Putting my foot down

Time for a brief anatomy lesson with a bit of trivia from the "Happiest Place on Earth" thrown in.

One of the classic rides at Disney Land is the Hall of the Presidents. Visitors to the park are seated in a theatre where the players on stage are animitronic representations of the US's greatest leaders. When the attraction was being developed by the imagineers they initially had difficulty achieving natural motions for the creations. They could move in a given direction OK but to stop, change or reverse direction of this motion the illusion would be lost as a limb would have to decelerate first. Where a real person could initiate a move then immediately stop, the robots just couldn't. They found they could overcome this short-coming by adding opposing motors that would act to brake the motion as they applied force in the reverse direction.What they had done was actually replicate the function of opposing muscle groups we all have. 

When you make a move the action involves tensioning one group of muscles and the relaxing of the opposing muscles. 

As I've written about previously, I've had an ongoing issue with my calves. With annoying regularity,and at odd occasions I have experienced sharp pain down the centre of this group whilst running. When I say "odd occasions" I mean that it does not seem to have a predictable trigger. It has struck during both easy jogs and hard efforts, sometimes it's at the start of a run whilst warming up, several times at the end, running downhill, and once immediately after a swim (on the beach during IronMan Melbourne earlier this year). Regardless , it seems that if I run whilst wearing compression calf sleeves I tend to be able to avoid the strain. 

So, with my amazing knowledge of the bodies muscular function and armed with my vague understanding of what the hell was going on with my own, I finally made AND attended an appointment with the physio to get a second (read "professional") opinion. Following a short interview and massage of the effected area I was referred to have an ultra-sound done to get a definitive (third?) opinion. He had his assumptions but was perplexed that my calf guards were proving so successful. Some improvement could be expected but to be able to cover such a high volume of running and remain pain free didn't sound right.

The result - there is another type of muscle that I was not aware of, the unnecessary kind.

Running from the back of the knee and under the two main calf muscles resides the plantaris muscle; well, it does in most of us... Apparently evolution is phasing this particular muscle out of our anatomy as it is not functionally required. Somewhere between 7 and 20% of the population have already relinquished it. I am told that, if you were to ever require a muscle graft this is the muscle they will remove to use.

The nice man with the gel and the ultrasound wand tells me that, not only do I still have mine, but also, I've actually found a way to "fray" the muscle I don't really need - in both calves...

When you damage this muscle, it doesn't hinder your leg's mechanics, just hurts. (well, the limp resulting from the pain might hold you back a little)

A return visit to the physio with this outcome and weighing up all of the causational evidence we have we came to the following verdict - continue to run, keep monitoring it and always wear the compression sleeves. 

At some point my plantaris muscles will likely heal themselves but there's no telling how long that might take. After the last race of the season I took a full two weeks off running but first light hit out following and it sprung again. So, in the meantime I'll just have to stock up on sleeves to avoid having to constantly wear the same pair, and also find a way to abbreviate this and still explain the strange tan lines I'll inevitably develop.

The magic wand

As I alluded with my last post, I had finally thrown in the towel and decided to recruit some extra, expert assistance with my training. After two years in the game of triathlon and just plodding along by myself I joined Tri Alliance to add some guidance to the effort I was putting in.
Since then I have seen plenty of gain but again was happily plodding along. Admitedly I am seeing plenty of improvement and have exceeded many of my original goals there remain a couple that have remained elusive.

After five years of racing and recently adding the badge of Ironman to my list of achievements I am still struggling to shed the extra weight I carry into each race I complete. Let me tell you, 98kg is a lot to carry over 42.2 km. There are a couple of reasons I am wanting to trim down as well, I mean, aside from the obvious, I am interested in getting closer to the pointy end of the field rather than hanging out in the middle of the pack. My Kona shot may be years away but I don't want to end my racing days without experiencing that day. So, with all that in mind I am using this "off-season" to make some changes.

This is my new To Do List:

1 - Get the body right and take care of the niggles
2 - Educate myself about nutrition to finally get into shape

Part one is underway - kind of.
Calf strains have been an ongoing problem for me. I've said it many times, if something is going to go, it'll be my calf. This has been a true statement for some time and I've been managing the problem fairly successfully via the use of compression sleeves. More recently however, a stabbing pain in my heel has proven my assumption false. A little Google search this morning has lead to a self diagnosis of Plantar Fasciitis. Looks like my tight calf problem has gone and dominoed on me.
The plan is (and has been for a few weeks) to make use of my blue ribbon extra health care and begin a treatment regimen. Unfortunately I haven't made the planned phone to set it up... I know, I know. What I have done is sign up for a series of strength and conditioning sessions with a view to improving the mechanics and efficiency of movement. One of the greatest improvements I saw last season came from the run training I did, it was only six weeks, two sessions per week but it gave me the tools I needed. With the S&C sessions I'm looking to identify any issues and again, develop the tools to correct them.

I'm going to give this point a half tick and make a phone call on Monday - promise

Point two's work has begun, last Monday evening after work I visited the offices of my new Sports Nutritionist; Margaret Mielczarek (Sometimes known as "a girl on a bike") for my much anticipated first appointment. We discussed my diet and current exercise load and therefore what I should be eating. Turns out several of the "healthy choices" I had added to my diet weren't as healthy as I assumed. Not that I have been eating poorly, more that I'd been eating the right things but in the wrong proportions. Too much fruit - back to two serves a day; nuts and seeds - instead of daily, a couple times a week; salad veg - as much as I like, I just need to "like" more I guess. We discussed the good nutrition plate and what to fill the sections of it with. One week has passed and at times it's been difficult to adhere to and I do believe I've already consumed my annual quota of carrots but to reach my goals, it's gotta be done. Initial consult is done and I already have booked three follow-up sessions to check and correct my progress.

There mightn't be a magic wand, but life's too short not to tri..