Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[Andrew Steer]

Yes I think that is good advice. I am going to rest the two weeks and then make a call and maybe get some swim training in.

Core work and muscle strengthening will help too - try fix whatever imbalances you might have in the break. 

[Hacc]

http://www.brucefordyce.com/single-post/2017/03/13/Its-LSD-time-Comrades-runners-ItE28099s-time-to-get-high

Great article, especially for the novices. 

[ScottCM]

THE FORDYCE DIARIES

 

 

Sometimes injuries are a good thing.

Not many Comrades Marathon fans know that last year’s lady champion, Charné Bosman, was fortunate to make the starting line.

Six weeks before race day - right in the epicentre of the critical Comrades training weeks  - she smashed her toe against a sharp tile corner in her bathroom. Within a minute her toe was throbbing and blue. Her diagnosis was bleak. The toe was broken and running of any kind was out of the question.

Given that catastrophic news, most runners would throw in the towel, lie curled up in a dark corner eating chocolates, sobbing and drinking heavily. But Charné isn’t “most runners”.

She fought back. She cross-trained in the swimming pool, she lifted weights in the gym and she rode a bike. She breathed pure oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber while reading “The History of the Comrades Marathon” and gulping down calcium-rich yogurt.  She absolutely refused to let the dream die.

Despite all this, for the first fortnight, she could not even run two steps. She endured the mental torture of learning through the grapevine how brilliantly her opposition was faring. There was nothing she could do but hope.

Eventually, after a two week lay-off  she was able to venture gingerly back onto the road, toe heavily strapped. The doctor had warned her that it would be painful, but she would not damage it further. We all know how tough Comrades runners are; in particular, Comrades women runners.

The rest, as they say, is history. Charné ran a brilliant, intelligent race, and we all saw how strongly she finished. Her last few kilometres into Durban were a wonderful display of controlled fast running.

If Charné Bosman’s 2016 Comrades run was a rare occurrence, we could argue that it was an exception; an aberration. But the history of road running is littered with instances of runners returning from seemingly devastating injuries to unexpected triumph.

I will never forget being fortunate enough to watch Carlos Lopes win the 1984 Olympic marathon in Los Angeles. I was a spectator on the roads of LA that day. It was hot and muggy, and many of the world-class runners in that elite marathon field were wilting in the conditions. But Lopes seemed to revel in them and, when he sped past a group of us cheering spectators, he appeared to be airborne and weightless.

He was flying. I am told he ran the last kilometres - from 37 km (23 miles) out to the end of the marathon - in 15 minutes. (And remember, in a marathon it's 5.2 km, which makes the time even more spectacular.)

What made his run even more remarkable was that, a couple of weeks before the marathon, he had been struck by a car while out training. No bones were broken, but he was so badly bruised he was hardly able to train at all in the days leading up to the Olympic event.

Publicly, he wrote off his chances of success and even considered withdrawing from the race. Yet, on race day, he seemed to be invincible. Only once did he show his mortality: with 500 metres to run, he turned to check if his gold medal was secure. 

A hamstring tear hampered my own training build-up to the 1983 Comrades. For almost two months it twinged and pulled, and slowed me down. Everything I did while training in the critical Comrades training weeks of April and early May was at half throttle. I dared not look at the corresponding weeks in former years in my training diary for fear of depressing myself. I became convinced my chances of defending the Comrades title had vanished, along with every unsuccessful physiotherapy session, pots of ultrasound gel and the painfully-slow training sessions I hobbled through.

Eventually the injury did heal, but only a few days before race day. I decided to race anyway, despite quietly writing off my own chances.

And yet, on race day, I was so incredibly strong. Obviously every marathon hurts but, looking back, I cannot remember feeling unduly exhausted or tired. I flew through the race, taking 8 minutes off my own up-run record and winning by over 15 minutes. Afterwards, I remember shaking my head in disbelief and thinking that, no matter how experienced we are as runners, there are still surprises in store for us and we can still learn so much.

The message is clear. Sometimes injuries are a blessing. They prevent us from overdoing things. We runners are a driven, motivated bunch. Hard work doesn’t frighten us. In fact, we love to train hard. We love to fill our training diaries with lots of notes of kilometres run. We love to talk about our weekly and monthly mileages.

We runners are not frightened of pain either. We embrace it, both when we train and when we race. We chant the slogan, “no pain, no gain”, like a magic mantra. We believe our success on race day correlates exactly with the effort we have expended.

However, the more I’ve learnt about this sport of ours, the more I’ve come to believe that many marathoners are grossly over trained by the time they line up on race morning. They’ve just tried too hard.

“Rest” is a four-letter swear word to many, and a surprisingly large number of runners set themselves up to grind through their races... heavy, flat and tired.

