When is it time to hang up your running shoes?

Yoga

Doing anything immoderately makes one prone to injury. 16+ mile runs are necessary for serious training, but they are far from moderate.

Here’s the deal: you’re 35. Maybe you were once a fast, young stud; maybe not. But you certainly aren’t now. You’re a hobbyist. There’s no need to routinely hurt yourself over a hobby.

Stop running until whatever is hurt right now has healed. Maybe it will take a month (or 2 or 3). Then, start doing easy 3-4 mile runs 1-3 times weekly. Stop there-do not increase mileage or intensity. Find something else to do with the rest of your time. In the long run, you’ll be happier and have more time for other things.

Has anyone ever qualified for Boston with an artificial hip.. ? I have a friend who runs marathons with his but is not that fast..

Based on all of this, it sounds like you have weak hips/hip flexors.

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

A few of replies to some of the comments.

-I'm 5'7" and 145 pounds. Not exactly rail thin but definitely not overweight.

-I'll look into doing exercises to strengthen my hip flexors.

I think this is my plan. I'm going to temporarily quit running for now. At this point any running aggravates the injury and drags this out. I'm going to make an appointment with the local running store which has a camera setup for doing gate analysis. There were lots of comments about strength training/cross training ect. I think this is the direction I need to go so I signed up for a membership at the gym near my office. Hopefully with some time off and trying to balance out my body with more general strength training I can come back to running. I am hoping with the gate analysis the guy can give me an idea of what areas of strength I should put a little extra focus on.

1. Get healthy. Stop running until things stop hurting

2. Make running fun again - enjoy the sport, don't let it define you or your ego

3. Focus on middle distances or short road stuff (10K and under)

4. Strip run training down to basics. Do only quality work - no more junk miles or running everyday simply to log miles

5. Replace easy running with aerobic cross training. Bike, elliptical, etc. Your heart doesn't know the difference.

6. Get stronger with weights and core work. Become more flexible with stretching or yoga.

7. See a good sports oriented physical therapist

Best of luck to you!

After you wash them

Bekele is literally 35. Look at him. He is still going for the marathon world record. He will be 36 or 37 with it, so age doesn't matter.

Like many people on this thread, I agree with Bio-mechanics being an issues. I would be careful about going to your local running store... I love local running stores, but there are a couple concerns there. A) the employees are often high school or college kids. B) they are not "experts" C) the store is there to sell you a product not fix your form. D) Usually gait analysis at a running store starts and stops at your feet/ ankle. Your issue could stem form anywhere in your body... even your shoulders or neck. E) No matter what any shoe company says, shoes will not solve the issue.

On a positive note, Saucony has come out with an APP for apple devices called stride lab. I would say it is your best option next to finding a true running specialist with the means, technology, and trusted experience to examine your running form.

ConstantlyInjured wrote:

Anyone have any genius ideas how to stay healthy or am I just unlucky and bio mechanically screwed and need to find a new hobby?

To me, it seems like it's form/bio-mechanical. When I started running I went immediately to a running store and had my running form analyzed and came away with:

1. Run barefoot to find your true form, lean forward, work on getting that 180 cadence.

2. Easy days very easy, hard days very hard.

3. Take a day off once per week - or-

4. Run only 5 days a week and play another sport for the other two days (soccer is great and you can do it with your kids).

Are you jumping into 50 or 60 mile weeks after a few weeks at 30? Don't do that. Your progression should be something like: 20, 20, 20, 27, 27, 37, 34, 34, 34 until you reach 60. Spend the first 3 weeks running easy, the next 3 weeks adding a long run, on then on week 7 throwing into some light speed work (4x1000 at threshold with 400m jogs).

I'm also 5'7 and 145 lbs, and can confirm this is not "overweight". It's a bit on the high side for distance runners (I ran my marathon PR at 133 lbs) but shouldn't be the sole cause of injuries.

My advice: take it one step at a time (litteraly). I am myself recovering from a calf strain and this is a lengthy process. Can you walk without pain? Walking a bunch is a good way to recover. With regards to your injuries:

Iliotibial Band Syndrome --- there is plenty of litterature out there linking it to weak hip extensors. Work to strengthen your hips and glutes (in particular, the gluteus medius). THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR RUNNING IN GENERAL. Worth seeing a PT if it helps.

Plantar Fasciitis --- stretch your calves after running and have a massage therapist work on it too. I used to think stretching was for idiots, but in particular for the calves muscles, you want them to NOT constantly pull or be tight.

Calf strain (I have had sore or tight calves before, this was different. It just suddenly locked up on me out of nowhere mid run, I wasn't even going fast. 2 months going to a sports therapy to get it worked out.) --- I have that myself now. Same thing: strengthen muscles around, stretch calves, warm up before runs (I walk almost a mile), start runs slow, avoid speed work and hills for a bit.

Stress fracture in my foot --- never has a SFX, so do check your nutrition, calcium/bone density, make sure you don't have huge imbalances in your gait. Look, even pros get them. It must truly suck and I empathize.

Patellar tendinitis and Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome --- had them too at the beginning of my running career. Do you do much on treadmill? That's harder on the quads, same as downhill running. Honestly mine were cured by more running, but also taking it slow and building mileage slowly.

I personally became less injury prone when going from 3 or 5 days/week to running 7 days a week. I just do a bit less, I am careful, and try to build consistency. The rest (sleeping well, eating well) is just as key.

