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So what I didn't want to happen has happened. I have been sidelined by injury. Well, not injury exactly, more poor biomechanics.
2014 was a rather satisfying year. I started running! I completed a marathon and won a county championships. I also got within tantalisingly attainable proximity to the magical 20 mins for 5k.
I ended the year vowing not to get injured. Pah!
The first third of the 2015 was amazing. I got pbs left, right and centre (not hard, most of the distances were first or second outings
) as well as an exciting haul of team and individual county and provincial medals.
In April/early May, a 5:11 outing at my first 1500m in a quarter of a century re-awoke the bug I had for middle distance running.
Buuut....I remember the wheels starting to come off at the Terenure 5 when I described my race as losing 'bang for my buck'. An ill-judged WMM a few weeks later left me scratching my head but not too seriously. Achilles problems on the left side a few weeks later took my mind off that. Track season scrapped.
The later part of the summer saw a build phase with a steady increase in mileage. Lots of lovely long runs, bliss. A slight warning bell when, in the latter part of the Charleville HM in September, my left hip started to twinge under fatigue like it did in DCM the previous year.
Here, with hindsight, was when the firefighting truly kicked in as the dreaded plantar fasciitis took its horrible grip in October and November. That interrupted winter season significantly but - foolishly? - I carried on with fairly intensive training, with time off, sessions adjusted and allowing for full recovery in between flare ups. This was frustrating as the target was the national masters at the end of January.
2016: I think the pf started to ease off in January and February but - yup, there is a pattern here - my mind was now beginning to focus on the reemergence of lower back and hip issues.
My lower back on the right side started to niggle uncomfortably all the time.
All throughout, my knee/hip flexor on the right side too have been slightly tight, but manageably so....or so I thought......
2016 has been the most successful year medal wise; with a bronze and gold national team medal, a Leinster gold individual medal and a national individual bronze....but in many ways, it has been my most disappointing year so far as I just don't feel that I have fulfilled my potential as the training blocks rolled out.
Cross country and road targets were ticked off nicely, national team medals won bit a slight nagging feeling that I could have run better.
I took chunks off my mile time early season, bringing it down to 5:24.5, indicating that a sub 5 1500m was very possible for planned peak. Yet I struggled to run 5:16 in the nationals, 5 seconds DOWN on my entrance 1500 16 months previously....My refrain of 'no power for lift or extension, no propulsion' remained frustratingly unexplained by professionals. A few people have commented on my deteriorating form when under pressure, both in training and races. This has been something I have noticed myself this summer. Fatigue has kicked in/power has done a runner (groan) far earlier than it should, hand in hand with a noticeable deterioration of form.
So, I let the hip thing go on too long and trained right through to the nationals cos I was too bloody stubborn to pull back and go back to basics. I don't regret this, btw, just now I have to deal with the consequences...and hopefully be a bit more mature in the future
The month of September was for light training to allow the hip and general butt area to calm down; doing some easy running in conjunction with getting used to the bike. Biking has been fine but there is no doubt about it, load bearing has aggravated all the niggles.
After the chain of niggles led to a knee crack in Pilates last week, I have taken a second and third opinion. The second opinion noted my flat arches when on the ground but high when raised. This, in her opinion was setting off a whole chain of imbalances right up to the hip, tilting my right pelvic area anteriorly and posteriorly on the left side.
She recommends insoles, as had coachy some months earlier. She gave me a simple programme of two stretches (one for left side, one for right) to do three sets of, for 1 min each while lying on the bed or couch each night. Every night, as body allows. I can do that. Swear.
VERDICT #1 NO RUNNING:
She also recommends no running til it all calms down.
VERDICT #2 NO RUNNING:
This concept is something I had been skirting around anyway. If you had said this to me 6 months ago, I would have torn around the block, blubbering and putting my fingers in my ears. Not so now. Running lately has just not been fun. I am constantly monitoring the hip, the butt, the knee waiting for one of them to rear their horrible little heads. And they do. Invariably. Outside running, the hip or butt is twinging or spasming all. the. time.
VERDICT #3 NO RUNNING:
A chat with coachy confirmed this. He agrees that there is no start to any sort of training until the slate is clean.
