Stop my tendonitis (or whatever it is)

March 24, 2009 5:55 AM

How do I prevent getting (I think) tendonitis in my legs every so often?

I'm a 39-year-old male, and running is an essential part of my life. It's pretty much my only exercise - I run very religiously 8 to 11 kilometers three times a week. I like it enough that I would like to run every day, but I have learned that my joints definitely require a day of rest in between.

Unfortunately, sometimes after two to four months or so, and almost always after a longer run of 10 or 12 km or so, I'll get what I am pretty sure is tendonitis somewhere on one of my legs or feet. It's always in a slightly different place - ankle, shin, or foot on either side- and it keeps me out of commission for at least a week. I always run pretty much the same route, very flat, and at a very moderate pace. I do the same stretching routines before each run, basically your standard runner's stretches. I'm pretty sure it's tendonitis because the first time this happened about five years ago, I went to the doctor who diagnosed it, and provided the perfect physical therapy cure, as well as recommending special shoes that I use. And now when it happens I notice the same sort of swelling as I had the first time (but again, it is in a different place each time).

I would like to know if there are other things I can do to prevent this from happening. Would it be helpful to do more stretches beforehand? Would stretching afterwards help? Any advice for actual running styles?

posted by greasepig to health & fitness (4 comments total)

My experiences with tendinitis tend to occur when I'm not switching up my running shoes often enough. Are you buying new ones frequently enough? Have you tried switching brands occasionally so you can mitigate repetitive stress?
posted by A Terrible Llama at 6:10 AM on March 24

Tedonitis is a specific adaptation to a level of stress that is slightly beyond what you can recover from on a long term basis (weeks to months).

You can work towards increasing your recovery ability, through stretching after your workouts, proper post workout nutrition (2:1 ratio of protein to carbs, liquid drink preferred), increasing your omega-3 fatty acid intank, vitamins and minerals, higher quality sleep, etc.

You can also increase how strong you are, so each workout requires less stress on your body, one of the effective ways to do this as demonstrated in the research is eccentric exercise, per the infamous chronic achillies tendonitis and eccentric calf raises study.

Also, as you seem to get injured every 2-4 months, try reducing your workout volume by 40% every 4th workout. This "unloading" is an effective way to prevent overtraining in some athletes. (8 - 11 km/week) * 3 days * 8 weeks is roughly 190 to 260 miles a month. Reducing every 4th workout would take you down to 175 to 225 miles/month.

It's also common to see significant scar tissue in the muscle (adhesions) on athletes after years of performance, seeing a qualified massage therapist can help to remove some of this and help with your injuries.
posted by zentrification at 1:36 PM on March 24

I find I get tendonitis if I push myself hard, by increasing my speed, distance, or intensity (hills, etc) more suddenly than I should. Perhaps you just have an exuberant day every so often without realizing it. Keep an eye on your pace and don't let having a good day get away from you and lead to an injury.
posted by oceanmorning at 9:40 PM on March 24

Thanks all for your replies. Definitely some good ideas in there. I need to buy new shoes and probably see a massage therapist.
posted by greasepig at 3:56 AM on March 25