Try Something Different

There are many athletes that use running as their cross-training activity rather than their primary mode of exercising. Hockey, baseball, soccer, tennis, squash and rugby are just a few sports that draw from running to provide their athletes with the same physical attributes runners look for. To play these sports well, they must have a good aerobic base, which consists of the ability to exchange oxygen efficiently, better endurance, lower heart rates at rest and at work and the ability to recover quickly. Most athletes that participate in these sports find time in their training schedules for running, and depending on their chosen sport will allot time to base/endurance training or to speed/interval work.
Right about now as runners we are feeling pretty smug about the fact that most athletes look to the superior training abilities of our chosen sport. Not so fast. While others use our sport to support theirs, we just keep on running.
While it is important to train specifically to improve your performance, runners tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to running and every other activity falls lower on the priority list. This includes stretching, weight training, massages and other sports. The obvious problem with this is over-training. Over-training puts the body into a state of shock essentially. When you are over-trained you may feel unwell, not heal properly, experience muscle wasting, not sleep well and certainly not perform optimally.
While an over-trained state tends to be temporary and transient, a bigger, longer lasting problem is that of muscular overuse. Running by nature is a repetitive sport. Although continuous impact issues such as plantar fasciitis and shin splints get a lot of press, the way we use individual muscles over and over again as the miles fly by can have longer lasting effects on our bodies, and are usually the reason we stop running. An efficient gait cycle includes a flexion (knee bent in front) and extension (leg straight behind). Because we sit so much in our daily lives and don?t stretch as frequently as we should, many people do not have the ability to complete this cycle properly so their bodies adjust and compensate. We continue to run and walk and move about our daily lives while this cycle gets more and more dysfunctional. Eventually this dysfunction causes other issues like sore hips, low back pain, knee problems and piriformis syndrome.
As they say, the best defence is a good offence. Essentially this means find some time in your schedule for other activities. Stretching is essential and can be done daily. Take a yoga or pilates class. Pilates works the core muscles, concentrates on posture and whole body movements. Cycling is an excellent sport and removes the pounding, but continues using the muscles in the same forward direction that running does so try a sport that moves your body differently then running does. Skating, roller-blading, tennis or squash take you side to side or laterally and swimming uses mostly upper body. A change is as good as a rest and your body will thank you.