I recently added 10k runs to my training regimen. In fact, I completed my first 6.2 mile run a few weeks ago, fulfilling a goal dating back to sixth grade. Each year, our local elementary schools participated in a 10k. Students qualified by either running twenty laps around the soccer field under the supervision of a friend, or by running twenty-five laps during gym class. I managed to jog and walk about seventeen laps while my best friend observed. He was kind enough to testify to my qualifying effort and so I was “in”.
A few weeks later, race day arrived. Like many students, I came out of the gate running. Unlike many students, I was overweight and extremely out of shape. I faded fast. Within the first quarter-mile, I was walking, panting and looking for the white rescue van. I was ready to give up. Adam, a fellow student and quitter, joined me. Together we planned to hop into the van when it caught up to us. After an interminable period of suffering, the van sidled up. Sitting inside were the beaten souls of kids who dropped out of the race and ‘took the ride’. Sitting in front of them, hanging out the door was our school gym coach, who we fittingly called “Coach”.
I remember my first track practice in high school. It was still winter, so my team ran laps on the hard cement around the school’s upper floor. The next morning, it felt like someone tore my shins out and replaced them with burning knives. I will never forget that feeling, and never run on cement again.
Runners are no strangers to injury. Every now and then, we feel a twist or a ding. If you feel intense pain, or see part of a bone sticking through your leg, you probably want to seek immediate medical attention. If your injury is not that severe, you can try this simple plan to treat minor injuries.
It’s summertime in the northern hemisphere, and with it comes the joys and risks of hot weather running. Obviously, you sweat more in the heat. Your body pumps out more water in an attempt to cool you down.