Injury Prevention

 

Yesterday as I was sitting on the couch icing my hip and my ankles, I thought it would be a good idea to do a post about injury prevention. Marathon training is TOUGH on your body (well, at least on mine!) so taking precautions and taking care of your body are key to making it to race day! Here are a few things that I do that will hopefully help get me to the Disney full!

1. Stretch: It’s not a good idea to stretch cold muscles, but I always make sure I stretch really well after a workout. If you have been running for awhile, you probably know your body well enough to know what needs a little extra time (for me it’s my hips.) It’s also good because it gives me a chance to cool off before taking a shower, etc. Also, remember not to “bounce” when you stretch, I have pulled muscles doing this before I knew better!

2. Foam Roll: I swear by my foam roller. I just have a cheap one from Wal-Mart. I know it won’t last as long, but it still serves it’s purpose. If you aren’t sure what to do with it, you can google it and see pictures and ideas for stretches. Also, my roller came with a sheet of exercises to do with it. I love it, but it can be painful, but a good pain! It helps with soreness and is supposed to increase circulation.

3. Ice: I am bad about this, because I can be lazy after a run, but I have realized it is going to be a necessary part of my training. I have bad ankles and hips, and I am going to have to ice them after every run for now. I know a lot of people take ice baths, I am just not brave enough! I will probably start doing them after races and will most likely do one after running the full so that I won’t be so sore. Remember to not put the ice directly on your skin or you could get frostbite! My mom likes to get a bag and mix  2 cups of water and one cup of rubbing alcohol in doubled up ziplock bags. Put it in the freezer, and then it makes sort of a slushy consistency which is easier to lay over hard to reach body parts!

 

4. Rest: This one is hard, because when I have free time, I think of what kind of cardio I could be doing. This is not always the case, but sometimes I do get antsy. I have to remind myself that rest days are very important because those are the days where your body heals and gets stronger, so they are just as important as running days, don’t ignore them or ignore your body when it says it needs one! It will make you better in the long run, and it is less likely you will burn out as well.

 

Well, those are the main important things in my unprofessional opinion to help keep you injury free. Just because you do all these things does not mean you won’t get hurt, but I think it is less likely!

I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day! I had a smoothie this morning, then washed the inside and outside of my car. It was my cross training for today. 🙂 I may take a walk later, too.

I leave you with smiling puppies. When my dogs have their tongues hanging out, it looks like they are smiling, and I love it. They are so stinkin cute!

 

QOTD: What do you do to prevent injuries?