46 injured and a bit fed up...

I do feel your pain.  I am 49 and have always been a runner.  I started tri to introduce cross training and maybe not put so many miles on my feet.  When I started having physical issues I tried to identify what I was doing to create my pains in addition to the PT, icing, etc.  Perhaps you can pinpoint what may be creating your hip and knee pain, like shoes, form etc.  Possibly overtraining.  You did jump in and did a HIM in 8 months.  I don't think giving up is the answer.  Maybe slowing down and stretching the big one out further and work on shorter races until the problems subside.

Much luck to you.  I love this sport and would hate to have to stop completely.

I don't have an answer just encouragement.  I started this whole tri-thing, when foot injuries (PF) forced me to stop running and begin riding and then swimming.  The pain was intense, and I was very frustrated: I didn't want to lose the fitness, regain any weight, or slip back into the lifestyle that I had worked so hard to escape.  But as a result of the injury, I found that I really enjoyed riding the mountain bike that my brotherin-law loaned me and that getting in the pool and relearning how to swim was fun too.  Try to find other outlets like lifting or rowing or who knows what that you CAN do, instead of focusing on what you can't.   Have fun and try to enjoy other adventures while your body heals.  Hopefully, you'll be back to full speed very soon, and you may even discover a new sport or interest that you wouldn't have ever tried if you hadn't been injured.

God is good, all the time.

I feel your pain and don't give up so fast. I've been running for over 20 years, cycling for nearly the same and swimming for fitness for 11. I've never  been able to progress much with my running due to problems with my feet - for 20 YEARS. I worked all spring/summer with a slow build back to running after a 9 month battle with tendonitis in my foot only to turn around and begin getting the same symptoms in my other foot! I've never given up but I have felt like it. I wait for the injury to subside and lace my shoes up again.

I have had success with ART - Active Release Therapy, and MAT - Muscle Activation Therapy for injury relief. Maybe you can check into either of those options. I drive 2 hours to get to an MAT therapist because there is no one local but the results are dramatic.

Good luck and don't give up!!

I don't have an answer, but I feel your pain.  I have dealt with PF on/off since 2007.  More on since 2011.  I have not been able to run for the better part of 2012 due to PF/stress fracture.  So I rode my bike and swam s lot this past summer.  But now that I'm trying to cycle indoors I too, have pain in right knee and right hip/pubic bone.  My bike fit is good on the road, but as little as 45 mins on the trainer causes me to have to take a week off.  Very frustrating as I was finally seeing gains on the bike.  And I was just starting to build my run again.  It's like I'm just not supposed to do all three sports.  Frustrating.  I'd love to tweak my bike fit, but it took a long time to get the fit I have and it's good on the road, so I'm hesitant to mess with anything.  Plus I had to drive a good distance to have the fit done.  About 2 hours away is the closest fitter and he's pretty "old school" using tape measures and formulas.  If I wanted something a bit fancier I'd have to drive 4-6 hours.  I hope you find what's causing your pain and you get back into it.

jami 

know how you feel crashed my bike on Aug 1st. end up with an AC separation. Still hurts when I do certain things. Then a few weeks ago started suffering from trigger thumb.

Think I am just felling apart the older I get. Should not be like this at 51. Just feel it has been all down hill since my ironman distance race last Oct.

I feel your pain and living it as we speak.  I am 44 y/o.  started my tri training about 18 months ago.  been running for a few years before that.  taught myself how to swim last year.  had my bike mileage at 80-100 miles a week.  long runs for me were 9-11 miles at under 8 min/mile pace.  my plan was to build a solid base and do an olympic distance this past summer (missed this because of injury ), two 70.3 in 2013 and a 140.6 in 2014.  trying not to rush and enjoy the journey.  Starting this past july, after my 3rd sprint tri i started having hip and periformis pain.  i have been battling this since then.  i took the month of august off completely.  no training at all. going from 8-12 hours a week to nothing was aweful.  still trying to get this thing to heal up.  the hardest thing is skipping the races i was training for.  mentally i am at my wits end as well.  BUT not willing to quit.  i figure what i am doing is not working to heal up my injuries.  a new yoga, core work and stretching routine for me is starting this sunday.  maybe if i strengthen some other areas, i can get through this?  the roller also seems to help alot.  i have put the races i want to do out of my mind and concentrate on getting healthy.  no way to race 140 miles if i am not healthy.  Hang in there.  change your rehab program.  set up a plan and stick to it to see if you get results.  And please let me know if you figure out how to get these nagging injuries to stop (and prevent them from coming back). 

Good luck.  Eat right and get healthy so you can train.

I know how you feel.  I have goals and I feel like the clock is ticking so it feels like a crisis if I can't train.

