Today would normally be my long run day but I'm injured again.  Actually, it's probably still, rather than again.  I ignored my pain in running for too long, and it caught up with me.

According to Runner's World, Dr. Jeffrey Brown (author of The Competitive Edge) says that over time every runner is going to get injured: it's a part of running.  It's important to keep perspective: my pulled hamstring is not like losing a job, for example.  Being chronologically gifted, though (read "old"!) I am more prone to injuries than I was.  And they take longer to heal.

Pain in running is something we runners are inclined to accept as normal, but it's important to recognize when it's normal and when it's getting worse.  I ran with a hip pain for too long, and it is now causing a hamstring problem in the other leg. And dancing last night (Valentine's Day) probably didn't help it any!

Pain in running is never to be ignored.  You need to "listen to your body" and learn to distinguish between soreness after a hard workout and acute injury.  One way to do this is to make notes in your running log about how you feel after each run: this forces you to recognize any unusual symptoms early.

So what to do?  I'm training for my next half marathon, so quitting running for too long is not an option.  What I can do, though, is to flex my schedule.  I'll cut down from five runs a week to three, still maintaining my long run.  I'll cut out tempo and pace runs for now, at least, and allow plenty of recovery time with two short, easy runs between my weekly long runs.



I also plan to make sure I do my physical therapy rehab exercises daily and to cross train a couple of times a week.  And, when I do get back to my plan, I'll ease into it this time rather than go all out from the beginning. 

Chronologically gifted though I am, I'm never too old to learn!