I am a 2:56 marathoner and last night ran 3 miles @ 10:00 min/mi because I'm still recovering from that calf strain. Again take it one step at a time. When I started being able to walk without limp again I was happy. Create mini goals. If you love running like I do, any running is good. Separate the wishes (e.g. 100 mpw and 2:30 marathon) from the simple things that make you happy (being 35 yo, active, and being able to run!). Don't let frustration take the fun out. If you need a few weeks or even months completely OFF and can live with it, then absolutely do. Just hoping you'll be back! Best of luck to you.

PS. My injuries have included PFPS, Achilles Tendonitis, Peroneal Tendonitis, Hamstring Bursitis, Calf Strain, Ankle Sprain, Lisfranc Joint Sprain, Shin Splits, Posterior Tibial Tendonitis, Calcific Bursitis on the Hip Joint, Popliteal Cyst Rupture, and I don't even know the others. I mean, I went from one to the other fixing things up one at a time. They come in less now than in the past, and I never hear back from most of them. Right now I just need to deal with that stupid calf! It's not even a bad strain (grade 1, no pop) yet I still have achy feelings for weeks.

the key is pre-hab not re-hab. Like most runners you probably pronate. I had this issue because my hips and glutes were very very weak. This ran in my family. I had calf strains and ankle problems because of the way my knee collapsed in. My brother had knee and IT band pain because of the same weak hips and glutes. We both started doing a lot of hip strengthening band exercises (monster walks, clamshells, donkey kicks). I also got some orthodics to help my flat feet. We are both back to running virtually pain free now after only a few weeks.

See a PT who specializes in running, preferably someone who is a runner and knows running injuries. Hopefully they can identify where your muscle weakness is. Since everything in your legs and back are connected there is probably one weak muscle/muscle group that is causing all/most of your problems, which might be nowhere near your weak muscle (ex: my lower calves and ankles were hurting because of a weird knee movement caused by something all the way up in my hips and glutes). Fix this weak muscle and you will be able to run in no time. Keep doing the exercises forever and you will run until you are 100

Some things that you might look at - acupuncture to treat specific injuries has worked on a bad tendon problem over here.

How about diet? Are you maybe allergic to wheat? To dairy?

Generally, a plant-based diet is best. The brainiacs at Harvard recommend it. That being said, a bit of animal protein is fine, but don't base your diet around it. Lots of green leafy stuff, legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits, you get the picture. Drink a lot (water, not beer). We are what we eat!

Read Amby Burfoot's new book Run Forever.

Oh, and this: Never Give Up!

Take breaks, for sure, but you can run, dude.

My advice from a 65yo. Stop running for a couple years. Hike, backpack and mountain bike. Cut way down on 'healthy' vegetables. Eat organic, free range beef. Some bacon and pork bellies for the noursihing fat. Occasionally have half an apple or a fig or two. eat some pasture eggs. Don't eat big salads. a few leafy greens couple times a week. No junk food, energy bars, no soy.

I could hardly run at all in my early fifties because of achilles bone spurs, Did all of the above. Now at 65yo my achilles feel like they did at 21yo. I run for about 60-75 minutes a day. Mostly longer Igloi type stuff. I hate mileage and slow continuous stuff. Resting heart rate 38, BP 101/62. 5K under 20 minutes. Weight now 150lbs. Weight senior year of HS 154 lbs.

Moment I stop having fun with it I'll be done with it

long story short:

- never use an orthotic (will only help you in the short term)

- strengthen your feet

- strengthen your glutes

- progress to zero drop shoes (altras, topos etc)

my background:

exactly the same as yours, but running painfree and increasing my mileage steadily since 2 years now. was absolutely demotivated because of the same issues but learned to run with proper form since I'm running in zero drop shoes.

made the mistake to try custom orthotics but they helped only 4 months or so and didn't solved the root cause.

it looks to easy to be true. but thats all.

have fun.

Just a couple of questions for you to consider after you recover from your injuries: 1> What is your striking point when you run? 2> What is the shoe weight and type? The reason I write this is because I am, and have been a runner who, at 5'8" has run at weights between 170-185, and right now I am in the 170-172 range. I had hip and back problems and I thought my running was over in 2011. However, I stopped using stability shoes, which were heavier and made me do more of a heel strike, and I switched to lighter shoes (a difference of about 3.0-3.5 ounces per shoe), which naturally made me a midfoot striker. As a result, running economy improved and I had better longevity (and time). Just a thought. And I also use running and walking together in my workouts. Many letsrunners give me flak for this, but it works. As a 44 year old male, this works for me.

Why would you hang up your running shoes? Even if you quit running, I'm not sure why you would do this.

Where are you picturing hanging them? If I quit running, I'd just wear my running shoes for other thing, or throw them away if they were no longer serviceable.

I'm older than you (48). Started running at 39. All my major injuries were the result of bad form. I had bad form when I started: over strided, foot strike way out in front of my body, landing on my heel, hamstrings hurt so bad. Couldn't run.

Changed to a mid foot striker and that helped for a long time. No pain.

But then I adopted an exaggerated front lean and ran like a full back. Why? I don't know. I watched Kipchoge and though that's how he ran. That eventually aggravated my glutes and strained a nerve there.

Only a PT who works mostly with runners/athletes who said, "let me see you run", noticed it and asked, "why do you run like that?" Since changing my form fairly dramatically about 3-4wks ago, I'm probably 50% better. Not perfect and and still have some nerve irritation but its better. Can't do 50mpw anymore but can do 25mpw with little discomfort. And I don't have the pain I used to have.

So before hanging it up, have someone look at your form.