Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[Stretch]

OK, I'll come out and say it. I've made my peace that Comrades is possibly too much of a commitment to training to get my knee prepped for doing that kind of distance! Think I'll be sticking to a half and shorter from this point as my knees just hate when I start adding real mileage! (That then affects the surfing and if I really have to choose, the surfing always wins!)

 

 

 

keep running...I ran for 2 "seasons" before trying comrades. Your knees adapt. Also - look critically at your style and your shoes. heel landing impacts on the knees massively and even a high heel drop will cause a heel landing

[Tubehunter]

keep running...I ran for 2 "seasons" before trying comrades. Your knees adapt. Also - look critically at your style and your shoes. heel landing impacts on the knees massively and even a high heel drop will cause a heel landing

 

I'm running for almost 2 years now after not running for 20 years. I have however had ligament repair done on my left knee back in '91 and all the cartilage and meniscus has been scrapped on that, so I've had to start super slowly to get the knee to feel comfy. I'm mostly good but have to be so careful at running more than 3 times a week and then adding extra distance as the knee flares up and then swells if I push it too much. Think I'll look to keep the distances shorter and work towards getting 4 -5 runs in rather and make up the mileage that way.

 

Have had to heavily change my biomechanics just to get into what I've currently been able to do. Higher cadence, shorter stride and avoiding heel strike has been a lifesaver to just being able to run 3 times a week and feel OK. Looking to increase the strength work and try make time to get back on the bike too, as the combination seems to keep the knee the most stable!

 

It's quite slow going to get improvement and I'd rather not mess up the knee, as than I literally cannot surf, when it gets too swollen and there's no power to press off when I try do some turns! The running is to stay in shape, the surfing is to feed my soul!

[Stretch]

sounds pretty mean..did you damage your knee when you were younger somehow?

 

we are having major problems with my daughters knee at the moment - which we are largely attributing to growing pains, but one does wonder if people do get knee injuries a lot easier than others

[Hacc]

Kudos to you Tubehunter for making the decision. I know lots and lots of runners with all sorts of knee/ other problems still holding on to finishing Comrades, no matter what the cost. 

 

There is nothing wrong with running the shorter distances. I enjoy the 21km. You don't feel like you got run over by a train after a 21km. Be thankful that you can still run 5/10/21 km.  The important thing is to listen to your body and not to lie to yourself. You don't want to damage your body in such a way that you cannot run at all anymore. 

[Tubehunter]

sounds pretty mean..did you damage your knee when you were younger somehow?

 

we are having major problems with my daughters knee at the moment - which we are largely attributing to growing pains, but one does wonder if people do get knee injuries a lot easier than others

 

Yep I did a combo injury in the space of a week with it. Was doing some practise runs on the MX bike and missed a rhythm section landing into the face of a double completely taking the hit of the force in my left knee. Guessing I popped one or possibly both cruciate ligaments with that. Hobbled with a knee the size of a balloon for 4 days icing it into touch and finally getting it to recover in size. Was young and dumb, so didn't bother going to have it checked out and simply strapped it up for going to play an indoor hockey match that weekend and 5 minutes into the game tried to swerve the keeper and managed to completely have the knee buckled sideways. Wasn't pretty. Lucky to still have the lower part of my leg! Had to have the knee pretty much redone and start rehab. Cycling was the main therapy for exercise once I could get enough knee bend back to do a pedal stroke after wearing a leg brace that controls the amount of angle as per the rate of improvement. Took quite a while to get the leg back to 'normal' use. Gave up on running at that time. Also had to give up any lateral movement sports that place excessive force on the knee and been mostly surfing and cycling over the years enjoying the use I do have. It really hasn't bothered me too much and although I was told I have arthritis in the knee 20 years ago, I'm mostly cool to keep going! (Yep, I tend to eject when I go up for floaters while surfing and I can see it's gonna be a hard landing, rather than put the knees through that kinda thing unnecessarily. I manage it well and it really has not kept me from doing anything if I take the time to train up for it.)

 

It is a struggle to listen to the body when the mind wants to push on, but I guess we all reach that breaking point where it makes no sense to keep going as the long term damage is very real and conscious after you've had to go through rehab to get something fully functional at some point in your history. DON'T EVER TAKE YOUR HEALTH OR ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE EVENTS FOR GRANTED!

Edited October 19, 2016 by Tubehunter

[ScottCM]

Some words of advice required please as i don't have the steel like TH to make the decision on my own.

