What it’s like to have an injury

Jeff McCloud is a local runner and coach of the Elizabethtown Middle School Cross County team. He blogs for Applied Race Management and periodically writes from a first-person perspective.

Some time ago, I wrote a post here with 4 tips on injury prevention for us runners. I wish I had taken my own advice.

Last week, I went to the doctor to have the bottom of my left foot checked out. Since the second week in July, I have had some pain at the corner of my heel where the plantar fascia attaches. Being the 21st Century person that I am, I self-diagnosed the problem as plantar fasciitis thanks to plenty of online resources. I asked several people, both in person and online, about plantar fasciitis and got some great advice about stretches as the best way to strengthen my foot and get rid of the pain. I even had a conversation with a sports doctor (whom my son was seeing), and he said he has his patients with plantar fasciitis run through it because it helps to keep things loose.

So I stretched aggressively and continued to run, although I did reduce my mileage because my foot continued to be sore. A couple of times, I went out for a run, intending to go 6 miles or so, only to run around the block and come home because it hurt too much. After 5 weeks of this, I went to see my doctor last week. It turns out that I probably tore, or otherwise damaged, the fascia right where it attaches to my heel. I didn’t have classic symptoms of plantar fasciitis (extremely painful after waking up or sitting for long periods), and the aggressive stretching and continued running never allowed the tear to heal properly.

Now I’m in the middle of a two-week break from running. And that is any runner’s nightmare. The good news is that I never signed up for a fall race, so I am not interrupting training for a marathon or a half marathon. The bad news is that I lost 30 pounds about 5 years ago, and running has helped me maintain my weight loss. The thought of not burning calories terrifies me.

That said, I recognize that I need my running body to be healthy if I want to run. So I rest and cross train: I rode my mountain bike 25 miles on the Conewago Rail Trail on Saturday, with a detour on a path through state game lands that gave me a great ride on some hills.

Which leads me back to my advice about injury prevention. I wish I had taken it. In my previous post, I recommended that runners “apply the knowledge” they learn and seek out. Specifically, I said, “if you’ve read from many credible blogs and sources that strength training can be effective in avoiding injuries, you need to incorporate it into your routine.” When I wrote that, I was doing strength workouts, which included plyometric exercises like jump squats, burpees and others that had me jumping on one or both legs. But then I got out of the habit.

Months went by, and then in July I started holding optional practices for the Elizabethtown Middle School cross country team. As the coach, I do the strength training alongside the kids for two reasons: 1. It helps me stay in shape and 2. I want to set an example for the kids. Not long after practice started, my foot started hurting.

And that led me to ignoring one of my other pieces of advice: “tune into your body and respond appropriately.” Had I taken a few days off at the first sign of soreness, it might have given my plantar fascia the time it needed to heal. Instead, I let my stubbornness get the best of me, and I continued to work out, do exercises and run.

For better or worse, this has led me to following my own advice of listening to your medical professional. The doctor  said no running for two weeks. I’m 5 days into that, and it’s a rotten feeling. You know what it’s like when you want to run and can’t. I am grateful to own a mountain bike and have the Conewago Rail Trail nearby where I can ride and get in some cross training.

As long as my foot isn’t hurting on Sept. 7, I plan to get out for my first run, which will be at a nice, easy and slow pace. I like what Mark Remy wrote in Runner’s World recognizing his 20 years of running that “patience pays off.”

Newbies who let their excitement get the better of them almost always wind up hurt or burned out or both. Same goes for veteran runners who decide that the best way to return from a layoff is to “catch up” by doubling their usual mileage. Patience means having the discipline to delay gratification—to have a plan and stick to it.

If all goes well after that first run, I’ll slowly build up to my regular mileage and paces and hope that my middle-aged body stays intact so I can keep running.