Same Time, Same Channel

Having been married to a high school track, volleyball, and basketball coach for many years (not married to her anymore) I have seen what overstress to young bodies can do. High school sports has become so competitive that kids are literally 'over-training'. It would not surprise me at all if adults are now ruined because of what they did in high school and/or college. In fact, of all the kids that I still know who are graduated from H.S. and college, only a few are still active because the rest have knee problems.

Whereas I'm not too far into my "experiment of one," I have been running a substantial amount since I was 14, I hit my first 50+ mile week at 15, and I hit my first 70+ mile week at 16. That being said, I always had stronger, more pain-free knees than so many of my friends whose knees "wouldn't let them run." Of the many that have told me this, I think a fairly small proportion actually have bad knees.

To get perspective from some friends of mine who are a little farther along in the march of years, I know a friend and fellow ultrarunner in Huntsville who ran his first marathon at age 16, had completed a 100 by age 21, and is still running strong in his mid-forties. To be fair, I also know a man in his late forties who is beginning to run into knee problems, but he still gets out there, and I'm not sure where the line is drawn between running-related problems and natural wear and tear.

At least it makes me feel better to think that I'll be able to run for years to come...

I'm sure it depends on the individual to some extent. I'm just wondering if there are general trends that can be applied. Are the people who can run as teenagers and as adults the exception or the rule?

It would be interesting to see the trends involved in this, the only problem is getting enough relatively unbiased data (i.e. so many people have a perception of difficulty in running, while others, myself included, are definitely biased the other way, assuming that you can run unless a bone is poking out).

Good research topic....

I run and I run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking, and racing around to come up behind me again...

...and so far my knees feel fine.

I think teens are more likely to continue running if they have a positive experience when they run on teams in high school. And obviously a positive experience is different for everyone.

Our running hero in IL is Joe Newton (has coached a successful program at York High School for about a billion years). I've seen his training plan and he has his varsity kids running 100+ miles the first week of official practice. It works for him and his kids and a lot of his kids go on to lifelong running. A lot of the reason is the esteem of that particular program.

But there are other kids in other programs that would be beat down after running that much.

I think it all boils down to the fact that we gravitate towards activities that we enjoy, and if kids don't enjoy their high school running experience, they likely won't go back to it.

Most of my non-blog running friends have run since junior high and ran competitively in college (mainly because these are the people who Dean knows and runs with) - they all still run. I think there have been some studies that show both good and bad effects with long term (35+ years for Dean) running. I can't say whether it is because they ran when they were young, number of miles total they have logged on, or just that it is harder to train at the same level as you get into your late 40s and 50s but yes, they do get injured frequently. But, most of the time, when they race they are still in the mix -- the 45-50 year old age group for men is very competitive. Most of them log at least 70-80 mpw on average. I do have to say though that most of the people I know in this group are more 5K-1/2 marathon types, not many of them run a lot of marathons.

So would the take-away at this point be that it's okay to encourage a kid to run as long as the kid's body can tolerate it and the kid is having a positive experience?

Or can we assume that if you want to have longevity as a runner, regardless of your age, you are more likely to be successful if you stick to distances shorter than a marathon?

BTW, Tracy, I watched a movie about Joe Newton and his program not too long ago. Very impressive.

The hunter/gatherer tribes that remain today run every day of their lives from an early age and never get "bad knees." I have a "bad attitude" about "bad knees." ;)

I think I'm with Sno. Many people with "bad knees" use this excuse to stay on the couch. Sadly, when they finally get out they often do too much all at once so they exacerbate the "problem." I don't think body parts aren't designed to "wear out," even knees. All human tissue is constantly regenerating. And we know movement improves healing... Than again, I'm injured. What do I know?

I've read a number of times recently that running does not give one bad knees, it is more of a myth. As for me, I hardly ever ran in high school or college or while in the Navy (just when I had to). Didn't start running on a regular basis until a few years ago, so I don't have anything first hand to report about knees and running when younger.

I've had a few run ins with knee problems but they have so far been mild and corrected with some cross training, weights, and occasional icing - keeping my fingers crossed that I stay injury free.