OLD GUY PROBLEMS: YoYo Discipline

You might be surprised how many times I heard someone at the Spartan SoCal mention that they were going to IN-N-OUT for a burger on their way home. Each time someone said it my ears perked up because I had seen an IN-N-OUT on the drive in and had already decided that was where I was stopping on my way home.

There is nothing wrong with a post-race splurge. A small reward for the months of sacrifice.  The post-race beer offered at many events is given in the same spirit.  For me, however, the post-race splurge is the tip of the iceberg.

I am usually bloodied and bruised after a race. After SoCal I had a moderately sprained ankle.  This time my recovery was going to take at least a few weeks. But even with a normal post-race recovery I have a problem.

Like many of you, when I am not working out I can feel a little down.  When combined with my aches and pains I felt justified in lazing around.  I tended to eat more, eat things that were worse for me, and drink more.  Especially that last one.  Why oh why does wine make my back feel sooooo good?  The ankle sprain lingered and I even got lazy and skimped on my rehabbing exercises. The bad diet and drinking stretched to two weeks before I moved off the couch.

Looking back, I realize I have the same problem on a smaller scale even during my normal training regimine.  Instead of "recovery weeks" I call them "rest weeks". And when I say "rest" I mean "eat and drink crap".  

There is also an inkling of this mentality each weekend.  I train hard during the week and tend to splurge on weekends.

In the end this might be the kind of thing I could get away with in my 20s or 30s.  But I am finding this incredibly difficult at age 45.  This YoYo of strict discipline versus recklessness is something I simply cannot maintain anymore.  Each time I restart my workouts my body hurts and I have given up much of my cardio or muscle gains.  My joints hurt and I feel weak. I am probably risking injury.

For me the solution seems to be to stop being so strict during my weekdays so that when I reach the weekend I do not feel like a parolee on my first day out of prison.  I have also stopped calling my time off a "rest week".  I now have only "active recovery weeks".  These are small changes but they put me in the right mindset to avoid these extreme behaviors in the future.

Determination Exemplified

There really isn't anything to my mind that exemplifies determination more than this picture.  I have had a poster of it in my office for 15 years.

Selected as one of the NBA's greatest photos, we see Dennis Rodman completely horizontal, a few feet off the ground, straining to collect a basketball just at the end of his reach.

The singlemindedness here just blows me away.  He has not talked himself out of the attempt by saying that he probably can't get to the ball anyway.  There is nobody else around to throw the ball to even if he is able to pull it in--but he doesn't care. He is not calculating the risk/reward. He is not considering that it will hurt when he lands.  He really isn't thinking about anything except getting the ball. 

Whatever else might be said about Dennis Rodman, this picture is a shining example of determination.

Injinji Toe Sock Review

In normal life my socks drive me crazy. When putting socks on I am constantly adjusting them, hoping that the next tweak will feel just right and allow me to finally put my shoe on.  I can feel every seam, lint ball, thorn, or--god forbid--pebble, and am never completely satisfied with the feel. It is probably correct to say that my shoes go on when I give up as opposed to when I achieve success.  

The prospect of running an obstacle course race with a sock full of mud and dirt was a litte more than this OCD obstacle course racer (an OCD OCR?) could fathom. However, the solution came in the form of Injinji toe socks.  Toe socks wrap each toe in fabric in the same way a glove does your hands.  I never even knew these things existed! Admittedly, they took a little getting used to when I first put them on but they were completely forgotten once on the rainy and cold Spartan Sprint Malibu course.  The wicking materials did their job and I was able to get through the race blister free.  I also never had that annoying feeling of dirt between my toes.  They come in different weights (thin, light, running versions through thicker trail or sport) and cuts (no-show through crew). Cost is about $12. www.injinji.com

Overcoming Treadmill Training Problems

http://m.runnersworld.com/workouts/stay-injury-free-on-the-treadmill?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-RunnersWorld-_-Content-Training-_-TreadmillProblems

A Turn for the Worse

Ankle sprains are already one of the most common sports injuries, but within obstacle course racing they even more prevalent.  Due to a variety of factors that include uneven or slippery terrain, lack of experience running with heavier-than-normal shoes, or just simple exhaustion, a sprained ankle is something most racers have experienced at one time or another.

My own history with ankle sprains goes back 20 years to the days when I would routinely roll an ankle playing basketball.  As was typical for my age I could recover sufficiently from a mild sprain to get myself back on the court in a week’s time or less. Of course, in my twenties I considered myself “recovered” if I could get a shoe on and walk without crutches. Each time I turned an ankle I simply considered it bad luck—not recognizing that my poor rehabilitation and recovery  from the preceding sprain was contributing to the next one.

Fast forward to my early forties when I experienced a particularly gruesome ankle sprain during Taekwondo training.  I hopped to my feet and hopelessly tried to walk it off but found that my ankle had a total lack of stability.  I expected pain while turning or twisting but was completely surprised by my inability to even stand-up straight.

It was during this lengthy rehab when I first learned about proprioception.  Proprioceptors are receptors which give us a sense of where we are in space.  Stand on one foot for several seconds and feel the many tiny adjustments your ankles will make to keep you upright.  Without your proprioceptors providing feedback to your brain, this delicately orchestrated firing and relaxing of muscles simply does not occur properly.  The good news is that you can re-train your proprioceptors or even strengthen that feedback loop to prevent injuries from occurring in the first place.

Be sure to rely on your doctor’s expertise and get past the initial pain and swelling (R.I.C.E.) before you start thinking about rehab and a return to regular activity.  I am no doctor. When you see your doctor, you will likely learn about the following ankle rehab subjects:

REHABILITATION

• Balance. Get a balance board / wobble board. It is my favorite rehab tool.   You can also just stand on one leg for 15 seconds (increasing the duration as you get stronger).  Add in bends (at the knee) to touch the floor.
• Flexibility.  Ankles tend to get stiff after a sprain.  My Achilles was especially tight.  Try spelling out the alphabet with your big toe with your foot off the ground or just rotating your foot in big slow circles. 
• Strength. You’ll eventually want to ease yourself back into some careful jumping.  First on a flat surface, jumping forward and back.  Then add in sideways jumps.  Eventually also hopping on one foot.

PREVENTION

Since our subconscious successfully manages our balance so well we do not often think about trying to get better at it.  Or, if we do think about balance, then it is probably in the context of trying to complete a particular obstacle at our next race.  However, we rarely think of it as a basic building block for everything we do.  Incorporating balance exercises into our training will make each step more confident and secure and help keep us from injury.  Consider also that your proprioceptors are going to be working hard with each step throughout your next Tough Mudder or Spartan Race.  If you have only been running on a treadmill or on pavement you are risking injury.  Get out there and experience some of the same crazy terrain you will face on race day.