<strong>PAMPY’S POST 50.14</strong><strong> – WHY RUNNERS GET INJURED! – PART 1</strong>

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Morning Team,

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Let me start by defining the title.

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<em>In my opinion</em>, being immersed in all things running for the past 25 years – that is; although not being a top runner myself, I have banged out thousands of clicks, I have taught technical efficiency (running stride) for the past 15yrs, and finally, have coached literally hundreds of runners (all shapes, sizes and interests) to complete events of all distances – I now consider <strong>one clear</strong> <strong>reason</strong> above all why runners get injured.

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Now then, when I say injured – I’m talking about these old chestnuts - plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, shin splints, calf strains, pre-patella knee pain, ITB inflammation, hamstring strains, hip aches, and lower back pain/ stiffness.

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OK, of course a sub-par diet, inadequate recovery, inappropriate shoes, and floored technique can all play a role in running related injuries, not to mention letting lifestyle stress override your bio-rhythms.  But, I see the most significant reason for unnecessary running injuries simply being exceeding one’s <strong>Aerobic Capacity (AC)</strong> before it has been tested and consolidated for a period of time.  I refer more to exceeding one’s tolerance for intensity than volume.

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Meaning – basically going too hard too early!  Y-generation and <strong>my training principles</strong> ain’t going to get on!

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Do these responses to injury sound familiar?

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<em>“But I’ve been back running for at least 2 ½  weeks now, I was only going easy with my mate – who runs 2.35 marathons, but I bought these new shoes with ultimate mega deluxe cloud shocks! WTF, they claimed to solve calf issues, I used to hold 4min pace easily, so running 4.08’s felt pi55 easy! I reckon I’m only 2.5kg over my best weight! I couldn’t let that chick pass me! My coach isn’t coaching me hard enough, so I stepped it up a bit! I just get bored running easy 5.00min pace, so I picked it up to 3.50’s! I was a star sportsman at school! My Physio can’t seem to fix my injury, I’ll see a new one! I tried to get back into it, but caught a cold from the kids!, I was just trying to sweat out the 20 beers I had last night, so I pushed it harder” I couldn’t train the last two days so I flogged it today,– feel free to add to this...................</em>

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To outline my opinion, I’ll dumb down some basic physiology.

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Aerobic capacity refers to that point where your metabolism switches from preferring stored fat as it’s dominant fuel source to sugar.  Your aerobic capacity is limited by the efficiency of your aerobic system.  Your aerobic system works <em>something like this</em>;

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I take a run out nice and easily (note - I have no option these days) and my upper respiratory system takes in about 3.5 litres of air per breath.  21% of this air is oxygen (my gold), of which my lungs can absorb close to 90% of available O2.  Then my red blood cells attach to available O2 for their transport to my working muscles (mainly my legs) – so the more RBC’s the better (hence the banned drug EPO which promotes RBC’s++).  My now oxygenated blood fills my heart (the bigger and stronger my heart the better) and pumps O2 via blood vessels (again, the stronger and more flexible the better- - so don’t smoke) till it reaches my working muscle cells.  The greater the number of blood vessels (capillaries) wrapped around my working cells the greater the opportunity of O2 upload.  The O2 finds it’s way into my active cells (again, the more the better) and the process to deliver me sustained <strong>energy</strong> goes <em>something like this</em>:

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O2’s best mate is stored fat (remember, I, we, have loads of this)– they combine – add some H2O – add a little sugar just to light it up – throw in some enzymes and viola - heat provides energy to contract and relax my muscles – over and over again.  Now then, this process continues nicely enough until such time I decide to pick up my intensity.  Before long, with increasing O2 demands at a cellular level, I reach my aerobic capacity – the point I can longer upload O2 quicker than I am using it.  Given my brain trumps my heart and muscles, I make the decision to keep pushing hard.  This is all fine in terms of performance (pain cave aside), but my metabolism – in the absence, or certainly diminishing O2, has no option to change energy pathways to my limited sugar tank – because, hey! I need energy somehow.

The changing from favouring my fat tank to sugar tanks goes <em>something like this</em>:

The by-product, or waste product of burning sugar instead of fat is the accumulation of hydrogen ions (H+)– which, now starts to flood my blood stream (and of course my muscles).  You know that awful burning sensation in your muscles and lungs when you’re running late for the bus! – that’s H+ in excess. Most of us probably know this accumulation of H+ as <strong><em>lactic acid</em></strong> – and consequently my blood pH drops – as in it leaves the comfortable confines of my alkaline 7.6 (pH).

We’ll call this change from fat to sugar as your aerobic or lactic threshold (AT).  It is this change in stress and subsequent increase in waste product (H+) that could very well be the culprit of all those annoying niggles – well, I should add, till such time your body can tolerate this stress.

I’ll cover in Part 2 how to determine your absolute Aerobic Threshold (AT) – and more importantly your appropriate base training Aerobic Zone (AZ).  Your goal is, and should always be; train your body to more efficient at favouring stored fat.  Meaning, train to get fitter, further, and faster before you switch to sugar.

Why?

I have a definite list of criteria I ask myself before promoting and prescribing training <strong>over</strong> ones aerobic capacity (see next week or question me personally).

This is why I require at least 5-8+ weeks of AZ training before we step it up.

H+ overload can lead to:
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	<li>Negatively affect function and integrity of tendons, nerves and joint capsules at a cellular and hormonal level – leading to potential injury.</li>
	<li>Places far greater management on your all important form.  Poor form = &gt; potential injury.</li>
	<li>Really requires up to up to 48 hours recovery before training again.  Often we don’t.</li>
	<li>Can suppress your immune system leaving you far more susceptible to illness.</li>
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ALSO
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	<li>Sustained H+ can play havoc with our emotions and temperament post session.  Most of us have lives outside training and racing.</li>
	<li>Sleep is often compromised – and sleep is King.</li>
	<li>Burning sugar usually encourages sugar consumption – meaning you’ll crave sugar to restock your diminishing sugar tank.  If you’re aerobically inefficient, you burn sugars, and consume sugars – making it near impossible to reach your ideal shape and weight.</li>
	<li>Excessive H+ and lifestyle stress (cortisol overload) can be a devastating mix.</li>
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Finally, the inspiration for this post came from the poor bugger with the left achilles strain I saw this morning aged mid 50’s &amp; 20kg overweight being encouraged to sprint up the domain hill and punch something at the top – flick your trainer mate!

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BP - be patient!