Woes of an Injured Runner and 7 Benefits of Stretching.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I am a runner. Over Memorial Day weekend, I started a new training plan in preparation for my October half marathon. You can read about it here. Everything was going well. I was completing all my training runs, along with my strength training. Everything was going well until three weeks ago. On Friday, July 12th, I woke up and could not sit down without a pain shooting down my leg. I took four Motrin and went about my day. The next morning I woke up to the same pain. Again, I took four Motrin, visited my Dad, and even went for a run. The next day I planned to complete a 2-hour training run. However, the pain was so bad, even with Motrin, I knew there was no way I could run. All-day, I could not get comfortable whether I was sitting or standing. I was a hot mess! Well, the next day, things were not feeling any better. I was having numbness in my toes. Immediately I called my doctor and was seen that morning. The doctor diagnosed it as sciatic nerve pain. He gave me a prescription for prednisone, a muscle relaxer, and a told me to go to physical therapy. I asked if I could still run and he said sure, just no weight lifting.

In the next two days, I ran and felt okay. Though I was still taking Motrin in the morning and I was not able to sit for the first 20 minutes of the day. I met with my physical therapist, and she noticed some loss of strength in my left foot and toes. She agreed that it was my sciatic nerve causing the pain, but she was not sure if it was coming from my back or my piriformis muscle squeezing the nerve. The loss of strength was bothering her. She did some work on the muscle but wanted me to call my doctor and request an MRI. She gave me some stretches to go while on the road, told me to try yoga and NO RUNNING. NO RUNNING???? What????

Over the last two and a half weeks, I went on vacation. I did the stretches as prescribed, walked on the beach, and did some yoga. I came home and immediately saw a chiropractor and my physical therapist. My chiropractor is a miracle worker. After one treatment, I woke up pain-free. My PT has been great as well. She has given me a stretching routine to follow before and after my runs. Confession time… in all my years of being a runner, I never would stretch. This is not something your PT wants to hear. It is part of the reason I am in the predicament that I am in now. I need to be much better about self-care. Self-care includes stretching, foam rolling, massages, and adjustments by my chiropractor.

This leads me to the questions, why is stretching so important, and what are the benefits of stretching? Stretching increases our range of motion and our flexibility. Sitting all day is one of the worst things for the body. This causes the muscles in our hips, glutes, and hamstrings to shorten and become tight. It literally can become a pain in the ass! Stretching is one way to combat this. It increases mobility in the joints and muscles. For runners, this keeps us INJURY FREE! Here are seven benefits of running.

• Increases range of motion and decrease muscle stiffness.
• Loosens the muscles and primes the body for exercise.
• Reduces muscular tensions and helps the muscles relax.
• Improves our posture. Tight muscles are weak muscles, so muscles need to be loose, which allows for better posture.
• Tight hamstrings can cause lower back pain, so stretching may help decrease lower back pain.
• It improves flexibility. Flexibility is so important. It helps with performing daily activities and can help delay immobility as we age.
• Increases circulation and increases blood flow to the muscles. It helps with muscle soreness and speeds up recovery time.

Long story short, I have learned my lesson. The last 2.5 weeks have been tough. Running is my stress reliever. It keeps me sane. I want to keep running for years to come. If this means I need to take 10 mins a day to stretch, then so be it.

I am happy to report that I ran this morning for the first time in two and a half weeks. It felt amazing. My coach told me to take it slow and to run for only 30 minutes. It was the best 30 minutes of the day.

I would love to know, do you stretch and if not, will you now?