I have been running since I was probably 13 years old. That's, well, suffice to say nearly three decades ago. The first two decades or so were completely injury-free. I believe that's because I not only was younger, but I played a lot of other sports. That meant I was exercising lots of other muscles that control other motions besides just running straight forward. Football, basketball, baseball, volleyball etc. all work on muscles that govern lateral movement, jumping, and the upper body. Of course, as I got older, I had less chance to play those other sports. Running continued of course, but eventually it was no longer injury free.
I have battled lots of foot problems, as well as shoulder issues. After much physical therapy, I have learned that they are all related to my lack or core strength, and muscle imbalance. There are lots of pretty simple looking exercises that I am really hardly able to do. Things like balancing on one foot for an extended amount of time.
The answer is to do core and flexibility exercises. I worked with Coach Bill Leach on some of these, and he has some pretty revolutionary ideas. One of the first thoughts he offered is that many people are more familiar with the term 'core strength' than what it really means. Basically it involves the hips and torso musclews that provide stability to muscles in the arms and legs. Core strength provides a stable base for the muscles in the arms and legs that is essential for efficient movement.
One of my problems has been that I was strong in my arms and legs, but relatively weak in the middle. That put more strain on different joints, and had me running out of balance. When I did higher mileage, I really noticed the stress on those joints.
Among Coach Leach's tips: The hamstrings and quads should be equally strong. Strength in the triceps is needed to stretch the biceps. Flexibility is linked to strenth. It takes strength to stretch muscles. There is much more available on his website www.coachleach.com.
This is the perfect time to focus on these issues, when most of us are shutting down the really high mileage during the winter months. There are many other ways to work on these things as well. Yoga and Pilates work really well. Marilyn Glielmi is a pilates and yoga expert. She also owns Sana Vita Studio in River West. Glielmi says "runners do pilates most of all because it builds long, strong muscles, improves their flexibility and lessens their risk of injury" she adds that the way that Pilates opens up the vertebrae in the lower back, in particular, helps prevent the sort of back injuries which can result from the constant impact involved in running.
I found out that running and Pilates also complement each other perfectly at what might be called a deeper, philosophical level. More information can be found on Marilyn's studio at www.SanaVitaStudio.com. (classes on Pilate's for runners will soon be added!).
See you on the roads!
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