Training for the European Triathlon Championships: Injury Recovery and Race Reparation

Training for the European Triathlon Championships: Injury Recovery and Race Reparation

Background

I am thinking about participating in 2014 ETU Triathlon European Standard Distance Championships (Kitzbühel, Austria June 19 2014 - June 22 2014) by competing in Anglian Water Standard Distance Triathlon - 22 September 2013.

Update No 006 2 September

I had a moment of lunacy which has pretty much ruined all the good what that I have been doing.

In spring I was hoping to do Ironman France, but got injured doing hill reps too fast and realised I was not going to mend in time for Ironman. I switched to doing rowing and performed well and was pleased with my results. At the mid-year point I was fit again to run and aimed for half-ironman Guernsey (Granite Man) and training has been going well for that, with my run times although ploddy reasonably consistent. As I got nearer the event I started doing 1 x mile repeats in sub-6min mile pace and felt good. My mistake was then to think about the ETU Triathlon European Standard Distance Championships and start doing track work. From doing good 10mile runs and occasional 1 x mile repeats in sub-6min mile pace I started doing 200m reps at the running track at 4:20min mile pace and I’ve now got an achillies injury!

My rehabilitation has been 21 days of no running; Only cycling and swimming and gym work. I have been using an ice pack on the ankle. In the last 2 weeks I have started walking and jogging in deep water to keep it cool an reduce impact. In the last 2 days I have started to walk/jog for up to 2 miles. I’ve felt stiff and uncomfortable but not injured and in pain. I am trying to be cautious but progressive.

Half-ironman Guernsey (Granite Man) is this weekend. I may just do the swim and bike and no do the run, to allow myself more recovery time for ETU Triathlon European Standard Distance Championships 22 September 2013. Or I might do the run slow and easy at 9min mile pace to get some movement without injury. I’m not sure yet.

I have been experimenting with various recovery methods including all of these, recommended by Nathan Woodland based on his experience

1.    If you do something that hurts, stop!!!  It is not an injury that you want to push through.
2.    You may (probably) have only damaged the sheath around the Achilles.  If this is the case I think it is better.  I read that if you gently pinch the painful bit and move your foot up and down, if the pain stays in the same place (rather than moving up and down the tendon) it is probably the sheath.
3.    It probably hurts more in the morning.  This seems to be because when you sleep the toes naturally point forward and relax the tendon.  You can get, or probably make, a splint that keeps the toes pointing a bit more upwards that apparently helps.  I never tried this but can see the benefit.
4.    I did lots and lots of eccentric calf raises.  On a step lift up with your good leg, take the weight on your bad leg and very slowly drop your heel towards the ground.  Initially mine hurt if I tried to do a calf raise on my good leg.  The advice seems to be if you can raise without ANY pain then do what you can, but if it hurts don’t do it and only do the eccentric stuff.
5.    Only when I could do this with no pain at all, I started doing walk/run sessions.  This started as walk warm up, 1 minute jog very gently, 2mins walk, repeated a few times. At first I started with very short duration (15mins total session), but built it up to 30 and 45mins.  It’s boring, but worth it.
6.    If it ever hurt, I put ibuprofen gel on it and ice if I had any.  You want to avoid aggravating it.
7.    If you aggravate it, rest it until it calms down.  Shoes with a slightly raised heel (like some work shoes) really help to reduce damage from just walking around during the day.
8.    Go and see Craig Meredith.  He will tell you that the pain comes from somewhere completely different and give you loads of cool exercises to do!  Every time I see him he says my glutes are rubbish and cause most of my problems.
9.    The On running shoes seem to really help.  The cloudsurfers have lots of cushioning without losing the push off like normal trainers do.

I have today bought new trainers with new cushioning and should be able to run-in in a short time. I know and like ascis so I am not worried about changing old trainers for new trainers since they are the same make and model and the new ones have to be better for me than the old ones which have lost their “bounce”.

I know that I am stiff in the mornings, as Nathan anticipated, but feel OK when warmed-up of after a bike session. I plan to get some massages done to release tension in the legs which may be aggravating the problem. I have been doing lots of stretching exercises in an effort to loosen the hamstrings, calves and anything that is causing a pull on the ankle via the achillies. However I am an inflexible athlete and I’m not sure that this is having much effect. As a long-term strategy I need to think about yoga etc.

The lesson of course is to be progressive and careful with training. Not too much, not too soon and not too fast. However sometimes passion for the sport and results over-rides good common sense and I am a victim of my own stupidity. However I will bounce back, the question is whether I have any chance at all at the ETU Triathlon European Standard Distance.  I fear not, but its bought and paid for and whilst I need to be cautious at Guernsey (Granite Man) I may throw caution to the wind for the ETU race and just suffer the pain to try and get a good result.

If you have any comments or advice either for me, or others reading this blog please do get in contact with me

Tim HJ Rogers
timhjrogers@googlemail.com