Wednesday, July 16, 2014

A visit to the physio (some literal and metaphorical navel-gazing)

On Monday I had a day off and paid a visit to Gino the physiotherapist over at Sports Solutions. ('How on earth did you hear about us?' 'Blog.' And of course when your ex-colleague, the best athlete you knowlinks to it you pay attention.) 

Of course, like a good reporter, I took notes. 

- If the same muscles cramp at the same time in every marathon - chances are it's good old fatigue. Of those particular muscles. Some possible reasons... 
- ...I am knock-kneed. Yes, this was the bane of my life when I did ballet - YOU just try being knock-kneed AND duck-toed at the same time. 'Turn out! Turn out!' 'I AM turned out!' (Except you never, ever talk back to your ballet teacher - you just push yourself harder.) 
- ...My knees collapse inward, because my gluteus medius are weak. (More on that in a bit.) 
- There are all kinds of unholy knots in my ITB and hamstrings. (And also my calves, but those aren't causing any issues yet and...oh hello foam roller, nice to see you again.) 
- We didn't do a running gait analysis for now. Frankly there are other obvious fixable issues to deal with first, which are causing my vastus medialis muscles to fatigue first. 

And came home with some suggestions: 

- For general fatigue: During the marathon training cycle, do the occasional long run that goes up to the duration of the marathon, but at a much slower pace - this is probably a good idea to put a heavy dose of fatigue into my legs and let them train their way out of it. But something I'd do probably only once or twice per cycle. Four hours of running, even very slow running, is likely to leave me wiped out for the rest of the day. 

- For the gluteus medius weakness leading to fatigue of the quads: I came home with a couple of exercises - leg lifts (the secret is to point your toes inwards) and standing leg lifts. I reckon I should also continue with those hip hikes and single-leg bridges I've been doing... 

- Consider a 10-day or bigger training cycle - I am ruling this out for the time being because it takes all of my logistical ability to even plan a single week's sessions. I do start with a rough week by week plan for the whole cycle. But the time that I start work changes from week to week. The time that I get off work changes from day to day. I have slight control over the former and almost no control over the latter. It is tough enough to figure out when I can go to track or swim with my tri group, and/ or ride or run with friends, when my training week is the same length as everyone else's! I might consider this when I have a more flexible (and relaxed!) schedule. Someday... 

We also did a bit of dry needling on my leg to attack those unholy knots, but since I am a single data point and the only available data is how I feel pre-treatment and how I feel post-treatment (remember I have never done this before), it's impossible to tell whether it worked, only that my leg felt subjectively less knotty

Of course then this week I hurled myself right into training for the Tri-factor OD in September so now everything is back to normal. Hungry, tired, knotted up, etc; and I haven't been in the pool or on a bike for ages so now I am remembering how to swim/ ride all over again. (In fact I went to swim training this morning and the swim coach was like 'HEY, LONG TIME NO SEE', but then I survived 2.2km of swimming so it's all good.) 

Meanwhile my training group is trying to find a new head coach, since the last one left for family commitments. I really liked working with the last one because he wasn't super technical or a lifetime elite athlete, but empathised with what it's like to be a slow talentless adult beginner who struggles. (My philosophy is, if you have zero natural talent you cannot get by just working hard, you have to work smarter than everyone else too. And if you cannot be tougher physically, well, you can be tougher mentally.) 

That's also what irks me about most athlete autobiographies. I must be the only person on earth to dislike Chrissie Wellington's 'A Life without Limits'! I simply could not get into the 'I'm a gumby n00b but somehow I managed to win this tri' tone. (She and I have very different definitions of gumby n00b. During my first tri I was trying not to fall off the bike or drown.) Dancer biographies are so much more relatable - dancers are all very tortured people... 

17 comments:

  1. Can a long time dancer actually point her toes inward? ;-)

    FWIW (not much), I agree with your physio. Your long runs can probably even be walk/runs - just get the time in on your feet (and keep honing hydration/electrolyte strategy).

    I've heard quite a bit of "meh" about ALWL, for basically the same reason you provide - in fact, enough that I'm disinclined to pick it up at all. I actually felt kinda the same way about Pam Reed's The Extra Mile, and by the time I got to the end, was more than ready to be finished.

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    1. That's a very good question. I managed to point my toes in for about five reps this morning :)

      Haha, I felt that way about Extra Mile too. Although a bio can be saved if it is funny or self-reflective enough - I just finished the Brownlee brothers' book and it's hilarious because of that sibling dynamic.

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  2. It's good to have some things to work on!

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    1. Yes! I like information - I like knowing exactly what's wrong and I like having tangible things I can do to fix it. Sort of reassuring, in a way.

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  3. Sounds like we have similar things to work on, though for different reasons. Team gluteus medius!

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    1. #teamgluteusmedius would be a thing that needs to happen if it didn't take up 18 precious characters. ;)

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  4. I'm glad they had some suggestions of things to try. I'll watch with interest to see how you get on.

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    1. Thanks! It might take a while - I have no immediate marathon plans. :) What are your race plans for the rest of the year?

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    2. 20K hill trail race on the Amalfi Coast in September - more a training/sightseeing event that planning some spectacular time - no chance to train on hills here. Main plan is the Houston Marathon in January. Low mileage right now but increased to 5 days/week in July, plan on 6/week in August in preparation for starting the Hanson Method in October.

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    3. Ooh, exciting. Enjoy Amalfi - I'm sure it'll be gorgeous - and the off-season before ramping up again.

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  5. The first time I was in PT in 2008, they told me that probably 75% of the running injuries/issues they see are caused by weak glute meds and/or core, and also that basically everyone but EVERYONE is quad dominant & has messed up hips/IT bands/calf muscles as a result. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!! But you are doing something about, & that is a big deal. :)

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    1. Born to run, my ass! Literally.

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    2. That's interesting. My core is quite strong - glutes certainly not. Need to look at doing something about that by the sounds of it.

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  6. You're such a sensible athlete. It sounds like you've gotten some really good advice that will hopefully see you to a cramp-free marathon. And you'll have glutes of steel.

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    1. Heh heh. One day I'll have a cramp-free marathon (and then another and another and hopefully a whole string of them). If not, glutes of steel are a good consolation prize...

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  7. Oh you and your dislike of Chrissie Wellington!! Her books is fab and you know it ;)

    I can never work out how runners have weak glutes. How can our bums not work hard during runs? My core is jelly though - I HAVE to do something about that! Really glad you're looking into your cramping though.

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    1. Seriously. For someone who runs more than the average bear I am apparently made of jelly. I have no idea how this works.

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