I once busted my knee and then my ankle. I also nearly broke both knees trying to catch a frisbee. I even pulled out my back getting the roast out of the oven. I got punched doing martial arts (many times), fell back and nearly broke my arm. My trapezius muscle seized up when I ran in zero temperature wearing nothing but a t-shirt. Couldn’t move as a result. Those injuries are the ones that stopped me from running for anything between 4-8 weeks. You would think I'd learn something. But no. I didn't learn anything.
I never run with anyone, all my long runs have been solo. But in the Autumn of last year I came up with the idea of participating in the Marathon du Médoc in France. The appeal of 23 wine tasting stops, oysters tasting at the 38th kilometer and steak at 39th kilometer all matches my personality. But given it's a running (not walking) marathon, I started prepping seriously. I joined HIIT classes, upped my creatine and protein intake, selected other supplements carefully, worked seriously in the gym and gained almost 10lb of muscle. My weeks turned into running, gym, martial arts and a weekly session of tennis for further help with cardio and coordination. I felt and looked business.
Then in early January I was in the gym where I attempted a static stretch on cold muscles where I was on the floor trying to touch the knee of my outstretched leg with my forehead whilst holding the foot of that leg with both hands. You know who does that? Idiots. I felt an ominous ping around my left glute so I stopped immediately. And what did I do next? The RDL, or The Romanian deadlift, of course, as idiots usually do (look up that lift technique on YouTube, it's worth it). The ping then turned into a red warning signal and I stopped after a few reps. And what did I do next? Lemme just remind you, I clearly hurt an area of my lower back by doing a stretch followed by a weightlifting exercise in which the lower back is the key. I left the gym and decided that given I was wearing my running gear I could perhaps go for a run. And so I did a 10K. And that did it. After the run, as I entered the shower and turned to my left to fetch the soap, the back gave in, the white searing pain shot up, cutting me in half. I lost my breath and could barely reach the room. ‘The Idiots Guide to Injury’ ably demonstrated by a repeat and avid client.
It took around six weeks to patch me up. Physio, different exercises, rest, the works. The loss of fitness on every front is significant. I'm back to 5K runs building it up. I lose breath during a faster tennis rally. Can't do more than 10 pushups and have to be careful when punching from the hip at martial arts. My talent at not being able to learn anything from my mistakes is staggering. I almost need a full-time coach who has to remind me that jumping off a cliff is not a good idea.
The moral of this sorry tale (as l always parrot after every single one of my injuries) is to never ever copy what I do. Including running a marathon where the main source of hydration comes from red wine. If you copy me, this forum will turn into a physical rehabilitation group but if I can prevent a single injury to any of you, I'd be a content fella. Stay well, whatever you do.
Injured with 5 weeks to go 
