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Previous issues: 2004 Soapboxes
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Aimee's Soapbox!
February 2005: Why We Get Injured.
Well, now you did it. You've got a sore knee or a torn ligament or plantar fasciitis or a pulled something-or-another,
and you want answers. You're mad at your stupid shoes or the dumb snow shovel or even your crappy socks 'cause
SOMETHING has to be to blame.
(OK, you long-time readers know what I am going to say next. For you newbies.... brace yourselves.)
To find the probable cause of your injury, look in the mirror, bub.
That's right. YOU. I am sorry to tell you that most likely it was not your shoes or your socks or even
the snow shovel. (Well, unless you smacked yourself in the head with the shovel and got a concussion. I'll
give you that one.)
See, most times, the injuries that we runners tend to get are usually the chronic kind. That is, the
injuries are not of the acute variety (as in the shovel-to-the-head example above), but are typically the
built-up-over-time variety. Bear with me here; I know I am making some big generalizations. You'll see
where I am going with it.
Anyway, since these injuries are the chronic kind, that means that it took some time to build up to it. But
the body, being an amazingly self-righting mechanism, can withstand a lot of abuse before it finally cracks.
Let's look at some examples of how we contribute to the abuse. Because what we all tend to do is associate the
events or circumstances of the exact moment of injury with the actual CAUSE of the injury. (In other words, "I was
wearing these shoes and socks and it was on a Friday in the park when the injury happened, so those shoes-socks-
days-trails caused my problem.") But in reality, it was most likely all the stuff leading up to that day that caused
the injury. Here are some likely candidates that you should be blaming instead of your poor shoes.
1. OVERTRAINING. What has your training been like in the months or weeks leading up to your injury? Did you
increase your mileage dramatically? Did you do too much too soon before you had a solid base? When was the last time
you took a complete rest day? Sure, the pros can do 75 or 80 miles a week, but THAT'S THEIR JOB. They don't
have to train like that and then go to work. They get regular massage therapy, have their own chiropractors, and can
take naps in the middle of the day. Unless you are training to win the Boston Marathon or are going to the
Olympics, it is unrealistic and unnecessary for most of us to run 100 miles a week.
2. DEHYDRATION. Be honest. Have you been good about drinking water? The rule of thumb is to drink, in ounces, the
number equal to half your weight. And that's for sedentary folks. If you are working out, you are sweating more and
thus losing more water which needs to be replaced. And if you are drinking coffee or other diuretics, then you need to account
for that too.
3. NOT STRETCHING. I don't care what some of those other magazines and so-called experts have been reporting. . .
stretching is necessary and good. Not stretching is like not changing the oil in your car. You can get away with it
for a while, but it WILL catch up with you in the end.
4. WRONG INTENTION. Now this one goes back to last month's article where we talked about your mindset and your
internal reality. So, for this one, you need to look at HOW and WHY you are working out. Is it because you
"ate something bad" like ice cream or cake and then felt you needed to redeem yourself by running a 20-miler? Is it
because you have a poor body image and so you spend three hours at the Y, working out on every machine twice? As you learned
in last month's article, your body will believe you if you are always telling it that it's no good or too fat or
to slow or not worthy. (Get the book "The Hidden Messages in Water." This book was featured in "What the Bleep?" and
has some way groovy theories in it pertaining to this topic.)
Anyway, I'll finish up by asking you to look in the mirror, be honest with yourself, and truly examine your
lifestyle and habits for the causes of your injuries before you go blaming some other external factors. At the very least,
you will learn some useful stuff about yourself and maybe make some changes for the better.
Coming up...
Ummm..... not sure yet, but don't worry, it'll be something groovy.
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