To the injured runners out there, encouragement please

How are you feeling @Boobyslims ?

I am on week 3 of rest, ice, elevation after getting an annoying niggle pain during a run. Next morning it was very inflamed and hard to walk. Still not right now despite no running and basically being confined to the sofa!

Physio says its posterior tibial tendonitis - tendons take ages to heal, blah blah blah. I've got an insole for my trainers (no nice shoes for me now) that supports the arch to give the tendon a bit of a break, and apparently K tape will help now and again. Otherwise its rest it, walk a bit to give it some load, and when it is in less inflamed state try the PT exercises to load it progressively. Physio didn't even mention returning to running, so I figure we're a long long way off that (tbh I just want to walk a decent stretch without worrying at this point!)

Any tips on how to stay sane?

I've had to delete strava and hide a few whatsapp chats with my running club as it's really getting me down!

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato what peptides did you use? Someone at running club mentioned peptides for tendon injuries like mine. The only peptides I'd heard of are WLI's and I'm sure he couldn't have meant those (though, to be frank, after all this resting I'll likely be needing weight loss assistance too!). Keen to hear more about this if you're willing to share?

Just coming back to this a couple of weeks later to say I am much improved. Ligament in foot still inflamed but I am able to go on long walks again. My pelvis was twisted but myofascial release really helped get it back in place. I lost a bit of condition over the couple of weeks I was struggling with injury and I am forcing myself to be a bit cautious heading back in to it all so that I don't damage myself again. Overall... strangely it might have been a good intervention. I was probably over exercising and this forced me to slow down a bit. Just posting this for anyone else who finds this thread feeling utterly despondent as I was a couple of weeks ago!

Thanks. My friend who is a physiotherapist recommended shockwave therapy as well. Will try anything. My back is so sore though now. Can't believe I injured it using an arm bike! Anyway, thank you.

I would recommend you see a good sports injury therapist, not all physios specialise in sports injury. My sports injury guy told me that tendons need to be used and strengthened not rested and the strength training is as important as the running. I’ve had Achilles tendinitis and in the end shockwave treatment really helped.

My guy is a runner and his aim is to keep runners running if he can!

Found this thread because I am injured and just about out of my mind. Really. Flat foot...custom orthotics for years, all quite good until a couple of months ago. On and off tendonitis pain. Was better until last week when it got very very very bad after a long walk. I walk 20km walks regularly and do incline treadmill when I cant get out.

Anyway, couple of days bed rest, foot a bit better so trying a bit of cycling and then yesterday did arm bike and I can't believe it, I have pulled a muscle in my back. It is really bloody sore. I regularly go on the arm bike. Yesterday I just upped the duration and decreased intensity. I am so upset. A week ago I was working out 6 days a week. Now I can barely move. I am so worried about weight gain but also trying to make sure I keep eating enough protein. What a mess.

No I've only been running about 13 years, got into ultras relatively recently. My longest was 100k but that was a couple of years ago. I went ahead and did half of the 50k ultra that I mentioned in my previous post but my IT band went poof so I'm back on the bench. It definitely takes longer to recover at my age, I get so frustrated!

I’m also a member of this club nobody wants to be a part of 🙁 Been running well and sign up for a backyard trail run ( 4 mile laps) with the secret intention of using it to run my first marathon. Except my back puts me out of action for a couple of weeks and now I have a nasty chest infection. At this rate I’ll be walking one lap and just eating the snacks! It’s so annoying isn’t it, especially as I run mainly for my mental health.

Good news about not having a fracture! You probably need to ice and elevate your foot.

My ME started after I did the marathon. It would be impossible to train for a marathon with even the mildest ME. And incidentally I picked up the stress fracture training for another marathon.

My Osteopath suggested too many anti imflamirties are a bad idea (stomach issues?) and to try aTurmeric capsules instead. I confess I was very skeptical, but desperate enough to try anythjng. The issue I'd been taking the tablets for for months cleared up within a week!

God it is SO frustrating. I know how you feel - I damaged my knee last year. However it isn’t the end, just a pause! I think I’d be investigating swimming pools if I were you!!

Hope that’s not a metatarsal stress fracture, OP.

Sadly, i’m permanently injured out of running. I djd the London Marathon in October 2021. Had a total break feom all exercise except for Pilates and a bit of swimming. 3 weeks later, I went for a 1.5 mile jog. I nearly collapsed due to dizziness - which I now know was ME/CFS. That has made me stop all sport. I do a little yoga at home at is all.

i ran for many years was actually fairly injury free, except for 1 serious injury, which was a stress fracture at the front to my tibia (shin). That resulted in 9 months in one of those boots plus another 9 months of resting before I was allowed to start going on walks and then slowly build up to jogging and then running.

if you do have a fracture, get your vitamin D checked- it is essential for bone repair.

I'm 56 and just co.ing back from a period of injury.

I think they key is to keep up some sort of exercise so you don't loose all you fitness. For me it was yoga, walking and spinning classes. I can't abide swimming 🤣 It will vary according to your injury.

And, whilst it took me too long to accept it, I do think you need to recognise things change as you bet older. I'm still strong and fit, still run decent times, but short hard workout, like HIIT or sprinting lead to more injury than fitness for me these days.

A friend who broke her ankle in her late 50s carried on with lower body weights on the gym machines and kept her cardio up with a hand bike (what's that really called?) and came back stronger and faster than ever.

Ohhhh I hate being injured too and my last few years have just been plagued with injury. Hip pain, foot pain, two weeks ago I started getting a nippy little Achilles pain. The only thing I have ever managed to do really is rest it. Properly rest it. Then once you can run again, build up the strength. For me most of my injuries come from overtraining, being lopsided, and being weak on one side. Eg had a hamstring injury, which left me weak on one side, which led to hip flexor tendon pain etc etc

I suffered a tendon injury in my leg... didn't rest it so it got worse. Eventually I listened to my physio and cut down on my distance dramatically and took up swimming to keep some level of fitness.

Years later, it still niggles but l have regained my running fitness.... as you will too!

Also a runner out of action due to tendonitis. My physio mentioned that Menopause be a factor as drops in estrogen often cause tendon issues. Might be worth looking into

Thank you @Boobyslims, it really is exhausting! I feel so drained every day and I'm not doing anything whereas a few weeks ago I was doing 6-7 hours exercise a week and felt great 😢 at least I'm very motivated to do the physio exercises 3 times a day!

Yes injured here too, should be doing a 50k race this weekend but am very reluctantly thinking I'll have to pull out. I'm 60 and been running ultras for a decade or so. Being injured is really frustrating. Good luck with the MRI!