Sunday, October 28, 2012

Running injuries

I've always been a short to mid-distance runner. When I was a school athlete, my events were 400m and 800m runs (and occasionally, the 1500m, and once, the 3000m, although that did not end well :P).

When I went back to running this year, I thought I'd train up for some fun runs next year. I think the minimum mileage for those runs are generally 5km, which my body isn't used to yet, hence the training. During my first run this year, I clocked 3km in 25min... not great, but I was pretty happy considering I hadn't been running since... well... since I was 17 (and I'm currently... 17 with 9 years experience). Now, I can do about 4.5km in 30min, which is getting close to my goal of 5km in under 30 min.

All I want to do is run free... and have great legs....
(Source)
Last week though, I started to feel a twinge in my knee. It's not painful, I'd rate it a 1-2 out of 10, but it is uncomfortably worrying, especially since my mum has a bad knee. Two years ago, I would have ignored the pain and kept running and probably ruin my knee, but after last year's struggle with my wrist injury, I know to listen to any body aches and pains, particularly joint ones.

So, for the next few weeks, until I'm satisfied that the pain in my knee has subsided, I will not be doing any high-impact running. All runs will be substituted with the dreaded crosstrainer. The problem I have with the crosstrainer is that I find it harder... all that resistance means I clock up less km (and I like my resistance up high), and therefore, am not sure if I'm meeting my goals of 5km under 30 minutes, although I guess if I can do 5km on the crosstrainer, I can definitely do a 5km run easily, possibly while carrying mini-weights.

My current plan to combat my knee injury is to:
  • Substitute all runs with crosstrainer 
  • Wear a knee support band 

Any other suggestions? I'm open... 

6 comments:

  1. Great blog. I have always hated running, but started earlier in the year, and after a month of sweat and tears started to enjoy it. I also started to get shin and knee pains, and then bought a new pair of running shoes, and that instantly made a huge difference.
    Unfortunately I am on a break from running at the moment for health reasons, bu hope to get started soon again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you could be on to something with the shoes... I've had my shoes for 6 years or so now, I guess it could be time for a change! I used to get shin pains when I ran a few days a week, but haven't recently when I only went for weekly runs. The knee pains though... a different story!

      Delete
  2. I get pains at the front of my shin if I run too long... the muscle the isn't exercised enough haha. Slowly improving. I reckon if you're doing high resistance on the cross-trainer you don't need to clock up 5km as long as you feel like you've reached your goal. If that makes sense??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to get those shin pains too but I haven't recently... and yeah I think I know what you mean about the crosstrainer. I guess in the end, I'll just have to strive for my best time, be it running or crosstraining, and if I complete the fun run (when I get around to doing it), that will be an added bonus :)

      Delete
  3. Hi Hui, I came across your blog from the Tribesports challenge yoga link and am just looking around. I dabble in a bit of jogging and too have had knee twinges, but nothing too bad luckily. However, a friend lent me the Chi Running book and it's really very interesting. The author describes a better way of running in terms of posture and inner stuff (freeing the chi) and has had much success in getting people running without their old injuries. See http://www.chirunning.com/ I've yet to put it into practice! Like your blog. Oh, I'm a yogini too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the link and for stopping by Alyson! That sounds interesting, I will definitely be checking it out!

      Delete