Ouch!!

Just SOME of the parts of me that hurt...

   Okay, yesterday I was all excited about running 5K for the first time. Today, all I want is the licence plate # of the truck that ran over me!
   I am at that age where I wake up pretty well every morning with some kind of ache or pain. I never jump out of bed, I slowly swing my legs out over the edge, make sure they've made full contact with the floor and then I slowly roll up into a standing position. From there, I test my ability to pivot to the right. Then come the first faltering steps. About halfway across the bedroom floor, I have a bit of an idea what my morning's going to be like.

That's my motto

   Part of my problem is that I still do things younger men are supposed to do. I play ball hockey with a bunch of younger studs and they quite often forget to respect their elders when it comes to the rougher aspects of the sport. I also have no problem with trying to block 100 mph shots and diving to make some sort of play. I just don't have that hey, take it easy, you're getting kind of old thought process totally ingrained yet. Around the house I quite often lift things I probably shouldn't be lifting. So aches and pains are not that uncommon.
   This morning, though, was a little uncommon in the discomfort department.
   Like I said, I felt like I had truck tire tread marks all over me. I don't normally feel quite this bad and about the only thing I could attribute it to was tacking on the extra 1K yesterday. That and possibly the fact that in the space of four days I'd run a 4K, played ball hockey and then had done another 5K.
   I am one of those people, thank goodness, who doesn't mind the pain too much in the morning. More than anything, it is an affirmation that, firstly, I am alive and, secondly, that my body is acknowledging that I have worked it hard. I appreciate the feedback, as weird as that may sound. I remember back in my teenager days, my friends and I would spend many a fall afternoon playing tackle football with no or very little equipment on and would then need to walk home with cuts, bruises and all manner of bloodied parts. Through all the limping, it felt wonderful! Yes, a little hard to explain...
   There have occasionally been real and actual hurts which stopped me right in my tracks.
   The first of these was a charley horse incurred playing one of the aforementioned games of neighbourhood tackle football. I got tackled and the guy's knee drove right into the side of my calf. It didn't particularly hurt at the time. When I stood up and tried taking a step, however, my leg buckled right under me. This one took forever to heal, the problem being that it didn't really hurt. Because it didn't hurt I kept aggravating it. This was my first and only charley horse and were I to receive another, I'm pretty sure I'd heal it a lot faster.
   Possibly the most serious injury I had was a badly sprained ankle with a hairline fracture. This was a ball hockey injury, stepped on a guy's stick blade and my foot hit the wall and turned right over. This one hurt and I nursed it quite a bit better than I did the previous injury. A handful of visits to the Fowler-Kennedy clinic here in London greatly helped the process and I would highly recommend them for injury treatment.
   Just as debilitating but not quite as long-lasting was a case of plantar fasciitis I had last summer. Once again, this was a ball hockey injury. This is an inflammation of the thick band of tissue which runs across the bottom of your foot, connecting your heel to your toes. It is extremely common with runners (I can hardly wait) and is characterized by a sharp pain in the heel area. The pain is particularly bad in the morning when you try walking on it the first time. Some relief is provided with anti-inflammatories, icing and stretching. Preventatively-speaking, what helped me the most was buying an over-the-counter orthotic which gave me more support in the arch area. So far, so good with the plantar fasciitis.
   The other condition I've suffered which is extremely debilitating was a suspected case of gout. This attacks your feet, especially the big toe, and is due to a buildup of uric acid. This causes essentially an arthritic condition in the joint of the big toe. This one hurts a lot. Frankly, it was easier to walk with a sprained and fractured ankle. It can be diagnosed symptomatically in conjunction with bloodwork. Once again, I found icing helped and my doctor has given me a NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) for the next time the symptoms hit. There apparently is a genetic aspect to gout and the little bit of research I've done indicates that red meat and asparagus in significant doses only exacerbates things.
   The last thing that stopped me running was the strained calf muscle I believe I mentioned in a previous post. I think this one could likely have been avoided with a more conscientious pre-run calf stretch. I've been careful to do this ever since that injury and it has not bothered me further.

This has nothing to do with me, not sure why I included it!

   So there you have it, a minor compendium of some of my running-related boo-boos and ow-ies. I read somewhere that if you are a runner then, at some point, you will be injured. Hopefully, every little injury serves to heighten your own body awareness so that, hopefully, the chances that you will incur the same injury in the future will either be eliminated or greatly lessened.
   Healthy running to you all!