Sunday, March 21, 2010
Listen Up
Just when I thought I was on the right track, yet another leg injury has set me back. This time it’s my right knee. It’s not an overuse injury but rather a fluke. I was running with my dog and took a bad step behind her causing my knee to twist a little. Once again I was forced to shelve the running shoes in favor of the bike and the pool.
In the back of my mind I was a little worried. Now it’s March and we are no longer in the building phase of the season. Those early season races are just around the corner for most of us, and as much as we say they’re just tune ups in the back of our minds we know they’re more than that. This is our opportunity to see just how much fitness we’ve retained and even gained over the winter. It’s also a chance to see how the competition that we’re likely to see at all of your local races is doing.
For most of us group rides and runs are getting ready to start up again, and the last place you want to be is holed up in your house unable to participate. Eventually after a couple days the pain subsided and I was able to walk pain free. I thought, “Well I can walk pain free, I should be able to run again pain free.” WRONG!!! Three steps after I took off I stopped and walked back in my front door a little dejected. Kelly told me to hold off on running but of course I thought I knew my body better. I learned a very important lesson real quick, listen to your coach! It seems basic doesn’t it? Listen to the person who other than you knows your body better than anyone. I guess what I was thinking is with every day that goes by I’m becoming less and less fit while everyone else is preparing to drop me in the closing miles of the run.
Kelly helped me realize something very important. She helped me realize that these early races are just what they’re supposed to be, tune ups. The only real goal this year is to get from the starting line to the finish line in Panama City Beach in November. So what if I’m not in top shape in a couple weeks when we start group workouts again. The important thing is running pain free, and if that means taking a few extra days off from running now in the spring so that I don’t miss a whole season with serious damage than that’s ok.
As a triathlete we all have the one discipline we excel in. It comes as no surprise then that we enjoy training that discipline the most. When we can not do it due to injury it makes our training as a whole a little less enjoyable. What’s important to remember is that whatever our best discipline is, we lose fitness there more slowly because we’ve spent more time doing it and our muscle memory is stringer. Keeping that in mind, if you get hurt in your go-to discipline, make the most of your time getting in extra sessions in the other two. It’s paid dividends for me. On my first outdoor ride this year I rode out group ride loop and rode it 2 miles per hour faster at a lower heart rate than I rode it last year. I’ve also saw my times in the 500 come down 10 seconds in the week I was off from running. Three days ago I went back out on the roads again, and this time I was pain free, and to my surprise, but not to Kelly’s, my running pace hadn’t suffered at all. I guess when a good Ironman Athlete who is also your coach gives you advice, you should probably listen. Lesson learned.
Athlete Ian
Posted by Athlete Ian on 03/21/10 at 08:55 PM
EFC Athletes •
(0) Comments •
Permalink
