Injury - AnnaTheApple

June 16, 2016

What I do when I can’t run

My hamstring is, fingers crossed, definitely getting better. It’s tough because I’ve had to strengthen the tendon in order for it to get back to normal but strengthening it can aggravate it further and delays it feeling normal.

However, I had a really good deep massage again on Tuesday night and I woke up the next day with huge improvements. The sports therapist also tested my hamstring strength and found it had improved a lot since previously. So for now I’m just letting it calm down a bit. Tendons are tricky business!

Anyway, I’m still actually OK with not running at the moment. As I’ve said before, I have no races coming up and I have no urgency to start training again. All is well! Clearly shows I needed a break. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to do the odd run for the mental freshness it brings but I’m not feeling the panic and sadness I might previously have felt in the past.

So what does a runner do I do when I can’t run? I’m not a big fan of cardio machines at the gym it has to be said. I know I can get my fitness back when I get back to running so I’m not stressed about being slow (for me) when I do start again. Spinning has always been a good fall back for me but I’m not really feeling the urge to go and I’ve convinced myself it wouldn’t be a good idea with a hamstring issue anyway

My only annoyance with my hamstring is that because I’m trying to be super careful not to aggravate it, I’ve been avoiding heavy squats and deadlifts. I find these really don’t help the matter and probably contributed to it going from a slight niggle post-marathon to a very annoying persistent nag. So going to the gym has required a bit more thought.

Though I am still lifting heavy weights when it comes to upper body (arms, back and shoulders), I now incorporate more running-specific dynamic strength workouts so when I go into marathon training I will hopefully have a strength conducive to running injury-free.

Here are a few of the things I’ve been doing at the gym.

For legs:

Side sliding lunges

This uses the rowing machine’s seat. You can use those floor disc things that slide around but I prefer the rowing machine. At first I was a bit nervous doing this as it’s a bit odd I guess to use the rowing machine in this way but no one batted an eyelid (and to be fair, the gym is quite empty at 5.30am).

You can also stand in front of the seat and push your foot backwards for a backwards lunge as well and this will work the glutes a bit more.

Squat with medicine ball drop

Though I’m avoiding heavy squats, I find normal body weight squats don’t impact my hamstring (especially I don’t try and go too deep). These squats are really good for the entire body as you lift the medicine ball in the air as you come out of the squat and then throw it down. It’s quite an explosive exercise. You then squat to pick it up and begin again. I tend to do about 20-30 reps depending on the weight of the ball.

Squat on a Bosu ball

This is a good isometric exercise – where you hold the squat position, or you can squat up and down while attempting to maintain good form. It’s tricky because you’re wobbling the entire time. It’s a great exercise though as it recruits lots of stabilising muscles that might ordinarily not come into play.

For core:

Battle ropes

Obviously these work the arms and shoulders quite a lot, but the core is also engaged to keep you grounded and to help with the movement. I try and do these for one minute – it’s tough!

TRX suspension

I do a few different exercises using the TRX ropes. You can do mountain climbers (alternating bringing one leg forward to your chest) or (as in the photo) both legs at the same time for a crunch. A good one for the abductor muscles is getting into the plank position with your legs held in the suspension and then opening and closing your legs while maintaining a stable plank position.

Source

For glutes:

Donkey kickbacks

A fairly standard glute workout that you’ve probably seen countless of times. I try and keep the movement controlled and slow rather than launching my leg back quickly. I also wear ankle weights to make it a bit more tricky. Then after doing a certain number of reps I pulse my leg when it’s in the raised position to really work the glute.

Resistance band walking

This is a favourite of mine. I use a resistance band around my ankles and then step (while maintaining tightness in the band) to the side, like a crab, then change directions to work the other side. I then walk forwards and do it that direction (monster walk – again trying to maintain the resistance). Another good one is the “wet pant walk” which is basically standing on your tip toes and walking forwards, like you’ve just wet your pants

Plank with leg lifts

While planking, slowly lift one leg up (maintaining a strong core) and bring it back down, without touching the ground, and then lifting it again. I do this for about 10 reps per leg and repeat this a few times.

