是的，你可以在膝盖和背部受伤后跑半程马拉松

是的，你可以在膝盖和背部受伤后跑半程马拉松

At 47 years old and with a list of bodily injuries that reads like a medieval saga, I never thought I could finish a half-marathon.

47岁那年，我的身体受了一连串的伤，读起来就像中世纪的传奇故事，我从未想过自己能跑完半程马拉松。

I'm the mom of two very active young boys. I have a work schedule filled with national TV appearances, the completion of my next book and my private medical practice.

我是两个非常活跃的小男孩的妈妈。我的工作日程排满了在全国电视上露面、完成我的下一本书和我的私人医疗实践。

But more serious: How could I possibly run 13.1 miles at my age and with all my injuries? I have a 30-year history of knee and back problems, including three surgeries and dozens of injections.但更严重的问题是:我怎么可能在这个年龄跑13.1英里，而且还受了那么多伤?我有30年膝盖和背部问题的历史，包括三次手术和几十次注射。

I always dreamed of running a half-marathon, but I didn't think it was physically possible. The list of reasons why I couldn't was simply too long.我一直梦想着跑一场半程马拉松，但我认为这在身体上是不可能的。我不能的原因实在是太长了。

Despite all this, in a momentary lapse of judgment, I joined a group of moms who were training for a half-marathon.

尽管如此，在一时的判断失误中，我加入了一群正在为半程马拉松训练的妈妈们。

I now feel like the poster child for "Yes, you can still run a half-marathon, despite what ails you."

现在，我觉得自己就像“是的，尽管有什么不舒服，你仍然可以跑半程马拉松”的海报孩子。

My knee

我的膝盖

At age 16, I tore my right knee's ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) while playing soccer. I was in full leg immobilizer for six weeks. The severity of the injury was unknown, so they didn't operate.

16岁那年，我在踢足球时撕裂了右膝盖的ACL(前交叉韧带)。我用了整整六个星期的腿部固定器。伤势的严重程度尚不清楚，所以他们没有进行手术。

During my third year of medical school, without an ACL, my knee essentially dislocated, and I could barely walk.

在我医学院的第三年，没有ACL，我的膝盖基本上脱臼了，我几乎不能走路。

Surgeons repaired it using a hamstring graft, which at the time was newer and showed faster recovery. Six years later, I tore the meniscus in that same knee. When the surgeons did the meniscal repair, they said my ACL graft had failed.

外科医生用腘绳肌移植修复了它，当时的腘绳肌移植更新，恢复速度也更快。六年后，我的半月板在同样的膝盖撕裂。当外科医生做半月板修复时，他们说我的ACL移植失败了。

I have poor stability in that knee joint, as I opted not to repair it again. It would have required significant down time, and the surgeon said that if I kept my supporting leg muscles strong, I would probably be OK.

我的膝关节不太稳定，因为我决定不再进行修复。这需要大量的休息时间，外科医生说，如果我保持支撑腿的肌肉强壮，我可能会没事。

The pain has been chronic on and off. I've also had several injections for the pain, and I always wear a brace during exercise to support that knee.

这种疼痛断断续续，是慢性的。我也打过几次针，每次锻炼时我都戴着支撑膝盖的支架。

My back

我的背

During the second year of my medical residency, after a kickboxing class, I was walking down the hall at the hospital and noticed that my left foot was not flexing properly (it was making a flapping noise on the ground).

在我住院的第二年，上完一节跆拳道课后，我走在医院的走廊上，注意到我的左脚没有正常弯曲(它在地上发出扑扇的声音)。

I was in surgery two days later for a massive disc herniation in my spine; 85% of the L5 disc was protruding into my spinal column and pressing on the nerves, causing my neurologic symptoms, which included weakness and numbness.

两天后，我因脊椎椎间盘突出而接受手术;85%的L5椎间盘突出到我的脊柱，压迫神经，导致我的神经症状，包括虚弱和麻木。

The surgery lasted seven hours due to extensive scar tissue surrounding the disc (I had been in pain for years and never had the pain evaluated), and the recovery was very long and slow.

手术持续了7个小时，因为椎间盘周围有大面积的疤痕组织(我多年来一直感到疼痛，从来没有评估过疼痛)，康复过程非常漫长而缓慢。

My neurosurgeon warned me that I was going to have to be much more careful in the future with my exercise regimen or I would have even more significant back problems.

我的神经外科医生警告我，在未来的锻炼中，我必须更加小心，否则我会有更严重的背部问题。

Setback
挫折

At this point, I was getting the weekly mileage in, but I was running very slowly, and my former high school athlete side got the best of me. I decided to push myself and try to go a little faster on a 3-mile run to see whether I could improve my time. And that is when the trouble began. I felt OK immediately after the run, but the next day, I could not stand up straight and was suffering terrible back pain.

在这个时候，我每周都在跑步，但是我跑得很慢，我以前的高中运动员团队占了我的上风。我决定督促自己，试着在3英里的跑步中跑快一点，看看我是否能提高我的时间。就在那时，麻烦开始了。跑步后我立刻感觉很好，但是第二天，我不能站直了，背部非常疼。

He gave me a crash course in the pose method of running and put me through a number of exercises and drills to improve my running form. I felt the change immediately: much less strain on my back, and my running felt faster and more effortless.

他给我上了一门跑步姿势法速成课，并让我做了很多练习来提高我的跑步姿势。我立刻感到了变化:背上的压力小了很多，跑步也变得更快更轻松了。

Since the race was only two weeks away, I didn't have time for a second session, but I felt confident that despite my setbacks, I was going to finish the race.

由于距离比赛只有两周的时间，我没有时间参加第二阶段的比赛，但我有信心，尽管我遇到了挫折，我一定能完成比赛。