Running is a demanding sport that requires endurance and stamina. And while most serious runners thrive on pushing themselves to the edge, it’s just as important to know when to listen to your body and take a step back.
By
Robert L. Jones
Sports Medicine and Injury Care
The trick is to understand the signals your body is sending you in order to avoid hurting yourself.
Four signs that it’s time to take a break:
1. You have a sharp pain that doesn’t go away
Unlike the soreness of well-worked muscles, sharp pain is a signal from your body telling you to stop. There’s a difference between pain and soreness. Sore muscles are to be expected, but if you have a sharp pain, particularly around a shin or foot bone, you should have it checked out. That’s especially true if the pain goes away and then comes back; recurrence shows that it’s not an aberration. It could be a stress fracture, or a tear of a tendon or piece of cartilage, which will just get worse if you don’t rest.
2. An old injury is acting up
If you’ve been injured in the past, it’s wise to pay particular attention to issues that arise in this area. Runners need to be careful not to re-aggravate old injuries. Pain that flares up around an old injury is a good sign that you shouldn’t push through. Stop your regular routine for a few days and protect your joints by introducing some gentle exercise like yoga or swimming until the pain subsides.
3. Pain that starts earlier and earlier into your workout
Soreness in the knee or ankle that comes after the run or workout and goes away the next day means that you can continue without any problems. Pain that moves into the run is a signal that you need to stop. For example, if your knee was sore for half an hour after your run last week, and this week it started being sore during the last mile, this could indicate something significant. It could be an injury that is surgically correctable, and you don’t want to push through something that makes you tear or fracture.
4. You have a fever
Although you don’t have to cancel your workout every time you have the sniffles, when it comes to the flu it’s a different story. If all you have is a head cold, you can try exercising and see how you do. If you have a fever, though, that is not a day to try and push through.
If you have a running-related injury and want to learn more about treatment options, visit CarolinasHealthCare.org/SportsCare.
