injury - AnnaTheApple

October 21, 2015

Current injury status

Yep so I’m still injured. I really only have myself to blame for this as I consciously made the decision to finish the Bournemouth marathon, despite being in pain.

At around 16 miles I chose to carry on despite my race now becoming a run, stop, stretch, walk repeat affair. I was in pain – not a niggle, not a discomfort – genuine pain, to the point that I had to stop running and walk the entire last two miles as the pain was far too much.

Having suffered with the dreaded IT band injury before I’m well aware of the timelines of these sort of things. Last year I took off a total of six weeks – though not all of those weeks were because of the injury. I decided to not start running again until I was mentally ready, not just physically ready, because I was fed up of the continuous injury cycle. I’m pretty sure it was four weeks though before I was entirely pain-free and discomfort-free.

My current injury is pretty much following the same pattern. I remember feeling the same pain, even two weeks later. What’s frustrating is that towards the beginning and middle of last week it was really improving, but then a sharp trapped-nerve like pain began sporadically when I walked (I remember this pain as similar to last year around the same time as well). I haven’t tried running and I’ve kept away from cardio apart from a few bursts on the bike… I wonder if that might have niggled it further but it genuinely felt fine during and after. So I’m just holding my nerve and not panicking as I know I could be in for two more weeks of not running.

I had some swelling after the marathon which has gone down a lot, but there’s still a slight puffiness to the area where the IT band joins in the knee. Basically I just need to get rid of the last inflammation and keep stretching it.

Gym-wise I can carry on with what I was doing which I’m glad about. Squats and deadlifts feel absolutely fine, though I’ve gone down a few Kgs in weight for the squats to be cautious. And I’m avoiding anything like the elliptical machine or stepper to avoid unnecessarily aggregating things.

I know I’m going to lose running fitness but I’m not bothered. Yep that’s 100% truthful. This year I achieved more than I thought I would and I had no real goals for after Bournemouth anyway (until next year anyway). Perhaps my only annoyance is that there’s a 10 mile in a few weeks time that I would have liked to have raced as I’ve never had a good 10 miler but I’ve conceded defeat. Taking that out of the equation also takes off any pressure to try and start running too soon.

Really though it’s the mental side of things I’m struggling with. The need to get outside and just run. To feel the freedom of outside, the fresh air and the mental freshness I get when I run. And I miss the social side of training runs with my club and running at parkrun. Of course I can still volunteer at parkrun but it’s not the same. You’re on the sidelines watching everyone do what you’d love to be doing. But the weeks will pass and my leg will heal.

What went wrong? Well, I don’t think you can ever know for sure but it was probably down to not following simple injury-prevention strategies. I’m so angry at myself. I was so smug about going to the gym and strength training that I forgot the other side of things as well. I’m an injury-prone runner and can’t neglect the basics of stretching and foam rolling.

I can’t remember the last time I foam rolled before the injury. I used to be really good at it. Sure for some people they don’t need to do it, but for me I know I do. I need to do everything I can to lessen the impact of running on my body. And going to the gym and lifting heavy weights and then running on tight and sore muscles is stupid for me. Other people can get away with these things, but I certainly can’t.

It’s funny because though I’ve been running properly (I don’t count my treadmill years) for over three years now and I’m still learning lessons. I just hope that I can stop making such simple mistakes in the future. For now though I’ll continue to go to the gym and enjoying my strength training, trying not to focus on how much I’d just love to run right now.

Do you foam roll regularly?

What exercise mistakes have you made in the past?

What injuries have you suffered?

October 12, 2015October 12, 2015

Alfie’s first parkrun and some favourite things

I still have no date for moving. This seems somewhat of a reoccurring theme. For me it’s not too much of a bother aside from not knowing what weekend is going to be affected and not having any furniture in my lounge aside form a TV and a bean bag…For Ben it’s tricky as he moves to Switzerland at the end of the week and the money from the house sale would help for his side of things.