But I have a very important piece of advice for you.  Let me tell you about my daughter.  She ran CC in highschool and suffered from shin splints, had to stop for 10 weeks.  Tried to take up running again the next summer, shin splints.

In college, tried to take up running again, shin splints.

I began to work with her and got her running regularly, but the injury cycle ended when she began to run EVERY DAY.  Only then did her injuries stop.

In my situation it's similar.  I used to be a good runner but after 15+ years away from endurance sports I took up triathlon at age 40.  I continued the injury cycle for the first few years until I stopped running as far as I could and only ran as far as I SHOULD and did so every day (6-days per week actually).

I bet when your injury is gone you go out for 3 to 5 mile runs and only every other day.  That CAUSES injury.

Start with 1 mile (or even less when coming back from a recent injury).  Do that short run every day.  Don't consider it 'training', consider it rehab or an investment in becoming injury proof.

Don't ask me why, but every day running is necessary...but it should also be slow.  Slow is relative to you but it's slow enough you probably don't feel like it's a workout.  It is a workout, but most importantly running slower shortens the stride which decreases the impact.

Here is something I wrote on the subject of running injury free a while back.

http://johnpostmdsblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/for-those-who-cant-run-or-are-always.html

Totally agree. I am 41, started this year with 3 sprints and now I am addicted. I follow training plans and sometimes I just have to cool down my enthusiasm to not over do it. Speaking of overdoing it, I am now training for Texas 70.3 in April and I am trying not to get an injury.  For me, that means I have to slow things down. I am running my first 13.1 this December, following a Run Walk Run and going slow. Basically as slow as my pride will let me. I have never enjoyed running and now I do. I am very careful now at the slightest hint of pain to figure out the issue and talk time off if needed. I am also only running 3 times a week. It seems to be working for me.

Overall, it is great that we are able to do these events and that we are discussing challenges with "over-activity" as opposed to sitting around on the couch gettting chronic disease from inactivity. Over 40, I think diet and recovery are critical.  Good luck and good for you!

Get out of my head Jeff!!!  I was thinking about this very same link (your writing) as I was reading his dilemma.

To the OP, consider the link rock solid advice!  It is a lengthy writing but well worth the full reading.  If I have an injury that seems to be nagging as others have been this approach will be my way of returning.

Maybe I missed it or it wasn't mentioned.

But TO ME.  It seems you are addressing the symptoms, not the cause.  All of those things address the pain and try to fix/heal.  I see no mention of trying to work on form, equpement selection, conditioning.

You can try to heal all you want, but if you go out and do it wrong (not assuming you are) or make the same mistakes, it's not going to get better.  You need to rid identify and rid yourself of the cause.

Ever consider getting a coach or someone to look at your s/b/r technique or go over  your equipment and setup?

I'm 51. I've had a broken back, multiple knee surgeries with month to two month recoveries over and over, a stroke, heart surgery, more broken bones (both arms, wrist in multiple places, ribs on both sides...).

It took at least a year to recover from the stroke and that was unpleasant. I've had my life interupted a few times.

I don't think I've had a choice. I had to get back out the door and start over. That is where life is. I wasn't going to stay inside and be a "stroke survivor" or a "heart patient" or a "spine injury victim". Those are things that happened to me. They aren't me. I'm an endurance athlete, and there are always speedbumps on the way to staying one.

Don't give up. It's only over when you say it is.

Ok, I'm feeling blessed.  My husband says I haven't been injured yet because I don't push myself hard enough.   I just enjoy being active and don't want to loose everything I've accomplished.  I also don't think I could take all that time off work for physical theraphy appointments, although it's like he is getting personal training when he goes.

Don't give up.  Like others have said, do the things you can do.

Jeez man -  If I had access to picture of a kitteh, I would send it too you.

Super Trooper!

Where's the Like button!

This is a great attitude, I'd no idea you'd been through all of the above..just thought you were a great athlete anyway always with some good advice to share.  Move to hero status!

i started with running at 45.  many injuries.  bought a bike.  fell in love with Tri's.  bunch of sprints, some Oly's and a HIM.  Yee haW what fun.  kept running- and after much ado, tenacity, injuries and drive- BQed this year.  Injured my achilles so much in the process that I haven't been able to run in 7 months.  Tried every treatment in the book and many not in the book.  So- here I am at 48 with a BQ notch on my belt- and it's unlikely that I'll actually make it to Boston in april.  But- I'm registered and and have a room booked.  still trying to get there.

yeah- I'm fed up.  couldn't do any racing this year after January.  My cycling and swimming are better than ever tho'.

welcome to middle age.  No thought of giving up. 

some day I won't be able to run.  Today is not that day.