Soccer be damned!

Slo Mo Man

posted: 6/2/2008 at 4:36 AM

I posted some comments recently on a topic about soccer and its good points and bad points. I felt at the time that running was good for soccer but that soccer was not neccessarily good for runnning. I must now reinforce my feeling that soccer is bad for running. Many of you said that injury would eventually come. And guess what! I got injured. Both hamstring and calf strains on the same leg. Although Im not badly injured I am both depressed and annoyed at myself for playing so close to my main race. (3weeks). I am now faced with a light recovery week which will leave only one good weeks training prior to race week. I have worked hard for almost a year for this race and now I might have blown my chance of achieving my goal of a sub 40 10k or even racing. I love soccer but I think a big decision is going to have to be made and there can only be one winner. RUNNING!

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." Goals: Keep on running!

brerfootbill

posted: 6/2/2008 at 7:05 AM

Maybe you can still run and play soccer - just don't play soccer within "x" number of weeks of a race. The more important the race, the more weeks you take off from soccer. That's my plan when it comes to playing basketball, and it seems to work so far. Smile

Bill

"I can do 440 in 220" Half Fanatic #846 "Ninety percent of running is half mental"

NJPhil

posted: 6/2/2008 at 7:33 AM

Sorry to hear about your injury Bananna Man. I had a similar situation playing soccer last April, but was a bit more unlucky. I suffered a Lisfranc injury which required surgery and was in a non-weightbearing cast for 8 weeks. I was able to start running again in December and still get swelling today. Now I just stick to running, mountain biking and hockey, I've been injured participating in those activities for awhile and have luckily never been badly injured.

Daddyo

@BeachesRunner

posted: 6/2/2008 at 9:01 AM

Add Basketball to the 'be careful' list. I played on Saturday, just a pickup game with my wife and son, and could feel as we played the potential for disaster, especially after not playing for so long. Sure enough, on Sunday's run, i feel the pull in my hamstring/glutes that I thought happened the day before. Still, I think you have to live life and have a well rounded curriculum, especially if you really enjoy soccer or any other sport for that matter.

averagehssoph

posted: 6/5/2008 at 11:23 AM

I think soccer is good for running as long as it is "different seasons". For instance, some of our best runners on the track team play soccer in the fall and dominate on the track in the winter and spring (that includes distance runners, which makes the coach, also the XC coach, angry.

PRs: 1000: 3:01 1 Mile: 4:55 2 Mile: 10:55 2009 Goals: Sub 4:50 mile, 2:50 1000 meter, Good first real XC season

Teresadfp

posted: 6/5/2008 at 11:27 AM

Quote from averagehssoph on 6/5/2008 at 11:23 AM:

I think soccer is good for running as long as it is "different seasons". For instance, some of our best runners on the track team play soccer in the fall and dominate on the track in the winter and spring (that includes distance runners, which makes the coach, also the XC coach, angry.

Yep, that drives my son's coach crazy! Last year, he got a sophomore to agree to join the XC team if he ran the 3200 sub 10 in outdoor track. When the boy did, the coach made him put the agreement in writing! His participation on the team helped them win the state championship.

Mississippi

posted: 6/5/2008 at 1:12 PM

Ouch. Sorry to hear about your injuries. As much as I love playing soccer (even though I'm not very good at it), I still fear injury during each game. I took off from soccer until the fall, but even then I might reconsider waiting until winter to start back up again (since I play on an indoor league anyhow). I hope you have a quick recovery. Smile

Tyler S

posted: 6/5/2008 at 1:19 PM

I recently gave up soccer for that same reason. I've played it since I was about 4 years old, and decided that if I wanted to be a runner that soccer would only make it worse. Soccer injured each of my knees and caused swelling to the point where the fluid had to be drained. I still like soccer, but I'm not playing it on top of running/track.

dallas

Hoodoo Guru

posted: 6/5/2008 at 1:22 PM

My soccer season ended last night. Unfortunately, it ended in a 2-0 loss to our archrivals. Cry

The good thing about the end of soccer is that I can now do better quality runs. I'll substitute speedwork for Wed. night practices, and will substitute long runs for weekend games. I'm trying for 2 fall marathons, so I really need to ramp up the mileage.

The tangents are moot.

Set the bar low. Crawl under it.

Trent

posted: 6/5/2008 at 10:55 PM

Quote from dallas on 6/5/2008 at 1:22 PM:

I'm trying for 2 fall marathons, so I really need to ramp up the mileage.

Which ones?

I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.

Poor baby

Soccer be damned! (Read 1187 times)