 

Last year i did the 5150 Triathlon at Germiston and really enjoyed it. While training for it i obviously got back into running which reignited my love for it. That's when i started with my Comrades aspirations.

 

This year i stepped my training up a few notches in hope to get my 1st marathon done and in the process i have run my 1st couple of HM's. While training to get ready for my 1st marathon (Soweto) in 2 weeks time i picked up patella tendinitis injury as some of you know. I've been to the bio for 5 one on ones in the last three weeks and still am not ready to run again. So Soweto marathon is out the window for sure. Might do the 10km if able, only because i have already paid and entered.

 

Now for my conundrum, yesterday my CEO came to me and said they (The company) are willing to sponsor my entry to Ironman 70.3 (1.9km swim, 90.1km Bike, 21.1km Run) in Durban next year, and if i get a Top 50 in my age group they will renew my sponsorship the year after.

 

The problem is that as this will be my first 70.3 i won't be able to do both it & Comrades, as they are a mere fortnight apart. My wife is happy as she says i'm getting to "old" (At the age of 33) for this comrades dream because i keep getting injuries when pushing past HM.

Even though this normally drives me to prove her wrong i am stuck in two mind. Should I take this opportunity and use the sponsorship and enjoy my first and most likely ever Ironman70.3 and in turn hopefully fix my bio-mechanics to build my body up stronger and then go for comrades at a later stage or turn down the sponsorship and push on with comrades. 

 

What would you do if you both events were on your bucket list and have equal desire to complete both and in this position?

[SwissVan]

My watch has been very accurate

Agh so what you saying is I'm actually as slow as my watch says I am.... ????

[Andrew Steer]

I'm running for almost 2 years now after not running for 20 years. I have however had ligament repair done on my left knee back in '91 and all the cartilage and meniscus has been scrapped on that, so I've had to start super slowly to get the knee to feel comfy. I'm mostly good but have to be so careful at running more than 3 times a week and then adding extra distance as the knee flares up and then swells if I push it too much. Think I'll look to keep the distances shorter and work towards getting 4 -5 runs in rather and make up the mileage that way.

 

Have had to heavily change my biomechanics just to get into what I've currently been able to do. Higher cadence, shorter stride and avoiding heel strike has been a lifesaver to just being able to run 3 times a week and feel OK. Looking to increase the strength work and try make time to get back on the bike too, as the combination seems to keep the knee the most stable!

 

It's quite slow going to get improvement and I'd rather not mess up the knee, as than I literally cannot surf, when it gets too swollen and there's no power to press off when I try do some turns! The running is to stay in shape, the surfing is to feed my soul!

 

Reading that, I reckon you've made the right call... it's a pity, Comrades really is something else, but long term it sounds like it's just not meant to be. Risking serious long term injury for a single goal is silly, there is so much out there to do and enjoy. Lots of broken bodies out there as a result of Comrades - it's the events only 'flaw' (for lack of a better word). It is in a way also what makes it great though - pushing yourself that far. Hard to judge the line between pushing yourself and destroying your body. It goes wrong. 

 

At least it seems you can enjoy the shorter runs - 21km's really is a great distance - anything beyond that isn't really necessary and is 'hard' on the body...

 

Enjoy TH 

[Tubehunter]

Scott it doesn't sound like Comrades should be on your list for this year. The only thing I've learnt from all I've been through is that if you rush something you set yourself so far back it's almost better not to do it. Do the 70.3, keep building up and do Comrades the year after with a slower and more gradual ramp up in mileage. That way you could consider doing many more than trying for next year and possibly breaking yourself in the process! That would be my rationale at least... You get to choose for you though!

Edited October 19, 2016 by Tubehunter

[Andrew Steer]

Scott it doesn't sound like Comrades should be on your list for this year. The only thing I've learnt from all I've been through is that if you rush something you set yourself so far back it's almost better not to do it. Do the 70.3, keep building up and do Comrades the year after with a slower and more gradual ramp up in mileage. That way you could consider doing many more than trying for next year and possibly breaking yourself in the process! That would be my rationale at least... You get to choose for you though!

+1

[Andrew Steer]

Lots of time to hit Comrades Scott 

[Stretch]

 

The problem is that as this will be my first 70.3 i won't be able to do both it & Comrades, as they are a mere fortnight apart. My wife is happy as she says i'm getting to "old" (At the age of 33) for this comrades dream because i keep getting injuries when pushing past HM.

