Ladies,
A lot of you are complaining about shins, ankles, calves, and hips. You raced hard over the weekend. This is normal. We simply need to be careful how we treat it. Remember, you cannot ignore this pain.
But why do we hurt? That's simple - using our body damages it. Every time you flex a muscle, you tear it. Small tears, but tears nonetheless. The more stress, the more tears, the more soreness in the muscles later on. In a similar way all the tissue takes damage as it is used. So is training dangerous?
No. It's healthy. The body has a well-developed defensive system. It heals itself, given time, rest, and food. The remarkable thing is the way it repairs itself. Take a broken bone. If you crack your femur, the body first heals the fracture itself, then surrounds the area with an extra layer of bone. The idea is the same amount of stress cannot hurt the area again. In fact, your femur may break again, but never in the same spot.
Your muscles do the same thing. They heal themselves and grow larger so the same amount of stress cannot hurt them again. This is the foundation of weight training. You methodically increase the stress upon your muscles, and after rest and recovery they are larger. You repeat the process over and over to get bigger and bigger.
The catch to all of this is rest. If you don't get enough rest, or if you don't get the right food, the damage does not repair in time for the next workout. Instead of getting stronger, the area gets weaker and weaker until something breaks. The difference between being the best athlete you can be and being hurt is an awfully thin line.
Now you understand one of the things that makes being a coach so difficult. I have to draw upon my years as an athlete and a trainer to judge what pain is normal and what isn't, what is a minor injury and what needs more attention. Compounding this is the difficulty in getting any of you to follow simple preventative measures before things begin to get serious.
Most of what you are experiencing as a team is completely avoidable, and we've been saying so since the beginning. Ice anything you even THINK may be hurt. Best to stay ahead of an injury, so preventative measures always pay off. Practice good running form, and follow coaches' tips on how to improve your stride. Incorrect posture or foot plant will ultimately hurt you. Acquire the proper running shoe for your running style (pronator or supinator, heel-striker or ball-striker). Get orthotics if you need them.
To the unknowing, competitive running seems so simple and easy. Those who have done it know better. It is ridiculously easy to get hurt running. I had to laugh tonight... I was in the gym working out, and they were selling a new shirt that said, "I really regret that workout - said no one, ever". I guarantee you, whoever thought that one up was not a competitive athlete. No one who has ever laid it on the line, risked it all, pushed to the limit, has come out of it without pain. We tell ourselves it can't happen to us, I'll just run one more mile, one more interval, lift one more set, bike 10 more miles... and then we are hurt.
No... getting the best out of training takes knowing yourself so well you can take your body right to the edge of the cliff without falling over.
A lot of you are complaining about shins, ankles, calves, and hips. You raced hard over the weekend. This is normal. We simply need to be careful how we treat it. Remember, you cannot ignore this pain.
But why do we hurt? That's simple - using our body damages it. Every time you flex a muscle, you tear it. Small tears, but tears nonetheless. The more stress, the more tears, the more soreness in the muscles later on. In a similar way all the tissue takes damage as it is used. So is training dangerous?
No. It's healthy. The body has a well-developed defensive system. It heals itself, given time, rest, and food. The remarkable thing is the way it repairs itself. Take a broken bone. If you crack your femur, the body first heals the fracture itself, then surrounds the area with an extra layer of bone. The idea is the same amount of stress cannot hurt the area again. In fact, your femur may break again, but never in the same spot.
Your muscles do the same thing. They heal themselves and grow larger so the same amount of stress cannot hurt them again. This is the foundation of weight training. You methodically increase the stress upon your muscles, and after rest and recovery they are larger. You repeat the process over and over to get bigger and bigger.
The catch to all of this is rest. If you don't get enough rest, or if you don't get the right food, the damage does not repair in time for the next workout. Instead of getting stronger, the area gets weaker and weaker until something breaks. The difference between being the best athlete you can be and being hurt is an awfully thin line.
Now you understand one of the things that makes being a coach so difficult. I have to draw upon my years as an athlete and a trainer to judge what pain is normal and what isn't, what is a minor injury and what needs more attention. Compounding this is the difficulty in getting any of you to follow simple preventative measures before things begin to get serious.
Most of what you are experiencing as a team is completely avoidable, and we've been saying so since the beginning. Ice anything you even THINK may be hurt. Best to stay ahead of an injury, so preventative measures always pay off. Practice good running form, and follow coaches' tips on how to improve your stride. Incorrect posture or foot plant will ultimately hurt you. Acquire the proper running shoe for your running style (pronator or supinator, heel-striker or ball-striker). Get orthotics if you need them.
To the unknowing, competitive running seems so simple and easy. Those who have done it know better. It is ridiculously easy to get hurt running. I had to laugh tonight... I was in the gym working out, and they were selling a new shirt that said, "I really regret that workout - said no one, ever". I guarantee you, whoever thought that one up was not a competitive athlete. No one who has ever laid it on the line, risked it all, pushed to the limit, has come out of it without pain. We tell ourselves it can't happen to us, I'll just run one more mile, one more interval, lift one more set, bike 10 more miles... and then we are hurt.
No... getting the best out of training takes knowing yourself so well you can take your body right to the edge of the cliff without falling over.
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