things you do stay injury free

Ice

Epsom Salt

Calcium supplements - "Bone Up"

lots of protein - "GNC whey"

eat eat eat

sleep

I'd say that taking a nap after long runs and taking a 48-9 degree ice bath for 15 minutes after all hard workouts have helped me.

get a biomechanical gait analysis then.

Massage, if you get the right person.

nomore,

get the correct diagnosis for what is causing your "injuries"

you are describing tension induced pain symptoms,

this disorder has a strategy, that's why you may think you have healed one injury and then another pops up in a different location.

ck out the link. especially look at the illustrations link,

this was my pain cycle and it was 90% on the right side.

this diagnosis is usually difficult for an athlete to accept, but once

they truly get frustrated with the pain and treatments that don't work

then it begins to make sense!

feel free to email me w/specific questions. good luck,

Monte Hueftle

I agree with the the gait analysis. Also, have someone knowledgeable check out your shoes and find out if they are the right shoes for you. I remember reading something Lydiard wrote about a majority of injuries being caused because people are wearing the wrong shoes, which can screw up their form, how they strike the ground, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions and help

1) where do you go for a biomechanical gait analysis

2) for massage, what are somethings you look for to find some who is very good massage therapist?

3) This tension thing, what if i don't have tension, like im normally pretty at ease, with the exception of school work and when I'm injured I don't fret about things?

good stuff, keep it coming if you got more, im still interested to hear about strengthening and plyos

Start with self massage (no, not what some are thinking) by rolling on a tennis ball. Stay on a tender spot until the muscle releases and relaxes. Possibly look for a chiro with ART credentials instead of a massage therapist if cost is a factor as most insurances will cover chiro, but not massage. Ask other runners for a good massage therapist in the area.

Rolling on a baseball (worked up from a tennis ball) is the sole reason I feel I have been able to run injury free after a 2 year battle with severe injuries in my right hip/glute area. No matter how many months I took off, it would always come back. I finally figured out how tight my muscles were and began loosening them up by rolling on a tennis ball and now a baseball. After the first few treatments I rarely felt any tightness on my run. Now, if I feel any tightness on a run, I will roll on a baseball after my run and it ends up not being a problem.

Power YOga, worked wonders for me.

There is a great book/video by Beryl Bender Birch

her web site is

www.power-yoga.com

she is yoga instructior for NYRRC

to do yoga correctly--you have to focus on breathing and other

things that keep your mind focused it works on reducing tension

and strengthening and stretching---

biomechanical analysis can be performed by a lot of specialists. For a sports Podiatrist go to

www.aapsm.org

and look for a Fellow in Sports medicine in your area.

Work on your core strengthening. Pilates is also good in addition to Yoga.

Sleeping enough is a huge key to staying injury free.

Brian

I should qualify this by saying that I am by no means an elite runner. But I have run between 3,000 and 4,000 miles per year for the last 13 years without a single injury that has shut me down for more than 3 or 4 days. I attribute this to three things: First, I increase my mileage very gradually. During the course of a month, I never jump my mileage by more than five miles per week (and I only do that once a month). Second, I run at least 60% of my miles on trails, which I admit is a real luxury because of where I work (immediately adjacent to a State Park). And third, I never wear a pair of shoes for more than 400 to 450 miles.

I used to have chronic bursitis issues in my left ankle. But ever since I've been doing these three things, I have been essentially injury free. I'm not sure which part of the equation is the key, but I'm not inclined to take a chance and find out.