h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So I have been inactive for a while. Broke my rib go-karting in January and basically didn't fall back into exercise regime afterward and let myself get really out of shape.

Queue a little while back and a drunken bet about whether or not I could get myself into a position to do a Sprint Distance Triathlon I have bought a bike and started training in earnest.

A little too earnest as it transpires, done the schoolboy error of trying to do too much, too soon and injured my knee. Luckily it isn't too bad. Have either irritated my iliotibial band or given my self a slight tear/strain of lateral collateral ligament. (N.B. I have not got a clue about this is something been told by a sports science/ pro sports coach pal of mine).

Luckily not too bad just got to rest, ice my knee and take Ibuprofen and then be a little more sensible about ramping up training program.

All the same never had this sort of injury before so not sure how one deals with it. I don't own an ice pack for example. I'm sure my mate will get back to me with some advice about how long to wait (he has just gone away on holiday for a week though) so wondered if anyone here had any experience of such things or any tips?

FB

Bags of frozen peas make excellent ice packs.

Buy a bunch of ice packs. From my brief flirtation with exercise last summer (which I will get back to at some point) I learned you need them. Also invest in some knee/ankle supports, prevention is better than a cure. Make sure you do a proper warm-up/warm-down.

I think I might invest in some tomorrow if I can haul my ass into town. Is forcast to be cold, wet and horrible tomorrow so might just lounge around all day on the couch. Which is basically Doctors orders

FB

Well forecast correct. It is bloody horrible out, and @I blooming hate town at the best of times. When you add "cold and wet" into the equation. C'mon summer sort it out.

FB

Well good news and bad news. Swimming come along really well and I now no longer fear drowning when in the pool.

But.....

Despite refraining from running. Just doing low impact fitness work on bike and in pool and working on building up quads/gluts/hamstrings in gym in line with medical advice, and going to proper running shop getting feel looked at and buying expensive pair of proper shoes. On my first run today I still got pain in side of knee.

Arrgghhhh....

Hopefully it is just first time blues and it will take a little while to adjust to new shoes. However was pretty depressing.

All the same I have entered my first tri. Will be competing in the Wadebridge Sprint Triathlon on Sunday the 13th October. Even if I have to walk the run section.



Frightening but exciting!

FB

congrats on entering the race.
Get the knee checked out - it's the only way

Gave up running for exactly that reason. Tendons just won't forgive me. However, can still play football, cycle, climb, swim and go for long walks. It seems to be the repetitive action of jogging that does it.

sprout

In common with most ex-military I know I have terribly bad knees. What helped me was getting very good insoles for my shoes. but you need to go to a doc who specialises in sports injuries first to find out what's wrong and how to combat it

I managed a double whammy of running injuries earlier this year. Put a knee out - had two weeks' rest. First time after that, I was running in a weird way to avoid knee pain and put my back out. Four weeks' rest.

I think the best thing to do with sports injuries is to avoid sport entirely.

If you've got knee pain it may never go away unless you sort your bike positioning out. If your saddle is too low or high - if your cleats are in the wrong position (you're clipped in yes?) or any number of other things then you could always be in trouble.

Get a bike fit if you're doing any sort of serious cycling and are getting issues like this.

I lost a bolt from one of my cleats a few months ago and got mysterious knee pain as a result. Only when I discovered the missing bolt and I fixed it did the problem go away as easily as it appeared.
Cycling is pretty low impact so I suspect this is the issue unless you're really honking it up steep hills in high gears without proper training.

Ah just noticed the date of the original post - even more so with the bike fit then since I'm guessing you're quite fit by now.

btw, what is a Sprint Triathalon?

Very, very tiring I'd guess

A short one.

I think it's along the lines of a 750 m swim, 5 km mile run and 20 km cycle but don't quote me on that. It's much much shorter than an iron man which is ridiculous (marathon, 200 mk cycle and 5 mile swim ish)

This one is pool based so short swim and slightly longer cycle. The one I'm doing is 400m swim, 24k cycle 5k run.

FB

Just wanted to say good luck! That sounds like an interesting combination, full triathlons are very intimidating.

oh that sounds pretty much like the one we have here. I really ought to get training and give it a go.

Good luck getting your injury sorted in time.

Sounds challenging - good luck.

(I'd manage a 400m drown, 24k cycle and 5k hobble)

If I were you, I would stay with swimming until the knee sorts itself out. If your knee can take it, do as much walking as you can. You can build up to running if you take it slowly. Gradually increases work well. Good luck!