I’ve always lived and loved fitness (running in particular), I completed a half marathon in may, and while training I got shin splints, which I am still trying to get over. I am gradually increasing my milage, and mainly running on grass (with each time I go, which I have limited to once every 3 days) a few more seconds on the pavement. I have started walking, and usually walk about 5 miles each day. However, I have noticed pain in my achilles tendon, and I also have a painful hamstring. I desparately want to increase my fitness but it seems I am plagued with injuries.. Has anyone got any advice on how slowly to take it? I would love to be able to run on the pavement for miles at a time several times a week..
oh, and I am joining the gym in late september as soon as I get back to uni.
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July 28th, 2009 | 
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You need to take some time off from running. You might be over training. I know easier said than done. The reason why you havent gotten any better is because you havent given yourself the proper time to heal. I think a few days or a week off is better than being out of the running loop for a few weeks or even months. Do you take any FULL days off weekly? You need to have atleast one full rest day a week. Do you take a week off from running every few months? that is also good to. It helps repair your muslces. Do you stretch before and after every run? That also helps to avoid injury, it also helps to relax the muslces.. takes the tightness out of them. What does your weekly workout schedule consist of?.. would you mind sharing. I can better assist you if I knew what activities you are involved in.
Ex: Monday day off. Tuesday easy run of 4 miles, wedneday cross training day.. etc.
My physical therapist said these words to me awhile back.. a smart runner listens to their body, while a stubborn runner just keeps going and eventually falls prey to injury.
Listen to your body, its never wrong when it needs the rest.
I agree with lestermount on the imbalance part.. a friend of mine has one hamstring stronger than the other and has been struggling with injury (she see’s her P.T. faithfully) since February, she has seen positive improvements but hasnt full recovered. She still gets out there and runs, but she now knows when to stop and try again another day.
if you’re making a solid commitment or plan, you’d better take at least a week and a half off. what those guys said was all good, but you need to seriously consider completely healing yourself before training again.
lestermo is absolutely right. Consider what you have actually said – ‘I want to increase my fitness’ you didn’t say i want to get better at running for instance and unless you are a competition runner, minimalize the running for now. Use other ways to improve fitness. Do you really understand what fitness actually is? Fitness is an abiltiy to respond quickly to an exercise need, it’s an ability to uptake oxygen to the muscles quickly and to recover quickly after activity. It’s operating at optimum metabolic function, at a cellular level. Exercise and activity using all your muscles, not just your legs will improve fitness. Swimming is great – no weight on the legs while they repair.
You also need to attend to your diet regime. you need to feed your cells optimum nutrition and you can get that in Formula One shakes. Developed by the cellular and molecular laboratory in UCLA, dedicated to nutrition, you can’t get better total nutrition. Click me to see more information.
Since you have a history of injuries you need to be careful. Do some cross training. You can bike and swim. A good exercise is to run in deep water so that you can not touch the bottom of the pool. Make sure you have good shoes that support and cushion you. You may need some insoles to help. Running and walking every other day should be okay, now you are going out every 3 days which is a long recovery period. Warm up and stretch before running and cool down and stretch after running. Often injuries are caused by tightness that occurs because we do not loosen up the muscles after they become shortened during exercise. Try some massage to help break up the muscle cells sticking together. When you get back into the gym start doing total body work and lots of abdominal and core muscle work. Some injuries are because of muscle imbalances.