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Rest and Recovery

I’m writing now after 4 weeks of 100% rest, the longest period of rest I have had in many years. The reason for this rest was a lingering injury from June of this year which has hindered my training for many months. It has been diagnosed as hamstring (semimembranosus and/or semitendinosus) tendonitis and its inconsistency has made it had to understand and predict. I thought I had shaken it after lots of icing and removing all fast session from my training during my 6 weeks in Europe, and after a number of easy weeks once back in New Zealand, I decided to get back to my full training load. This went well for only 2 weeks.

Either one of these 2 muscles’ tendons is the source of the pain and inflammation
Either one of these 2 muscles’ tendons is the source of the pain and inflammation

After the 2 weeks of high quality training (4 quality runs per week and plenty of steady cycling to build up the hours) my hamstring tendon was playing up again. I immediately had 2 weeks off training and then got back into running more slowly. I did a series of weeks with multiple races each weekend which went well, but I knew that only getting through on 70% training was not a recipe for long term success. As soon as these races were over I went into total shut down, doing no exercise what so ever.

The first 3 weeks off where fine, but then my leg started to get sore again. AFTER DOING ABSOLUTELY NO EXERCISE! So I think sitting, once again, is contributing to this issue and I now have a standing desk at work to help eliminate any effects of sitting for long periods of time. It’s one that I can raise and lower to either stand or sit whenever I want.

A number of us are now using these variable desks for various postural reasons
A number of us are now using these variable desks for various postural reasons

I’m really looking forward to training again next week but I am still a bit nervous about this lingering injury.

1 thought on “Rest and Recovery”

  1. Hey Gene, Here’s wishing you a speedy recovery! I’ve had a standing desk for over a year now and swear by them (along with micro-pauses and moving the legs/feet frequently) as long as the arm to keyboard height is correct.

    Have you seen or tried out these standing desk foot boards – (on my wish list to try out) – and probably useful for O training too? 😉 http://www.fluidstance.com/

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