VERDICT #4 NO RUNNING:
I popped down to Carlow this morning [Saturday] for a walk-in clinic and was seen by Eddie. My legs are in bits now. Jaysus, ouchers. All to the good tho, right? In amongst the waves of pain, he was basically saying he's never seen such a weak-ass set of glutes and hips. My arches - again - are causing a whole chain of imbalances but stretching the outside calf muscle will help (special towel pull stretch given). My squats are pathetic, but we knew that already. In his opinion, no point starting body weight squats or weighted squats right now (doesn't recommend anyway IIRC) cos I am so crap....also no running.....
So I am now the proud owner of a resistance band. Set of four exercise to do 5/7 days, without fail and jeepers when done properly, these guys burn (also cos my glutes are so feeble).
So there we have it but now alea jacta est I feel strangely unburdened.
While it has taken the long way round to get a consensus, I now have agreement from four professionals that my biomechanics suck.
As I quoted above, "A setback is a setup for a comeback". I found a version of this in the book I am currently reading The Bolt Supremacy. Quite a few of the Jamaican athletes discussed in this book had poor biomechanics which impacted quite significantly on their ability to reach their potential. Once addressed, they improved, simples. It is somewhat comforting that I am in such lustrous company haha but really, the comfort is in the knowledge that my feeling of going backwards the last while is fixable.0 -
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ThebitterLemon wrote: »Hope it all works out for you and I can empathise, my body has been out of warranty for yonks and I always seem to be only a few miles away from a full breakdown:)
You were going very well and you'll be back stronger
TbL
Thanks aul fella. Despite your 'shutting down' hardware, you're revving up nicely so yes, I take comfort if you can do it, anyone can....
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Ah thanks D. Yes, I suppose with hindsight - wonderful invention - this was kinda inevitable taking into account my 'previous'. Good in a way that it has arisen now, i.e., earlier rather than later. As coachy says, it's a learning curve....Hard luck, A. You burn so brightly, there's bound to be some setbacks along the way. Good luck with the rebuild.
Thanks D. Yes, you've been very diligent and it is certainly paying off for you, something I will be reminding myself of when five minutes sitting down is more attractibpve than five mins with the resistance band!Best of luck with it DG, I was at the resistance bands this time last year....with those and subsequent progression through body weight and now additional weight (kettle bells are my favourite) it has worked well so far. It is very frustrating but stick to the plan and you'll be writing new epic race reports in the not distant future!
Thanks G and yes boss, will doSorry to hear that A,but i'm sure you'll be back stronger than ever when over haul completed, take your time & mind the body.
Thanks ABummer A you have a bad few months of injury and niggles (still managed some amazing results) hopefully this is only a minor set back and will just take a bit of time. Good luck with the recovery.
Fingers crossed and yes, am thankful that I'm not actually injured. Here, it is a 'choice' and not something that has been imposed :eek: well, that's what ai keep telling myself
Hi M, thanks for that, it all resonated, especially the highlighted bits. Ok, I'm not a night owl....Sorry to hear of you woes A. You probably know that I've spent many months on rehab and there are a couple of things that I'd change if I had my time again. Obviously this isn't advice so much as a food for thought - we're all an experiment of one etc. so grab a large pinch of salt!
I would keep running - I stopped for a few months while following a rehab program specifically put together for me and it was a bad idea. I was missing the running itself but I also wasn't getting any feedback about whether I was making useful progress or not. I also thought that 15 - 20 mins here and there would be a waste of time considering what I had been doing before but with the benefit of hindsight I was wrong. In the end what mattered was running not my ability to do the exercises that should have helped me to run.
Rehab broke me in the end - I'm very much a night owl and I was getting up at 5:30 to go to the gym 4 days a week - religiously going through my exercises and I didn't get anywhere. I was highly motivated but after 3 or 4 months when I realised that I was no better able to run than I had been before the previous few months I was left quite depressed. I would keep running, I would ask more questions of my physio - I would keep running. Rehabbing is a tough often lonely trail - I'd go easier on myself.
I'd set specific measurable targets sooner and when reaching or getting near to them didn't fix or noticeably improve the problem I'd ask why and I'd ask for new ones. I don't have a problem with failure - I have a huge problem with a failure to recognise failure and try to improve.
