I once busted my knee and then my ankle. I also nearly broke both knees trying to catch a frisbee. I even pulled out my back getting the roast out of the oven. I got punched doing martial arts (many times), fell back and nearly broke my arm. My trapezius muscle seized up when I ran in zero temperature wearing nothing but a t-shirt. Couldn’t move as a result. Those injuries are the ones that stopped me from running for anything between 4-8 weeks. You would think I'd learn something. But no. I didn't learn anything.
I never run with anyone, all my long runs have been solo. But in the Autumn of last year I came up with the idea of participating in the Marathon du Médoc in France. The appeal of 23 wine tasting stops, oysters tasting at the 38th kilometer and steak at 39th kilometer all matches my personality. But given it's a running (not walking) marathon, I started prepping seriously. I joined HIIT classes, upped my creatine and protein intake, selected other supplements carefully, worked seriously in the gym and gained almost 10lb of muscle. My weeks turned into running, gym, martial arts and a weekly session of tennis for further help with cardio and coordination. I felt and looked business.
Then in early January I was in the gym where I attempted a static stretch on cold muscles where I was on the floor trying to touch the knee of my outstretched leg with my forehead whilst holding the foot of that leg with both hands. You know who does that? Idiots. I felt an ominous ping around my left glute so I stopped immediately. And what did I do next? The RDL, or The Romanian deadlift, of course, as idiots usually do (look up that lift technique on YouTube, it's worth it). The ping then turned into a red warning signal and I stopped after a few reps. And what did I do next? Lemme just remind you, I clearly hurt an area of my lower back by doing a stretch followed by a weightlifting exercise in which the lower back is the key. I left the gym and decided that given I was wearing my running gear I could perhaps go for a run. And so I did a 10K. And that did it. After the run, as I entered the shower and turned to my left to fetch the soap, the back gave in, the white searing pain shot up, cutting me in half. I lost my breath and could barely reach the room. ‘The Idiots Guide to Injury’ ably demonstrated by a repeat and avid client.
It took around six weeks to patch me up. Physio, different exercises, rest, the works. The loss of fitness on every front is significant. I'm back to 5K runs building it up. I lose breath during a faster tennis rally. Can't do more than 10 pushups and have to be careful when punching from the hip at martial arts. My talent at not being able to learn anything from my mistakes is staggering. I almost need a full-time coach who has to remind me that jumping off a cliff is not a good idea.
The moral of this sorry tale (as l always parrot after every single one of my injuries) is to never ever copy what I do. Including running a marathon where the main source of hydration comes from red wine. If you copy me, this forum will turn into a physical rehabilitation group but if I can prevent a single injury to any of you, I'd be a content fella. Stay well, whatever you do.
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mrrun
Ultramarathon
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I appreciated this post so much as a sobering reminder. I don’t do anywhere near as much as you but I have this voice in my head once I follow a programme of strength training that if I don’t do all of those workouts in the week alongside my running, working full time and being a single parent, then I’ll lose my overall fitness. I didn’t get injured from trying to do it all. Not in the way you described your injury! I did feel twinges and a lot of aches and I put that all down to that being typical of working out a lot. A commitment to fitness. Nope. It was stupid. It was unsustainable. I got sick. Significantly ill last month and it knocked me back a tonne both physically and mentally. I had heard a podcast where the doctor had explained the body doesn’t differentiate between positive or negative stress. It just affects the body in the same way. An example like anxiety, feeling nervous, and feeling excited. Those feelings have the same physiological effect on the body but our brains label what that feeling is emotionally. I was trying to do it all and I was going nowhere fast. I was utilising every minute of my day to get it all in. I even prided myself on being ‘efficient’ and ‘productive’. I did my warm ups and cool downs but I didn’t include stretching or conditioning. I realise now a workout wasn’t just the sweaty stuff or the really hard stuff. It’s doing the work that also cares for and works on protecting the body. That the body needs rest and recovery. And that the body keeps score. I wish you a full recovery and down the water during that race! Thanks again for your post.
Rest and recovery are absolutely essential and so is balanced diet with correct hydration. And given that we are all different it’s a constant trial and error in order to get it right. Even the top elite athletes change their coaches and doctors due to poor results and injuries, nobody is immune. I’ll plough on, l always do, boredom and sitting still is not an option. 😀
I see that this year's event is already sold out, other than (possibly) tour packages. I suppose that €100 to enter compares quite favourably with many other events, especially since you actually get a decent food and beverage service, not just gels and energy drinks!
Did you know that at the London Olympics in 1908, marathon runners turned to common-at-the-time sources: brandy, glasses of champagne and strychnine, the performance enhancers of the day? Strychnine is today better known as rat poison. 😅
It'd be a great way to get rid of rival runners. "My dear chap, you really must drink more than water. Please do have some of my delicious extra-strength performance-enhancing cocktail."
😅 Indeed! Let’s not forget that half of those who ran the 1908 marathon, did not finish and that even the winner had to be helped across the line by two burly stewards. Who would’ve thought, eh? 😉
Blimey! That’s quite a saga! Given my last post I can’t really say anything as I totally understand everything you’ve described. But ouchy-ouch mrrun 😫
At least you must be on a such good terms with your physio that you go out socially by now 😂
Oh, she’s an old friend by now, my body is no stranger to her (in those other terms, Your Highness, in medical terms 😁). The way she says ‘I’ll see you again’ is chilling at times. She knows her client.
Oddly enough, I don’t make those kind of mistakes. I make plenty of others, but not those. I always warm up well before stretching and would always heed a warning sign. My problem is at the other end of the run; I don’t work hard enough at the cool down post run stretches. The difficulty is that you can get away with it for quite a while, and I kid myself that once I am running longer distances the whole system is more or less self maintaining……and then it isn’t! Lumps appear in calves, single leg calf raises stop being possible etc….and so I hit the rehab trail. I don’t really mind rehab; once the problem has been diagnosed. It fulfils my need to see daily progress. We are odd beings!
I stretch regularly and religiously and have written blogs about it on my website. I advise people how to do stretches correctly. And I’m the guy who then walks into the gym and for some inexplicable reason starts with a static cold stretch. 😂 Vast majority of our injuries are the result of overworking and a lack of proper stretch. Why? Mostly time. And boredom. And lack of understanding what it all means. My reasons are explained in my post. 😅
Exactly. When it’s well oiled l go carefree, then l miss my body MOT and a part goes (usually a tendon or a muscle), then it’s full and expensive service. I’ve just practiced some tennis with my wife and went two handed backhand (to any onlookers it seemed a pathetic effort) and felt that thing in my left glute. I quickly reverted to feeble groundstroke forehands, attempting to prolong my life of fitness. Until the next mishap, of course.
’Daft a’peth’ 😂, love this! Yeah I’m good now, can do a mean slice volley, until l probably hurt my elbow and a shoulder rotator cuff 😅. The tragedy is, the moment l do anything l want to go full tilt. I forget about my age, circumstances, opponents and simply go, head first. My actual body is way more subtle than my brains. It tells me in its own unique ways when to stop (usually by administering unbearable pains). And yes. I’ve done many a hurt but nothing compares to those of the lower back. Oh well, upwards and onwards, got some new exercises in place and the way the things are going I’m likely to forget all about the recent mishap. 🤷♂️😅
😅 l had to recalibrate my stretching routine very carefully. For some reason l fail to see myself as a middle aged geezer with all those little niggles and still aim to tackle some tasks that are proving to be more and more difficult. My physio must know all that but she’s shrewd enough to keep quiet. 😉
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Injured with 5 weeks to go 