As you'll read in my latest eBook, I believe injuries can be the body’s warning signal to slow down. If we listen and don’t give up, they have the ability to exchange early despair for later triumph. So do your best to be thankful when injuries intervene and force you to take a rest.

Of course, no one wants to drag an injury through a marathon, so it is vitally important to sort out any problems well before race day. It’s also important not to let the injury dwell in the back of the mind as an excuse while actually racing. We should rather keep a positive mindset: “I’m going to be so strong, because I missed two weeks of training last month.”   

If you’re not convinced, watch a recording of Charné Bosman finishing last year’s Comrades Marathon. Looking at her run, it’s hard to believe she was nursing a broken toe a few weeks before that race.  

Edited March 14, 2017 by ScottC-M

[Stretch]

looking for a running partner/s in Jhb to help me find a 20+ k run on Saturday morning from Delta. i have a usual 10km loop in and around linden and could do that twice...but would ideally like to do a nice bigger loop without having to worry about getting lost!

[Ferret69]

looking for a running partner/s in Jhb to help me find a 20+ k run on Saturday morning from Delta. i have a usual 10km loop in and around linden and could do that twice...but would ideally like to do a nice bigger loop without having to worry about getting lost!

 

Born2Run have a Saturday Club run from Bright Water Commons on a Saturday morning... or Randburg Harriers also have their Club runs from Randburg Sports Fields Saturday mornings. Both have various distances so sure 20km will be an option.. Both are supported with Waterpoints etc (donation R20 for non members) and both have a good 100+ runners and I think they both start at 6am

[Andrew Steer]

looking for a running partner/s in Jhb to help me find a 20+ k run on Saturday morning from Delta. i have a usual 10km loop in and around linden and could do that twice...but would ideally like to do a nice bigger loop without having to worry about getting lost!

Copy the Pirates 21km route off Strava / Map my run... it's lots of fun. Or I've got a Om die Dam Entry for you 

[Ferret69]

So Hardware Out last Friday... This is what I had in my Leg for 5 months.  (that main bolt is about 50mm x 6mm thick).. Now another 3 weeks Rest to recover from the Op ...

[ADe]

Core work and muscle strengthening will help too - try fix whatever imbalances you might have in the break. 

Yip my physio gave me some exercises to do, after dishing out the pain this morning, with a few hundred needles directly into the ITB and glutes.

[Stretch]

So Hardware Out last Friday... This is what I had in my Leg for 5 months.  (that main bolt is about 50mm x 6mm thick).. Now another 3 weeks Rest to recover from the Op ...

 

holy moly

[Andrew Steer]

So Hardware Out last Friday... This is what I had in my Leg for 5 months.  (that main bolt is about 50mm x 6mm thick).. Now another 3 weeks Rest to recover from the Op ...

Speedy recovery, hope you're not in too much pain!

That's some impressive hardware

[shaper]

Squeamish just looking at that hardware knowing where it has been 

[CobusV]

Born2Run have a Saturday Club run from Bright Water Commons on a Saturday morning... or Randburg Harriers also have their Club runs from Randburg Sports Fields Saturday mornings. Both have various distances so sure 20km will be an option.. Both are supported with Waterpoints etc (donation R20 for non members) and both have a good 100+ runners and I think they both start at 6am

Just checking, but as far as I remember the official Randburg Harriers clubruns are on sundays? There is (or used to be) a running group from the Virgin Active in Malibongwe on Saturdays - Boskruin running group. 

[Ferret69]

holy moly

 

 

Now that I can place them against the X-rays its freak me out a little

 

Home stretch now though

[Ferret69]

Just checking, but as far as I remember the official Randburg Harriers clubruns are on sundays? There is (or used to be) a running group from the Virgin Active in Malibongwe on Saturdays - Boskruin running group. 

 

 

Yeah they used to be from the VA on Saturdays and club on Sundays. Then GB became the CM of RH and they moved to the club on both Saturdays and Sundays,, Now he has gone to B2r but I believe they are still being run from Randburg Harriers Sports Club on both days... I could be mistaken though.

[CobusV]

Yeah they used to be from the VA on Saturdays and club on Sundays. Then GB became the CM of RH and they moved to the club on both Saturdays and Sundays,, Now he has gone to B2r but I believe they are still being run from Randburg Harriers Sports Club on both days... I could be mistaken though.

Thanks for the update. I moved from Joburg to Centurion about 3 years ago. Every now and again go through on a Sunday to do a RAC clubrun, but it has been long time since I last did any of RH's runs...

[Hacc]

We have club runs on Saturdays and Sundays in the Wild Wild West. We have lots of runners that cannot afford to do races every weekend, so we try and accommodate them. Any club run more than 21km we organize waterpoints, else we stop at garages.

 

Speedy recovery Ferret. Can't believe that you had all that metal in your body!! Good grief!

Will you every get on a bicycle again?