Running injury has been the bane of my ambitions for as long as I can remember. It's a frustrating problem. There are people out there who run 100-200 miles every week and don't run into injury. For some reason I keep running into it, in one form or another. There are those who will say that some people are naturally predisposed to these kinds of problems, while others are born to run without issues. While this certainly may be true, it is counter to the stubborn attitude that makes me an ultra runner to just accept it. I'm determined to find some way to run often and run far and not fall into injury. This feels like a daunting goal, and I struggle to believe in it.
As recently as 10 years ago I never thought about running form. I wore cotton socks and big heeled shoes and heel struck as I ran on pavement with long lumbering stride and developed shin splints. to the days post reading Born to Run, when I was lead to believe and hope that running could be enjoyed injury free by going back to the way we were born to run, barefoot and forefoot striking, with short steps and high cadence and relaxing into it. I was not alone in the misdirection suffered from this dream. So many who bought and tried running in vibram five finger running shoes continued to heel strike in them, or piled on too many miles too soon and developed metatarsal micro fractures and top of foot pain, trading the old shin splints for new kinds of injury. I think we failed to realize that the Tarahumara and African and Greek barefoot runners lived their lives throughout childhood and into adulthood walking and running barefoot, developing a body capable of running long distance in minimal footwear over so many years. To hope that we could get there swiftly by kicking off our modern shoes was perhaps a bit naive.
Even so, I learned that the minimal method was not ideal for speed, especially in running down hill. Running shoes allow me to bomb down steep hills with ease and disregard for so many of the little technical footfalls which slow me way down when running barefoot or in minimal attire. I conceded that shoes and socks were much better in cold and dry winter conditions, when otherwise one's skin would crack and the cold numbness of the feet I think defeated the purpose of barefoot running altogether: that bio-mechanical feedback from all those sensitive nerves in the feet. Frozen or numb feet don’t provide feedback.
So I was willing to strap on the bulky running shoes but I still believed one should be able to run long and run pain and injury free if one ran with the correct form, ate healthy and rested and paid attention to their body and avoided running in pain. Perhaps I was not patient enough in allowing my body to recover completely from the miles I put it through, which of course I did without any kind of structured training regimen. I simply ran as much as I wanted, when and how I wanted. But I believe I did so judiciously, always considering the mantra that I run today in order to run again tomorrow. I do not run to destroy myself.
I ran and I prepared to run 100 miles, running not more than 50-60 miles per week, not less than 20. But I toed the starting line already doomed because I’d developed a knee injury that would trouble me in the first mile and degrade gradually from there. I still have this knee problem, and I think it is a symptom of something I’ve suffered from all throughout my running and cycling life but ignored until now. I feel it and it causes problems on the bike as well. 4 months later I'm still not passed this. I've almost not run at all, a fact that is unbearable considering I left my job at DreamWorks primarily so that I could enjoy a year of running through beautiful places across the States and the world, and I haven't been able to do it.
I've seen my doctor, physical therapist, active release therapy/chiropractor and massage therapists to various degrees of success. I've employed self massage and foam rolling to great lengths, given myself time of, focused on dozens of kinds of stretches and exercises, yet I still suffer from this problem. So far, a massage therapist who worked on me in Moab, Utah had the most success in returning me to a good running condition, where I almost didn't notice my knee, but it hasn't lasted. I'm scared that expensive massage therapy may be the only solution to my problem, but it's no guarantee itself. When my problem returned, I went to another massage therapist but they weren't successful in replicating the magic that I got in Moab.
It's disconcerting that even when I walk I notice the imbalance in my stride. My chiropractor, Dr. Choy, and everyone else I've seen doesn't think I have any problem with my knee, it's simply the site the pain that results in repetitive use while I have some kind of muscle imbalance going on. It could be that my psoas muscles in my ride side pull my right hip up a little higher than the left. It doesn't seem to matter what shoes I'm wearing, or whether I am wearing them at all. I experience the imbalance in walking and running mechanics and the pain in my knee whether I am barefoot or in shoes or my Luna sandals. I'm at the point that I am becoming desperate and considering quitting all running for half a year or so to see if I get back to balanced form. I'm thinking I'll take up nordic skiing in the winter.
