The onset of winter holidays also marks a time of rest & renewal. The leaves have fallen, flowers lie dormant, nature spends the winter months hibernating in order to build new energy & life for spring. Likewise triathletes & runners face unique challenges in the winter months if they are recovering from running injuries. How can you best rehabilitate those chronic nagging injuries from a season of training? A good off-season traithlon program will help you start next season fresh and ready to reach new milestones.
Triathletes typically suffer from more running injuries than runners do for a few reasons. First, triathletes are typically heavier than runners due to addional muscle mass built from swimming, cycling & for some, weight training. The average male triathlete may weight 25 lbs more than the average male runner. AS a result, their relative Vo2 max is lower, which makes running more strenuous and the ground impact force with each stride is higher, increasing the likelyhood of running injuries.
Secondly, triathletes train for similar common run distances as pure runners…5k, 10k, half-marathon & marathon distances. But they do so on a much lower training volume than runners do. If a triathlete is unable to put in adequate mileage for a good running foundation, the likelhood of sustaining injury due to racing a distance they are undertrained for increases as well. Ironically, more volume in running doesn’t necessarily result in more injuries, it all depends on how much running background you have and how quickly you’ve built up your run training.
Stay tuned for more ideas about off-season training & running rehabilitation activities.
Thank you for this synopsis. It really hit home. Started running earlier this year and now am injured with IT Band. Got the rolling pin out and rolling my IT bands and seeing a PT to torture me more. I ran a 5K yesterday with no pain which I hope will build my confidence, cause you know how we think – “I’ll never be able to run again.” Indeed, I’m heavier, wt train and swim. Not liking the bike these days. Appreciate all you do for endurance fitness and I don’t think I got the chance to thank you at Maho Bay. I’ve enjoyed your posts on Facebook.
Jane M. Bridges, MD
Jane, Thank you so much for the feedback! It means a lot to know that people are reading what I put together. Hang in there and keep finding joy in your training whether it’s swim, bike, run or RACE CAR! 🙂