How many people does it take to fix a "broken" triathlete?
A new head coach, one massage therapist, two physical therapists (one from Boulder sports med, and one local), a sports med doctor, two different chiropractors, two different ART therapists, and a nutrition coach. THAT was the team that brought me back to life after a long and mentally difficult five to six months of being injured. Some asked if I would just retire. Retire?! I just started, so no I'm going to finish this the proper way even if it takes the whole next season to get back in shape and rehab my injury. Some thought I would never run again, well I've been told that before and I've battled back before. This time is no different...it just took longer.
Things escalated at the Chicago triathlon last year in August. I had already been battling a baffling problem on the bike all year. Every time I would race my left adductor would seize up and cramp (or so I thought it was a cramp) and I couldn't push as hard on the bike as I would like to. This resulted in disappointing bike times all season. Chicago turned cold (50s) with rain the entire race, and to complicate things I woke up with a stinger in my neck. Meaning; I could not turn my head to the right at all without stinging pain down my neck and shoulder. This only happens about twice a year and was was one of my worst nightmares. It had a very negative effect on my swim since I couldn't move my head to the side to breathe and the run was painful with zinging pain every stride. I battled on, and that was my first mistake. The next morning I woke up and couldn't even sit up in bed because of the pain that radiated from my hip joint and nerve pain down the back of my leg to my knee. I thought it was just a pain that would pass with rest from activity...
I ended up canceling on the LA triathlon and the rest of the season. It was a difficult pill to swallow, and not a decision I made over night. Every day I woke up and kept trying to work on my leg, and kept trying to "test"out my leg to see if the physical therapy had worked yet. Most days it just left me with my head in my hands sitting on the curb. I had injured a nerve in my back and it was going to take months for it to calm down and the right hands to work on it. In the meantime I needed to take it easy and let it heal, which was easier said than done. Everything was painful, even walking. The end tally was over six months off from running.
I missed a lot of planned races last year and into this year, but I feel it made necessary changes to my approach to training. Strength training is important!!! My glutes, hamstrings, and core were not strong enough in relation to the strength I had gained from cycling and everything was off balance. I have devoted much more time to important exercices to keep my body running. Without these changes I would have no hope of reaching my potential as an athlete. I will be releasing an article on the crucial strength training exercises that all triathletes should be doing to keep themselves from a six month hiatus.
Happy training!!!
