Springfoot Marathon: How to avoid injury
Merari Valenzuela loves running. But the 18-year-old was sidelined after injuring herself while playing another sport she enjoys: basketball.
“It was at practice and we were going against each other,” Valenzuela said. “I got pushed by a teammate. When it happened, I grabbed my leg right away.”
Valenzuela ended up with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and meniscus, the rubbery, C-shaped disc that cushions the knee.
The El Paso Community College cross-country athlete is now in physical therapy after undergoing surgery.
“I’ve had to do a lot more strengthening and a lot more stretches because the muscles are tighter,” Valenzuela said.
Her physical therapist at Spectrum Therapy Consultants Sandra Terrazas is a runner herself, having completed 13 marathons. After suffering setbacks from injuries, Terrazas told ABC-7 she advocates for people safely reaching their optimum level of training.
“We see a lot of tendinitis-type injuries, which are overuse, inflammatory injuries,” Terrazas said. “If you plan accordingly, and you take care of your body as you’re tearing it up for a big event of long-distance running, then you should be okay.”
Terrazas said the best plan is to stretch before and after a run.
“We advocate dynamic stretching beforehand. And that’s like a baby jog just to get your core body temperature increasing,” she said. “At the conclusion of your run, you should do static stretching. That means a prolonged stretch with no bouncing for a 30 to 60 second hold.”
Terrazas said that it’s important to let injuries heal, whether it takes days or weeks.
“Recovery is just important as the active things (to) your training,” she said, adding, “Massage, yoga (and) any kind of stretching that takes you off the running.”
Meantime, Valenzuela is ready to get back to running cross-country for EPCC after spend a year away healing and undergoing therapy.
“I’m not going to be the same runner I was before, so I have to adjust to the new runner that I’m going to be,” she said.
Valenzuela’s next goal is to run a 5K race.
The Springfoot Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K is on Sunday, Feb. 19.
