Race or not race?

Hello!
I am just coming off an injury which has kept me swimming for the last month, I have a race in the beginning of October that I really want to run but also don't want to have a set back in my recovery. I strained my right leg and it is recovering very nicely, the furthest I've run is about an hour and I'm going to try and build over this next month. Is racing in October a bad idea, I don't want to sit out another month of running?

Thanks,
Laura P.
www.soulrun.com

Hi Laura,
Good work in getting back up to an hour (oh, and swimming is great rehab by the way)! All depends - what distance is the race and what exactly did you do to your leg? Whereabouts was the sprain and do you know exactly what your injury is / was?
Thanks J.
____________________

JAMES STYLER (p.f.t), (b.b)
Columnist for V02 MAX magazine
Interview with 2 x Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington here:
http://www.chrissiewellington.org/media/ironwoman-extraordinaire/

TEL: 027 5534266
WEB: www.stylerhealth.com

Hi James,
Thanks so much!! I am so happy to be able to run again! I'm kind of a knucklehead when it comes to my running and never seem to learn from past running injuries. So I was having a great summer of running doing anywhere from 3 to 5 hour runs daily. Like an idiot I ran through the pain and ended up hurting my leg. I have not been to a doctor but my leg was hurt pretty much in the areas surrounding my knee. Mostly just right above the knee and my quad and also just under the inner part of the knee. After 3 weeks of swimming and pilates it is feeling much better but not 100%. The race I'm doing is a 50k in the second week of October and I was really hoping I could make it. I really appreciate your input and expertise!!
Thank You,:-)
Laura P.
www.soulrun.com

Have you been diagnosed with an actual "strain"? It is of course very different than a "sprain" (as interpreted in the 2nd post). An actual strain is a torn muscle, which can be quite serious for an athlete. Last year I strained my calf muscle, and it was not a case of something just feeling sore after "running too much", but of something suddenly going "TWANG" and actually tearing.

A professional athlete will likely miss three to six weeks for something like a shoulder strain or calf strain, sometimes much longer.

I tried to come back too early twice (didn't say I am the brightest ultra runner on the planet) and both times it was too soon and again, after a few days of training,.....well, TWANG! The total lay-off from running ended up as about 7 or 8 weeks. I was able to cycle and do other sorts of training in the meantime, but just NEEDED to run, resulting in setbacks.

If you just have generalized muscle soreness from a small and not terribly acute strain, then you might get a way with coming back soon. But if you have a more serious strain you are taking a gamble.

It sounds as if you are a very well-trained athlete considering the huge training schedule. You won't lose much by edging back into running carefully and slowly. If you have an acute strain, please cut your hours temporarily at the very least.

Thanks so much for your input and advice on my dilemma. :-) It sounds like you know exactly where I'm coming from, I have come back too early from running injuries and have set my running back even further. Knowing how much fun I am to be around when i'm not running I have pretty much cut my running down to nothing. I have been slightly building over the last few days and fortunately this has been going really well. I am definitely going to take things slowly as you suggested I don't know if I can stand swimming another lap in that pool!! Thanks again for your expertise it is much appreciated. :-)
Thanks,
Laura P.
www.soulrun.com

Judging by your blog, you are at a good standard of running so I can assume you are quite in tune with your body. As far as October goes... could be a possibility I'm sure but I'd be inclined to sit it out as it really isn't that far away. You'll just have to grin and bear the frustration for the mean time, but the plus side is that your leg is going to be a lot more 'race ready' when you do get under the starters gun again!

* Instead of swimming, get into aqua jogging (great rehab although compared to running 5hrs in the hills it does kind of suck). Olympic Bronze Medalist and marathon runner Deena Kastor used this to great success when she was laid off running.
* Hit the gym - great time for some rehab / strength work. Unilateral leg training such as 1 x legged squats and single leg Leg presses are great for muscular strength endurance
* How about some cycling? A bit more time consuming but I hit the bike pretty hard if I'm unlucky enough to be forced to the sidelines with a runners injury

Keep your head up and chances are you might even bounce back a little stronger than before - we ultrarunners often severely understimate the need for scheduling proper rest & recovery into our training programmes! All the best and let us know how you're getting on. Loved reading through your blog by the way, you have some great photos up on there! J
____________________

JAMES STYLER (p.f.t), (b.b)
Columnist for V02 MAX magazine
Interview with 2 x Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington here:
http://www.chrissiewellington.org/media/ironwoman-extraordinaire/

TEL: 027 5534266
WEB: www.stylerhealth.com

I just came back from a serious PFS injury (patella femoral syndrome) and was healing great. Was out about 2&1/2 to 3 months

It took me about a month to get to the marathon distance and 1 week later knocked out a 40 mile training run on the Plain 100. I was able to do this by basically listening to my body, just being in tune to the way things felt and then making adjustments, in recovery and training.

I used a speedwork day, 1 maintenance day, and a long run or a 2 day long run.
In between i paid close attention to strength training, especially the muscles and muscle groups that were a part of or supported the injured area and other cross training that helped regain my conditioning. ie rowing & cycling I was not ashamed to jump on the treadmill either; it's a gimps best bud.

I know what you mean, im a huge HUGE knucklehead when it comes to injury.
I crashed hard and re-jacked my knee up on the trails, 2 weeks ago.
I just came home to OH for two weeks and of course blew out an 80 mile week. and am considering (or have somehow scheduled??) a Buckeye 50k Sun . XD
it's cedar point Sat. and my knee is S O R E tday on Fri. SHit!! looks like its gettin pushed back.

How difficult is the 50k?

It looks like I'm going to do some physical therapy for the next month so I think the race is definitely out of the question. Thanks for all the great advice and thoughtful comments it was so appreciated. Today I tried some aqua jogging and had a blast definitely a nice way to break up the swimming so thanks for the recommendation. I'm hoping that the combination of strengthening and cross training will benefit my running when I'm back in action (I can't wait!)
@ culby430, I hope your knee is feeling much better this week and not too sore, did you end up racing? It really sounds like you have got things down to a science, that is awesome! I'm psyched on your running! This really made me feel better about my situation, I have been running on the treadmill for about an hour pain free these days and couldn't be more happy. Last week I tried to run the trails for about 10 miles and i really screwed things up so I'm trying work back up to where I was. I'm hoping the physical therapy will really help, I'd love to do at least do one race this fall. :-)
thanks again!!!
Laura