Well, turns out the current knee injury has kept me from training/racing longer than any other running-related injury since I started way back in the early 80s. Here’s a quick summary of the various issues over the years, excluding anything pre-2008 because I honestly can’t remember having to take any significant time off.
December 2018 – knee issue (6+ weeks and counting). Twisted my knee during a night out on December 5th. Ran the Seashore Nature Trail 50K 10 days later, and have been out with medial knee pain ever since.
December 2017 – hamstring issue (1 week). Tweaked my left hamstring 10 miles into the Cayman Islands Marathon. Nothing too serious, but rested up for a week post-marathon in preparation for the upcoming Seashore Nature Trail 50K.
September 2014 – (2.5 weeks). The September curse strikes again! Can’t even remember the issue, but according to my log it was enough to sideline me for a couple of weeks and limit a 12-hour race to just over 30 miles on September 20th. I’m guessing it was left-side issues again with normal training and racing resuming soon after the 12-hour.
March 2014 – sick (6 days). Not strictly running related, but came down with a touch of the flu after racing the Shamrock 8K on Saturday morning. Sunday’s Shamrock Marathon was my first DNS (Did Not Start) and I needed a full 6 days to get back to full strength and feeling half decent.
September 2013 – glute issue (4 days) . Tweaked the same glute as the previous September during a standard Saturday long run (24 miles). Nothing too serious, but decided to rest up for a few days before resuming regular training.
September 2012 – glute issue (3 or 4 weeks). This particular injury came after two months of solid training under the watchful eye of Dai Roberts. Fitness was coming along nicely, but soon came to a crashing halt during a challenging Mount Trashmore hill workout. Should have pulled the plug when I first experienced pain, but [foolishly] continued on to complete the workout with a stupidly fast tempo mile around the lake.
February 2012 – glute/hip issue (4 weeks). Pulled up lame at the Tidewater Striders Distance Series 30K at First Landing State Park. Probably a combination of low-6 minute miles, testing trail conditions and attempting to race local legend Pete Gibson led to my downfall. Took several weeks just to be walking pain-free. Can’t remember the diagnosis, but thinking some kind of hip labral tear.
July 2008 – foot stress fracture (6 weeks). Too much racing and not enough listening to the body. Ran 2 x 5K on Saturday morning as part of a run~swim~run relay team. Foot sore after the 2nd 5K, but stupidly decided to race the Crystal City Twilighter 5K in DC later the same day. Of course, the stress was too much for the foot which duly fractured after just 2 miles leading to 6 weeks in a boot with zero running but plenty of bike miles.
October 2005 – ITB (4 weeks). Just remembered not being able to take part in the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon due to pretty severe IT band issues. Pulled up lame after 12 miles at First Landing State Park on October 9th. Ran only about a dozen miles in the next 3 weeks before the marathon and took another week to fully recover. The foam roller turned out to be my new best friend – almost an instant fix!
What was your worst injury? How long were you out, and what did you do whilst you couldn’t run? Let me know in the comments below.