Overuse
Injuries
Destinations probably not seen near your hometown.
induced problems, having discussed stress fractures and the like previously,
this weeks post will focus on potential ways to avoid ending up at the doctors
with what may be an avoidable problem.
Recently, I gave you an example of athletes who just can’t turn it
off. A local runner of some renown, while rehabing a problem
which she’d ended up in the operating room, was widely known for doing her
morning training…following doctors orders…and then seeing if she couldn’t
find someone else to go running with her (again) that
afternoon, miles that most likely will never see the light of day in her training
log. Nor will they be revealed when reporting back to the doctor if things don’t
go well.
In that this is November, and many of us have taken a break from
training or are about to do so, we get the opportunity to review 2009’s results,
both good and bad, as we prepare for 2010. We’re getting ready to create a road
map starting from today and ending up at the finish line of our “A” race(s)and
beyond. We are sort of Mapquesting the directions to our 2012 athletic goals. If
we follow the periodization model, we’re setting up a basic skeleton to control
our training volume and intensity so that we’re “all we can be” come race day.
When the training year is created with this much planning and care, the
potential for overdoing it, both in the short and long haul, is diminished. Both
training hard and resting hard are accounted for in your long term
plan.
Our bodies can perform at almost any level if we prepare them
adequately. One of the first books I read on marathon training 30 years ago was
a steady increase in long runs, each week harder than it’s predecessor, until
your chosen race. I don’t recall the author ever referring to the “R” word.
Rest. If you think about Achilles Tendon problems, plantar faciitis, runners
knee, stress fractures, etc., you grab a big group of problems that, for the
most part, are the result of training in a fashion in which the body is
unprepared. They probably didn’t need to occur much of the time.
So, I would ask you to write down
the basics of your training for the next 11 months starting backwards from the
“A” race. If you’d like a model to follow simply look at the year put together
by Ben and Kerry in this web site. Or you might look at
trainingpeaks.com, one of the triathlete mags, etc. But, if
you’re reading this, you have the advantage of personalization
that you don’t get out of a magazine.
But, have a plan. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the
“R” part.
John Post, MD
www.johnpostmdsblog.blogspot.com “Magic in Your First Race?”
One more photo of Ben at the Underpants Run in Kona
