Overtraining injuries are the story of my life. From IT band inflammation, to pulled muscles in my abdomen, to a swollen foot. Injury prevention is just as important to a runner as good nutrition and a solid training schedule. Two days ago, I woke up with a swollen metatarsal in my left foot. I can still walk on it, but in order to make sure my future in running maintains, I’ve been taking a step away from running and into the pool.

Swim vs. Run

I grew up on the swim team. In Alaska, indoor sports are the way to go in the winter (unless you’re also part of the ski team). I was on the swim team all through high school, so even though it has been a few years since I least shimmied into my speedo, at least I still know how to work the lanes. I went to the pool yesterday and busted out 2500 meters (hoping to do the same today). Before I left the house, I did a little research to make sure I wasn’t doing any harm to the hours of training I’ve put in on the roads. From a few articles, I was able to take away that swimming is one of the best complementary sports for runners. It’s no surprise when you look at how some elite runners bounce back from injury and go onto make the Olympic team. Alberto Salazar is perhaps the most famous for his Olympic debut following weeks of training in a pool because of an injury.

Cool running offers a great explaination about the benefits of swimming for runners in their article: Swimming for Cross Training, and runners can always count on Runners World to download them with plenty of information to help understand the cross training world. Check out their article: Does Lap Swimming have any cross training value for runners?.

My next marathon is in the end of July, so I’m going to try out cross training for a few weeks to clear up some injuries. If all goes well, I plan on giving swimming (and other forms of cross training) a larger presence in my training schedule.