I’ve spent most of my life being a walking injury.\u00a0 Only NOW am I realizing how abnormal that is and should be.\u00a0 My excuse for everything used to be my weak ankles (if it wasn’t my size, heh).\u00a0 This guy is pretty abnormal too.<\/p>\n
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When I was a wee thing I fell in love with gymnastics.\u00a0 I loved the flipping, twisting, adrenaline rush associated with running full bore into something springy and propelling myself up into the air.\u00a0 But as we all know, what comes up must come down.\u00a0 And it doesn’t always come down quite as planned when you’re doing this over and over 5-6 times per week for 4-7 hours per day.<\/p>\n
It’s worth mentioning that I was a fairly large gymnast, both height and mass-wise – even with all that training I was 5’3″ (I must mention that I grew 2 inches at age 16 when I quit – within probably 3 months…) and 115-125, so a fairly average weight\/BMI.\u00a0 I don’t look scary skinny in those pictures, I look like a normal human.\u00a0 This is great for not being picked on in school, but rough on the joints.\u00a0 Oh, I got pretty far because I was determined\/stubborn, and I was pretty fearless, but it got to the point where to advance, the cost just seemed too high.<\/p>\n
You see, for about the year before I quit, I had a routine.\u00a0 Every day when I was getting ready, I would pop 2-4 advil, completely tape up both ankles, pull braces over the taped ankles, put on special slippers that provided a little more stability\/support, and off I went.\u00a0 I mean, any sane person would realize that it was time to take a break and let myself recover, right?\u00a0 Well, not me, because I was a stubborn ASS and I had 2 years left before recruiters would be looking at me and I needed to get better so I could get a scholarship or life would fall apart and and and… yeah.<\/p>\n
And my coaches never helped much – I remember the day before I came down with chicken pox I was fevery and shaky and I was almost in tears because I felt SO AWFUL but it was two days before a big meet so I was trying to push through but kinda failing.\u00a0 I was yelled at, called a baby, so I got up, did what I had to do, then went and pretty much passed out on the floor while stretching.\u00a0 Same with injuries – if it wasn’t in a cast, they didn’t believe it hurt enough to stay off it.<\/p>\n
But ya know, I found a sick satisfaction in working through injuries.\u00a0 That I was tougher because of it.\u00a0\u00a0 That I was going to overcome.<\/p>\n
Now I know how stooooooooopid that is.\u00a0 Not that I don’t have the urges, but now I have science and logic backing me up. Y’know, the knowledge that pushing through workouts when you’re sick actually makes you LOSE fitness and not resting an injury makes that body part WEAKER, not stronger.\u00a0 And the only coach I have calling me a baby is the one in my head – and I’ve got some good control over her.\u00a0 I just say “SCIENCE” and she shuts the hell up.<\/p>\n
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Pic unrelated, but cute!\u00a0 Anyhoo, I also train much smarter now.\u00a0 I don’t RELISH the strength training, but after the AMAZING gains I saw in my running post 30-Day-Shred, I am a believer.\u00a0 I wish I remembered where I saw the quote, but you have to earn your right to run by strengthening and maintaining your body. In gymnastics\/diving, it was just the icky I had to look like I was doing so my coaches didn’t yell at me.\u00a0 For some reason, I never put two and two together that if I really ROCKED the conditioning, then I might get better.<\/p>\n
I make sure my running has periods of ebb (running 5k distance 2 times per week and lots of cross training) and flow (last week’s mileage? 30.5 miles).\u00a0 Also, I’m very in tune with my body and try to listen when it whispers so I don’t get knocked the fuck out when it shouts at me.\u00a0 I know that I’ll never be immune to acute injuries like tripping and spraining my ankle, but adequate warmups and cooldowns, rest, stretching, and incremental increases in mileage\/pace instead of leaps will keep me from those evil chronic overuse injuries.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s odd to say that I hurt myself less at 30 than I did at 13, but it’s true.<\/p>\n
So, internet-ians, what do you think?\u00a0 What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?\u00a0\u00a0 Have you ever just tried to “rub some dirt in it” (or slap some tape on it in my case) and just keep going?\u00a0 How bad do things have to get before you cancel your workouts and just rest?<\/p>\n
p.s.\u00a0 I don’t usually do this, but Chocolate Covered Katie is a very cool chick, a runner girl, and actually makes vegan eating look awesome.\u00a0 She is also giving away a vita-mix<\/a>, so please never ever visit her site because I want to win it.\u00a0 Okie? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n