Running

Sorry. Not bright enough for me.

Have had loads of problems with my left soleus. I went to see a few Physios and none really sorted it until I saw Paul at Back on Track in Catford.

He watched me run on a treadmill and I was heavily heel striking. As my heel hit the floor, the rest of my foot followed with a sort of slap movement which caused a pull in the shin area over and over. This gave me soleus problems and repeated shin splints. He initially got me running up the main hill in Greenwich Park, with attention to how my foot was landing so it did not slap (try and curl your toes up).

I have moved onto forefoot running now to alleviate the problem and that seems to have solved the soleus error.

I also have a slight imbalance in my running due to a weak left hip flexor which casues me to compensate.

Now I try and warm up on a mini trampoline before running, and I have some hip flex exercises and some soleus stretching. The main soleus one is to stand with your feet shoulder width, bend your knees a little and then come up on to your toes and back down again. I try and do 50 at a time, 4 to 5 times a day. Its a little painful to begin with.

Went for a long walk in the woods today* and I'm capable of heal/toe locomotion once more.

So- it looks like the damage I did to my soleus has fixed itself, and I'll be out on the bike tomorrow once more.

What can I do to prevent a recurrence of this injury?

*Not a euph

Thanks Jamie, much appreciated

Bugger.

http://app.strava.com/activities/46962754

Ok, so, being a godlike genius this is how things happened.

I pulled/tore/otherwise caused insult to the Soleus in my left leg whilst running last week.

I felt the inside of my lower leg start to tighten/burn, but decided to try to run through it, until I felt (almost swear that I heard) something go pop in my leg.

Cue me hopping home, and no running until yesterday (7 days after the original injury).

Yesterday I got home from work- it was still sunny, and it was a cold but glorious day, so I decided to move my three minute interval session to Thursday and go for a 5k run in the sun, a large part of the reason for this was to prove that my leg was better also.

It wasn't- I got 600 metres before my leg tightened up to the point that I stopped running before it went pop again.

This time it was the outer side of my lower left leg- the other side of the Soleus I think, from a quick look at anatomy charts available online.

How long should I leave this before running again?

until you've seen a doctor?

Def sounds like dr time

I don't have time to see a doctor at the moment- not until mid-next week at the earliest.

Come on Internet diagnosis experts!

oh in that case i'm sure you're fine to bang out a 5k after work this eve.

Bon, thanks Dr Hatbeard

Do you know a good doc? I'm very wary of taking any injuries to the GP as in almost every case I've been told to stop whatever it is I'm doing with the implicit subtext that if I'm stupid enough to do sport then I deserve to get injured. I'd almost be inclined to approach a physio first - they are often much more accommodating regarding sports injuries and if they say I need a doc then I guess I don't have a choice.

p.s. my knee hurts a bit too and doesn't seem to enjoy cycling that much which is a bummer. Also my collection of barely attached toenails precludes going to the swimming pool.

Very happy to go see a Physio if there is a recommendation for one well versed in injuries sustained whilst running by a cyclist?

^^ opps slow typing.

I don't know anything about a soleus but I'd guess give it another week's rest doing X-training where possible. Then in a weeks time go for a gentle run/walk and build back up from there.

No recommendations I'm afraid, I'm not in London.

there's a tame physio on the forum i believe i forget his username though

edit:bluerip00

Do you know a good doc? I'm very wary of taking any injuries to the GP as in almost every case I've been told to stop whatever it is I'm doing with the implicit subtext that if I'm stupid enough to do sport then I deserve to get injured. I'd almost be inclined to approach a physio first - they are often much more accommodating regarding sports injuries and if they say I need a doc then I guess I don't have a choice.

p.s. my knee hurts a bit too and doesn't seem to enjoy cycling that much which is a bummer. Also my collection of barely attached toenails precludes going to the swimming pool.

I went to the GP several times over a few years about my knee. I was always told to stop cycling. That's not good enough for someone who was in their mid-20s. Now I try to avoid giving it too much grief, and run as well. It's helped.

Incidentally, I haven't run since the marathon on March 17. At some point "recovery" is going to turn into "being-a-lazy-sod". I think that point was about a week ago.

This is the same as my phone except mine have more spelling mistakes and exclamation marks and another page of alarms below... Doesn't work.

Hats speaks very highly of the Crystal Palace physio (for some reason I have it in my head that you're south?)

I don't have time to see a doctor at the moment- not until mid-next week at the earliest.

Come on Internet diagnosis experts!

It feels ok now. I've not gone running since my abortive effort on Tuesday mind.

I am indeed South- very near Crystal Palalce

I would recommend seeing a physio generally tbh. Having fucked my knees 1 week into a 10 week marathon crash training course (cheers hats!!!!), as well as dealing with that, they also diagnosed an instability in one foot/ankle due to a year old sprain that hadn't regained strength, and weak glutes, which is v.common in cyclists.

In the same way as a bike fit, there are potentially many things that you can cope with, but which are not ideal and can be resolved with a little work.

Glad its feeling better though!

Hmmm week on the coast in Wales and errand plans of coastal runs did not happen, did one 12km run on Monday which was ace, then couldn't be bothered for the rest of the week so tomorrow I'm going to run to Richmond park, go round and come home, which is pretty boring in comparison.

Csb...

Last long run, will do three runs this week and a 10k trot at the weekend.

I've revised race pace down to cracking 3.30, nothing in between that and 3.10 seems worthwhile, will go with the pacer and see if I can push on at 20 miles.

Do the pacers start of the back of each wave of runners and work their way through? Or at the start?

Dotted about I think. Best for you to start behind them so your chip time is after theirs to give you a little leeway.

Okay. That is pretty much my plan too, stick to 3:30 and then push from ... somewhere.