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Avoiding Injuries the Hard Way by Nick Honerkamp
submitted by Run Hartwig

     Ever since I beat the class bully in a 600 yard race in junior high, I've loved running. But like all things that we truly love, mine has come at considerable cost, one that has taken the form of injuries. After a lifetime of pulled calf muscles, my legs are pretty much nothing but scar tissue, so that every morning run now becomes a challenge. Will I make it back to the gym without limping, or whining) or both? As I've aged, I've noticed a dramatic increase in the injury-related entries that have started cropping up in my running log: calves, of course, but also two stress fractures on my right leg and a couple of nasty hamstring pulls on my left, all in the last four years, not to mention ancillary scars on elbows and knees from bad bike wrecks, biking being (literally) a fallback activity when running is impossible. In other words, I've been aging ungracefully, unable to shake the serial injury monkey from my back. Other more "mature" runners I know seem to have similar experiences. The spirit is willing, but the body is bonking.

     After my last injury, a spectacular (I should have won an Oscar) hamstring pull in a dead sprint about 10 meters from the finish at the Joe Johnson I OK, I decided I'd had enough and would start doing something about my increasingly unreliable legs. First, I resolved to adjust my stride, consciously making it shorter but compensating by increasing turnover and knee lift. Unfortunately such a shift in mechanics requires using muscles that I don't own, and that can only be addressed, of course, through cross training, a mantra we've all read about a million times in Runners World. But instead of a triathlon regime, I've tried to be more proactive about stretching and strengthening my legs. I still bike and swim on occasion, but my new cross training activities now include weight training, power yoga, and ballet. You laugh! But it is I who shall laugh last, whenever I finally master a grande plie without sticking my butt out!

     But I digress. The weight training and power yoga provide leg strength that simply cannot be achieved through running alone, and the latter also forces me to do some serious stretching. It's also great for reducing stress, and I would recommend it for that quality alone, especially if you are in a ballet class. Why? Because ballet is the most humiliating activity I've ever attempted in my whole life.

     Fortunately I waited until I was over 50 before trying it, ensuring that I was as tight, inflexible and awkward as a far-right Republican at a Grateful Dead concert, making my attempts at even standing in one of the five basic positions seem pathetic and humorous to the class instructor and students alike. This is a Pilates style class taught at UTC three days a week by a ballet goddess named Monica Coulter, who dances professionally as well as teaches. She is extremely knowledgeable and patient, and only bursts out laughing at what I do about once a week. For that I am very thankful. This is in stark contrast to my cruel and thoughtless daughter Aurelia, who is apparently taking the class with me primarily for the "mirth quotient", as she so drolly puts it. The problem, and the source of all the collective class mirth, is that ballet is somewhat more complicated than pointing your toes and jumping into the air with your arms flailing around like they're on fire. That's what I do, but it doesn't seem to quite get at the essence of true ballet, or even into the general vicinity. In fact, it's as if a Star Trek sequence was occurring in the UTC dance studio, one that involves alternate universes; I'm one, while actual ballet is the other. Monica often points to what I am doing and urges the class to "never do that." So I at least have one useful function in the class.

     But I digress. While I've only been following this weights/yoga/ballet regime for a couple of months, I've noticed a measurable increase in leg strength, and paradoxically for my body, flexibility. I also point my toes a lot more now. I think ballet is largely responsible for all three changes, especially the last. And so far, no injuries have resulted from an ever-increasing running schedule, which is currently at about 50 miles a week. Another added benefit is all the support I've gotten from my morning running group. Bob Braddock's speculation about whether my new cross training routine also involves cross dressing is just one example of the affirmation I receive on a daily basis. Only time will tell if this alternate form of cross training is a long-term solution to avoiding leg injuries, especially once the brutal CTC racing schedule gets cranked up. But I am certainly pleased with my progress so far, and hopeful.

     And a lot more humble.