Monday 9 May 2016

Dealing with an Injury

Now as you know I've only returned to my running and healthy lifestyle within the last couple of weeks, but during the time I took away from it all I still had a pretty bad ongoing injury from around mid-late July 2015.

So how did I deal with it?
- Well, I made a HUGE mistake last year; I left my calf, tried to carry on as normal and just whacked on some Deepheat after a workout (my room smelled like the aftermath of a rugby players changing room - that is how much Deepheat was used...). However, this time round I've taken precautions, I've had sports massages, I've been using a foam roller, I've used the Deepheat only when its really needed this time, and I've also learnt some strength exercises to help the muscle. 

What effect has your previous injury had on your uptake of running this time round?
- It has definitely had an effect on how I view my fitness this time, and how I need to condition my body as despite all its been through, I'm not wonder woman. I do think I have a lot of work to do with my calf injury as I do still have a couple of twinges when I sprint (which is rare, but still poses a problem) and and go for a reasonably long distance (normally above 3km).

Have you had any new injuries?
- Touch wood, not yet. However, I do feel a little more prepared if I do have an injury this time round. I feel like I know what I need to do, and what I need to find out to help my injury in the most positive way, whatever it may be.

-------------------------------------------------
So how do you prepare for an injury?
You can never truly prepare for an injury - but you can prepare yourself mentally. Make sure to have a positive outlook on the situation and do plenty of research.
For myself and my calf injury, I have been working on doing more strength exercises and stretches before and after a run to ensure my calf can strengthen up; particularly if its niggling a little bit. 
They always say prevention is the best cure; and to be honest its true. You can never really avoid having an injury, it its going to happen it will, but if you can prepare yourself, and try to not let it get you down in the dumps then that is honestly the best thing you can do!

What is the biggest struggle?
I know for me, its knowing I can't go for a run, or I can't do a specific activity if it is going to aggravate my injury - and that drives me mental. I hate being told I can't do something, let alone my body saying "please no, let me recover!!". And that is generally what takes a knock on my positive outlook, but I tend to start writing a recovery programme, and focus my energy on getting back to what I can do and by not aggravating the injury and recovering properly I can get back to running sooner!!

What have been your problems with injuries? And how have you learnt to recover and deal with that injury?

No comments:

Post a Comment