Guest Blogger Ari: Dealing With Illnesses and Injuries

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional nor do I play one on TV. This post is based solely on my experiences. Always seek the advice of your doctor if you are sick or injured.

This is the time of year where many people start to get sick and/or injured. The weather in NYC Metro area is starting to get cooler and many of us are coming down with colds, respiratory infections, flu, and other illnesses. Runners training for fall marathons are at the peak of their training. Their mileage is high, most have already done at least one 20 miler and have at 2 or 3 left on their plans. Many are also picking up the intensity of their training, doing speedwork, tempo runs, and hill repeats at least once a week. With this increased mileage and intensity come aches and pains. Some are minor and some are more serious that could change your fall racing plans. I’d like share some thoughts (see disclaimer above) about dealing with illnesses and injuries.

Illnesses:

The rule of thumb we runners go by is if the illness is in your head it’s OK to run. If it’s in your chest, don’t run. This is usually sound advice. That means if you have a cold, it’s OK to run. Sometimes a good sweat will make you feel better. Mrs. Ansky, RD also has me take extra vitamin C when I have a cold. Vitamin C does not prevent a cold but it has been known to shorten the length of one.

If you have a fever, chills, or are coughing up stuff from your chest, chances are you have an infection and should not run. Rather you should see your doctor and get the infection treated. Ask your doctor when it OK to run again.

Injuries:

For those of you that read (and if you don’t, I suggest you do) my blog (runanskyrun.blogspot.com), you’ll know that I recently fractured a rib while out on a group run. A Rib fracture is a unique type injury since the only thing that heals it is time. It cannot be put in a sling or in a cast. My doctor also said not to tape it because the taping will constrict airflow to the lungs. If the lungs do not get enough oxygen, I could develop pneumonia or, even worse, a collapsed lung.  My doctor said that a fractured rib can take anywhere between 4 – 8 weeks to fully heal. As for running, he said to let the pain dictate what I can and cannot do.

But enough about me. I’ll write more about my plans on my blog…dealing with injuries is hard. It takes time for the injury to heal and then, depending on the injury, there might be some physical therapy involved before you’re cleared to pound the pavement again.

If you get sick or injured you’ve probably experienced all sorts of emotions. Anger, despair, etc…. how you deal with this setback will determine if you comeback weaker or stronger. Here are some other things to keep in mind while you recover:

• Set a New Goal – if your illness or injury is bad enough that you need to cancel your goal race, pick out another one. The key here is to be realistic. If you’re out for 2 months with an injury don’t pick a marathon as your new goal race. Pick a local 5K or 10K.
• Watch your diet – this is very important. It’s very to easy to start eating junk because you’re upset. You don’t want to come back to running 5, 10, 15 pounds heavier than you were before your injury.
• Ask your doctor what you can do – as active people, it’s hard for us to sit around and do nothing. If you can get on a bike, elliptical, or just go for a walk, do it.
• It’s not the end of the world – when I fractured my rib, I tell people it could have been worse. I could have hit my head, broken a leg, arm, or ankle.
• Find something else to get involved in – Running is a very important part of our lives. But it shouldn’t be the only thing. I am very active in my synagogue. If you must be around running, volunteer at a race. You’ll still feel the energy of a racing by manning a water station or putting a medal around the neck of someone who just completed a marathon.
• Use your recovery as an extended taper – The Running Laminator and others commented on my site that any other aches and pains that I had will appreciate the time off as well.
• Last, but certainly not least, STAY POSITIVE – like I said above, it’s not the end of the world. Does it suck that you can’t run? Of course it does. But we all have other things in our lives to be thankful for. Use your time off from running to appreciate those other things and when it’s time to return to running, you’ll appreciate it even more.

It’s great to be back guest blogging for Brandon. Hopefully I can be more consistent. As always, if there are topics you would like me to write about or for Brandon to talk about on his show, please let us know by either leaving a comment or clicking the contact link at the top of the page.