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These are some of the injuries team members went through during the marathon training. Besides the injury description, they have also mentioned the steps or precautions they took to overcome them. These accounts are just to give insight and by no means supposed to replace professional help.

Sarah Glass

1) Injury: Sprained ankle

2) How I dealt with it: I had my ankle checked out by a doctor. The injury occured right before winter break too so I was able to take a few weeks off and give it some time to heal.It wasn't an extremely debilitating sprain so I was back running about a week and a half later.

3) Suggested Precautions: I injured myself on MLK and Vermont, running in the middle of the day. I didn't trip on anything, and I wasn't avoiding any obstacles at the time. Just be careful when you are running and make sure your shoes give you proper support so that things like this are less likely to happen. Also, make sure if you are running alone that you have some means of communication like a cell phone because if you sprain your ankle you aren't going to be able to walk back to your car or home. Luckily I was right next to a fast food restaurant and they let me call USC from there; you aren't always that lucky.

Whitney George

Ok so I didn't have an injury, but I had joint pain and tight quads and ham-strings. What I did to help alleviate the pain was get massages after the long runs, I listened to my body and didn't over-do it on the running. If I needed a few days off I took it, but in the mean time I did weight training for my upper body or I stretched, did yoga or pilates. I also used the Bengay body patches and put them all over my body such as: my neck, back, quads, ham-strings, calves...

Mehmet Aykol

Alright the coaches asked us about our injuries during the training period this year and how we treat it. I think I succesfully treated my injury and I think it is a good idea to share it with you. These are just what I did and should be just guidelines for the runners with the same problem. Everyone can respond to the treatment differently (some faster some slower). So listen to your body if you feel pain slow down.

Runner's Knee Symptoms: The first pain was a very severe and sharp pain under the knee cap. There is a ligament called patella and the pain is caused by the bleeding of the capilary vessels internaly. The pain is more when you try to lift your foot from the ground (both running and walking) or while going down the stairs.

Initial treatment: STOP RUNNING IMMEDIATELY!! This is crucial since bleeding will be more the first time you injured your knee (and will be easier to treat) and if you continue with the pain you will make it worse. Don't strech it either again increases the bleeding. Start icing your knee as soon as possible. Apply ice for 15 minutes then let it warm up for 45 minutes then start icing again for 15 minutes. Repeat 3 times for the first day.

Primary treatment: Go to the doctor the very next day. She/He will probably prescribe a medication that will decrease the swelling and probably advise you to go to physical therapy. I didn't but if you have time you should (still they are professionals :). I suggest you donot run for at least two weeks.

Going back to training with the team: After resting your knee for two weeks, start running with short distances. The first week can be 2-3-2 and a friday swim workout will do fine. If you don't have time for the friday swim workout rest your knee. On sunday if the run a long one (more than 8 miles) don't run it instead run 5-6 miles on the track (track is crucial part of recovering since the ground is softer than tarmac). The second week can be 3-4 (or 5 depending on how you feel)-3 and a sunday run of 8-10 miles. But during the long runs use a patella band. I used Nike because its supportive part is wider. By the way patella bands are used to avoid the knee cap go down below a certain position rather than pressing your patella and relieve the pain. SO DON'T STRAP IT TOO TIGHT. You can continue training with the team on the third week. BE PATIENT. You are recovering from an injury of course you won't be in your best shape when you start running again. Run consistently. Try to keep your pace slow again it helps. Then you can increase if you feel good.

I injured my knee 2 months prior to the marathon but I recovered and ran the whole marathon. So these worked for me. I repeat these are just guidelines. Go to a doctor first thing after you got injured.

for further info refer to Article.