I'd take control of my own rehab sooner. I would change my view of the professionals from people who could 'fix' me to people who could give me ideas about how I could fix myself. I'd try better to understand the reasoning behind the ideas and question it more.
I'd find a different physio earlier - experiment with more ideas, find out what worked and follow my own intuition and experience.
I don't think I'll be completely off running for long, from talking with coachy, we might introduce some short runs later this week or early next week.
Thanks again all, I love how we all feel each other's pain here ❤️ ������0 -
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Thanks spaceylou! Yup, stronger and faster is definitely in the planSorry to hear you are sidelined DG but sounds like you have a plan and all going well you will come back stronger and faster!
Thanks marty, yeah must be crock season or something :eek: That quote is catchy alright isn't it?!martyboy48 wrote: »Good luck with the rehab DG, hope it goes well for you.
There's a lot of fecked peeps around these parts this year
"A setback is a setup for a comeback".... I'm gonna embed that into my brain when I need to look at the bigger picture
It's something our gorgeous club captain always reminds us of:
'whatever injury or niggle happens now, will have no bearing on your targets/plans in one, two years time. Always keep a long term goal so the immediate goal is not the be-all and end-all'
Thanks YA! Let's hope. It's quite nice starting from a base of near-to-zero...the only way is up, yes?!!Best of luck with the rehab Dubgal. There'll be no stopping you on your return! 0 -
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Ha B and thanksIf anyone knows how to do a comeback it's yourself!
Hope the rehab/rebuilding goes well.
Sssh or TbL will be wanting some of my spare parts...not to mention all the other auldies.Bungy Girl wrote: »You'll be like the bionic woman when you're back. Best of luck with the rehab and keep us updated.
Will do but so far it consists of:
clams with resistance band
other version of clams with resistance band
lateral steps with resistance band above knee
lateral steps with resistance band around ankle.
Lots of technique on these...STOP sniggering!!
Piriformis stretch (left)
Hip flexor stretch (right)
And pilates, will keep that going! All well with you?0 -
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If anyone can come back stronger and faster from an injury ... you can No athlete is every truly tested until they've stared an injury in the face and come out the other side ... you'll be must stronger mentally and physically after a Winter of strength work like above That resistance band work is not easy so kudos for giving it a go 0
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Thanks R...frustrating isn't it?! All the best to you...Best of luck in building yourself back up A. Struggling myself these days so I completely empathise! Still trying to find that magic formula that can keep me running "All the time" and get consistency into my training . I think it is at the bottom of the Holy Grail or something but will keep searching:).
I hope you find your biomechanical formula.
Ah thanks Neady! Yeah...and hungry for it tooIf anyone can come back stronger and faster from an injury ... you can No athlete is every truly tested until they've stared an injury in the face and come out the other side ... you'll be must stronger mentally and physically after a Winter of strength work like above That resistance band work is not easy so kudos for giving it a go
Thanks R, well talking of logs....got yours going yet????Hope you don't need to be off for too long, I shall miss your always-interesting log!
BTW I just started working with resistance bands too and yes, boy do they burn...
Thanks L, yup the sooner than rather than later would definitely be preferable but as coachy pointed out today...."your goal, your only goal for now is to get back to training pain free". He must have smelled the impatience off me!Sorry to hear of your injury woes A, best of luck with the rehab and hopefully you will be back running and competing sooner rather than later.
I have permission to jog for up to 30 mins starting this weekend. Whoop whoop, tis the little things 0 -
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Thanks D, have to be truthful, it's not running so a bit harder to embrace enthusiastically but it's a means to an end....runningDuanington wrote: »Best of luck with the rehab A - great that you have a routine to follow though, hopefully if you can embrace that like you embrace your running, you'll be bullet proof when you're back in actionJust catching up here bummer A but +1 to what everyone else has said. Hope the rehab is quick and successful xx
Thanks AM, I will be applying your pragmatism, patience and perseverance from earlier this year! X0 -
Log update:
Nothing detailed to report but I cautiously started jogging two weeks ago with outings every second day or so of 30 mins, progressing up to 40-50 mins.
A few of these mid-week runs included a 15-20 min section in bare feet on grass. I particularly enjoyed these runs and was conscious of maintaining good form throughout. I get quite excited about these runs.