But anyway, another weekend gone by and I’m still in the house. On Saturday morning I still got up to go to parkrun, despite not being able to run at the moment. I like the social element to it and getting out in the fresh air so it was nice going down there, even if I was in “civilian” clothes.

It was a chilly and crisp morning so I bundled up nicely, knowing there would be no lovely run to heat me up. I took Alfie as well as I’ve always wanted to take him to a parkun but wouldn’t feel I could leave him tied to a bench while I ran and it wouldn’t be fair to see if he could run 5k if he’s never done that distance before.

Annoyingly we were on the cricket pitch, the last for the year before the winter course, which was a pain to miss as it’s a great time to test the speed out. But to be honest I’m not in shape for a PB attempt anyway!

It was great cheering everyone on and seeing people looking strong so soon after the marathon last weekend (which so many from parkrun had done) and I didn’t feel sad I couldn’t run. I saw my physio on Friday and she wasn’t concerned. She said my muscles were very tight, especially my left leg, which with the wrong trainers probably just built up during the marathon a bit of a niggle that I then exacerbated by continuing to run further on until the end. I’ve been severely neglected my foam rolling (which I always do when I’m no longer injured…) and I’m one of those people who needs to do everything in my favour to avoid injury. Whoops.

She said it’s likely it’ll only be another week as long as it continues to heal as quickly as it is. I’m still a little dubious that it will be OK in a week but I’d rather be cautious than overly optimistic. I can go to the gym (but no squats) so that’s cool. I miss running but it is nice to have a break.

My weekend was really very quiet if I’m honest. Lots of cleaning, sorting stuff in the house and catching up on Dr Foster (did anyone else watch?? SO good). And I saw some friends on Saturday afternoon and had a nice catch-up.

With no real plans for Sunday I had a nice lie-in. I floated the idea of going to the cinema with my dad to see The Martian as I’d seen a trailer on Friday which looked really good and had heard it was a good film. He was keen and suggested lunch as well…with my mum declining to come we decided to go to Ranchos (which my mum would hate).

Ribs are pretty much my favourite meal. I had the ribs with a parsley and garlic sauce which was divine. My dad had steak.

He had chips with his. I had nothing because did you see the size of my portion?? I don’t like things crowding my ribs experience 😉 As you can probably tell, we were both rather pleased with lunch!

The table next to us was an Asian family of three petite girls and, I assume, their dad. The amount of food they ordered (and the SIZE of the steaks the girls ate) was unreal. They had a large plate of ribs to share in the middle alongside all the sides, chips, mash potato, rice, and they just absolutely demolished it. I was quite impressed!

Anyway, we saw The Martian. I had a brief moment of embarrassment as after we sat down I headed back out to the loo (I like to get my seat first). I went towards the wrong side and stood, pretty much in front of everyone in the cinema, attempting to find the door in the wall (feeling my hands all over it to find the way out…)…then realising it was on the other side. In my defence, there was one of those Fire Exit signs in that area which I assumed meant exit. What an idiot.

I was a bit worried the film would be a bit dry and science-y (I enjoyed Interstellar but I found it dragged a little on the ‘science’ side – however unrealistic that science was!) but I was pleasantly surprised.

It was really quite funny and I felt like the storyline didn’t drag at all. The music was great as well. Fully recommend! (I also loved when they talked about Project Elrond and Sean Bean was there – aka Boromir from Lord of the Rings!). I also found it amusing when at the start they were talking about “preparing for launch” and I heard “preparing for lunch” and I was thinking, come on guys there’s a time and place for that surely – you’ve got a criss going on?! Hehe.

I love going to the cinema and need to do it more often. And if there are ribs involved, well so be it! 😉

What film have you recently seen?

Do you enjoy going to the cinema?

Do you still like to be involved in running stuff even if you can’t run? I think for me it depends how long my injury lasts. If I’m going to be out for months and months then I’ll probably take some time away from running-related stuff because otherwise it can get a b it depressing to see what you’re missing out on. But short-term I like to stay involved.

October 7, 2015

A few reflections – and I’m strangely OK!

