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timing and priority of a post-run routine: ice, stretch and advil.

LMDuffie — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:30:04 GMT

Since I've begun running (only a few months) I've become very addicted to my post-run routine... about 20 minutes of thorough stretching that seems to mentally and physically cap off the session. Recently, (4 weeks or so) I've been dealing with some pain in my knee cap. I've been pretty cautious about it: allowed more rest time between runs, started on Glucoseamine/Chondroitin, ice/elevation, etc...

But the other day I read that the key to effective icing is to not waste any time: ice/elevate the area immediately after a run. Sooo. I took that to heart and switched the order: first run, next prop the iced knee up for 15 minutes, and then finally finish with 20 minutes of stretching. But this has just felt all wrong. I mean, by the time I'm iced down I have no motivation to stretch afterwards. And even when I've forced myself to the stretching it doesn't feel nearly as deep, focused or effective and overall is not satisfying. Intuitively, I feel like the first routine was more effective, but I don't presume to understand the science of it all and want to do whatever is smartest for protecting my knee (and body in general) from injury. Any advice on the order? Run, ice, stretch? Run stretch, ice? I could also stretch and ice at the same time (the ice pack has an elastic-y wrap on it) but then I wouldn't be elevating the knee. Also, at what point in here should i take ibuprofen? After the run, ice or stretch? Or am i totally over-thinking the whole thing?

Shin & knee pain

never2l8 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:45:46 GMT

I am following the C25K plan. I started week 6 on Monday. As soon as I started running, the inside of my left knee started to hurt. I finished the program but for the first time since I started, my legs felt heavy and my knee continued to hurt. My shins bother me as well when I run but recently I started getting momentary sharp pains in my shins off and on through the day. They are split seconds of pain, sometimes quite sharp and in both legs. My knee does not hurt all the time, but it does hurt when I walk, especially up and down the stairs. I was scheduled to do W6D2 today, but took the day off and may just use the bike or elliptical tomorrow. I have been on a roll with this plan and really hate to take anytime off...I guess I don't know when to run through the pain and when not to. I am not in agony, but the pain is more worrisome then anything else. Is this normal? Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Pain on the outside of my foot

SneakyNinja — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:53:33 GMT

I'm sorry that my first post on this site is a request for help, but I'm desperate and need some advice.

After a long run on Monday night I have had pain on the outside of my foot. My run was about 7 miles, and my average run distance is around 3-4 miles. Up until that run, I hadn't run in over a week. I know it was bad... I promise I'll never do it again.

The pain mostly concentrated at the outside edge of my foot below my ankle, but I have some mild pain just to the back of the knob on my ankle too. When sitting or standing still I have absolutely no pain. When not loaded, I can move my foot in all directions with no pain. When I walk or move around while standing the pain is pretty intense. Also, if I walk barefoot I have almost no pain at all.

I went to see a sports medicine doctor. He spend all of 2 minutes diagnosing me and said he thought it was a stress fracture. He had me stand up and jump up and down. I had no pain with either. I'm no doctor, but I'm seriously questioning his diagnosis. I've done some research and it looks like there are two or three likely possibilities.

A stress fracture. According to the location of the pain, maybe a cuboid fracture although they sound pretty rare.
Peredonal tendonitis. Since I ran significantly longer than I normally do. Plus my calves were really tight earlier in the week.
Cuboid syndrome. This seems like it's hard to diagnose and even tougher to find someone to treat.

I have a really important 7m race on Saturday that I REALLY don't want to miss.

That being said, I have a couple of questions.

Does it sound to you like it is a stress fracture or whas I misdiagnosed?
Since many here are veteran runners, do you think I should risk it and run on Saturday?

I plan to go for a short run tonight and see what happens. I'll post my results.

Thank you to all who reply.

Any advice for calves?

RHIT CCS-P — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:10:03 GMT

I went out for my usual lunchtime run/walk, and my calf started hurting when my right foot hit the ground. Hurts now to walk, can't run at all. I think that I did something climbing all those steps at the stadium (I was in a 5K at Yankees Stadium on Sunday, which included a lot of stair climbing.) I was fine all week until today. Anyway, before worrying too much, time to break out the RICE and take it easy over the weekend at least and see what happens when I try walking in a couple of days. Anybody ever have troubles with calves? It seems like mine have been so tight forever, even before I took up walking and running for exercise. No matter how much stretching I do, they just seem tight, but never a problem until today.

Thanks for any answers, advice or tips you can give. Also, I am a beginner, so I am still learing to get into that perfect workout, whether stretching, pacing, whatever. I hope that this is not simply because I did not stretch enough.

How much will I lose?

jneptune — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:16:27 GMT

I have had some hip soreness the past week. I listened to a few of you who replied to my last thread and took a week off (today is the 7th day). It does feel like it is healing, but I still get a little irritation when I try to run. I haven't actually gone for a run in the past week, but I've tested it a little while my students are running around and still feel minor pain. I have been swimming more often to cross train and it feels great, but I don't want to lose what I've been working so hard for with my running. How much will I lose if I take another week off. My marathon is on January 24th so I'm starting to worry a little.

Thanks

Is this PF?

rbird — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:29:19 GMT

First a little background. I am returning to running after about a 2 year lapse. For the past 3 weeks I have been running 4x per week, running slow and gradually building distance. I am currently at 2.5 miles and expect to bump that up to 3 this weekend. I'm about 20 pounds overweight. I am also trying to use the Chirunning form. I should also say that I am approaching 600 miles logged on my current pair of running shoes. (Brooks Adrenaline)

I ran 2.5 miles on Monday and Tuesday nights and felt great after each run, I had no pain and had plenty of energy left at the end of the runs.