Weekly pilates has continued and I wonder have these classes started to take effect as my torso feels stronger - not necessarily leaner - when running. Maybe my imagination.
The benefit of the pirformis, hip flexor and resistance work is not imaginary. All running to date has been pain free with no flare ups afterwards. Sometimes towards the end of a run, my hip has started to fatigue but that is usually when the pace has been too fast :rolleyes: On occasion, I have had to stop myself bopping down the road but that has a lot to do with the fact that there have been some spectacular autumnal running days recently.
Fluidity came back reasonably quickly and in the absence of a watch (just been running by time), am cautiously optimistic that I haven't bled too much fitness.
Myself and H, another training partner on a mini break, had a 'back to school' taste this morning when we met up with two other clubmates at 7:30am for our Sunday morning run. Yep, holidays are over
I had a very successful and enjoyable 60mins last week with Nop so had permission to increase it to 70 mins this morning. This went well, all comfortable...until I stopped :rolleyes: Poor leggies stiffened up like I'd done two hours but a good stretching session with some foam rolling - yes, you read correctly - eased them out enormously.
Trying to get back to Carlow for a follow up session and biomechanical assessment has been a logistical nightmare but will hopefully get down this weekend. from this, the next phase of training can be laid down but probably won't involve much more than incorporating some weekly strides.0 -
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Mon
3 v v easy miles
No real need to go out for this but I had a morning free and had a 'banking day' in mind. Intended to go for longer but only managed about three miles as legs felt heavy.
That may have been due to the drinks consumed in McGs on Sunday so I am blaming Murph, FBOT, Nop and KennyG for that one. It was lovely to catch up with annapr, aquinn, Mrs Mc, TFGR, diego and denis et al along with a few other boardsies. I am reminded how lucky we are with the A/R resource. It was also great to meet some new - and not so new - boardsies in the guise of The Muppet, Wubble Wubble, Pomplamousse and spaceylou. Well done to all on marathon Sunday and most of all, well done to nop, Firedance and the back room crew who gave so much of their expertise and spare time to help make 26.2 miles such a memorable experience.
Tuesday
56 mins incl 6x100m strides at around 40-45mins. This felt good, not too wooden on strides.
Wed
Rest. Started to feel a bit yuck throughout the day, culminating in a fairly intense, but luckily short, bout of gastro. Had the shivers and chills all night.
Thur
Umm probably not wise but an easy 35 mins I was able to stay in bed until 4pm so figured I needed to clear a few cobwebs. It was just the ticket and felt ok at my snail's pace.
Fri
8 miles incl 2x1 mile tempo, 1 min rec
First session in forever! I was excited and nervous about this. Headed out around midday and donned shorts and racers. I felt 'ok' on jog to park; not bouncing but not leaden either.
The plan was to focus totally on effort for this and not to take note of pace. As coachy keeps saying "your goal is to run pain free, we'll take care of the pace later". Luckily there are some fresh mile and km markers in the park so I was able to get stuck in right from the park gates.
I'm pretty sure I got the effort bang on with these, phew, 'comfortably hard'. The recovery went super super quick and at this stage I was slightly worried that I had overcooked the first one. I had a mental and physical blip at 600m but did a little relaxing and mind emptying. For some reason, I also started daydreaming about a scaffolded, similar session I would do very successfully in a few weeks and within 200m, realised I was cruising again. The power of the mind, eh?
I finished this session quietly elated to have completed any sort step up in training completely pain free. In fact, all running lately has been pain free so being consistent with pilates and very diligent with the resistance band works seems to be paying off.
Sat
35 mins v easy
Sun
11.xx miles
A lovely, wonderful, fresh, pain free and chatty 92 mins with a clubmate on road, tarmac and some grass. I love you, legs.
I have gradually broken in my insoles and this was the first lsr with them in. I seem to have got away with only slight chafing on one of my inner arches but my upper bones on the right foot seemed a bit tight on Monday. Something to watch.
Weekly breakdown:
35ish miles incl
6 days running
1 mr with strides
1 tempo
1 lsr
3 easy/rec runs
1 gastro bug
0 painful runs :cool:
Lots of clams, side lunges and spine curls, pelvic curls and abdomen curls.0
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