Happy Mother’s Day!!
Doc’s Talk by Andrew Laurence
Dr. Scaff called this talk “The Beginners Guide to Injuries”.
The injuries referred to in this article are cumulative injuries, repetitive stress injuries.
First sign of an injury: Feeling good
Why? Because when you feel good you tend to go out too fast or run too much, too often.
Injury Phase 1: Fatigue
Injuries progress in intervals of approximately six weeks.
Injury Phase 2: Soreness
Injury Phase 3: Tenderness
There may be swelling.
Injury Phase 4: Death or tear or rupture of tissue
serious injuries can take up to a year to heal.
The bottom line: Avoid injuries.
NSAIDs
Taking ibuprofen or aspirin you can injure yourself worse because you are numbing the pain. Take NSAIDs only on the days you are not running, never before a run.
Healing
You can do anything during the healing phase that does not hurt, e.g., ride a bike, swim, etc. You should be able to walk without significant pain before you start running again.
Recovery
Go out for a 20-minute run, a bit slower than your training pace. If the pain is worse after 20 minutes, it’s back to rest and relaxation, walking, or riding your bike.
If the injured area does not hurt after running 20 minutes, rest a day, and then add 5 minutes until you are again running for 1 hour, 3 times per week for a month. Then go back to your regular training program. That should take care of the bulk of the injury.
For more information read the various sections on injuries in Your First Marathon – The Last Word In Long Distance Running, by Jack H. Scaff Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S.M., available for purchase at the Honolulu Marathon Clinic on Sundays and online at: http://yourfirstmarathon.net/buy-online-today/
Coming Attractions
Next Sunday Dr. Scaff will talk about weight.
To read full, unabridged summaries of The Honolulu Marathon Clinic’s weekly Doc’s Talks:
1) Go to the Honolulu Marathon Clinic web site (http://honolulumarathonclinic.org/)
2) Look under the “Categories” listing.
3) Click on “Doc’s Talk”.
Table Duty
Thank you Tom for taking the helm; the fruits, cookies, and drinks were fantastic! Continue reading