Darth Maul: (To Lord Sidious) At last we shall reveal ourselves to the Jedi, at last we shall have our revenge.
You’re probably wondering right about now: ”What does Star Wars have to do with your training?”. Absolutely nothing.
I just thought of that quote as I pondered my racing goals for 2011. I’m anticipating a banner year with lofty goals like:
- Qualifying for Boston (not possible due to anticipated qualifying race occurring after new registration period closes as of 2/16/11)
- Completing my first Ironman triathlon
- Breaking 5 hours in a 70.3 race
- Getting on the podium in a triathlon
Yep. These will be difficult to attain. But as Coach John Wooden said: “Goals should be difficult to achieve because those achieved with little effort are seldom appreciated, give little personal satisfaction, and are often not very worthwhile.”
Since the beginning of 2011 all my goals have been in jeopardy. Because of my hip flexors injury I sustained during the Tucson Marathon last December I’ve had to drop out of my first three races of 2011. The toughest one to drop out of was the Carlsbad Marathon where I thought I would have had my best early shot at qualifying for Boston. Since the injury where I had to stop running at mile 20 after 2 hours 30 minutes, I’ve run unsuccessfully with sharp pain occuring after:
- 11 miles in 1.5 hours two weeks after the injury
- 0.3 miles in 5 minutes four weeks after the injury
- 1.5 miles in 20 minutes six weeks after the injury
But fear not. I’ve been very proactive about my recovery, visiting my doctor, getting massages, and *suffering* during physical therapy. After the third week of physical therapy (six weeks after the injury), I visited my doctor again because I was most displeased with my apparent lack of progress.
I’m glad I saw him again because he conducted an experiment with trigger point injections on me. Using a 1% xylocain solution, a local anaethetic, he injected directly into the pain trigger point on my right leg, below my right pelvic bone at the hip. The anaesthesia is temporary, lasting only 30 minutes. In addition to the temporary numbing I felt no pain when my doctor pressed on my hip flexors right on the point that had severe pain over the last few weeks. The hypothesis of this experiment was that my injury had already healed (soft tissue strains usually heal within 1 to 12 weeks) and the nerves were incorrectly sending pain signals to the brain while running. If the hypothesis was correct, then by the next day I should feel no pain and be able to run. If the hypothesis was incorrect, then by the next day the pain should return when the trigger point is depressed and especially while running.
Results: The experimental hypothesis was correct! Amazingly, I have been pain free since the injection. And the doctor and physical therapist have cleared me to resume my regular running training regimen.
Physical therapy has been the best part of my recovery. So far I’ve completed seven weeks of physical therapy for a total of 13 sessions. Each one-hour session consists of some stretching and intense strength training. By the end of the sessions I am dripping with sweat. I regret having stopped strength training a long time ago as I got busy with triathlon training because all the exercises that I’m doing in physical therapy are the same or similar to the exercises I did when I used to regularly lift weights at the gym. As a result of the physical therapy strength training and conditioning, I can feel my legs and core getting stronger.
Another lesson I’ve learned the hard way during my recovery time is the importance of doing pre- and post-workout warm-ups and stretching. Since I’ve been involved in this sport I’ve been pretty lazy with regards to properly warming up and stretching before and after workouts, especially running. My physical therpist has “mandated” warming up/stretching before and after workouts. I have to admit it’s kind of a hassle, adding on an extra 30 minutes before track workouts and runs as well as an additional 15 minutes afterwards. But if it keeps me performing at a high athletic level, then I don’t mind doing the extra time. At my age, you find that the muscles don’t recover as quickly anymore as well not being as elastic as they once were during my youth.
The number one non-negotiable exercise that I do at least once a day is using a stiff foam roller to massage my legs, hips, and glutes. It was extremely painful at first, but I’ve gotten used to it. It makes my sore, tired legs feel like new. Unfortunately, that’s another half hour of time. I typically just do it while winding down for the evening in front of the television, which minimizes the time impact.
Since my return to running, I’ve completed two track workouts at full intensity, a long run (about 10 miles for 90 minutes), and a half marathon race!
P.S. My physical therapist is the bomb. He’s a former collegiate basketball player with a doctorate in physical therapy. His name is Ryan Monagle and he practices at Personally Fit.
