I Go 100

The other night I scribbled down a revised training plan of sorts that will take me to 100km in June 2010. I’m going to post it this week so you can see whats in store over the next few months. Back in August when I started this journey, I was following the Pete Plan, which involved a variety of workouts. However I found the speed sessions a bit much in terms of potential for injury.

Why this caution about injury prevention? Well, I used to be a runner – key words are “used to be”. During that time I was continually nursing one injury after another – a chronic sprain in one ankle, shin splints, knee problems, back issues, and the thing that ended my running altogether – chronic piriformis. The Piriformis muscle is located deep in the glutes and helps rotate your legs. Overtraining, poor muscle strength or a muscle imbalance can cause this muscle to flare up and spasm – which results in piriformis syndrome and leads to sciatica. Ever since that injury happened, I have been prone to piriformis flareups. Twice a year I would have trouble walking and sleeping because of the pain in my back, hips and legs. I went to chiropractors, saw physical therapists, sports injury doctors, did active release therapy, wore a hip brace for months on end, went to deep tissue massage – all without fixing this problem. This pursuit of pain relief went on for about 6 or 7 years.

In the spring of 2008, I started training with a personal trainer who specializes in rehabilitation training – and he showed me how to manage this problem. He showed me exercises to strengthen the muscles that were weak, and how to stretch out this hard to reach muscle. Since then I have been able to quickly manage any flareups. Thank you Dean Somerset!

Here is a stretch that I have been using since then, and is a vital component to my day. I use a Travel Roller because it is harder than a regular foam roller and small so I can take it everywhere: