Coping with injury - I'm going nuts!

Supercell

Three weeks ago i hurt my knee..
One week later knee was fine and then hurt calf muscle...
One week later about 100 metres from home the same calf muscle went again ( i jumped when a feckin insect flew right into my ear and buzzed a bit!)...
Its healing slower this time (its week three and by now my calf was feeling healed last week), and wont be able to run on it for another few days at least and even then am terrified of going too hard.

I've piled on 10lbs during this, that's two belt notches and if I'm honest should be three, I honestly am going a bit loopers bonkers bejonkers!

Anyone have any helpful coping hints?..am i gonna have to eat lettuce and carrots until my bloody leg gets better, and what to do when i get home in the evenings - this is running and de-stress time..agghh i need to ruuuuuun!!!!

RacoonQueen

When I was injured(I'm not sure why I say when as I'm still not 100% back) I rejoined the gym and have replaced two hour runs with two hour gym sessions, now it's hard to get back on the roads again when I want to go to the gym. You could just enjoy this one chance to have a remotely normal social life?

colblimp

I'm just as bad, if not worse for injury, as you. I'm currently on the bench with an ankle injury, having just recovered from a knee injury, which followed an IT Band problem. Before that (and it's still at me) I had/have a femoral nerve injury - it's just never ending. I'm almost suicidal!

groovyg

Supercell if you can't run, best thing to do is take up swimming. All round good exercise, low impact and it should help you to recover much quicker.

copacetic

been out for 4 weeks so far with ruptured ankle ligaments, looks like it will be another couple before I can run properly. It's been a bit of a bugger as haven't been able to do anything else either. Still I've enjoyed it like the OP and put a bit of weight on. These things happen.

greenplain

I feel your pain. I was out for six weeks with a hip injury and in that time put on 10lbs. I would again suggest swimming. Once your injury has healed the weight will come off again.

ecoli

I was out for over four months this year. only thing i will say is swimming and ski machine helped keep my fitness up somewhat( learned the hard way it no substitute). Also try core work as it can actually help strengthen your body to prevent injury in the future. There are some basic core workouts all over the internet.
Best of luck on the recovery

rdunne

I fell your pain too. I've been out for most of the last 7 mounths on-off.
I went from allmost having a 6 pack to having a keg.
If your not training you need to cut down on what you eat. Last month i gave up beer. I aslo follow

http://find.weightwatchers.ie/

Good tips on how to eat enough to feel full , but low fat.
good luck

thirtyfoot

Have you gone to a physio and have they put you on a rehab programme?Have you been told what you can and can't do?

When injured you can do so much. Many guys come back from injury stronger as they do so much rehab. Work now on your other weaknesses. Are you strong enough? Have you got imbalances? Do you need to work on your flexibility?

You can do more than just run. Get yourself a plan and treat it like a running session. When you get home you aren't going home to do your rehab but to train. I was injured last year and did 20 training sessions a week while injured. Each session lasted only 15-20 minutes. but I treated as a training session. I thought I was the business because I was training 20 times a week!

Change your focus a bit and see it as a chance to work on other stuff.

Supercell

Thanks everyone, glad to hear I'm not the only one that feels like this when they can't run!
I think there is a definate natural high that comes after a decent run that isnt replicated in anything else, at least thats how it seeems for me.

Tingle i suppose thats the sensible approach, I just find it hard to motivate my lazy ass to do anything else, nothing gives me the same buzz but at the rate my waistline is currently expanding I think I'll just have to suck it up and do something.
I have a rowing machine which is good for the core and I haven't used in months, i might give that a go as well as the cycling.

ClashCityRocker

I've been out for the last six weeks or so with a knee injury, just been getting back into the running this last week. I have to say I admire the discipline of some on here who found alternative pursuits, I took being injured to be an excuse for going a bit mad on the beer and junk food and have piled on a few pounds.

I'm totally out of shape now, but the break, though enforced, had it's benefits too. A few weeks off certainly renews your enthusiasm for running and exercise.

Krusty_Clown

Why make life hard on yourself? Why make the return to fitness even more difficult? You don't want to get too used to your new lifestyle. Spend the time working on your weaknesses (in my case it was core strength and flexibility). Then find other outlets like swimming and cycling to get you out, and keep you fit.

From personal experience, it's very easy to wallow in self-pity, but thankfully, it's also easy to find new outlets and new goals. In most cases, an injury isn't something that 'happens to you', rather it's something that you do to yourself. Figure out why you got injured, and start to plan now, to avoid it in the future (e.g. over-training, too many races, increasing work-load too quickly, pushing too hard, not enough strength, etc.). I'm certainly no expert, but the above has helped me over the last few months to recover from similar injuries). Enjoy your cake, and your extra beers, but balance it with some exercise that you also enjoy.

ecoli

ClashCityRocker wrote: »

I've been out for the last six weeks or so with a knee injury, just been getting back into the running this last week. I have to say I admire the discipline of some on here who found alternative pursuits, I took being injured to be an excuse for going a bit mad on the beer and junk food and have piled on a few pounds.

I'm totally out of shape now, but the break, though enforced, had it's benefits too. A few weeks off certainly renews your enthusiasm for running and exercise.

More than you know after all up to six weeks rest can actually restore the elasticity of muscle fibers which is lost through training that can lead to "burning out".