So my marathon didn’t go how I wanted it to, obviously. And still a few days later I’m paying the price.

It’s very similar to what I had last year with my IT band – except the other leg. It’s funny because I re-read an old post of the fateful last run before I took time off around Christmas and it was almost identical to what happened in the marathon (so handy having these blog posts to refer to!). That took me around 4-6 weeks to come back to running. My expectations are firmly set. I’d rather think worst case then I can be pleasantly surprised if it’s not that bad.

Am I about to fall into a well of despair and go all dark and shady on you? No. I’m surprisingly OK about the whole thing. Oh yeah it fully sucks, don’t get me wrong. I’d love to be moaning about a few post-marathon aches and debating when my first run will be, instead of limping along pathetically feeling pain walking up and down stairs. But getting upset about it won’t solve anything and I’ve achieved so much this year that it would be almost greedy to want more and more. I’m an injury-prone runner, this is something that is bound to keep happening to me not matter how many squats and deadlifts I do.

I knew I was needing a break from running anyway as I was drawing close to the marathon. Running was feeling harder and I was feeling tired. I think I’ve done a lot recently and this injury has come at the best time (if ever there is a good time to have an injury!). I’d have liked to have voluntarily taken a break, obviously, but hey ho!

That said, I have wondered what exactly what went wrong at the marathon. I have literally had no knee pain at all this year. My IT band hasn’t felt uncomfortable or twingey. My runs before the marathon felt fine. I was more concerned about my shin than anything (which by the way, is absolutely fine!). I’d stopped foam rolling and stretching as religiously as I used to and I know my quads (and probably my IT bands I suppose) were tightish so that might not have helped.

I think the main reason could be the trainers I wore. With the house moving chaos my trainers have gotten all mixed up. The day before the marathon I was debating which to wear. My new ASICS have been great during training but I wondered how they’d fair in a full marathon. I knew (from Strava – very handy) that I wore my Mizunos for the Cheddar Gorge marathon and they felt fine so I thought I’d go for them. Unfortunately I have two pairs of identical Mizunos (whhhhhy don’t I just get rid of old trainers?!) and mistakenly picked up the old ones that I’d retired. It’s funny because I remember looking at them in Bournemouth and realising they were a lot cleaner than the ones that had run Cheddar Gorge…bugger. This is the only thing I can think of. I’m a runner who needs support in their trainers and my old Mizunos are definitely past their best.

I’m seeing my physio Friday (ahh, haven’t seen him in a while!) and I’m expecting him to say no running for at least two weeks, and then reassess. Icing has been my friend (I wish I was talking about the cake variety…).

Monday morning I used my commute well – and my Hello Fresh ice packs! (An idea I got from Mary).

Speaking of icing, I forgot to mention in my recap about how after the marathon a few of us trundled into the see in just our socks. It was freeeeeezing, but it was good fun and fantastic after such a long run (plus walk!). Though a wave did splash against me, causing me to get a wet bum. Nice. I wish I’d gotten a photo but, like I said, my phone was dead.

Anyway, for the moment I’m feeling like a rest is a good idea. This week I’m doing nothing, even the gym (not that I could do anything other than upper body and core right now). Getting good nutrition and a good night sleep each night are my priority.

The latest Marathon Talk podcast with the interview with Dr. Kirk Parsley about the importance of sleep has only further highlighted that the best thing I can do right now is make sure I get a good night sleep to help with the recovery process. Getting up at 5am to hobble round the gym is not going to help!

My only one annoyance is parkrun. I was doing so well to go so consistently and I’m second on the female points table. *Sighs* but I’m not going to risk anything. I’ll volunteer this week and be a bit grumpy 😉

What are your priorities when you’re injured? Nutrition? Sleep? Cross-training?

How much sleep do you get each night?

How much sleep do think is best for you?

April 1, 2015

Probably jinxing it now – marathon training

Pretty much the entire (running) world and his friend are tapering or just about to taper for impending marathons. It seems everyone is training for London, Brighton or Edinburgh to name but a few.

