Active Community : Thread List - The Med Tent

How much pain is too much?

SlowBarney — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:00:10 GMT

Just for laughs...so I've entered the 70.3 in Orlando, done a couple of sprints in the dim and distant past, did my first marathon a couple of months ago, did a 6 hour MTB race a couple of weeks after than and all was fine. Then about 3 weeks ago I started getting, well, butt pain. On one side. I had a session with a great sports massage person but carried on training, and during a swim (of all things) I cramped in the glute, hamstring or piriformis, still not 100% sure. Anyway, it got progressively worse during the day until the pain was so unbearable (even after urgent care visit, 4 vicodin and some skelaxin) I had to be driven to hospital. A CT scan was done to look for kidney stones and apart from that they didn't see any problems (and by this time I was away with the vicodin faeries trying really hard to remember my name and enjoying not feeling the urge to cry out in pain, so I didn;t have a very active role in directing my care...). A week and a bit of rest later, a corti shot in the bursa, some swimming and a couple of very little runs I'm still uncomfortable, but much better. SO here's the question; I really want to at least complete the event; knowing that I'm going to have to take it easy- I seem to be able to run at about 10 minute pace (which is 2:15 slower than my target competition pace), cycling is ok if I stay in the saddle, swimming is fine, am I crazy to do it? Anyone got anything to share about doing events injured? Many thanks...

Foot Cramps in the Pool

carol40 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:22:21 GMT

I'm training for my first (sprint) triathlon. New to swimming, and it's finally starting to get easier. But I have foot cramps (toe curling kind) in the pool about every other time I swim. I can usually interrupt them by flexing my foot against the bottom or side of the pool and get back to my workout. But any thoughts as to how to prevent them so I don't have to stop to work out a cramp during my tri? I take a muti vitamin, maybe more potassium?

pain in my abs for the entire run

jasonmellet — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:07:58 GMT

did my first tri. it was awesome. came 11th in my age group and 102nd overall out of about 600 people. i had just come out of the transition area, did 15 miles on the bike. got an aweful cramp in my ab area. hung around for the entire run. what could it be. did recently just get aero bars for my bike. thought it might be that as i might not be used to being cramped up yet and then the lengthening of the abs when the run started forced them to cramp up.

look forward to anyones knowledge.

thanks

jason

calf muscle spasms during/ after bike ride

webmaster__214 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:23:56 GMT

Just did my first sprint triathlon ... finished, but was disappointed with my bike/run performance.

The culprit is the spasmic type of pain I got in my calf muscles (near the top) during the bike leg. When I got of the bike, I could barely walk let alone run.

Porbably 75% of my bike training was done indoors on a gym bike, and I never had that problem when practicing transitions to the run.

I did have the problem previously when doing the same thing on my real bike.

I assume it's something in the bike setup, or riding technique ... Anyone have any ideas?

thanks

Recovering after surgery

JDNencka — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:08:28 GMT

I will be having surgery on my knee this week, a patellar re-allingment and a plica excision, and have been told that I will face a 6-8 week rehab. I have been a runner and triathlete for years, and have always been able to keep myself in decent shape. I am unsure how I am going to be able to stay in shape ove the next few weeks. Does anyone have any suggestions on workouts I can do to keep my strength, or ideas on foods I should be eating while I will be less active

advice on getting rid of a sore throat before a tri this Sunday

Lindsey K McGrath — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:03:48 GMT

I'm not sure it qualifies as an injury, but I woke up this morning (Tuesday) with a sore throat and I can feel it starting to move into my sinuses. I am doing a sprint tri this Sunday and was hoping to get some advice on how to keep this from getting worse. I took vitamin C and echinachia goldenseal this morning. Should I cut back on the rest of my training this week? It seems like my body could use the rest, but I usually feel energized after I train so maybe sticking to my schedule will help fight it off as long as I don't overdo it?

This is only my second tri so I haven't had to deal with training and being sick at the same time.

Thanks for any advice!

ITBS

CaraCanRun — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:33:23 GMT

Hello!

