Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Fredrica Challandes-Angelini's avatar

I guess that’s the definition of a genuine athlete – 42.7 equivalent miles even when hurting! That is a lot of miles. I bet the combination of all those remedies will solve the problem. Lots of love to you.

Expand full comment
SHW's avatar

Re: Thigh. My sympathies. Injuries are no fun. Great news that, as of publication, you feel it's improving. I hope that continues.

Of course, listen to your body in the transition back to heavy mileage. For me, injury during race build-up is particularly challenging, because there's a very real deadline, and it can feel like I'm "losing" precious training time. Finding a healthy balance between sufficient recovery and manageable training during transition is tricky for me. I try to remind myself that my goal is to run the best goal race possible, not crush today's workout or hit this week's mileage, which were set weeks ago (when I was in that blissful, base-building state, willfully ignoring all the twists, turns, and twinges of a real-life, serious training cycle). Long-term view, trust the process.

Injury can also serve as a reminder how glorious it is when all systems are go and the body is just clicking. A painful reminder, when injured, but a helpful one to me, to stay humble and grateful (and attentive to health maintenance) when healthy.

Re: "And with all that, clearly it’s not enough because I got hurt." If I may play Claire's advocate: You can do all things right and still get injured. 100% guarantee against injury comes with 100% ban on running. My client is not prepared to accept those terms at this time.

I think your response is pragmatic and healthy: Who were the likely culprits? (Mobility/core/strength work, maybe shoe change.) What can I change moving forward? (Reassess mobility/core/strength work.) What information do I need to make those changes? (Expert input, for example, as built into workout classes, or from a trainer?) I tried to echo your thinking here; if I misspeak anywhere, please correct it.

Re: Mobility, core, strength. The "Advanced marathoning" book has a chapter titled "Supplementary training" in the second edition that discusses flexibility, core, strength, and form training, and it offers exercises for each. Presumably the third edition has something similar. Presumably the Web has many somethings similar (of various credibility).

I share your aversion to "making this up as I go along". Given this, and acknowledging constraints, perhaps you could arrange a one-off visit with a trainer, to assess weaknesses and imbalances, and build a set of exercises to address them? In any case, the preceding resource might provide helpful direction, so weekly core work feels less ad libitum.

Re: "This setback has cemented for me how much I absolutely love to run." You are in the right sport :) This (injury) too shall pass.

Re: Community. Yes.

Sending good vibes! I hope the massage, chiro/PT, sports-medicine-specialist trifecta helps.

Carry on.

Expand full comment
3 more comments...

No posts