Distance: 50 Miles
Time/Place: DNF
Well, for the second time in as many ultras, I had to DNF, but for different reasons. This spring was very hectic, as I was up to my ears in school (funny, how easy classes turn out to be the most time-consuming ones when the professors load you down with busy-work) and clinicals, not to mention courting my now-wife, Jenny (more later). Anyway, the story of this spring was sporadic and inconsistent training. As a result, I started to have some issues with my plantaris (a small muscle near the lateral posterior side of the knee), due to muscle imbalances, undertraining, and overextending myself on the few long runs I did. In spite of this, I talked myself into signing up for the Pocatello 50, thinking that I had enough leftover fitness to at least finish the race, though I figured I wouldn't have a stellar time. After all, if I was to run the Bear 100 this year, I needed to get in the required mountain 50 finish.
Anyway, to make a long story much shorter, I should have not signed up for this race. I wasn't ready, I wasn't fit, I wasn't in mental shape for a 50, and my body wasn't durable enough. The plantaris issue flared up badly at about the 22 mile mark, and honestly even without that I don't know that I had the will or the endurance to finish the race. The silver lining is that after I quit at Mink Creek (34 miles) after hiking for an additional 12 miles, Luke Nelson, the RD and a really down to earth, classy guy, who also happens to be a physician's assistant, sat me down and diagnosed my injury and gave me some exercises to help treat the causes. To this point, I thought it was IT band issues, but he set me straight and gave me some good advice. I'm happy to report that the injury is slowly healing, although it's not quite there yet, as you'll see in my next race report. Big thanks to Luke for that.
And now for the life update: This June 28, instead of running Logan Peak as usual for that weekend, I was lucky enough to get to marry my best friend and sweetheart, Jenny. I missed out on a lot of training during the dating and wedding planning stages, but honestly I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Totally worth it. As I've learned from my training partners Cody and Jon, and many other people who I respect and admire, life's not all about just one thing like running or any other pursuit. It's much more fulfilling to find the balance between family, career, self, and the various other things that we have going on in our lives. Jenny is a big part of that for me. Even now, I can't really imagine what life going forward would be like without her. And lucky for me, she is so supportive of my running habits. She worries occasionally that I'm going to die out on the trails somewhere, but she's been a really great cheerleader, doctor, and sports psychologist so far. She even goes running with me once in awhile! I'm a pretty lucky guy. Anyway, that's the "life update" you've all been waiting for. Until next time.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteI recently came across your blog and noticed what you wrote about struggling with a plantaris injury. I have been dealing with a plantaris/hamstring tendon issue for some time now, and am wondering what you've done to heal?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated, thanks,
Matt
Apologies for the delay. As you can see, I don't post often anymore. Too busy!
ReplyDeleteAccording to Luke Nelson, the RD of Pocatello 50 (now the SMUT 100k) and a physicians assistant who specializes in sports medicine, and a very accomplished ultra athlete in his own right, these issues can often be caused by an imbalance in muscle strength, particularly between the quads and the hamstrings. This is actually quite common in trail runners, since we spend the vast majority of our time going either steep uphill or steep downhill. This can cause us to use our hamstrings less than we think, resulting in weakness in that muscle group. At the same time, our quads become overbuilt, resulting in an imbalance which creates unusual stresses on some of the stabilizer muscles. Often this manifests itself in IT band issues, or in this case, the plantaris (which as you probably know is a tiny muscle in the upper calf/knee area). I am sure the same thing can occur in non-trail runners as well, depending on genetics, training habits, and plain old luck. In my case, Luke suggested I work on strengthening my hamstring muscles. There are a few exercises you can do for this. The most effective one for me was lying on my back, then putting one leg up on the sofa or coffee table (a chair would work too) so that the knee joint was even with the edge and the lower leg was laying on top of the sofa/table/chair. Alternatively, you can just rest your heel on the sofa or table, but it might be less comfy. Then push your body up off the ground with your leg (the one on the sofa/table) so that only your shoulders are touching the ground and your leg is closer to straight. You can do several reps and then switch legs and so on. This is really hard to explain without demonstrating, so I'll try and post a link to a picture or something. You can also go to the gym and do hamstring curls on the machines, but it's not quite as effective, imo. Another thing I had success with is trying to do a bit more flat road running at a faster pace which works the hamstrings harder. You can also do exercises for the hip adductors, abductors, and tensor facia muscles. Strengthening these adds more stability to the knee and hip joints and can help alleviate a lot of problems. Anyway, I hope this helps. I'll try and find a picture of the first exercise. Good luck!
http://www.soccermaniak.com/hamstring-exercises.html
ReplyDeleteHere is a site which has pictures of several hamstring exercises, including the one I was attempting to describe.