PLAGUED with injuries...will it ever end?

Too many variables to be solved over the internet. You need a good coach or at least a good PT.

If you are continually picking up injuries you or someone with you with more experience needs to identify the root cause, otherwise not the pattern will repeat indefinitely. You may just be overtraining, resuming training too quickly, doing too much on hard surfaces, insufficient stretching, running on adverse cambers all the time, have a biomechanical imbalance and so on. You are unlikely to figure it out yourself and there is an element of luck who you can access to help you. I got into a similar position at 18 and had no-one at hand to advise me and suffered all the way through college.

Are both your stress fractures of the lower leg (shin)? If so, you could be hitting the ground too hard. Can you hear your footstrikes over everyone else's when you're running in a pack on the track? If so, that would add to the body of evidence supporting the heavy foot strike.

The fix is to land lighter on your feet. It's a minor form adjustment, but not that easy to explain. No sense going into it unless you fit the above criteria.

As with all injuries, you need to become adept at analyzing why the injury occurred, else it is likely to repeat itself.

The answer is Yes it will most likely end. I was injured all the time in my late teens/early 20s. In my mid 30s now and running better than ever w/ almost no injury issues. Of course you want it to end in a matter of months and it might. Keep working at it! Train smart and know that life is a very long road.

I've always thought about what I would do for a young runner in this situation if I were a coach.

First thing would be not to run very much. 20 miles per week max until some consistency was had. Every other day, that sort of thing.

I'd also do a ton of strength exercises. Standing on one foot, planks, body weight squats, calf raises. I'd consider having her pick up and move rocks or tires around. Barefoot strides if there was a safe place for it. Strengthen up all the muscles, esp the hips.

For workouts I'd do something like what Drew Hunter does - 1000s at 10k pace. Building up. I would do fartlek on grass if possible. No 200s, nothing too stressful or hard.

I'd check her for leg length discrepancy. If she had some money I'd ask her to try a few different kinds of running shoes.

No spikes. Only race a few times per season.

then see how it goes. Build up if possible.

yes, but hopefully not for a good long while.

Yes, I've had 2 tibial fractures. I did get a fair analysis and I heel strike very badly and have horrible form. I arch my back and land out way too far causing my glutes/core to never be "fired". I don't know how to land underneath myself/mid foot.

Wow thank you for all the info! I do lift- but when I get hurt I get out of whack again and have to start from scratch.

Thank you for the encouragement!

As usual, agip, good advice here.

OP: there is good advice here. Listen to agip; he has a wealth of experience.

I would add this...it sounds like you have something similar to what I have right now, and also had last year at this time. For some reason, seem to get injured every winter, running on a cold day. It is a glute/groin injury. Did your latest injury (possibly piriformis) occur on a cold training run? My glutes just do not like the cold. For next year, I must change things, and avoid those colder days. Like you, I LOVE to run, and so it is very difficult for me to avoid running on certain days.

I feel your pain and anxiety, and I undertsand your perspective completely. In facr, I posted a thread recently that sounds a lot like yours.

Stay with it, young friend. I am an old guy (later 40s) and fell in love with running late in life. Thus, time is running out for me, but not for you. You have your whole life ahead of you.

Work on your form, and take it easy. Last year, I bombarded my body with loads of exercises, and this only slowed my progress. This year, I have taken a less agressive approach and it is working. If you can run, then run a little, but mostly rest and stretch.

Peace...and may you have many happy miles.

Find some soft surfaces to run on, like grass or a trail. Try to run 50% of your mileage on soft surfaces. At least run your recovery and general training days on grass. Save the faster workouts for the track or limit pavement running if you can on your workout days.

Eat some meat and quit being anorexic.

Ouch

Make sure your first runs back are SUPER EASY( Like the 10 first runs, PATIENCE YOUNG PADAWAN!) The best advice I got was try to land with your foot "behind you" and running with a "forward attitude". This will result in a faster cadence, it will take some time to adapt, you'll run out of breath quicker than usual, but you'll be glad you worked though it when you see all those over-striders waste ALL THAT PRECIOUS ENERGY.

Think of it this way; you have to move 1000 bricks from point A to point B. As we are not "powerful" we're not interested in doing 4 trips at 250 bricks. What we're aiming for is what ever amount of bricks that gives us a "next to effortless" load and do as much trips as necessary, going back and forth as quickly as possible. Overstriding would be like doing 12 trips at 84 bricks each, you're not working as hard at your max, but you're making it harder than it should be. As you practice quicker strides, over time, your glutes and core will start to fire in an optimal sequence, and all of a sudden you'll notice you carry "more bricks" at the same effort.

My guess is you have a over dominant leg, which is causing an imbalanced stride. Try to use the leg one for things like which foot goes up the stairs first or which hand you use to open doors. Try to use the "foot behind you" and quick turn over in your walk and you should notice improvements in a matter of weeks.

This will only work if you can hold yourself back on runs until you've completely recovered, and even then, I just go fast when it matters. Good luck!

How can I do that? I know I need to land midfoot and underneath me but I'm not sure how to do it. I overstride and heel strike badly. And yes, usually my right side if my strong side.

Yes, stay strong and don't give up. Been there, done that. I can relate more than you know

Wow, thank you for all the info and encouragement. I've been trying to make sure I eat enough/right kinds of foods & I've been seeing a PT to be readjusted. Thank you again.

If it hasn't been suggested you should consider seeing somebody that can perform a Functional Movement Screen (FMS). It breaks everything down into basics, it may seem tedious at first but once the building blocks start adding on, you'll find yourself able to run injury & pain free for longer periods if any injuries re-occur at all.

Good Luck

so tired of it wrote:

How can I do that? I know I need to land midfoot and underneath me but I'm not sure how to do it. I overstride and heel strike badly. And yes, usually my right side if my strong side.

At first, jog barefoot on artificial turf. Then transition to lightweight racing flats and work on taking 180 steps/minute. Also, work to keep your elbows tucked as close to your hips as possible, bringing your hips forward and up. You should feel several inches taller and lighter as well with your feet always under your hips, not reaching out at all. Err on the side of "prancing".

(first :20 especially)

Running short hill repeats with these principles will cement the form and build quick turnover and power.