It happens to all of us. That moment when you feel the pull or the tear. When you realize that maybe you pushed too far. I know firsthand what this is like, since I am currently suffering from some potentially challenging injuries myself. Many of you know that I competed and finished the NJ Ultra Beast two weeks ago, around 32 miles, 68 obstacles, and 21,365 ft of total elevation change in 13 hours 44 mins and 2 secs. It was the most challenging event that I have done to date. I finished hurting but feeling like superman. This last weekend I took on the challenge of the Ohio Beast (around 14 miles) and Hurricane Heat (4-6 hours of military style team building). I was able to run the first 2 miles of the Ohio Beast but then had to walk/limp the rest of it. I made it within a mile of the finish and then hurt my knee slipping in the mud on the sandbag carry. My legs were already giving me problems with shin splints and IT Band tightness, now I couldn't even put weight on my right leg. I finished the beast in 7 hours and before the start of the hurricane heat, but was unable to compete.
It has now been two days since the my injuries and my knee feels much better. I'm pretty sure that I have not torn anything. However, my shins are still swollen and I can not point my toes. So there is some concern that I have severe shin splints or possible stress fractures in my shins. Since the only pain I have is when I point my toes and the anterior tibia muscle is flexed I'm hoping it is just shin splints. I currently have a race in 4 weeks and Agoge 60 (60hr endurance training event) in 5 weeks. What do I do? Some people have told me that I need to take a bunch of time off and rest and heal. However I know that if I want to be competitive I need to continue to train. So what do I do?
Here is my answer: FFIO (F***ing Figure It Out). I have to be smart about training and I must continue to train. I know that I cannot point my toes but I know that I can squat. I cannot use the rowing machine, but I have no pain when I use the stepper. So you overcome and adapt. I cannot run for the foreseeable future, but I can continue to train. There is nothing wrong with my upper body or my upper legs. I will continue to stretch, ice, soak, and massage until my legs get better. I will also continue to develop the rest of my body without causing pain to the affected area. This is what seperates athletes from elite athletes. So often people think that just because they feel pain or one part of their body is injured that they should just stop working out. This is the last thing that you need to do. When you stop everything you end up not only weakening the affected area you also weaken the rest of your body. You need to strengthen the areas around the problem area, so while it heals your body is protecting itself. This means you need to back off serious training on that area but can work stability muscles to support that area or work other parts of your body that need work.
Here was today's modified Sealfit workout:
Warm up:
15 mins on the Precor Adaptive Movement Trainer (AMT)
5x10 pullups, 5x15 pushups, 5x20 situps
Attempted 25lb Turkish Get Ups (no go lol)
5 dips
WOD:
2x5 Weighted Dips, 1 Max Set BW Dips
Endurance:
50 squats, .75 mile AMT
50 pushups, .75 mile AMT
25 squats, 25 pushups
Some of you may just think that I am crazy and that I am working through the pain. This is not at all what I'm doing. I am being smart about training and training around my injuries to make myself a stronger athlete and better athlete. Know your body and keep it moving.
#WarriorVacations
www.WarriorVacations.com #CostaRica #Beachbody #Shakeology #Fitness #Training #Injuries (no link...go to
www.scorpion-style.blogspot.com)
