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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Aug 18 2010 - 11:37:50 EDT
http://running.competitor.com/2010/08/features/the-small-things-make-a-big-difference_12357
The Small Things Make A Big Difference
by Running
August 17, 2010
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Meb Keflezighi says staying positive and stretching are the keys to
overcoming and avoiding injury.
Written by: Courtney Baird
It’s happened to all of us: injury. Perhaps you’ve felt your hamstring pop
as you rounded the track, or you’ve watched your ankle balloon after
slipping on a trail, or you’ve let the twinge of shin splints lead to stress
fracture.
Staying positive while he couldn't run helped Meb Keflezighi bounce back
from injury in a big way. Photo: PhotoRun.net
When these types of injuries happen, sometimes it’s hard not to let the
disappointment settle in. After all, you’ve just watched many months of work
melt away into nothingness.
But being injured doesn’t have to be a negative experience. Instead, it can
be a time where you get to enjoy the activities and hobbies that you can
never quite squeeze in during your normal training/work/life schedule.
When New York City Marathon champion and Olympic Marathon silver medalist
Meb Keflezighi fractured his pelvis in 2008, he could only get around by
crawling and didn’t know if he would ever run again. But instead of dwelling
on the injury, he used the extra time on his hands to read, spend time with
family, and catch up with friends.
“You can’t change what it is,” Keflezighi said.
And taking part in these types of activities can help you stay
positive—something that is important in the healing process.
“The more you think positive, the better,” Keflezighi said.
So instead of focusing on how the pain in your knee will prevent you from
qualifying for Boston this year, try learning a new language, watching your
favorite comedy, rereading your favorite book, calling an old friend or
catching a baseball game—do those things you love to do but can never find
time for when you’re out on the roads.
Of course, all of this forced positive thinking can be avoided if you don’t
get injured in the first place.
“Rule number one is don’t get injured,” Keflezighi said.
To accomplish this, Keflezighi has some tips that he wanted me to make sure
I gave you.
His most important tip? Stretching. In Keflezighi’s eyes, stretching is
crucial to injury avoidance and a key ingredient to his long career.
“The most common mistake is people don’t stretch,” he said.
Stretching is easy to forgo. After all, most runners are pressed for time,
and once a workout is done, they neglect stretching and then hurry off to
work, to pick up the kids, or to wherever else they’re presence is required.
But Keflezighi says that doing this can lead to injury—and it’s especially
bad when you finish a run and then immediately jump into a car.
All it takes is five minutes, Keflezighi says. In fact, you’re better off
cutting your run five minutes short and stretching than forgoing the
activity altogether.
Keflezighi also recommends 15-minute ice baths and core workouts.
“It’s the small things that make the biggest difference,” he said.
****
Courtney Baird is senior editor of Inside Triathlon magazine. She ran
Division 1 cross country and track and now competes in triathlons as an
elite age-grouper. She can be reached by e-mail at
cbaird@competitorgroup.com.
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