It's been a good few months since I last blogged so I thought it'd be useful to give an update as to what i'm up to and what the future holds. Last time i blogged i was running regularly, and had entered three long distance run events, with the ambition of trying to continue building mileage to make a marathon an option. Alas...two weeks before my first race, and after doing my longest ever run of 15.6 miles where i could have easily carried on for a few more miles, my tibialis posterior tendon played up again, tendinopathy set back in and it also seems i suffer with shin splints. Whilst that was going on I also decided it was time to seek out an opinion about my shoulder pain which had flared up again. I found a brilliant physio locally and finally, after years of complaining of pain when i swim to coaches only to be told it was nothing i now know i have tendinopathy in my shoulder, shoulder impingement, and a SLAP tear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLAP_tear , which won't heal itself but wasn't deemed bad enough to warrant surgery which would mean a month off from driving, and therefore possibly word. The physio confirmed the races were out, and it's back on the rehab. However, the shoulder is so weak that the rehab tires my shoulder out really quickly which given how strong i am generally is quite demoralising.
I have been doing what i can though, although still struggling with mojo to get into a regular training habit of biking and weights work. I can't even blame my dissertation as frustratingly i'm waiting on my tutors to get back to me about my progress and i seem to spend more time waiting on others than i do actually doing work. I'm starting to get a little anxious that i won't have enough time to write it up by end of september given i work full-time as i don't want to use all of my leave, although i will use a fair whack of it to get that dedicated time to write up.
In the gym weight training is going well, and i could easily just do weights all the time if i wanted, but i don't want to give up cardio work given the expense paid out since taking up triathlon 3 years ago. I've put on some weight over the past year through limited training due to injury and my sweet tooth come weekends, but i've started to get a handle on that now and turn the scales slowly in the right direction I hope. Bike work is fine too, although i've been sticking to turbo work as i'm not training consistently enough during the week to have my base where i'd want it i wouldn't have thought. Although, in my mind i know i could go out on the bike and easily clock up at least 30 miles.
As i can't run or swim without pain i've tried doing alternative cardio work to facilitate recovery...cardio machines in gym that i thought wouldn't aggravate the injury - WRONG! My tib pos didn't like the step machine even though i did it slowly and focused on stepping down with heel, and aquajogging, WRONG, as that triggered tendinopathy in my elbow! Then yesterday, i thought i'll go for a long walk up in the trails i like to run in, to explore new ground, only for tendinopathy in the top of my foot to set in. Oh for the love of god!!!!!!!
Basically, i can't do any exercise without getting tendonitis it seems. I have started taking glucosamine again, as well as collagen to boost the levels of type 1 collagen (and type 3) as i have found that surrounding tendons is type 1 collagen and when you injure your tendon it gets replaced with type 3 which is prone to re-injury. Also, some people have higher levels of type 3 to begin with, which is probably me which accounts for why i get tendinopathy everywhere! If i can boost my type 1 collagen levels this might help repair and maybe prevent injury? A twitter account @fittendons 'The tendon clinic' suggested that a blood test might show some systemic or inflammatory medical problem so i'll book to see my Doc and ask for tests. I'm trying all i can to get to the root of the problem as i can't give up hope of doing the sports that i love without being in pain.
The other week i tried swimming again, after a few weeks of rehab, and the first 25m were pain free and i thought "wow", only for the return length to bring the onset of the pain. I did 250m nonstop and felt good other than the dull pain but when i stopped it's like my arm is almost like a dead-weight, even after only such as a short distance.
I had a month off from running and had looked up some technique ideas so did a 2.5 mile compact sand beach run of walk/run, resetting technique each time. Pain was there throughout and worse the next day, so obviously a month off wasn't long enough. Or, do i persevere through as some advice suggests it will be painful when you start back. What i have done though is book in to see @KineticRev for a 1:1 run analysis to see what i'm doing when i'm running that might be triggering/causing the tendinopathy. Thats not until mid July, all the way up in London, meaning an 8hr journey for a 2hr session, but if it means that i can learn what i'm doing that is contributing to it and means i get can get back to doing what i love, potentially pain free, and better, then it'll be worth it. Also, that amount of time on the train means quality study time writing my diss if i'm at a stage by then (please god let me be) to be writing up.
It's not even as if i've had private work on either, as no takers since Xmas, even after proposing an idea to my tri club of doing a group psychology session on confidence, anxiety, for interested people. Guess training the mind is still not given much credence, even though it can make or break a performance.
I don't know what the future holds for me within tri, I know there are people far worse off than me with disabilities, and they race in pain all the time, but right now, if i carry on running and swimming then i could cause more serious damage so i need to get to the bottom of it and go from there, or discover that it'll never be better and then change my focus to something that doesn't cause my body to break down.
Right now though, i'm going to commit to myself to get back into regular training throughout the week, rather than just a max of 5 hrs training each week. If i become a cyclist then so be it, but i'm not giving up hope of finding a solution. I won't let my body beat me!!!!
