FitView
The Bionic Woman
by Efren Martinez
Regardless of what your preferred sport is, fitness injuries go along with being part of the game, especially if you are runner. I personally have had more fitness injuries from running than in any other leg of a triathlon.
Last May, I took note of a fellow runner, Anne M. Kelley, who took the over-all female division at Rina’s Run 1/2 marathon. At 57 years young, she is a running force to be reckoned with. For Anne, competitive running has been a big part of her life since the age of 23. She’s had more than a few accomplishments, such as her lifetime best race that happened at the 1991 Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where she ran a 2:42:50 to qualify for the Olympic marathon trials.
It seems that Anne was born to run. “I just like the way it feels,” said Anne through an email conversation. “I was born with a distance runner’s bone structure and physiology, and running feels very natural to me. I’m a lousy athlete at any sport that requires power, quickness, or coordination, but running feels like something that I can do well.”
According to Anne, when healthy, she normally runs every day for about 10 miles, with most of it at an easy pace, and 15 miles when training for half marathons. Note the key word here is “healthy,” including injury free. On July 5th, Anne injured an Achilles tendon, and since then she hasn’t been able to run very much.
As a runner myself, this is more than heart breaking, but Anne is a much smarter runner than I. She actually has the discipline, unlike me, to know when to stop and heal verses when I keep going till I drop. It’s true, I’ll keep going no matter what, even if it pains me, and this is why my injuries last a bit longer than normal.
So my advice is don’t do as I do, but more so as Anne does. “Most years I have one or more injuries,” said Anne, “depending on how you define an injury—anything from needing to back off my training for a week to many months off with no running at all. I’ve been injured at least once pretty much everywhere from my toes to my hips, but have never yet (knock on wood!) had a significant knee problem.”
Anne has had a terrific stretch of training and racing this year, from March through her recent injury that happened in July, as she prepared to attempt her first full marathon since 2004. Like I mentioned before, Anne is a smart runner, and I have no doubt in my mind that she will return soon to the racing field even stronger, faster and more re-energized than the Bionic Woman.
