Fun and Fitness for the 40-Something

You might have noticed that I’m a bit injury-prone. Last year, for instance, I gave up running for four excruciating months, trying to heal recurring shin splints. Right now, I’m sidelined by a lingering injury that first hit my upper hamstring (some might say gluteus maximus, but that would be too humiliating) after an 8-mile run five months ago. And it’s not just old age. Over the years, I’ve also had tendinitis and a broken rib from running; a hairline fracture in my “elbow” bone and a bloody nose from co-ed tag football; and a sprained ankle, a fractured ankle and major hematomas from, well, being drunk in college. But I digress.

Last month, I read an article in the New York Times that asked “why do some people become injured even though … they try to do everything right while others … who flout every rule, avoid injury? And how can the injury-prone protect themselves?”

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