The Long Road Back From Illness/Injury

[strider77]

Paul Victory wrote:- So I just kept plugging away and in the end, fell just short of 7,200. Pretty happy with that. Not so much the physical side, more the mental side. The key to making progress is developing mental toughness and this is something I've let slide lately. But no more - the mind is back in place and the body has no choice but to follow!

Well done Paul-keep it up =D>

[Paul Victory]

Thanks Alan.

Decided to do the Facebook monthly challenge today. It's been a long time since I've rowed more than 10k in a day, let alone one continuous row, so my target was to finish and not to worry about how much distance I could cover.

Started off around 2:13 pace and kept it there for about 40 minutes, then speeded up slightly to finish with 13,624m @ 2:12.1 pace. Actually felt myself getting into quite an OK rhythm and was never really visited by the H/D demons. Don't think I'll get a chance to do another one before month end, but I want to see if I can cover more than 50k this week for the first time since end October.

Paul V

[catchowder2]

<SNIP> , so I told myself to keep going, even if I needed to slow right down. Key thing was to finish as I knew I would be really annoyed with myself if I H/Ded at that stage and I also felt that I would be letting you down.

So I just kept plugging away and in the end, fell just short of 7,200. Pretty happy with that. Not so much the physical side, more the mental side. The key to making progress is developing mental toughness and this is something I've let slide lately. But no more - the mind is back in place and the body has no choice but to follow!

=D>

yeah buddy.

hey erm guys, what are HD demons?

[billwright]

Handle Down Demons!

Everyone gets them from time to time.

Bill

[Paul Victory]

hey erm guys, what are HD demons?

It's when you feel like stopping mid way through a row. When you stop rowing, you put down the handle, so the expression used is "handling down" or H/Ding for short.

It's like in one of those Disney cartoons, where you have a miniature angel perching on one shoulder telling you "go on, you can do it" and a miniature demon on the other shoulder saying "ah, why bother, there's must more exciting things you could be doing and what does it matter if you finish anyway and why are you inflicting so much pain on yourself and you're less than half way there and you're already slowing down and and and...). Sometimes you have a demon perched on each shoulder, which makes it even more difficult.

[catchowder2]

ooohhhhhhhh There's a running equivalent...im good now. I could tell that's what you meant but had no idea what the letters stood for.

Definitely proud of ya.

[Gary Dakin]

happened to me yesterday. I was chugging along doing a 5K at well inside SB pace, and at 3K I was feeling comfortable. 100m later I HD'd because I couldn't be bothered.....what's that about ????

Anyway, got on with my weights and did some more slow rowing afterwards. NO EXPLANATION really.

[billwright]

100m later I HD'd because I couldn't be bothered.....what's that about ????

Interesting observation there Gary. At times I've felt like that and done just that for no other reason than I couldn't see the point. The next session has laid that ghost (for another time) and everything seems to be back to normal. Hopefully, you'll have a better response next time round.

Bill

[catchowder2]

I started a new thread so we didn't hijack Gary's with all the actual training data.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2608

[billwright]

Why the use of the big coloured letters?

Bill

[catchowder2]

it was supposed to just be colored so that it was easily seen if scrolling...oops

[Gary Dakin]

Interesting choice of colour anyway

When I was rowing 10K today, it occurred to me that when you row long distances, your mind plays all sorts of tricks on you and almost dares you to HD. You start to think of all sorts of reasons why this particular session is not necessary as opposed to just getting on with it. In actual fact, although you get tired and the quads complain, the rhythm of it means the pain is controllable.

What I haven't started yet are the interval sessions I used to do, which will lift me to the next level (Mr strider knows what they feel like ). This is really because I am still testing out my body and the mended vertebrae for a reaction. I still find it difficult to get on the rower and not think about whether I will suddenly get the pain I had when it collapsed originally, which is still fresh in my mind.

I guess it will take time. As the body gets stronger, the mind will improve

G

[catchowder2]

When I initially hurt myself I thought it was one of those mind games. I debated whether to scrub my run and return to my start . Watching my Garmin you can see me pace back and forth as I wrestled with the decision to quit.

The thing I always ask myself is 'is this pain or discomfort?' In the early stages of training the two seem undistinguishable. Weve learned the subtle differences through the experience we've amassed. I ask myself that every time I want to stop; some times I stop but I often just adjust intensity.

Come to think of it, I guess you could call this my mantra. If the activity was uncomfortableI simply dug in more.

So ask yourself whether you are experiencing true pain, or simply discomfort.

[Gary Dakin]

Yes you are correct, pain and mere discomfort can be indistinguishable at times. However, this is where the mental toughness comes in, but also the experience of knowing your own body and what you have gone through over the years.
In your case the memory of the injury, pain etc you suffered stays with you for a long time, and getting past that mentally is tough; min particular in a whole new sport. In my case, a combination of the pain from a fractured spine and the effect of chemo etc has the same mental effect.
Having said this, there are techniques that can be used to gradually get there. One is the Dave Brailsford school of "marginal incremental gains", where howsoever the positive changes are made, as long as you are moving forward, however miniscule the gain might be, mentally this is a very positive thing.

Keep looking for new ways to push forward. You will get nothing but encouragement from this site and team.

Gary

[catchowder2]

"Marginal incremental gains"...definitely

[Mike Channin]

Keep at it guys - you are an inspiration to us all, especially when we only have to deal with the 'normal' kind of pain.