While I’m sad that I’m not in that gang, I know that deferring London until next year was still the right decision. I couldn’t do yet another marathon on minimum training and maximum stress. I am however still training for a marathon at the moment. I’m just a couple of months behind the main pack.

The Liverpool marathon is mid-June, so I’m currently about 10 weeks away. I’m taking nothing for granted though and know only too keenly that injury could strike me down like a bolt of lightning at any point. Not to sound too depressing but being realistic is far better for me than being blissfully optimistic and then being disappointed. I also think that having this arguably pessimistic approach means I can try and not make silly mistakes (notice I said “try” there).

Running

My long run is up to 13 miles and my next run is 14 miles. I’ve pretty much just been gently crawling up the mileage like this – though some runs I’ll do twice to allow my body to adjust before ramping it up again. The only run I’m increasing is the long run, whereas previously I’ve just thrown in miles all over the place, which doesn’t seem to work for me. I also have the Southampton half marathon planned for the end of April, which (all things being good) I will aim to race.

In a regular week, I do a hill session (usually just over 10k), a parkrun which I try and put some speed in my legs and then a long run which I’m really trying to slow down and just get the time on my feet. At this point in my long runs this is more important than ever.

Strength training

Ahh that little gem I’ve previously been missing in my life. This I would say is almost as important as my running. For me the two have to go hand-in-hand for now. I feel so much stronger. Who knows if this is essential for everyone and whether it’s essential to do for all the time you’re training. All I know is my running feels stronger, I have no injuries and no niggles.

Cross-training

I try and do one session a week of cross-training. This is steady-state cardio and it’s normally the day after my hilly run so it’s nice to shake the legs out a bit and not put a huge amount of effort in. I keep my heart rate fairly low to replicate a recovery jog.

It’s usually 45 minutes on the rowing machine listening to MarathonTalk. I’d say this workout is probably more for my sanity than anything. What I mean by that is because I’m only running three times a week I worry that I’m not doing ‘enough’ endurance-style cardio. Who knows if this helps but it does make my legs feel fresher and I enjoy it!

Nutrition

Getting Hello Fresh meals (food/recipe delivery service) helps a lot. I’m a vegetable and salad lover to my core and while this is a great source of nutrients and vital vitamins…it may not be the best way to keep me fuelled for my long runs and my gym visits.

Chicken Shawarma (spiced chicken with lentils and roasted vegetables)

With Hello Fresh my meals are far more varied and they’re all a good balance of protein, carbs and fat. It’s no secret that I don’t love carbs too much…pasta, rice and bread are not things that make me go “mmm”, but making meals with mash potato or roasted new potatoes are rocking my life right now – as well as my usual well-loved sweet potato. Don’t fear the spud! 😉

Teriyaki beef with sweet potato chips

And I’m eating more red meat and this ensures my iron levels are tip top. I can satisfy my salad need at lunch, but dinner is where the big guns come out ready for my next early morning gym session or run.

And cake. Lots of cake.

Added extras

Sleep is never usually an issue with me. I like to go to bed early and find after reading my book for a bit I fall asleep very easily. I get up stupidly early (5am if I’m going to the gym, 6am otherwise) so the early nights help. As long as I get seven hours I feel great. As a childless person this is quite easy to do I know (don’t hurt me, parents out there!!).

My standing desk at work helps reduce the amount of time I spend sitting to around 3-4 hours a day (2 hours worth of commuting, lunch, and sofa time in evening). My legs feel so much better, my hip flexors no where near as tight and just generally I feel better (read this BBC article for more information on the health benefits).

Foam rolling after my runs seems to help loosen up my tight muscles. It’s so easy to do while watching TV in the evening that I can’t not do it without feeling guilty.

Same goes for wearing my compression socks after a run. When I do my hilly 10k on a Wednesday evening the compression socks go on straight away after I shower and I usually sleep in them (yes I know, what a sexy beast I am). And I wake up with new calves, it’s fabulous.

