Injuries are part of the deal?

As the saying goes - "there are two types of triathlete: those that have been injured and those that will be"

Certainly I don't know a single athlete friend (Facebook, Twitter or otherwise) who hasn't at some point carried a niggle or nursed an injury.  Something serious enough to give them pause for thought, or to disturb their training plans in some way.

We train too much and we rest too little.  We don't pay enough attention to our skeletal conformation and we fail to address the bio-mechanical deficiencies we bring to the sport in our middle age.

No doubt I fit this pattern.  I've had mid grade Achilles tendonopathy for about 4-5 years now.  I can't remember the last time I got up in the morning and didn't hobble about for a bit.  My fellow commuters on the railway station platform (who only see me in the morning) must wonder why the NHS won't give me a walking stick.  The causes are, depending on who I speak to, my feet, my hips, my weak core, my shoes, my knees, my glutes.  I'm too tight, I'm too loose etc etc etc.

All true, and yet not.  The real cause of my chronic Achilles problem is easier to figure out.  It's my head.

"All triathlon injuries are 100% mental"

I will not do the 'right' thing and commit to making all the necessary changes to eradicate the problem.  It is a chronic issue that flairs up as soon as I stop running.  Generally, the more I run, the better it gets.  But it never fixes itself completely.  So I continue to kick the can down the road and manage the symptoms, not the cause.

My point is that the way you react to an injury, how you behave as an injured athlete, defines the outcome.  The physical aspect of treatment is the easy part.  RICE, massage, needles (lots of needles), maybe even surgery.  The tough part is sitting on the sofa, or on a physio's bench, when all your colleagues and competitors are out training and racing.  The fear of losing all your hard earned fitness overnight - even though you know it doesn't work like that.  My head is preventing me from dedicating the 6-12 months it would take to remodel myself.

What brought on this bought of introspection?  I had a proper scare last week.  My first phase of 2014 training had gone well with a few weeks of running focus leading up to the Cambridge half marathon.  My left Achilles was a little tender the day of the race and I had some serious calf DOMS from a massage 48hrs previously but during the race there was nothing more than a little ache from the Achilles itself.  I actually ran quite well and posted a PB of 1.23.  Great start to the year and a perfect springboard going into the spring.

However, the next morning my entire Achilles area was swollen and (really) really sore.  Throbbing, aching, can't bear any weight at all sore.  A panicked call to a trusted Physio friend (thanks Tim!) confirmed that I was unlikely to have torn or ruptured the tendon.  The high likelihood was acute swelling of the tendon sheath.  RCE, a bit of I and give it 72hrs minimum to let the swelling subside.  Pretty much bang on 72hrs later the pain was less, I was effecting a hobble/walk quite well.  A day after that I span on the turbo and was walking relatively normally.  A day after that I was walking without issue and went for a 30min jog with Nicola and the dog.  Ten days after the race and I'm into my normal program without issue.  It is hard to think that a week ago I couldn't bear any weight on the Achilles.

So a proper scare.  You would imagine that this is the kick up the backside I need to focus on a solution, once and for all?

Maybe next month, or in the off-season.

Yeah, that sounds good.  Lets do it in the off-season..........