For how I structure things at the gym, what I tend to do is do heavier weights at the start (after a warm-up) and then follow with a circuit-style routine. For example, this is what I did on Tuesday:

– Heavy: Pull-ups (using the assisted pull-up machine)
– Heavy: Standing press

– Press-ups
– Battle ropes
– Kettle bell swing
– Eccentric box jumps
– Leg curtsy squats
– Russian twists
– Burpees

After I’ve finished the more heavy stuff, I set up all the bits I need for my circuit and then go through each exercise once for a number of reps, and then repeat the entire circuit three times. I enjoy doing this as it stops me getting bored and it allows my muscles to recover while I do something else before I get back to it.

I tend to find my exercises on the Internet, Instagram or in magazines. I’m always looking out for ways to make things interesting and not get samey. I hope these help anyone who needs a bit of inspiration!

What do you do in the gym?

What do you enjoy most at the gym?

What’s your favourite area to work on?

June 8, 2016

Rants and Raves #31

Kind of a mishmash of randomness today as I don’t really have anything specific to talk about!

Rave: Though I’m not running, I am still going to the gym. Annoyingly though I’m avoiding heavy squats and deadlifts to be on the absolute safe side with my hamstring. It’s frustrating but hey ho I can still do lots of other heavier weight stuff, like focusing on my upper body. And I like do about a 30 minute routine of different strength and plyometric exercises.

It’s similar to the strength workouts I was doing last year during the lead-up to Liverpool marathon. I enjoy having variation and it involves a lot of running-specific exercises which will help when it comes to marathon training in the autumn. I have a mega spreadsheet that I track all my running and workouts that I use as a resource for what exercises I’m going to do at the gym. I’ve basically stolen ideas from the Internet, other bloggers, magazines and classes I’ve been to. I like it because I get bored very easily at the gym so mixing it up each day helps. An example of a routine I did on Monday:

– Press-ups
– Eccentric weighted lunge drop
– Box toe taps
– Scorpions
– Eccentric box jumps (jumping off a box into a squat)
– Medicine ball squat:
– Burpees
And I repeated it three times.

Rant: HAY FEVER. I’m being savaged by pollen, despite taking anti-histamines. I wake up with a blocked nose, I sneeze consistently through the day (I’m not a one sneeze girl either, I’m one of those “at least three times” kinda sneezer) and the absolute worst: the itchy eyes. *Shakes fist* damn you, Mother Nature!

Rave: But I will take that pain for the sunshine we’ve been given. Waking up, even at 5am (yes, really), and seeing the sunlight pouring through my windows just makes me wonder how the hell I was able to do that during the cold, bitter, dark months of winter. Walking Alfie at 5.15am without a coat on – what is this dream??

Rant: I’m very lucky that I live in a quite nice area right next to a beautiful park. There are lots of paths through the park, a play area for kids, picnic benches and a large pond.

Every morning I take Alfie for a good walk and, like 95% of the dog owners, let him off his lead to run about. Generally Alfie is very good, he comes back when I call him and he gets separation anxieties if he can’t find me (sometimes I’ll walk ahead while he’s sniffing around and if I go out of his sight he gets panicked and starts running about looking for me…when he notices me he charges over. It’s adorable).

Unfortunately one morning Alfie spotted two ducks near the path we were on – the rest of the ducks were down the slope near the pond. Before I could stop him he ran towards them and chased them down to the pond. He then spotted all the other ducks that were out of the water being fed bread by a lady and ran at them too, causing them to head back to the pond.

The lady yelled up to me “oh well done”. I got Alfie under control and said I was sorry. By way of explanation I said he was a dog and it’s in their nature to chase. To be honest I wasn’t really sure what to say as I felt a bit embarrassed. I know I’m in the wrong of course – the ducks did not deserve to be chased and frightened but the lady was really quite aggressive. She then proceeded to tell me Alfie should be on a lead and that I was a “stupid cow”. I felt a bit affronted. Alfie has never chased the ducks before and has always been quite good off his lead. I think it was just the two loan ducks that caught his attention and then seeing the others nearby.

Anyway the lady carried on yelling at me saying there was a sign saying dogs shouldn’t chase the wildfowl and that I was being irresponsible. At this point (7am by the way) my back was up. Could she stop yelling at me please? I understand I’m in the wrong already! But Alfie was back with me and, as I said to her, “the ducks would come back again”. None of them had been savaged to death or scared into having a heart attack.

