Running Injury: What do I do?

Disclaimer: I don't know everything. I'm not a pro runner. I'm not a pro coach. I don't have a degree in exercise physiology. I just love running and everything about it. I have been running consistently for a long time. Okay, alright and with that said, here it is!

There are a few options you have when you start feeling hurt or get injured:

1. Keep running and make it worse.
2. Stop running and let it heal.

Now, for most of us the second option is probably the best. For some the first option can be better depending on the severity of the injury and the future that's at stake. For example, in my biomechanics class at BYU my professor, Iain Hunter, told the class about Josh Rohatinsky who won the NCAA Cross-Country championships in 2006. He started feeling hurt, but it was close to the championships so he kept going and eventually won, then took a long break afterward. He is now sponsored by Nike running in Oregon.

In a my post on High School Cross Country I talked about pool running. In 2006 that's what saved me. I had been living in Argentina and I had done a TON of walking. This walking was all in dress shoes and it was wonderful except that I developed sesamoiditis where the sesamoid bones in my feet shifted a millimeter causing intense pain in my feet that prevented me from running and almost stopped me from walking. Because I wanted to run, and especially race so bad, I would go to the pool, to the diving area and pool run. I tried to mimic running form as best as I could and I tried hard ot get my heart-rate up. This was enough for me to then be able to go out and do a 5K or 10K and then return to the pool.

Recently I had a stress fracture in my right foot. I go to BYU so I have access to a gym where I can use the exercise bikes and elliptical trainer. That's what I did for several months. A heart-rate monitor is especially handy as I would have a target heart-rate I wanted to hit on certain days.

Being injured is probably one of the worst feelings I ever get. I feel like a race-horse who's good-for-nothing. I think in the moments when you feel like that it's important to stop. It's not over, you haven't been defeated, you can still do it. Praying to God, for me, is powerful and it helps get me through those times. I stop and evaluate what I CAN do and not what I can't because that only makes me feel more frustrated when I focus on what I can't. Then I create a plan.

If it's a pain that I've felt before then I usually don't go to the doctor and I treat it myself. If it's a new pain or if the pain persists then I go see the doctor. I think there's a lesson in every injury. For me the lesson many times is: "You didn't learn from the last time this happened so it's happening again." I think it's important to ask yourself when injuries or injury-like things happen, "What am I supposed to learn from this?" Anyways, these are things that have helped me to run fearless and I know they'll help you too. Have a great day! (If you have any other ideas on how to beat injuries or heal please comment below:)