Having said all this, I’m pretty sure I’ll now get injured 😉 #sodslaw

What are your tried and tested methods of injury prevention?

What are your top priorities during marathon training?

How long do you stay sat down each day?

March 4, 2015

The big scary “M” word

The big scary “M” word in my case (as I’m already married ;-)) is of course the marathon. It’s my favourite distance. It’s the distance I find the hardest to train for and indeed to run. But the feelings when you finish it are just amazing. It’s like you’ve just done something so incredibly wonderful – and in my eyes, you have.

I feel a deep sadness and regret that I’m not doing the London marathon. Even worse is that I’m not running it when Paula Radcliffe is running her last marathon. And the fact that quite a few of my running club are doing it too (and one lovely lady is running her first marathon and absolutely smashing the training despite being a more short-distance lover – she’ll say she’s doing terribly but she’s really not, LAUREN).

But that’s by and by. I’m doing the Southampton half marathon on that day so I’m not going to be sat there moping. And let’s be honest, I can’t do ANOTHER marathon on a pathetic amount of training and then get injured AGAIN.

I do want to do another marathon soonish though as it’s just something I bloody love doing. I’m not a short distance runner…5ks and 10ks are just horrifically hard and painful. With a marathon I just zone in and feel alive.

So Liverpool Rock and Roll marathon is my marathon of choice and it’s in June (a week before my birthday, how very lovely). Obviously I will quickly throw in a disclaimer to say I could get injured and it might all come down in flames. Who knows, I don’t have a great track record for these sorts of things. But I am hoping and praying to the running God on the big fluffy track in the sky.

I don’t really have a proper training plan this time around (what good has it done me so far…). It’s more of a very gradual mileage build-up with long runs plotted in the calendar. I won’t run more than four times a week and so far I’m not sure if I will run more than three times a week. I’ll also still go to the gym (balancing it with the number of runs I do/how I’m feeling) to continue strengthening my legs and core etc.

Loving my Helly Hansen leggings!

I hope to get up to 18 miles as a long run but I’ll see what happens when I get to 16 and judge it then. I’m also running more hills regularly in the hope that they’re strengthening my legs in a very functional way. Basically it’s a “let’s see how this goes” kinda marathon plan. Nothing set in stone because it never can be with me it seems.

Nutrition won’t change dramatically (Hi I’m Anna and I like cake) but as I start hitting the higher mileage when the weather gets warmer I’ll need to think more sensibly about hydration. I do know that I drink enough water as I have stupid amounts of squash all day long at work and at the weekend. I did try to cut out/reduce squash but it wasn’t successful…

My problem is drinking too much water and flushing myself out of the good stuff.

Over-hydrating is a far worse issue than dehydration. I need to drink water more sensibly. Especially the day before a long run, the day of the long run and the day after. Happily I’m a big fan of the hydration tablets. Nuun are my favourite.

I actually wrote a review about nuun hydration tablets – find it HERE. I love their flavours and I love that they also do a caffeine one (especially for during a run). This way I can drink lots of water but not flush my system out of the good stuff.

My longer long runs will be run in May so the temperature won’t be too hot but I know I’ll be in need of water and electrolytes more than at the moment as the runs are longer and warmer. Oh the days of carrying a water bottle on a run! How very annoying.

But I am literally holding my breath right now. Dare I even make the merest suggestion that running is going well for me right now? I am desperate to not get injured and feel I’m trying really hard at injury prevention (loads more strength work regularly, my standing desk, not jumping back into stupid mileage, gradually building up long runs…). My one problem area is running the long runs too fast. I go out with such good intentions but then feel so good speeding up I can’t seem to help myself. I’ve told myself though that when I hit 10 miles and over I WILL SLOW DOWN. And I plan to run my really longer runs (13 miles plus) a minute slower than marathon pace.

It all sounds very rosy doesn’t it? We shall see…

How do you hydrate for hard work outs and/or long runs?

Do you drink a lot during the day?

What’s your one injury prevention tip?

***nuun inspired me to write this post concerning hydration and marathons, but I received no compensation.***