 

 

I was 40 when I ran my first

[Stretch]

Lots of time to hit Comrades Scott 

 

my point exactly

[SwissVan]

I'm running for almost 2 years now after not running for 20 years. I have however had ligament repair done on my left knee back in '91 and all the cartilage and meniscus has been scrapped on that, so I've had to start super slowly to get the knee to feel comfy. I'm mostly good but have to be so careful at running more than 3 times a week and then adding extra distance as the knee flares up and then swells if I push it too much. Think I'll look to keep the distances shorter and work towards getting 4 -5 runs in rather and make up the mileage that way.

 

Have had to heavily change my biomechanics just to get into what I've currently been able to do. Higher cadence, shorter stride and avoiding heel strike has been a lifesaver to just being able to run 3 times a week and feel OK. Looking to increase the strength work and try make time to get back on the bike too, as the combination seems to keep the knee the most stable!

 

It's quite slow going to get improvement and I'd rather not mess up the knee, as than I literally cannot surf, when it gets too swollen and there's no power to press off when I try do some turns! The running is to stay in shape, the surfing is to feed my soul!

I'm more or less in a similar boat

My mind tells me comrades is not a good idea for me, also have various injury issues from the past and feet that were not made for long distance running...

Add that to the mental difficulty of training almost alone (no SA type running club culture here) through a Swiss winter....

 

My heart still wants to do it but at the end of the day is the satisfaction worth the extra wear and tear?

 

My last miniscus surgery a few years ago took a long time to get over and every time I increase distance my one aches until it gets used to that distance only to repeat a few weeks again as the distance increases..and then there is the foot pain that starts at 20k and does not ever get better.....

 

Will do my qualifier at the end of the month and then try make an intelligent ???? decision...

[SwissVan]

Some words of advice required please as i don't have the steel like TH to make the decision on my own.

 

Last year i did the 5150 Triathlon at Germiston and really enjoyed it. While training for it i obviously got back into running which reignited my love for it. That's when i started with my Comrades aspirations.

 

This year i stepped my training up a few notches in hope to get my 1st marathon done and in the process i have run my 1st couple of HM's. While training to get ready for my 1st marathon (Soweto) in 2 weeks time i picked up patella tendinitis injury as some of you know. I've been to the bio for 5 one on ones in the last three weeks and still am not ready to run again. So Soweto marathon is out the window for sure. Might do the 10km if able, only because i have already paid and entered.

 

Now for my conundrum, yesterday my CEO came to me and said they (The company) are willing to sponsor my entry to Ironman 70.3 (1.9km swim, 90.1km Bike, 21.1km Run) in Durban next year, and if i get a Top 50 in my age group they will renew my sponsorship the year after.

 

The problem is that as this will be my first 70.3 i won't be able to do both it & Comrades, as they are a mere fortnight apart. My wife is happy as she says i'm getting to "old" (At the age of 33) for this comrades dream because i keep getting injuries when pushing past HM.

Even though this normally drives me to prove her wrong i am stuck in two mind. Should I take this opportunity and use the sponsorship and enjoy my first and most likely ever Ironman70.3 and in turn hopefully fix my bio-mechanics to build my body up stronger and then go for comrades at a later stage or turn down the sponsorship and push on with comrades.

 

What would you do if you both events were on your bucket list and have equal desire to complete both and in this position?

No brainier, go for the triathlon.... it will hopefully help help your knee and comrades will still be there in a few years.... just don't wait to long like me...

[Tubehunter]

I'm more or less in a similar boat

My mind tells me comrades is not a good idea for me, also have various injury issues from the past and feet that were not made for long distance running...

Add that to the mental difficulty of training almost alone (no SA type running club culture here) through a Swiss winter....

 

My heart still wants to do it but at the end of the day is the satisfaction worth the extra wear and tear?

 

My last miniscus surgery a few years ago took a long time to get over and every time I increase distance my one aches until it gets used to that distance only to repeat a few weeks again as the distance increases..and then there is the foot pain that starts at 20k and does not ever get better.....

 

Will do my qualifier at the end of the month and then try make an intelligent decision...

 

Swiss it really becomes a balancing act behind how much you're prepared to put into it. For our body types and the issues we face it's slower and has some extra feedback, but like you say, your heart keeps drawing you on and it feels like you're 'breaking up' with a girl you have always wanted to go out with, the moment you decide you're out. I am fortunate to have surfing as a real passion to subdue the realisation that I wont be doing it, however romantic the notion remains! Good luck bru finding your answers!