She then told me to “f*** off”. At this point I was done. I (perhaps somewhat sarcastically it must be said) said “well good morning to you too” and walked off. She continued to yell that I was a stupid cow and “f*** off”.

Again, I know I was in the wrong. It was a tricky situation that short of rugby tackling Alfie to the ground or foreseeing him chasing the ducks in the first place and putting him on his lead (though, again, he’s never bothered the ducks before), I did what I could. She didn’t have to be abusive or rude!

And on a lighter note…Things that made me chuckle: this is fairly true for me. Even without running my appetite is crazy. Luckily I’m quite savvy with my snacks (think high protein, sustaining nibbles over empty sugar).

Source

And like so many other runners, I’ve had many a black toenail. As summer and flip flops is upon us, nail polish is used to hide the evidence (Not sure where I found this sorry!)

One last rave: I’ve been sent these very cool laces to try out.

They’re called Elastic Lace System by Phoenix Fit UK and basically stop the need for tying laces. I’ll do a full review of them in another post but so far I think they’re pretty good. Probably ideal for triathletes who need to transition quickly from one sport to the next during a race. And they come in lots of colours

What are your rants and raves lately?

What do you like to do in the gym?

Do you suffer from any allergies?

June 6, 2016

A parkrun walk and pretending to be an adult

After a rather cold week, it was lovely to wake up Saturday morning to a reasonably warm day. It was a bit muggy but otherwise promised to be a good day so not too shabby!

I started the weekend off by going to Lee-On-Solent parkrun, which is just down the road from my parent’s house. My dad had said he would try another one and another one of my friends, Fiona, who’s just getting into running, said she’d go too so it was a nice change from Netley. It also meant a bit of a lie-in as I didn’t go and set-up and we didn’t need to leave until 8.25am (and even then we were a bit early).

I also got to meet in person Rebecca who I’ve been chatting away to on Twitter. She’s so lovely and volunteers most week at Lee parkrun, having acquired an injury a few years ago that she can’t seem to find any cure for She was lovely and very welcoming to both my dad and me, which definitely helped. My dad wasn’t quite as optimistic this week. He knew more people at Netley through association with me and knew they’d be less people at Lee who’d cheer “Anna’s dad” along. He was also aware he would be the last person finishing (having checked previous results). But anyway, Rebecca was lovely and bubbly and she promised to cheer us on.

Despite it being Fiona’s first parkrun and her being relatively new to running (she’s another friend doing the Couch to 5K programme) she was really happy to be there. I was so impressed, she was so raring to go.

I had every intention of running parkrun and decided to take it nice and slowly (I even wore my HR monitor to make sure I was actually running VERY slowly – more on that another post). But as I went off I could feel my hamstring nagging me and it just didn’t feel good running. So I decided to play it safe and walk the parkrun with my dad. My hamstring has been feeling better but I had quite a deep massage on Thursday evening and was advised to let it settle for four days so really I was jumping the gun a bit.

My dad was quite chuffed I was going to walk with him and it was nice I had that option because I’m not sure I would have walked on my own.

Photo Credit: Nick MacBeath

Initially we weren’t the last people but eventually two powerwalking ladies overtook us on mile two which got my dad down a bit as they were nattering away and “not really trying” as my dad said But he was out there, working hard and doing it so I’m proud nonetheless. The marshals, as usual, were very supportive and cheered us on and lots of people said well done – and even “well done, Anna’s dad” from some fellow Hedgies and Twitter friends.

My dad found it harder this time. I forget that 5k is actually a long way if you’re not used to the distance and for someone like my dad (no disrespect to him of course) who does hardly any exercise at all other than a few dog walks in the week, it’s a tough thing to do and he was only just getting over last week’s parkrun.

Because Lee parkrun is basically two out and backs we saw Fiona twice and both times she was smiling away and pushing on. I was seriously impressed and chuffed she seemed to be enjoying it.

At the end my dad pushed on for a little jog to get to the finish. Everyone cheered him in.

