Learning From Your Injuries

I haven't quite figured what to make of Gina Kolata's article today in the New York Times about marathon training and coping with injuries.

There are passages such as this:

"So I joined a gym (my third) solely for its pool. Jen belongs to that gym, too. She and I began pool running, jumping into the pool with our running clothes and shoes on just after doing the elliptical."

that make me wonder slightly.

That, and the apparent ease that she managed to get into the New York Marathon ... ("As soon as registration for the New York marathon opened, I signed up.")

Then again, runners do some strange things, as I can attest to from first-hand experience, so it's entirely possible she *did* jump into the pool with her shoes on. Bet the other people in the pool were thrilled about that!

One thing that the article does raise, however, is the variety of things you can do to retain your fitness while being injured, whether it's elliptical training, biking, pool running (for those unfamiliar, you don't need shoes) or even getting ultrasound treatments.

Here's a sidebar, by the way, on what Paula Radcliffe did when she was injured to recover.