A recent post on Model Per4mance about injuries got me thinking about my friend Saralyn. About this time last year she called me from a ski trip she was on and started telling me a story about how she and her husband and some friends were at the top of a run that had a jump. She was wary of doing it but her husband and friends were encouraging her to try it. She then says “you see where this is going, right?” It went right smack into a fence or rather, she went right smack into a fence and tore her ACL. She’s a runner and was really bummed that the injury was going to sideline her for so long because she was going to need surgery. But after her surgery, when she was cleared to do so, she started swimming and discovered the she actually liked it.

Saralyn’s not alone, lots of runners give swimming a try when recovering from an injury because it’s a good low impact exercise alternative. Many people shudder at the thought of swimming for exercise, thinking that it will be so boring just swimming laps. I started swimming because I wanted to do triathlons but I had the same thought and wondered how on earth I would keep sane doing the distance I needed to train. I found that after a few laps I get into a zone and just enjoy the solitude. But there are a few tools that have helped my swimming get to the point where I could do the 2.4 mile Ironman swim. If you’d like to start swimming or build more swimming endurance, check these out.

Total Immersion Swimming This is a swimming technique that teaches you to swim efficiently. The goal is “fish like” swimming where you glide through the water. I love it, I bought the DVD, an open water training book, and the book of drills. I would love to attend a workshop but haven’t had the time to do it. If you would like to swim more but feel like it’s so difficult and you just couldn’t do any distance, check out TI swimming.

Workouts in a Binder It’s easy to get in a rut with whatever your workout routine, so it’s good to have a plan. The workouts in a binder do all the planning for you. This waterproof workout binder has a good mix of speed work and endurance workouts. Because it’s waterproof you can set it down at the end of your lane to refer back to so you don’t have to memorize your workout.

Another reason I was thinking about swimming today is because I was listening to this song. It’s by Kate McGarrigle who just died, she was the matriarch of a musical family. I love this song because it reminds me of the summers of my childhood which were spent mostly in a swimming pool, playing marco polo with my friends or taunting the lifeguards by pretending to hit our heads on the diving board. It’s a good song for your running mix too.

I am one of those people who finds something I like and sticks with it. So when my brother and the guy at my local tri store told me about some “new” way to change your running form I thought, no thanks. I am still wearing running bras that I got 9 years ago because they are awesome and because Nike arbitrarily decided not to make them anymore. Why mess with something that works? Stretching for me falls in that category. I don’t stretch. Not before I run, not after. I’ve been running 13′ish years and had pretty few injuries, and the ones I’ve had have sadly been caused more by my clumsiness and tripping over something and falling. And yet, I hear it and see it written all the time – stretching is good for you. But it turns out my natural instinct is right!

A study published in March that reviewed over 350 studies the past 40 years found that there is “little to no relationship between stretching before a workout and injuries or post-exercise pain.’’  As it turns out, it’s simply better to warm up by starting your run easy.  This is good news for lots of us who have a narrow window to fit in our runs anyway, no need to spend the extra few minutes stretching, better to just get running.

Here’s something for your running mix inspired by MizFit, she’s always talking about doing some carpet roller skating with her daughter and it makes me think of this song and smile!

There was an interesting article the other day in the Wall Street Journal about how many maladies just require time to heal.  Colds, flu, back pain, etc. all just mostly require some time to let the body heal. The same is true with many common running injuries.  At some point in your running career, you’ll likely be sidelined by injury.  If you are like me it will probably be because you were looking at your shoes during a race and fell over the safety cone marking the race course.  Here are some common running injuries that mean it’s time to take a little rest.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome: A common cause of knee pain in runners is actually caused by inflammation in the iliotibial band, a ligament that runs on the outside of your leg from your hip to your shin. Women are prone to ITBS, possibly because of anatomy – our hips cause our knees to turn inward when we run which creates inflammation when the IT band rubs on your knee.  I’ve had this and it hurts but the best thing for this really is to stop running and let it heal.  Read more about ITBS here.

Stress Fracture: One reason why it’s so important to gradually increase your mileage is to avoid stress fractures.  Common in the bones of your lower leg and feet, these are repetitive stress injuries to your bones and not usually a true fracture or break.  If you have pain that you think is shin splints or a cramp but gets worse as you run, it could be something more serious like a stress fracture.  Stress fractures can be tough to diagnose and require a bone scan and simply take time to heal.

Shin splints: Pain in your shin that stays relatively constant or gets better during your run could very well be shin splints. Cutting your mileage way back, cross training, and rest are key to kicking shin splints. If you are prone to shin splints, try this exercise to help prevent them.

Overtraining Syndrome: Training for a race is hard on your body, not only are you prone to injury but your immune system is also working overtime leaving you vulnerable to illness as well. If you seem to be feeling achy and tired all the time, are getting colds and sore throats, and generally just aren’t psyched to do that run – listen to your body.  Your non-running time is just as important as your running days when you are training.  Sleep is key, this is when your body heals and rebuilds so make sure you are getting enough.  If you are feeling run-down take some time off.  You may feel guilty that you aren’t running but from experience I can tell you that a few days off is so much better for you than a few lousy days of running just to log the miles.

Runners are a motivated lot, it’s hard to not run when running is so much of who you are.  But if you are sidelined with an injury take that time to discover something new.  I had a fracture in my foot after running the Chicago Marathon one year and couldn’t run for 6 weeks.  That’s when I discovered spinning class.  I loved the workout, met some cool people in spin class, set in motion my triathlon goals, and best of all increased my cardiovascular capability and leg strength.  After I started spinning I ran my fastest 1/2 marathon.

Another good cross training activity when you can’t run is swimming. Put this one in your music mix and go out and run swim a few miles.