Coreen Steinbach

Coreen Steinbach
Photos courtesy Tom Phillips

In her forties she started focused training and road races in distances from the 5K to the marathon (she’s completed 5 including two “Bostons”). She also raced the Hartshorne Mile at Cornell University a few times.

On a whim, at 51, she decided to train specifically for track events, including the 800 meter (one of her favorite races) and the mile, at the 2002 National Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships. “I went on a lark and was instantly hooked.”

She was hooked and she excelled – to the point where, a few years later, she became a member of two world record setting relay teams: the women's 50's Indoor 4 x 400 (2004) and Indoor 4 x 800 (2006).

Integrating training for both the track and road racing was a challenge, though. While “hooked”, she said she was rather inflexible about her training. She raced every weekend, regardless of twinges or fatigue. “If I had a workout planned I pretty much did it come hell or high water,” she said.

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Suddenly, in the fall of 2006, a pain that she was trying to race through became chronic. “I accepted it as the status quo… That fall I had a pain in my butt that would come and go, lessen and intensify, but always be there,” she said. “The problem became one I could not ignore.”

In February of 2007 an MRI showed a severe tear of the hamstring with an avulsion from the bone – an area where the ligaments and tendons had torn from the bone. “It was not good,” she said.

She stopped running for seven weeks and became a “rehab beast.” She immediately ruled out surgery and studied everything there was to know about her injury.

To figure out how to rehabilitate herself she consulted a number of experts including a physical therapist and an orthopedic surgeon. “Ultimately, I crafted a rehabilitation program myself,” she said. “I quickly learned that no one person could tell me what to do…. I formulated an action plan to address the weaknesses that led to this injury in the first place and implemented a regime to strengthen the weak side.”

Her rehabilitation program included acupuncture (twice a week for the first month); Active Release Therapy (ART) and physical therapy including deep tissue massage once a week; “lots” of cross training including 90 minutes of pool running every third day and training on the elliptical and other machines; light weight training (she strengthened her legs from the dorsiflexors to the hips); core and balance work.

That’s not all. “I improved my nutrition,” she said. A vegetarian for 27 years, she focused on increasing protein intake to help heal her injury. “I went to the health food store and found the fittest looking employee I could find,” she said. On his advice, she began taking whey powder and increased intake of zinc to aid the healing process.

She also cut down on coffee. “This was how my husband knew I was serious,” she said, pointing out that acidity in coffee is not conducive to healing tissue.

When she started running again, she took it “slowly, ever so slowly. I started walking 5 minutes and then running 5,” she said.

Exactly a year after she stopped racing she was back on the track for a race. “It is not hyperbole to say that I cried tears of joy.”

She’s been running free of injuries, now, for two years. “My bad hamstring is as strong as the good side,” she said. “Both sides are improved from the measures I've taken.”

“The most important lesson I learned is that you MUST be your own advocate when it comes to rehabilitation. You have to take it upon yourself to craft a program that will return you to running.

Coreen Steinbach at the 2008 World
Masters Indoors, Clermont, France

There just doesn't seem to be consensus among physicians, physical therapists, coaches, etc. as to what works or sometimes what the injury even is!!”

Steinbach has come back – and how! Since her injury, she’s won two silver medals and one bronze in the 800, 1500 and 3000 respectively (55 – 59) at the 2008 WMA World Indoor Track Championships; a gold in the 400 and silver in the 800 at the National Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships.

She won two silvers in the 800 and 1500 at the 2008 National Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships; and a gold and two silver medals in the 400, 800, and 3000 meter races respectively at the 2011 National Masters Indoor meet in Landover, MD. She received Honorable Mention as Masters Runner of the Year for ’07 and ’08 from Running Times.

She’s much more flexible and balanced in her training and racing now. Her routines continue to include core and hamstring strength training as well as exercises for balance. She no longer races every week-end (at the most, every other week-end) and less if she doesn’t feel right.”

She has learned to listen to her body. “Now, if something crops up and I feel a twinge or fatigue I respect it,” she said. “I try to stay very in tune with my body. My new motto is ‘when in doubt, don’t’”, she said. “If something is hurting or not quite right I IMMEDIATELY back off. I never hesitate to take days off or to back down a workout.”

“Injuries are the bane of all runners,” she said. “Mine transitioned me into a smarter, stronger, more focused, grateful athlete. I’ve learned that it is the running – the pure act of running – that matters most.”

What also matters are her running friends. “They mean the world to me,” she said. She often travels to races with eight of her running friends whom she’s known for 20 years. “They have enriched my life beyond measure,” she said.

Cathy Utzschneider Ed.D. (human movement), M.B.A., professor of goal setting and competitive performance, Boston College; coach, Liberty Athletic Club, MOVE and Women-Running-Together.com.

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This article was originally printed in National Masters News.

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