Photo Credit: Nick MacBeath

And he wasn’t last. I was! Rebecca was lovely, saying he did so well and he was over the moon with himself again. We’d hoped to be faster than Netley but we weren’t sure… Frustratingly he was ONE SECOND slower than last week (51:12). Fiona did a very stellar time of 45:48 for her first parkrun. She was very pleased

For me it was my slowest parkrun, but I still very much enjoyed it. I couldn’t be more proud of my dad – OK he’s not running it or barely any of it at all, but he’s making a step towards getting healthy. He won’t go every week but he’ll be going again at some point for definite. He feels accomplished afterwards and it’s given him something to work towards on improving – a tangible measure of health that’s not just the scale.

My dad said had I not been walking with him he’d have slowed down as he had no one behind him he wanted to make sure he beat. He also found it mentally tough because the course is very flat and you can see where you’re going the whole time – rather than Netley which is a bit more interesting. Though Lee does have the sea…

My sister came over later and brought Ellie and Meg too, my little nieces. As it was such a lovely warm day I offered to take them to the park – ON MY OWN. Now if you’re a long-time reader you’ll know kids and me aren’t a great combination. I have no maternal bones in my body and I struggle to know what to do with children…how to talk to them, to look after them, etc. I’m just awkward. But they’re both at that age where I don’t need to change any nappies or carry them or anything life-sustaining. So I felt up to the job.

After a quick pep talk and rundown of essential information from my sister (don’t go near fire, hold hands crossing the road, don’t let them eat weird things) I was good to go. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk to the park and it went swimmingly. At the park it was a lot easier as I was around more responsible adults and I basically just copied them. I followed Ellie and Meg around but stayed at a distance to let them play.

I was quite impressed with the park. It had all the usual stuff along with a mini climbing wall and a trampoline! Obviously I had to have a go…

And Ellie amazed me by being able to use my phone to take photos. Well I suppose this is hardly surprising, kids as young as three seem to be able to use technology without any issues these days.

Sunday was another day spent with my family. I was a little sad not to be going to the Romsey Beer race as I’ve done it three years previously but it was the best thing. I didn’t fancy running it, I wasn’t able to race it and my hamstring probably needs more time. To be quite honest, I’m quite happy to give running more time off as I know when marathon training starts it’ll be full-speed ahead. I’m still going to the gym (which I did in the morning) but the desire for running is still pretty low at the moment in general.

Instead I went to Winchester for a little mosey round the shops, not realising a cycling event (CycleFest) and a race (Winchester Criterium) were taking place making it a little busy and tricky to actually swap sides of the road to see different shops….

But it was fun to feel the racing atmosphere and see the cyclists whizzing by so fast. It was a lapped event so we were never short of seeing a lycra clad person zoom past us. And then we enjoyed a beautifully sunny BBQ.

I made up some chicken skewers with my buffalo marinade which were just delicious! There were burgers, sausages, lamb kebabs, pork kebabs and steak. Delicious!

How do you like to spend your time in the sun?

What’s your favourite thing for a BBQ?

Have you ever walked a race/parkrun before?

June 2, 2016June 28, 2019

Tough decisions and hamstring tendinopathy

As I mentioned in a previous post, running and me are having issues. Running is never simple for me. I really should know what’s what by now but still I make mistakes (and some I’ve made so many times before).

I suppose it’s to be expected when you do something for so long and so often, and when you’re as injury prone as I am (and as stupid…). As I said, I should have taken a break from the marathon. I’ve already promised myself that I will next time and have instructed my parents to take my trainers away from me for at least a week after Chester in the autumn to ensure this actually happens. But anyway, I didn’t take a rest post Boston and here I am, feeling the effects of being over-trained, a niggly hamstring (more on that in a bit) and an indifference to running.

Luckily I have no races coming up and I’m in a nice comfortable position to take a break (a bit late but hey ho). Though I’m still doing parkrun as I can’t quite give that one up (like I’ve said so many times, it’s more than just a run). I made the tough decision to not do the Cakeathon on Monday. Too far to go for a race I wasn’t up for and it wasn’t fair to make my dad to give up a day’s holiday and drive me there. Only then for me to then undoubtedly have a crap race and be grumpy for the three-hour drive home.

