| |
|
|
|
|
Ideal October Training - Making the Most of What You're Given
Ideal October Training – Making the Most of What You’re Given
\r\n
\r\nBy Andrew Johnson
\r\n
\r\n
\r\nOver the past couple months I’ve had an intermittently sore back. Unfortunately the pain in my lower left lumbar region had worsened considerably over the last couple weeks so I finally, with the persistent nagging of momma Trond, went to see someone about it.
\r\n
\r\nAfter several visits to physical therapists and a couple to a back specialist, the verdict was in. I have a small tear in the L5-S2 disc, which sits right at the bottom of your spine between the lowest vertebrae and the sacrum.
\r\n
\r\nThis is a pretty minor injury as disc malfunctions go. Ninety-nine percent of the time my pain has been nothing more than a dull ache, although bad flair-ups make sitting, double poling, tucking, and most strength exercises next to impossible. Obviously, these are all things all need to be doing a lot of in the near future. I’ll need to sit on a plane to get to Europe on Sunday, I’ll need to double pole my way to my best World Cup results ever this fall, I’ll need to tuck to maintain my speed and momentum on the downhills, and I’ll need to do strength workouts to stay in top shape. So, needless to say, quick treatment was imperative.
\r\n
\r\nA week ago, after an MRI showed the exact location and severity of the unhappy disc, I received a epideral steroid injection to the area. The steroid will calm the inflammation in the region and calm the nearby nerve endings that have been all too happy to let me know of that inflammation. The long-term prognosis is iffy. The medicine might help keep down the pain and inflammation for a couple months, or it might cure the problem altogether.
\r\n
\r\nIn the mean time, I’ve been busy letting the back heal and the pain subside. The shot made everything quite a bit worse for a couple days, but since then I’ve noticed substantial improvement every day. This past week of training was to be the last hard week of training prior to our departure for Europe. While I had to modify things drastically, I was still able to get a solid week of training in while achieving many of the same training goals I had laid out before being sidelined from conventional training for the week. My coaches, PT’s, and doctor all had input on this training, and most sessions were monitored by therapists. All activities had to be done with good technique and very close attention to detail. I have been pushing the recovery of this injury as quickly forward as possible, and small screw-ups could have big impacts. I am happy to say, as I sit here (in close to no pain!) on a very snowy Monday in Park City, that I think I’m just a couple days away from being back to relatively normal ski training (good thing, too, since there’s talk of grooming east of town beginning tomorrow).
\r\n
\r\nTraining 10/17 - 10/24
\r\n
\r\nMon: AM Visit to Doc
\r\n
\r\n PM 1:30 pool workout. Pool running (many variations of), swimming, stabilization exercises.
\r\n
\r\nTue: AM 1:40 pool workout. 4-by-4 min. lev 3-4 intervals w/3 min. rec. This is a very hard, very legitimate workout. Felt good. Pool running intervals are great training. They’re much harder than I had anticipated. If you’ve ever done very hard intervals at altitude you’ve probably experienced the vague sense of ‘drowning’ as you get into oxygen debt. Well, this sense of drowning takes on a very real quality when you’re up to your eyeballs in water…
\r\n
\r\n PM Injection in back. Very sore for remainder of day.
\r\n
\r\nWed: AM 1:00 easy pool. Back is very sore, sore pool is more therapy than workout, with some easy stretching, walking in water, and easy pool running.
\r\n
\r\n PM 1:00 strength in gym, utilizing the rollerboard and a modified “single-stick” bungee exercise.
\r\n
\r\nThu: AM 1:10 pool. Feel a little better. Using larger range of motion in all exercises with less pain.
\r\n
\r\n PM 1:30 Stationary bike, rollerboard, and bungee exercise.
\r\n
\r\nFri: AM 1:15 pool. Feel much better.
\r\n
\r\n PM 1:30 Half rollerboard and half stationary bike (sitting upright).
\r\n
\r\nSat: AM 1:45 pool. 5-by-4 min lev 3-4 intervals. Felt good. No pain.
\r\n
\r\n PM 1:20 stationary bike core strength exercises.
\r\n
\r\nSun: AM :30 skate rollerski! Very easy but felt good – no pain.
\r\n
\r\n PM 1:00 strength with :45 warm-up and warm-down. Warm-up on the elliptical trainer (never thought I’d say that) and cool down in the pool. Feel good.
\r\n
\r\n
\r\nThere’s my week. By the end of Sunday I was a little tired from all this new activity, but I am very pleased with the quality of my training despite the set-back of my little injury. I expect to progress further throughout this week, and by the time we arrive in Finland on Monday, November 1st I plan to be nearly back to normal with a full training load and a rested, very refreshed outlook on skiing. Right now it’s nice to have access to the pool and a good rollerboard, but there’s not much about pool training that is inherently fun. The cold, dark, and bleak qualities of way-northern Finland have never looked so inviting!
\r\n
\r\n
 \n
AJ...busy in his office...
Written By: andrewjDate Posted: 10/26/2004Number of Views: 321
Return |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |