Kevin's Micro OS with injury thread.
I'm once again recovering from a severe calf strain. This injury has been a repetitive feature of my endurance career now for 10-years. I had to walk a great deal of the IMLP marathon in 2009 and 2012 because of it. This year, I've saved time by injuring myself early. The earlier I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up. A brilliant strategy.
Basically, I strained my right calf this time in July on a light run. Had to limp home. Since then I've been working the "Supple Leopard" book by Kelly Starrett and doing calf raises, stretching, etc. Generally to good effect. I've moved from running 0.5 miles in pain to making it 2.5 mile pain free last night at Zone 1. Still sore though this morning in the area of the injury. My biking is not affected at all. It doesn't hurt at all when biking, nor is it more sore after I bike. So I can do all the bike work-outs. I can't run test or really do any speed work right now. I could do running efforts in the pool. I could also keep doing my slow, steady build back to health on the run and add some extra bike time to the OS. I'm also doing some roller skiing on the side for Birkie prep. Interestingly, swimming also really bothers the calf.
Comments
Great to hear from you again but not so happy to hear about the calf. Many athletes resigned themselves to just dealing with a calf problem, but I am firmly in the camp that there was still stuff we can do., as well as looking further up the kinetic chain to make sure your glutes and quads are functioning properly. As you already know, it means a shit ton of work to get right. Here are some resources that I dug up for you, pay close attention to the last one from a friend of mine named Jason.
Note: Many calf issues are a symptom of weak glutes and tight quads, which cause calves (and hamstrings) to get overused.
Question: What condition are your glutes / quads in?
Do you do a dynamic run warm up? We have resources in the run wiki for this if you don't including new video (posted 11/01/2016 ) of the RunStrong™ program: http://bit.ly/1lDeQMq
What is your run scheduling when you do run? My suggestion is you need a min of 1 day between runs, if not two.
What is your "daily life" like regarding your calf, etc. Do you spend a lot of time on feet at work? What is your everyday shoe choice at work? Have you tried compression...if so, any delta?
Good Article: https://runnersconnect.net/masters-running/age-and-calf-injuries/
Good friend Jason at StrengthRunning.com has an email course on it; mention EN and he might be generous enough to give you some help, no idea: http://strengthrunning.com/2014/01/brian-recovered-from-20-years-of-chronic-injuries/
The wiki links look great. Similar to what I'm doing, but a little different and good for variety. My biggest problem is continuing to do this non-sexy training stuff once I'm "better." When it hurts its easy to convince myself to roll, stretch, etc. When I feel good it falls by the wayside and I end up back where I started at some point!
I hear you. I think it's important to remember that the people who are the best that our are sport are actually really good at doing this nonsexy work. We just focus so much on how sexy they are always day that we Forget about everything they did to get there.
Personally I might ask you to find an assistant to lead the hill bounding sessions giving your injury history. As you noted, we just need to keep this rolling through the end of the year. Pun intended. If you can keep up that self-care work for another two months as become more intentional with your training. I feel like you will have turned the corner and will soon be able to work on actual fitness versus simply self-care.
I forgot that you had all of these winter training pursuits. How else do you plan on modifying the off-season with additional training so I can understand your true training stress?
~ Coach P
Mostly I'll be swapping a "ski" workout for an OS workout that has a similar flavor.
This week as follows
Mon: OS Bike test.
Tues: Hill bounding. Moving time of 1:10. 1.25 light run with ski poles warm-up. Light dynamic stretching. Spenst ski drills (some hopping about for balance). Hill bounding done as 3x Zone 3, 3x Zone 4, 3x Zone 5. Recovery jog back down. Plyo jumps. Cool down run 0.5 miles. All this stuff done with ski poles.
Weds: Core/Strength workout from CXC (Central Cross Country Ski). Main set is 30-minutes of body weight circuit. Warm-up with dynamic stretching and jump rope. C/D with 10-minutes Skierg.
Thurs: Bike OS Intermediate Thursday workout
Fri: Repeat Weds Core/Strength workout
Sat: Bike OS Intermediate Sat workout, Run
Sun: (Weather dependent: either roller ski on river road to mirror the planned OS run (e.g. 2x8 minute at Zone 4 mainset or run up St. Regis Mt (about 3.4 miles up,moderate hiking trail).
Roller skiing and Cross country skiing fall between running and biking in terms of body stress. A long ski session feels more like a long bike than a long run session in terms of recovery. A ski marathon is more like a bike century than a running marathon in terms of what it takes out of you and how much time you need to recover after.
I have to say that the "harder" running worries me...just for your calf sake. In the past I have recommend doing stair running, for example, as it has less impact (up) on your joints. So the uphill running could fit that space. Not sure how you feel about that.
Also noting that you don't have a "go for an easy run" in your plan. Are you just too busy with other stuff....or not worth your training time? Just trying to get a sense of your intent.
I appreciate you walking me through this!!
Have a great weekend...
~ Coach P