Similarly, I was signed up ready to do Endure24 in a couple of weeks time which I’ve decided not to do anymore. It involved being part of a group of eight and running laps of five miles for 24 hours as a relay. It was going to be a great weekend of camping, larking about and running but realistically I know I wouldn’t have the best time. I a) would feel a bit down because I wouldn’t be able to run much (having barely done more than a parkrun for the past three weeks) or b) would be tempted to run too much and probably turn my hamstring into a full-blown injury. As my marathon training is due to start in July it’s risky business. I don’t want to start a training cycle injured. I’m very sad to miss out on all the fun but realistically I need to be sensible.

So my hamstring. Well it’s been niggling since before the Boston marathon as I said. Kind of came out of nowhere as a tightness and now it’s more of a niggle. I can run through it – it’s not painful or sharp, just a bit of a nagging discomfort that I can’t seem to shift. I don’t think doing deadlifts at the gym helped things. It seemed no worse after running (hence why I kept running – I have learnt something at least).

I’ve seen a physio and had a sports massage and both seem convinced it’s nothing serious, just a mild case of hamstring tendinopathy. After Googling it (obviously) and then proceeding to fall into a well of depression and despair I realise it’s actually not as bad as all the people online seem to have it. Whew.

What exactly is hamstring tendinopathy? Basically it’s a pain in the bum – high up on the hamstring, just under your butt cheek. The tendon that connects the hamstring muscles to the sit bone becomes painful. Things like prolonged sitting, running hills and sprinting can aggravate it. Thankfully my niggle isn’t full-blown tendinopathy but it could get there if I’m not careful. It is an annoying thing to get rid of though it seems as it’s a tough place for blood to reach and heal and because it’s not inflammatory, there’s little that icing can do. However, you can help things along with strengthening the tendon and massage.

Here’s where my friend the tennis ball has come into play…

Oh how my glutes do not enjoy this. Also, my sports massage therapist gave me a nice tip: sit on the tennis ball on a firm chair so you can roll you hamstring more easily as it’s tricky to do on the floor.

And I’ve been doing lots of strengthening exercises as well. Ideally the exercises you want for this are eccentric exercises. I received good advice from my physio and sports therapist and also online (good article HERE). I am obviously not a trained sports or medical anything, but I thought this might be useful if anyone has been/is in a similar boat. The exercises I’m doing regularly are:

Bridges

Lying on your back with your feet flat on the ground and shoulder-width apart, raise your bum towards the celling using your glute muscles trying not to arch your back (keep your body in a straight line).

I found the bridges to be quite easy as I’ve done them many times before so I straight away moved to single leg bridges, taking one foot off the ground and moving one leg up and down in a controlled movement, not allowing hips or bum to drop. At first I could feel the niggle when doing it (no pain, just an awareness) and now I feel nothing.

Hamstring Curls Using a Swiss ball

Lying on your back with your feet on a Swiss ball and arms by your side, roll the ball in towards you by bending your legs until your knees are above your hips, again not arching your back and using your glutes and hamstrings. Then straighten your legs, rolling the ball away from you in a controlled manner. Again you can progress to single leg versions of this.

Nordic Hamstring Curl

This is quite an advanced movement and tricky to set-up if you’re on your own. Basically you anchor your feet and calves to something stable (or have someone hold them) and then, while maintaining a straight-line from your shoulders to your knees, you bend forwards at the hips using your hamstrings to control the movement until you either cannot maintain the position any longer or you reach the ground. It’s a great hamstring isolating exercise.

Planks

Obviously good old fashioned core work helps as well. Planks are great for this and so easy to do at home. I mix it up with different variations, such as raising one leg (using my glute muscle) and then lowering again, or stepping out to the side while maintaining control and stability, or a new-to-me plank the supine version where you’re facing up rather than down (adding in leg lifts for this is great for targeting the hamstrings and glutes too).

Side planks

Side planks as well are good for focusing on any weakness you might have on the different sides of your body. Raising one leg makes things more challenging.

I’m limiting my running and supplementing the above exercises with my usual gym work (though no deadlifts or really heavy squats at the moment). I don’t feel depressed that I’m not running, I’m just frustrated with myself for allowing this to happen again. And sad to miss out on a couple of good races. But these things happen and hopefully I won’t make such obvious errors in the future.

Have you ever had a hamstring injury or niggle?

Do you do any exercises regularly that keep you injury free?

Have you had to DNS from any races lately?

