Ice & Ibuprofen

As with all good things in life, there can be some drawbacks, even with running. When you make the decision to become a runner, you will eventually become well-acquainted with sweat, chafed thighs and other body parts, Vaseline between your toes, the need to bring baby wipes, and which kind of power gels you can pop in around mile 7 or 8 that won't upset your running stomach.

The worst part of running, though, are injuries.

When you run, there is no guarantee that you will be injured, so proper injury prevention is key although some bumps and bruises are not entirely the fault of the sport, but the runner's ego. When I began my running journey, I blithely flew through a high school track team stretching regime- which worked until the day I first ran 5 miles straight with my brother. It was a cold December morning, just into our second mile, when I was taken down by a lifted sidewalk. Of course it happened on a busy road in Wayne, and there were at least six cars driving by, but when I was finally able to stand without throwing up from the pain, we decided to keep going. When we were done with the five miles, it was then that I lifted my pant leg and discovered a crater sized gash on my knee. Even my kids flinched at the sight.

Not two weeks later, on our first ski trip of the season, I slid my foot into my boot and actually felt every ligament and tendon in my left shin rip. I was able to ski that day, but running was out of the picture for at least six weeks. I was so disheartened until I finally smartened up and went to physical therapy. Four months later I ran my first half marathon.

Knock on wood, since then I have been relatively lucky with injuries. Normally I will feel fine after a long run with some ibuprofen and a hefty bag of ice on my shins. Recently, however, while running my personal best half marathon with my brother, I felt a burning in my knee around mile 10. Did I stop running then, you might wonder? Ha! That may have been smart. Instead, we huffed and chugged to mile 13.1 and celebrated our excellent time with some high fives and orange Gatorade.

The next day I realized I probably should have walked a bit after feeling that burn at mile 10. However, we novices make mistakes. After an incredibly long week of no running and lots of ice and ibuprofen, I am just getting back into my training routine with no discomfort. Note to self- if it hurts, slow down. If it doesn't: run, Momma, run!