I like to brag that I have never suffered a training related injury, yet I have been injured numerous times in the past several years. Just recently I fell over a landscaping timber during my 5 am run--I wasn't quite awake yet--and I landed on my knee. I suffered a bone bruise that took me out for more than three and a half weeks. Granted, it wasn't an overuse injury, but it definitely came about from running (or tripping, in my case). It probably didn't help that I ran the Moab RedHot 50k two days after falling, but I just couldn't help myself! I was in superb shape and didn't want to waste the months of prep that I put into the race.

Another injury I suffered recently occurred when I fell during a night trail run and sliced my knee open on a rock. I knew something was amiss when my sock was squishing uncomfortably in my shoe and I hadn’t run through any water. My headlamp didn’t do the injury justice with its narrow beam of light, which was just as well since I was only at mile 6 in an 18 mile run out in the middle of nowhere. Lucky for me, I was heading out to France early the next morning, so I didn't have a run planned the next day (although it also meant that I didn't get the necessary stitches I should have gotten before I left). My runs after that were a bit stiff and sore, but I was able to jump back into my normal training easy enough.

That wasn't the case for my next fall (yes, another fall) when I tripped over a rock coming down the trail during the Barr Trail Mountain Race. A few years before I had rolled my ankle pretty badly during the race just after the turn-around, so I had learned to control my pace yet still race the downhills. This fall happened just as I had passed through all the truly technical areas on the trail and let my guard down on the last few switchbacks before the road. One minute I was flying down the trail and the next… I was flying down the trail in a full-on superwoman move. This obviously wasn’t my first fall involving blood, so I just picked myself up, assessed the damage, and continued at my break-neck speed to the finish (much to the dismay of hikers and race volunteers on their way up). I could only chuckle at the gasps and horrified comments of, “OMG, did you see her knee?” or “Great job! Keep it up! Oh crap! Look at all that bloo…” that trailed away behind me as I whipped by. That injury only took me away from training for the time it took me to recover from the race, but I still wonder how stupid I was for pushing through. 

http://gazettephoto.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=30653...

I imagine that stupidity played a large part in most of these injuries, but isn't that true for all injuries? I can brag that I don’t have any overuse injuries, but I’m still teetering on the fine line between overdoing it and playing it safe. Are we really that stupid for trying something a bit harder and then ignoring the pain? What are we really accomplishing when we back away from training when nagging pains ail us? Please don’t misunderstand my question—I’m not condoning pushing beyond our capabilities too much too soon, but I do question what is too much and what is too soon? The common training theory is that 10 percent increases in mileage per week is safe, but every individual is different; therefore, shouldn’t we test that theory ourselves? Some runners may be able to handle more and some even less, but if we blindly follow this training theory without testing it for ourselves, we will never know.  

Racing 30+ miles just two days after slamming my knee into a pile of rocks may have been too much too soon, but who knows? I can either look at it as a stupid mistake, or I can look at it as a blessing since it forced me to take time off after a tough race. I am, however, glad that I did it because now I know what my limits are and what they are not (I raced an hour faster than I had previously raced for the course even with gimping on the downhills). My decision to race through a freakish fall again (because we all know it IS inevitable, after all) may well hinge on what I learn after pushing myself beyond what I think I can handle.