Fitness: Staying (Somewhat) Sane While Being Injured/Injury Prevetion/Treatment

Hi all!

I apologize for the delay in posts.  Lately, I've been pretty busy at home and nursing some injuries from my training, and I haven't been keeping up with the blog at the tempo I usually do.  I promise that I will make up for it in recipes, reviews, and tips(:

One thing I'm leanring the hard way as a budding athelete is that you can get injured.  A lot.  Like, a lot, a lot.  I was naive to think that my injuries ended when I graduated PT (Physical Therapy) in June.  I had been in there since October, which is a long time to be in therapy for minor sports injuries.  I am trying to accept the fact that I might be really prone to these as I add more pressure onto my body from marathon training.

My goals have definitely changed.  I wanted to finish this marathon without walking. While I am keeping this goal intact, I have added a new one.  I pride myself in "treating my body like a temple" and I will continue on with this in a new fashion.  I will make sure I take care of it.  If something is wrong, I will listen to it.  I will step aside and look to help my body rather than ignore anything that is going on.  I will do more injury prevention and treatment.  I will also try to keep myself from going crazy (and consequently driving everyone else around me nuts) when treating an injury.

So, without further ado, here are a few things I try to do to prevent injury, treat injury, and stay sane with injury.

Prevent

• Listen to your body! If something feels off or hurts, do not move past it or ignore it.  Better safe than sorry.
• Stretch, stretch, stretch!
• Fuel your body adequately.  Make sure your pre and post workout fuel is adequate and nutritious.  
• Balance the amount of carbs, proteins, and fats you include when you snack/eat after or before a workout.  Omega 3s are important for recovery and soreness; you can get these from fish, nuts, eggs, etc.

Treat

• Ice
• Stretching
• Ibuprofen
• Heat
• Nutrition
• I try to incorporate a lot of calcium (like a chew every morning) when I am injured in order to speed up recovery.

Sanity

•   Find other interests!  Life is about balance.
• Start a new book, show on Netflix to binge on (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, cough cough), catch up with friends, etc.  There are other things in life.
•  Think about the positives.
• You still have health, family, friends, puppies, home, and so on.  This injury is only temporary.  Be glad you didn't hurt anything drastic that will make you drop out of training.  If you did, there are other races.  Life isn't over; you can still achieve your goals, run that race, compete in that competition.  They will just be put on hold so you can take care of you(:

I am in no way a doctor or physician, but these are some things I do that help me when I am treating myself.