A Runner’s First Marathon Saved!

REFINED RUN CASE STUDY

First marathon saved after severe ankle pain and swelling appeared during a routine marathon training run, with no obvious Incident.

The Phantom Injury:

Rachele, a 23 year old female runner was training for her first marathon and after a snowy and icy 12 mile long run, she started having foot pain and swelling. She did not remember rolling her ankle or any movements that specifically started her pain. She was unable to walk normally or run at all for the next 4 days. At that point she decided to seek care from Dr. Brown Budde.

The Refined Run Solution:

To get back to marathon training ASAP, Rachele was fit in that week, and was examined with a video running gait assessment and functional movement analysis. She was then provided with (a) an individual-specific program to allow her to immediately continue training while allowing the injury to heal, and (b) was given a thorough long-term program to address all movement impairments that were contributing to her risk of injury to prevent injuries in the future.

 

Rachele’s Awesome Results:

Hobbling in thinking she would have to cancel her marathon, after the runner’s first and only appointment, she was able to return to running the following day without any pain! During the examination, Rachele saw on video and learned about the abnormal movements in her running form that were causing her pain by placing excess strain and stress to her feet, the muscles around her feet, knees and hips and back.  Then, using the retraining exercises she learned during her appointment, she retrained her body how to run without the problematic movements. The individualized gait retraining techniques were modified to make sure she could reproduce them on her own afterward. Instead of being sidelined by injury, Rachele was able to continue training and finished her marathon!

The most important key to any runner’s success is to be able to follow a training program with consistency and without injury sidelining them from properly building their mileage and training intensity through to their goal race. By allowing this runner to continue running at her full training mileage, she was able to stay on track without further time off or additional injury.

What did Rachele have to say?

….1 day after treatment:

“I learned so much in just a couple short hours!  I was able to get my 4 miles in on this busy day!  I did pretty well and I felt (during) and feel (after) great!  My knees were hitting together less also. I focused on the gait retraining that you taught me and  I was surprised how great I felt while running!”

….1 month after treatment:

“I have been doing really well with my training and am feeling more confident about my ability to complete the mileage with greater ease and without further injury!  The stretches, exercises and techniques have helped me so much!  Thanks again for your help.