Backpacks, injuries, recovery and lessons learned

Not for the first time since I started running, I fell out of love with it slightly during the past couple of weeks. This is usually down to frustration with myself caused by a niggle or injury, and this time was no exception. 

Having moved jobs, and trying to sneak a few more miles in wherever I could, I bought myself a Karrimoor running backpack (pink of course) and set about running from Farringdon to Victoria, where I could then get on the train home. NB: I learnt the hard, very painful way that you should invest in a backpack with padded straps for comfort, and chest and waist straps so there is mimimal movement as you run....the first jaunt with a little Primarni number gave me a very nasty friction burn on my shoulder!! 

So everyday after work for a week, I launched myself out the door, pack on back. By the end of the week, I noticed my shin was a bit sore. Having suffered with shin pain before, I ignored it, hoping it would go away. On my long(ish) run at the weekend, without backpack of course, I noticed that my knee was feeling a bit odd. Not painful exactly, just kind of like it needed to click. Again I ignored it, and threw myself into another week of post work backpack runs. No warm up, no stretch before, no stretch after. Not sensible!

By that weekend, it was clear to me that something definitely wasn't right. I still ran that weekend, but my shin was sore and my knee felt very odd...like it was unstable. I began to worry, and when I woke up that Monday morning my fears were confirmed. Something definitely wasn't right, and I couldn't keep running when my legs were feeling like this.

I've never really had to stop running for a prolonged period of time since I started training for races. I've had a couple of niggly pains and had to make myself have a day or two's rest, but this felt like something altogether different. I panicked.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of browsing the very knowledgeable Google. And diagnosing myself with everything under the sun. And convincing myself I would never run again. I also ate A LOT. And I mean a lot. My normal careful healthy diet to fuel my running, became a stuff my face with everything full of fat and sugar diet. I was wallowing in self pity and mourning my loss of running ability. And making things a lot worse than they needed to be!

While there was a lot of scary things on the internet relating to runners and knees, there was also a lot of helpful things too. Forums of people in the same boat offering advice and support, and reems and reems of advice, tips, and possible reasons for the injury. I read so much, possibly obsessively...but it did make me thing very long and hard about my form, stretching, recovery, and my attitude. So I:

-started icing and elevating as soon as I felt any pain or discomfort (morning and night)

- got some ibuprofen gel and freeze gel to massage into affected areas

- read up on stretching and started stretching properly!

-read up on strengthening and started some exercises for the surrounding leg muscles

- read a lot about form. And asked advice from people. Am trying my hardest to adopt more of a barefoot/natural running technique, where I have good posture, my foot lands underneath me not in front, my hips and feet are pointing forwards, and I have an increased stride number and decreased stride length

- invested in a foam roller and started using it religiously, in the morning and before and after exercise.

I'm not going to lie, I have felt rubbish not running. I was so jealous of every runner I saw. I hated all of them and their functioning knees. I feel like I've put on 2 stone, which I may well have done as have found it hard not to eat everything in sight! And the foam roller is REALLY painful at the moment as my muscles are so tight. Which I believe to be part of my problem. But, my legs felt quite a bit better on Sunday, so I couldn't resist trying a run! I had no pain, and just a little bit of discomfort, but nothing that worried me. I was so happy- even though I felt massively slow and heavy! It just felt good to be out and running again. But I still have the makeshift ice bath (below) on standby...

It's now Tuesday and I've kept religiously to the foam rolling, stretching etc, and at the time of writing my legs feel ok. Like they're getting stronger. To summarise my lessons learned from this experience:

- don't make a big change to your training before looking into it properly, thinking about it carefully, and starting slowly! Suddenly launching myself into running with a heavy(ish) backpack every day was not my best idea! 

- listen to what your legs and body is telling you! It knows best. You need to accept this, and even though there are people who run hundreds of miles a week without injury, everyone has different limits! Although it's tempting to run through it and hope it will go away, it's not worth the risk. My body was telling me I needed to rest, and that was the best decision. 

- turn setbacks into a positive thing, and use the rest wisely - This doesn't mean slob around feeling sorry for yourself and/or stuffing your face. Have a bit of wallowing time but try and snap out of it quickly. Which brings me nicely on to...

- look after your legs - stretching, foam rolling, icing, massage, strengthening exercises and generally being sensible will be my plan from now on. I can't believe I wasn't doing a single one of these properly before, and I think they all have a place in good marathon training and recovery
- ask for advice and make yourself knowledgable about the subject (but don't scare yourself with self-diagnosis on Google). It is likely many many runners have been in you position before, so seek comfort from that if you can.

Me and new bff - the foam roller

Although I thought that all hope was lost, I am now getting towards being able to run the Dartford ten miler (not this weekend but next) - although I very much doubt it will be a fast race for me. For next steps, I am going to continue the strectching, foam rolling, and listening to my body and ability. I am looking into a sports massage. I have also ordered some joint tablets on the reccommendation of a friend - Glucosamine & Chondroitin.  Some studies say this helps rebuild cartiledge and keep joints healthy - I'm willing to try anything! Hopefully I can try and prevent any problems as much as possible - life without running was not enjoyable!