Getting out of bed with a slight twisting action, there’s a fleeting spasm of soreness just below my right buttock. What’s that? Where did that pain come from, on a medical scale of 1 – 10 of pain intensity this is a 1 or a 2 but such is the paranoia of injury that the slightest twinge has me prodding the affected area. The paranoia is born out of years of niggling injuries that disrupted training and has caused disappointment in races.
In my forties with expanding waistline and the realisation that youth was behind me I tried to keep running but some significant back problems and a series of leg injuries almost convinced me that my running days were over. Carol, my wife and blessed with more wisdom, eventually convinced me to see a physiotherapist. That started a long road lasting over 15 years of treatments. The site of pain and the location of the cause on my body were always different. Pain in my thighs, tight muscles in my back and sore calves, weak buttocks (flabby buns). Every treatment resulted in a different set of exercises, with twists, bends, dips, jumps and thrusts. Back, glutes, medial glutes, quads, soleus and other muscles groups I can’t pronounce have all been worked over to improve strength and conditioning (S&C). I hope that I now have a pair of buns like Leonardo di Vinci’s David.
David’s buns
I have sustained periods with no injuries followed by bouts of strains, pulls and tears. The common feature is that these bouts always occur after I’ve relaxed and become over confident in the powers of my old body to sustain strength. I get bored with the exercises or can’t find the time to fit them into the training schedule because I need the time on the road. The irony is that letting go of the S&C exercises results in injuries that prevent training. It has taken a long time to learn the lesson that S&C can’t be neglected.
In undertaking the marathon any weakness in my old body is going to be exposed. As a consequence at least 20% of my training time is spent on S&C. In addition to 2 coached gym session a week any spare moment will find me bobbing up and down as I strengthen my calves, thighs and hips. Carol can always spot me in a crowd as my head rhythmically rises and falls as on a single leg I dip up and down.
I’ve been marathon training since the beginning of December and at the start of every run the tell tale twinges are there. I fret, try to think of something else and keep running. Keep on running, stopping to investigate a twinge is not an option otherwise I wouldn’t finish a training session. By the end of the run legs are tight and knotty but there have been no injuries. After the run it is stretch, foam roller and more S&C exercises, keep it all firm. Only my wife can give an opinion on the firmness of my buns but so far in training I have survived the “What’s that?” moment.
My thanks Guy Kingston (physiotherapist) Gareth Pledger (performance coach) of Hatts Health and Movement Clinic, Richard Smith (triathlon coach) Tribal Triathlon and of course Carol for keeping me on the road.
The Road Ahead 