When runners develop an injury they often take a break from the impact of running but keep up their fitness by crosstraining, whether it be on the bike, in the gym or in the pool. Unfortunately, although I had tried to do a bit of crosstraining (mainly to try to hold onto my sanity as well as some fitness) I found that it was neither fixing my RED-S nor my stress fracture. Going back to the drawing board for a last ditch "kill or cure" solution, I stopped all exercise completely. For about 6 weeks, I did no running, no cycling, no swimming, no aquajogging, no visits to the gym and in fact hardly walked more than a mile or two. After that I spent the 4 weeks gradually reintroducing some exercise, though still making sure there was no impact. I went on a few bike rides (nothing fast, but a couple of "sportives" for the endurance aspect of it.....well actually, just for the cake at the feed stations, swam a couple of times and did some hiking. All through this time I kept up my food intake (yeay) and actually managed to put on weight and fix the RED-S, so that eventually I could restart running (though I did check with my orthopaedic consultant friend, William Hage (www.williamhage.com) that this was the right thing to do).
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| A sportive finishes with beer... |
I have to admit that it has been a struggle - I used to run for the love of running (hence why crosstraining in a gym has never held any appeal for me) but suddenly I didn't love it. It was hard. My short "easy" run loop that started and finished at my front door would take at least 50% longer and have to incorporate a couple of breaks (not due to leg pain, but lack of fitness). I feel that in some ways I've had to go back to the beginning of my running career and start from scratch all over again....building up the distance, never mind the speed. I would have to force myself out the door, as it isn't exactly pleasant to find yourself struggling to breathe when going a much slower pace than you can ever remember running before.
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| Or a medal....I'd rather have cake than either!! |
I've also had to maintain my calorific intake (and keep reminding myself that I'm "healthy" rather than "heavy") to ensure my hormone cycles don't go awry again. This has led me to discover the benefits of wearing capris or tights......as shorts tend to cause more chafe these days (nice) !!!
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| My new mantra!!! |
After a few weeks, I realised that I was starting to enjoy it a bit more again - OK, so I'm not back to where I was before, but I could make it all the way round my easy loop without stopping, and then started to increase the distance or the pace on occasions. I was very reluctant to run any set distance as I knew I would find myself comparing "current me" to "former me". I decided to give myself a good talking to and get over it - no-one would care (or even notice) except myself, so I started out with a parkrun. At the end of the first one, I was bent double, gasping for air, shattered, so I thought I must have set a fast time......and then realised that I'd just about managed to run 1.5 minutes/mile slower than my best time!! Still, at least I was running again....and that was something that I'd thought I might never do again.
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| "Enjoying" a race again (although maybe not breaking any records) |
Since then, I find that I still have to give myself a few stern chats.....but I have done a couple more parkruns, and 2 other races. Each time I have to try to remember where I am NOW, not where I was when I stopped (though to be fair it would only take a few hundred metres of me not remembering before I would be bent over double and gasping for air again). My injuries seem to be holding up, so I'm hoping that I can now gradually regain some level of fitness in order to enjoy my running again, and so that I can travel and hang out with all my running friends again (I admit that I had been avoiding some catch-ups and races so that everyone didn't get sick of my constant moaning and grumpiness!).
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| When 24 people of differing ages and abilities turn up to your track session it can be rather intimidating!! |
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