Thursday, June 10, 2010
Rookie Mistakes
The sun is beginning to rise on my third season in triathlon. This past winter brought with it some unexpected hurdles. A nagging hamstring and then IT band inflammation brought some uncertainty as to whether I’d even be able to race at all this summer.
Like most triathletes I tend to be more Type A when it comes to training. And like most unseasoned athletes when I get injured I don’t recover properly. Proper recovery not only entails taking the proper time off from training, but also a carefully calculated return to training. Eventhough Coach Kel always laid out a "come back" plan and tried to prevent the flare ups from happening, it seems my impatience and busy schedule kept me from staying on course.
All too often it’s the improper return to training that inhibits a full recovery. As I learned the hard way, you can’t just get up and start running when the pain is gone. You have to wait past the pain of being pain free. Sometimes it’s a good idea to wait at least one to two weeks before running again. Then, the crucial part is a gradual return to running.
Well, I made the mistake of bouncing straight into a five mile run once my new best friend, the foam roller, had worked it’s magic. Bad idea… I was feeling good and decided to head out for a run. A little over 2 miles away from home the pain slowly started to creep back into my knee. That meant I had a little more than 2 miles to run back home. When I arrived back at my front door the pain in my knee was as significant. It was almost as bad as when I initially took a break and stopped running.
ICoach Kel read my log and after giving me a small tongue lashing, she said she did sympathize with my mind set and eagerness to get back to running. But, she stressed once again the need for patience. She knows the importance of coming back slowly and gradually building running volume through short, frequent runs each week.
As endurance athletes we’re always sold the quick fix. A running or cycling workout that will take 10% off of our 40k time trial or drop 3 minutes off our 10k time, or some supplement that will delay the onset of lactic acid,,,all sounds good, right? The truth with injuries is that there is no quick fix. It is a painfully slow process (no pun intended). Kelly’s program for me involved running 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week. To me, 10 minutes is like a sneeze. Once I could run 10 minutes, 5 days per week I got to increase to 15 minutes, then 20 and so on. While the time seemed minimal, the psychological and physical impacts were huge. I did learn this was effective. Running even a small amount of time pain free for consecutive days was extremely encouraging and good for my body, bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments.
I was skeptical whether or not this program would work. My first race is now a week away. But one month ago, while I was gradually increasing my running time each week, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to race. Well, now I’m up to running 35 minutes a day which is more than I’ll need to get through the run next Saturday.
Rehabbing this IT band is an ongoing process but highlights how much I still have to learn as a triathlete. When you get injured you have to put your trust in the program. Although your body may feel like it can go harder and longer because you’re rested, you have to take the proper time to rehab properly and come back gradually. I guess that’s part of being a newbie. It’s certainly not the first mistake I’ve made in training, and I doubt it’ll be the last.
-Athlete Ian
Posted by Athlete Ian on 06/10/10 at 01:54 PM
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