I am participating in my first sprint tri in two weeks, and I've suddenly developed what I believe to be ITBS on my right side. Self-diagnosed of course... The pain is in the back on my thigh, but mostly I feel it around my

knee. From the outside across the front. Its worse when I swing my leg forward or

down the stairs, not when I'm actually standing on it. Yesterday I did

a big brick workout of all the distances in order (in a gym, though).

Knee pain was sudden hours later last night, and is still here this

morning.

I'm not due to start tapering until next week. Any advice?

Thanks!

Cara

Hamstring Tendinitis

J_McInturf — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:54:16 GMT

I'm back with another question. Thanks to all of those that gave me advice regarding my soreness and stiffness in the morning. My new ailment is my right hamstring. I've noticed a painful area towards the bottom of the hamstring muscles of my right leg. It's located on the back of the knee area towards the medial side, just above the actual joint. It is painful most of the time, but a lot more painful after riding or running. It even hurts to the touch. The spot feels as if it is a tendon, approx. 3-4 inches in length (from the knee towards the thickness of the hamstring muscles) It feels fibrous too. After a run or bike if I just touch it, it's painful. I thought initially that it was a hamstring strain. I stretched it a lot, before and after workouts, bought a roller massager and used it to try to make it release, has not worked, extremely painful when rolling over this area. I have been running, biking, and swimming in an effort to compete in a Sprint Tri.

Could this be a form of Tendinitis? What can I do to make it better? Therapy? What exercises? Ice? Rest?

Any advice is appreciated

Shoulder injury

RSV79 — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:30:23 GMT

Hello all--

Finished my first sprint triathlon today. Was great, learned quite a few lessons for my next one. How to shave time in the transition, change gears in climbs and valleys and that I definitely need to take masters swimming course or something because despite the fact that I was not out of breath, Ikept swallowing water...doh! All in all a great experience, and it was a tough experience.

To make a long story short, I could have gotten in better shape for this. 6 months ago I was 325 pounds, and since then I have dropped to a respectable 242 (83 pounds in six months). Thought I could handle a triathlon, which I did...I finished the race. But I could have done a lot better. Still proud of myself. Rather than retell the story, I have a blog about it http://richardv79.wordpress.com

Anyway, the reason this is an injury thread is my shoulder. About three days ago,I woke up with extreme pain in my right shoulder just below the shoulder blade (or the far bottom part of the shoulder, whatever). Doesn't hurt too much to rotate it, and I was able to complete the swim with no pain. Although that was adrenaline because right after I got out of the pool I had burning and tingling in my arm. After the race I got a massage, and the therapist is convinced it's a torn muscle. But I don't show the usual symptoms. Most of the time I can move my shoulder just fine without any or minimal pain, but I, for example, cannot grasp both hands behind my back and stretch without pain. It's almost like ah....maybe someone's jamming a knife in there, or putting a cigarette out on the skin. There's no swelling, no visible bruising, no bumps, nada to explain why it's painful. It's only painful to touch some of the time.

Just doesn't seem to show symptoms of a tear....

In another thread I talked about my knee history (seven knee surgeries), I'm happy to report my knees came through unscathed with minor soreness.

Massage during taper?

Mumps McLeod — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:25:22 GMT

Wondering if anyone has an opinion on the benefit of getting a sports-type massage at the start of my taper next week. Could this interfere with the taper, or would it help me feel fresh on race day?

Pain in the Side of the Diaphragm During Run Leg

YuriTriathlete — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:15:34 GMT

I've competed in the Revolution 3 Half Triathlon this past Sunday and experienced a sharp pain in lower right abdomen during the run. Upon lowering the pace (and the heart-rate) the pain went away after a few minutes. Raising the intensity caused the pain to come back.

Some internet sites suggest - this "Stitch Pain" may be caused by (amongst other things) higher than usual intake of liquids with high sugar and salt content (i.e. gatorade, GU gels, elecrolytes, etc.) during the bike portion. So, the solution to this problem seems to be an easy one.

On the other hand - lowering the consumption of sugar, salt and potassium could cause bonking and muscle cramps.

Did any of you have to deal with this balancing act? Any suggestions on how to optimize the nutrition to avoid the stitch? Thanks