Stretching and warming
up are invaluable

If you're injured you can't compete. And if you train hard you can wind up with overuse or stress injuries, unless you take measures to prevent them. But if you're like me, you learn how to prevent injuries only after you get them.

In high school, it was shinsplints and a heel spur. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know if those were indeed the injuries I suffered, because in those days I didn't go to one for a proper diagnosis unless the pain was so bad I couldn't walk.

Doctors don't use the term "shinsplints" anymore because a number of different conditions can cause pain in the lower leg. And I now know that heel spur is a result of a condition that causes pain to the bottom of the heel, not the cause of the pain.

Whatever they were, both injuries eventually went away.

Years later, while training for my first marathon, I experienced pain in both knees. I completed the marathon but limped away from the finish line. The next year, after months of rest, I was at it again but was forced to walk the last 6 miles.

The orthopedic doctor who examined me said my knee caps were being pulled off track by tight muscles on the back and outside of both legs. A physical therapist worked out a program for me that included stretching the muscles on the back and outside of my legs, and exercises, like cycling, to strengthen the muscles on the inside of both knees.

I wouldn't have injured my knees had I stretched properly. And some sports doctors say warming up the muscles before heavy activity is more important than stretching. But I figured there was no need for stretching or warm-up for running 10- to 12-minute miles. And you don't feel that your muscles are tight unless you get a cramp or pull.

In Boca's Masters Training for the Honolulu Triathlon, warm-up and stretching are included in the training schedule. It even includes 30 minutes of stretching on the "off days." And once last week we even learned some yoga.

Before we run sprints or hard intervals, we also do some drills that include high knee lifts, back kicks, running backward and running sideways.

My latest injury was not the result of repetitive stress or overuse, but it illustrates the need for muscle balance that the running drills try to address.

About a year ago I crashed going too fast through a sweeping left turn. I got up, adjusted my bike and pedaled home. I thought the only injuries I suffered were the big abrasions on my hip and shoulder.

In the months that followed I forgot about the crash but experienced tightness in my left groin. I was still able to stretch it, though not without some pain. Then just before training started in January, an illness confined me to bed for a few days and all of my muscles tightened, especially the left groin.

I went to a physical therapist, who wasn't able to figure out the cause. But when he suggested I get X-rays, I remembered the crash.

The X-rays didn't reveal any broken bones, so I got an appointment with a physiatrist, who told me my groin tightened up because my hip muscles on the opposite side of the leg had weakened from the crash.

My therapy includes stretching the groin and strengthening the hip muscles. Running sideways also helps strengthen the hip and groin muscles.

After experiencing different running injuries, I appreciate the value of stretching, warming up and the drills.