Wednesday was a rest day. Wednesday afternoon I started to notice a pain in the bottom of my left foot. When I got home I massaged the area and saw a visible lump, painful to the touch, about the size of a small pea, where the arch meets the pads behind my toes. I tried massaging it by rolling a ball under my foot which was very painful.

Thursday (yesterday), the pain was minimal and the lump was no longer visible. I tried some stretching exercises for my foot. When I tried on my running shoes last night it was barely noticeable, so I gingerly set out on another 2.5 mile run and finished without any difficulty and no discomfort.

Of course this morning the pain returned, but at least the lump is not visible. I can feel it though when I massage the area.

Does this sound like PF? Does it usually come on so suddenly? Most of the reading I have been doing describes PF as occurring at the heal, but I did see one source that said it could occur at the toe end of the plantar tendon.

Thanks

bob

AWFUL arch pain - plantar fascitis or something else??

kcadams1980 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:41:07 GMT

Hi folks,

I'm not a particularly long-distance runner (3-4 mi usually) but run pretty consistently, about 4 times/wk. I'm average weight, have extremely high, rigid arches and supinate. I have good cushioned shoes for my foot type, but I've had this awful arch pain in my right foot for the past week or so... It's concentrated on the outside of my arch, from mid-foot back to the top of my heel. It's a nagging, dull pain during the day when I'm walking around at work, starts hurting when I do my run, and then kicks into high gear afterwards... It feels like an awful stabbing pain in my arch, the pain is so bad sometimes after my run that I have to hop on one foot just walking around the house! It sort of sounds like plantar fascitis to me, but isn't that concentrated in the heel? My heels are not the problem - it's the outside of my arch, where my foot leans out while running/walking. Any suggestions??

Burning sensation in outer thigh

TMachen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:59:50 GMT

I started running in mid-July and have completed 2 5ks (33min, 30min). I run ~4-5 days/week on asphalt ranging from 2 miles to 3.25 miles a run.

For the past week or so I've had a strange burning sensation on my outer thigh from just below my hip to just above my knee. Not burning pain, but like I have Ben-Gay on my leg type burning (no I haven't put anything like Ben-Gay on to cause the burning ).

No injuries. The only remarkable thing I can think of is that I was in a car accident ~20 years ago and had a 'severe' hematoma in that general area of that leg, but I was an avid runner since then (pre kids) without problem.

I've Googled variations of 'burning thigh pain running' and haven't found anything related. Any ideas?

Finances and schedule don't allow for a dr's appt (unless of course I"m dying, which I doubt).

Veteran now but still frustrated

SimonSudbury — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:16:37 GMT

Have now completed the 3m about 10 times but still find it a great effort and am not "running comfortably" as expected. To recap:

1. On my course I run 3.2m every other day and complete in 30 minutes.

2. I'm not sure that I could run much slower.

3. I have no intention or ambition to go much beyond this distance as am restricted by time and family commitments etc.

4. I have no cardio-vascular probs or asthma.

5. I do take some anti depressants.

6. I am 50

7. I am not exceeding my pulse range (110-148 for me and usually about 132 after the run)

8. I warm up and don't have too many aches and pains.

The problem is getting tired and almost gasping after only a very short time. Will power keeps me going and I always finish. I run on my own with an mp3 and practice talking to myself around the course but this is a big effort. I think it's breathing as I always have a problem swimming. I.e I can only do a few strokes of freestyle before running out of breath!!!

Your advice and reassurance would be much appreciated as usual.

Thanks for your time

Simon Sudbury

Achillies tear - need advice

rocdoc50 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:27:57 GMT

I tore my achilles this past Memorial Day while playing basketball. The crazy thing about it is that I have been running pretty consistently for the past year and a half in everything from 5k's to 1 1/2 marathon and the tear doesn't happen during that event. Anyhow, after the X-ray on Wednesday of that week the doctor stated that it appears to be a tear and that one option would be surgery which would have me in a hard cast for two weeks and then a boot for the next 4 -6 months. I asked about non-surgical options and he stated that we could do the boot for 4-6 months and let the tear heal but that there was about a 40% chance of the tear reoccuring. He also stated that there is about a two week window to decide on surgery because after that time the tear would already have begun to heal.

My question to all is who has gone through this before and what option did you take? Does anyone have any stories on how well they got back to running after such a injury? Also, what were some of the steps taken to get back on track?

This is all new to me so any responses would be great.

Sudden backslide (increased pain) during w8 of c25k

tzaraat — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:18:15 GMT

Hello, everyone. I'm on w8d2 of thee couch to 5k training plan. Until w8d2 everything was going swimmingly, but on this run I felt much more pain, bad pain, than on my previous runs. This is actually my 2nd attempt at completing w8d2 and I get winded, even on differennt running routes. I have successfully completed these routes before. Every day I do physical therapy stretches for my legs, hips, shins, lower back, and core; they haven't really changed. I'm wearing the same gear, too. This setback is a bit disheartening, as I am really set on running some holiday 5Ks. What's going on? What should I do to help myself move forward in my running?

Oh, BTW, the pain that made me stop running was a side stitch and back of leg pain on one run, and general hip and leg pain today. I successfully completed 2 long rounds of phys. therapy with a licensed PT at the beginning of November. If it matters, I'm female, in my late 20s and on a successful weight loss plan as well.

Thanks for your help!