This hasn't been a good week in my running life.
Left IT band inflamed and sore. Left side of left foot achy and sore. Should I just run through it? Someone recommended a regimen of icing and stretching. Cross train maybe? Switch over to biking. Perhaps some ellipticizing?
As I was deciding what to do, I recalled a passage in Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. "In trail running, if you have a choice between taking one or two steps between points A and B, take three." This struck a cord with me, as when I used to have more leisure time, I ran slower, and with smaller steps. Nary an injury.
But since I've been running faster and further, I suffer a leg or foot injury about every other month. This is not good. I need to run. I have to run. Every day. I can't cross train. If absolutely necessary, I'll climb on an elliptical machine. Otherwise, I'm running. So this morning, facing a prolonged break to let my leg and foot injuries recover, I tried it. I ran slower and with a shorter stride.
Zero pain.
Zero.
It was as if all of a sudden I'd found the perfect pain-killer.
I may not race. I may not worry about times. But I do worry about one thing. I do have one goal.
Being physically able to run almost every day for the rest of my life.
Hopefully, tomorrow's run will be equally pain free.
Here's another article suggesting running more slowly allows your legs to recover more quickly. Same concept.
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