take longer. You have a race in April.
    What do you miss out on if you stop? A medal and a hearty hand-shake! Big deal. That and $3 will get your cup of coffee.
    You already accumulated the benefits of your challenge by getting so far. You're not going to accrue any appreciably better conditioning by finishing the 33. You are not going to miraculously become faster.
    All that said ....
    We're runners. We're not rational. We run through pain -- that's like the definition of being a long-distance runner. A marathon hurts. A 5k hurts, if you are trying to catch and pass that guy just in front of you. We all get shin splints. We all get a runners knee, or a tennis-players calf, at some time; it does not cause us to shift to golf or billiards. We keep going.
    I ran almost 15 years with pretty severe plantar fasciitis. Lately, I've been running through a torn meniscus. Was that stubbornness dumb? Probably. Did my recovery take longer because I ignored my injuries and abused them? Perhaps. But, I'm still running -- perhaps because I haven't let a physical challenge knock me off from training, which might have been worse, if it started a downhill spiral.
    I'm better now. Both knee and feet. I'm strong for my age. Perhaps because I fought through.
    Doctors are ninny-nannies. They're advice is always to stop. It is always to not do. Why? Because they don't care about down the road health and fitness. They only care that you don't come back in two weeks, with worse pain, and ask: "Why did you tell me I could push on?" So, they play it safe. Their goal is not to get you back out there as soon as possible, their objections to the contrary. Their aim is to not be sued for malpractice or to be called a quack if someone gets a worse injury.
    I think those doctors err too far on the side of caution.
    The question really is: Are you willing to take the chance of continuing, knowing that you might exacerbate your injury and that, if you do, your recovery might take 3-4 months instead of 1 month? For example.

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