I do remember keenly the fear of 'it happening again' that haunts you and accompanies any exercise when on the comeback from a painful and/or serious injury. It is nice when you get past worrying about 'it' every stroke (or stride for the runner).

And as for figuring out how serious the pain is; when I was around 30 I was pushing new levels of performance (for then, got quicker afterwards!) and started getting a lot of chest pain, on the left, right around the heart. Managed to figure out that I wasn't getting it when rowing, I wasn't suffering anything other than the usual discomfort even when near max HR, and that it couldn't be a heart problem. Eventually traced it to doing bicep curls on a badly padded machine, and the back of the pad was bruising my ribs. Did scare me a bit at the time, though.

Anyway, good luck with the comebacks, and keep letting us know how you're getting on.

[flatlander]

Some amazing stories on here, really gritty stuff. My respect to all who find a way through this frustrating and painful phases in life.

There is always someone with a worse situation, that's what I always turn to when feeling constrained by an injury.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Channin]

Question for Paul V. - Paul - is the shoulder actually fixed now, and you're just on the slow comeback trail, or it still actively causing problems and causing you to have to train around it?

Also, if it helps anyone, I'm now approaching 18 months into comeback after an injury that I thought had ended my rowing, that I sustained at the end of 2006 when on the best form of my life. I'm still scared of sprints, but the rest goes ok generally with only the slightest of twinges. In my case, time was a great healer, eventually! And there can be light and a return to (some kind of) form at the end of the tunnel.

[Paul Victory]

Question for Paul V. - Paul - is the shoulder actually fixed now, and you're just on the slow comeback trail, or it still actively causing problems and causing you to have to train around it?

Not really fixed. I've lost faith in my specialist, I'm blowing hot and cold on my comeback, my shoulder is not sore that often but has been acting up a bit this month because I've increased the amount of time I'm spending on the erg and I guess overall, I don't really know where I stand or what I'm going to do next.

[catchowder2]

Also, if it helps anyone, I'm now approaching 18 months into comeback after an injury that I thought had ended my rowing, that I sustained at the end of 2006 when on the best form of my life.

Well you can't leave us hanging...details man, details.

[Mike Channin]

Sorry - wasn't meant to sound like a cliff-hanger ending to keep you tuned for the next episode (which inevitably turns out to be a bit of an anti-climax!)

Erm, I got back on the machine, and rowed some, very slowly at first (cos I was woefully unfit, and I was scared of injury). After three weeks I did my first HM. Over time I made steady progress, and got back to about 85%-90% of my PB form (and picked off the softest of my PBs). Overtrained a bit, and am now fighting back onto form again, with the hope that I might get a few more PBs yet. (Rest of the ongoing detail is on my training thread).

The point I was making is that, at least sometimes, it is possible to make a comeback, and although it may take a long time and be a hard journey, it can be worth it. I appreciate that it doesn't work out for everyone though. But this site is a great place for encouragement, support and motivation, whichever way it works.

Speaking of which, Paul - is there anything at all that I can do to help you? Just let me know - PM if you want

[Paul Victory]

Speaking of which, Paul - is there anything at all that I can do to help you? Just let me know - PM if you want

Thanks Mike

I might take you up on that at some point (could be sooner than you think). At present, I'm just concentrating on long slow distance in order to get back into the habit of erging regularly and hopefully lose weight and gain fitness along the way.

As part of this, I was attempting to do the March challenge, but I have already missed 5 days out of 13 for various reasons, so I think it's going to be more than challenging to successfully complete it.

The crunch will come if and when I reach a level of fitness that I start thinking about setting times, improving my nonathlon totals, etc. and maybe feel that I ought to do some interval training. That will be the acid test for my shoulder - if I get that far.

Any tips on what I can do to keep myself motivated in the interim will be very welcome.

Paul V

[Mike Channin]

Paul - set yourself some targets, preferably a range with an easy, a medium and an ambitious/stretch target. You will stay more motivated if you have something to aim at, and to measure against. Don't beat yourself up if you have to adjust the targets - it happens, and it is better than breaking yourself. (See my significant adjustment of target on today's piece )

And tell us what you're doing and how it is going, so we can offer our support.

Low rate may be a way of testing the shoulder without stressing the fitness, or it may be something to avoid at all costs until you've got your strength back. And you can still do the majority of sessions, e.g. Pete Plan even if off form - it just means that your pacing should be much easier.

Have a plan, and do your best to stick to it. If you have a distance goal in mind, why not work up to a very slow FM (you'll probably overtake me on the Nonathlon!)

Anyway - hope this is some help.

[catchowder2]

Paul - set yourself some targets, preferably a range with an easy, a medium and an ambitious/stretch target. You will stay more motivated if you have something to aim at, and to measure against. Don't beat yourself up if you have to adjust the targets - it happens, and it is better than breaking yourself. (See my significant adjustment of target on today's piece )

Paul, doing this is what has kept me motivated as well. I don't specify time frames within which to my goals but I have physical benchmarks that signify improvement; I measure against those.

[catchowder2]

I'm just concentrating on long slow distance in order to get back into the habit of erging regularly and hopefully lose weight and gain fitness along the way.

Paul V

LSD will get you back in the habit of erging - yep.
Regularly exercising will benefit your weight and fitness - yep.
Losing weight and gaining fitness will help you feel better - yep.
Feeling better will cause you to want to work - yep.
The desire to work will keep you making more positive decisions - yep.


You're on the right track. Your seemingly simple sentence IS the path.