Things that make you say “Hmmm”

An interesting study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reveals that a drunk, overweight and short man running on two legs of different lengths at midnight has less of chance of suffering a leg injury than a tall and lean athlete running at midday. Well, not entirely. But almost.

The New York Times publishes a great monthly sports magazine called PLAY. You can sign-up for a weekly email update of news and commentary from the sports world. From this week’s e-blast:

A Leg Up on Running Injuries

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

 

As the rush of fall road-running races nears, one challenge is to reach the starting line without first joining the large majority of runners — as many as 80 percent — who suffer a leg injury each year. A review of injury studies about lower-body injuries among runners, published in the current issue of The British Journal of Sports Medicine, provides some explanation for what causes so many injuries. It might not be everything you’d expect. Those most likely to be injured, the review found, include people who’ve been injured before; are too obsessive, running for a year or more without a break; or are men taller than 5-foot-6. (No study in the review looked at the issue of women’s height.) Runners with a relatively high body mass appear to somehow avoid foot injury — perhaps, the authors speculated, because Clydesdales, in general, run less. Surprisingly, some factors didn’t contribute to injury risk, including having legs of different length, using alcohol, or running after dark, when people may be more prone to misstep. The one element that was found to prevent running injuries most consistently was increasing mileage gradually, to a maximum of about 40 miles per week.

“Our experience is that many people can run forever,” says Kevin Stone, an orthopedic surgeon and the founder of the Stone Clinic in San Francisco. But if someone does get hurt, he adds, “we counsel them to fix what’s injured and cross-train, balancing less but higher quality running with other training techniques.” And, if at all possible, stop growing at the 5-foot-6 mark.

And when done perusing the BJSM article, read about “When It’s O.K. to Run Hurt.” The (surprising) takeaway: When you get hurt, keep on movin’!

Run With It!
J.R. Atwood