Injured :(
No sooner had I begun my winter training block than I noticed I had some irritation on the inside of my calf. It wasn't sore so I continued to run for another week before I wondered if it might be a problem, perhaps shin splints or a stress fracture.
Stopping Running
I stopped running quite early, spoke to a physio and started the process of trying to get an MRI. During this time I tried to concentrate on riding the bike at my gym. Getting the MRI took forever and I had to wait a further two weeks for the results. During that time of waiting I wasn't sure what I had but the symptoms got worse so I scaled back my activity and even took 5 days of sitting as much as possible.
Diagnosis
Eventually I got my MRI results and it was a grade II stress response, which is basically a fracture where the outer bone hasn't yet developed a crack. This wasn't good news but it wasn't as bad as it could be.
Cross Training
I've been cross training using a bike and Wahoo Kickr I bought to allow me to train at home. I used to ride my bike pretty seriously when I was younger but it had been a long time since then and so it is taking a while to build up my tolerance for it, mainly sitting on the saddle.
I intend to keep the cross training in my routine even when no longer injured as I can see how the reduced impact could help me.
There's a lot of mixed information on the efficacy of cross training on the bike specifically, many say "just run more" which of course is good advice if that's something you can do. Clearly that didn't work for me in this instance although I intend to try again. I will outline what I think are the key benefits of cross training on the bike:
- It is enjoyable, with options like Zwift and MyWhoosh helping the time go faster
- Low impact allows sessions to be longer
- Trains different muscles than running which is good for general life health
- Lack of specificity likely to be made up for over a longer time duration if it improves consistency by avoiding injuries
- Can train indoors on days of inclement weather
- Can train on the bike if experiencing a niggle, I no longer have to decide between running and resting
My goal once back running and in full training is to incorporate 3x1hr easy sessions and a double threshold day with both a run and a bike session each week.
Lessons Learned
I still don't fully understand how this injury happened (I know it wasn't REDS, and was some form of too much/too soon) but ultimately it doesn't matter, I still learned a large number of lessons through this process.
Consistency
Ed Eyestone says "Consistent Competence Equals Eventual Excellence"
I injured myself trying to increase my training volume, but ultimately I'll have missed 3 months of training. Many people will list training principles according to what is most important but we take consistency for granted. No change to my training would have made as big a difference as training less but consistently for the last 3 months.
In all future decisions I need to think how it might negatively impact my consistency. My timeframe for improvements should be longer, something may not significantly improve my 10k time in 12 weeks but might steadily improve my running over many years and this should guide my decisions.
Plateaus
We can break through plateaus by a number of means, increasing mileage and intensity are two obvious ones but remaining consistent and allowing for adaptations is another. We should be certain we are at a plateau and really won't improve before making significant changes. Most likely I would have improved my times just by repeating what I did last year, I didn't need to change anything. Consistently applying myself was almost certainly enough to improve.
Progress Slowly
I think we understand this when relating it to mileage but it applies everywhere. Want to add in plyometrics? Want to work on your balance? Want to cross train? Want to add strength training? These should all be introduced gradually, pick one, make it easy and add it in. Once you have adjusted to the new training then you can add something else gradually.
The internet is bad for "Do this workout to improve your running!" and I think ultimately this is where I went wrong, ironically trying to add too many injury prevention methods at once.
Strength Training
The physio identified several weak spots almost immediately and indicated that I was running pretty fast considering how weak I am. Strength training is important for general life health as much as for run speed.
Next Steps
- Cross training along with gentle strength training (e.g. calf raises and bridges), light walking
- Gradual reintroduction of running along with increase of strength training (such as single leg calf raises)
- 10 weeks of base building (Pfitzinger 26-48km plan) with increase of strength training to include light weights plus very light plyo hops before running.
Conclusion
Getting injured sucks but I am actually glad it happened. I think my outlook meant injury was inevitable until I learned the lessons above. I have documented this here for me to read again because I will need to relearn these lessons.
I do believe that with a gradual introduction of strength and cross training that my running might be faster this year than last year. I am certain that if I don't go faster this year that I definitely will go faster next year.
Of course, I have been forced to change my plan for the year. I'm no longer certain I can do my first planned races in May, nor is it clear they'd be worth doing if my finish time wouldn't be good enough to justify any potential injury risk. Expect future updates about my plans and more on cross training.