June 1, 2016

Dad’s first parkrun

If you’re a regular reader you know my dad is a big supporter of my running. My mum is too, of course – after all, she came with me to Boston to support me in the marathon and has gone to many of my races too. But my dad likes to really get involved.

Though he isn’t a runner (though he did used to run back in his navy days) he still “gets” it. He knows what my good paces are and my capabilities, he listens and gives advice when I’m training and he stops me sinking too much into darkness when I’m injured. He’s my coach in many ways.

He came and supported me at my 100th parkrun recently as well. When I’d finished and we met up at the end, he was smiling and said “I’m going to do one”. Apparently he was so inspired by everyone running and the fact that there were walkers and run-walkers that he thought, “I can do this too”. This is exactly what parkrun is about. It’s about getting people out there moving who might not be inclined to on their own. So we planned for the next week for him to come down and power walk the Netley parkrun.

I got there early to help set-up and I was going to meet him at the start area at around 8.30-8.45am. He arrived bang on 8.30am looking a bit nervous.

He had his iPhone with him and headphones. He said he needed a bit of distraction and something to help him round. I was going to run and then come back for him.

Wearing my Boston finisher’s t-shirt

We parted ways and parkrun began. My run was surprisingly speedy considering I hadn’t run all week (or was I speedy because I hadn’t run?). As a side note, my mojo is still flagging and my hamstring is still niggling. It’s a combination that doesn’t get me riled up to run at the moment. I’ve been going to the gym but running is taking a backseat. I don’t have any races coming up that I’m desperate to run or do well in but I do want to be fresh and niggle-free for when I get back into marathon training in July (ideally with some base-building beforehand as well). So a bit of time off now seems ideal.

A photo of the Abbey while setting up

Anyway, it was ridiculously warm and I felt stupid in my long-sleeved t-shirt. When I left the house it had felt quite cool but now the sun was burning through. Running attire fail. My hamstring niggled a bit during the run but otherwise I felt fresher than previous runs which I think just confirms that time off is helping.

Someone asked me while I was running what time I was aiming for. I actually didn’t have an aim so I felt a bit flummoxed with the question, especially while running. I said I didn’t know and the man kind of laughed and said “of course you know, come on you must have some idea” Um, no! I wasn’t even paying attention to my watch so I actually didn’t. I said “Err around 23-24 minutes?”. That’s where my current parkruns have sat to seemed a fair bet.

Each lap I could high-five my dad or shout encouragement to him which was great. I also noticed he wasn’t at the back. He was storming along nicely.

I surprised myself by finishing in 22:27 and second female which I was quite pleased with. Fastest parkrun since the beginning of April so I’ll take that! I quickly scanned my barcode and then headed to find my dad. He had just under one and a half laps (and miles) to go. He was doing well.

He jogged a little occasionally but he found it quite uncomfortable on his joints. In future he’s going to stick to power walking rather than jogging just yet as he needs to lose a bit of weight first before he puts any stress on his joints.

He was keen for me to keep an eye on the tail runner, who was a few minutes behind him. He didn’t want to be last so it was a good motivation for him to keep his pace up and his eyes on the finish. I stressed it wouldn’t matter if he was last but he was keen to hit his target.

At the end he was cheered in when he jogged to the finish. I was so proud! So many people encouraged him and cheered him on as he did the course. He said it really helped and he was very chuffed. Every marshal clapped and spurred him on and runners who knew me and knew he was my dad would yell “go on Anna’s dad!”. It was lovely.

He completed it in 51:11 (two minutes faster than the last two people and the tail runner). He was over the moon.

One down and hopefully many more to come. I told him it’s only going to get harder now as he strives to beat that time now Next week we’re going to do the Lee-On-Solent parkrun as a couple of my friends are doing it and it’s literally just up the road for my dad. He’ll be doing his first parkrun tourism! (Not that I’ve decided for him that Netley is his base of course…).

He won’t do it every week but once in a while it’s a fantastic thing for him to do as he continues to try and lose weight (a long-standing battle…). I’m so so proud of him and glad he came. And it just proves, you don’t have to be a certain shape, a certain speed or a certain type of person to do parkrun. It’s open to everyone.

Are you family fit and active?

Do you do any exercise with your family?

Does your family support you at sports events or races?