Athlete
This is the fourth year Spartan have held a trifecta weekend at Bright and there are very good reasons why this is the pinnacle Spartan event in Australia each year. In this blog post I outline why the course and town are so special. Bright …
My lead up to the Asia Pacific Champs: 9 weeks out – bad patella femoral pain – returned to running started five weeks before APAC 2 weeks out – painful foot injury 1 week out – emergency dental after I smashed my mouth on an …
I recently had a really painful case of patellofemoral pain syndrome and became extremely well acquainted with cross training. This is not my first experience with cross training while recovering from a knee injury, as I also had a string of lower leg injuries in 2017 where I spent 6 weeks exclusively cross training then another 3 weeks cross training as I completed a back to running program. You cannot maintain running fitness while not running. However, you can do your best to build cardiovascular fitness through cross training which will have some transfer when you return to running. If you have an upper body injury you can usually continue to run, so this blog post continues on the presumption you have a lower body injury and cannot run. I am not a medical expert or coach so this is written from an athlete’s perspective. Often you are told to do a cross training modality which you hate or which causes pain. This list provides other options which you can try to find something that works for you.
Potential modes of cross training for lower body injuries:
Swimming
Even if you cannot move your legs in the water without pain you can still swim. Put a pool buoy between your legs and off you go. Swimming with a pool buoy is more strength training than cardio training so as soon as I could, I went to easy swimming without the pool buoy. Wearing a heart rate monitor was helpful because I could tell that I had to swim very hard using a pool buoy to get my heart rate even moderate but gentle freestyle achieved a similar heart rate. So as soon as I could swim freestyle gently I switched to that.
When selecting stroke for easy swimming consider the range of motion your knee will have to travel through and the force required. Avoid breaststroke because of the range of motion and angle of the knee. I found freestyle the least painful, starting with gentle freestyle and using a pool buoy when my knee started to hurt. Try gentle kicking and swimming predominantly with the upper body to start with.
Pushing off the end of the wall can cause pain, so push off with the good leg or don’t push off at all. Also try and use a 50m pool if possible as this will reduce the number of times you have to turn. Most of the swimming variations with a knee injury do require some previous swimming experience or a very strong upper body. Aqua jogging might be a better option for non-swimmers.
Aqua jogging
Warning – aqua jogging is potentially the most boring physical activity you will ever try. Some people do end up loving it. They are the kind of people who own fancy aqua headphones and listen to podcasts while exercising. So if you own appropriate technology you may find aqua jogging fun. First you need to obtain an aqua running belt. I have owned two in my life. The Speedo version ($60) was made up of foam bricks that you can take off and add depending on how much floatation you need. More recently I purchased a 66 fit aqua running belt ($26) which is one piece of shaped foam sold in weight ranges. The 66 fit belt felt like it gave me way too much flotation but it worked well once I started aqua jogging. You want your head to be above the water but the rest of your body from shoulders down to be below the water. If you are a member of a swimming club or know an aqua aerobics instructor, you may be able to borrow the belts used for aqua aerobics classes. You want lots of flotation because this helps with proper running motion. You are running not treading water.
Once you have your belt on (adjusted tightly so it is slightly uncomfortable to breath) and are in the deep end you can start running. Make sure you have an upright posture and a high cadence as though you are running on land. Feet should “land” directly underneath your hips. You should be moving forward very, very slowly with limbs moving rapidly under the water. If you are moving forward quickly you are likely not using correct running form. As a guide, aqua running vigorously it usually takes me 2.5 minutes to travel 25m. If you are moving forward in the lane quickly you are likely leaning forward a fair way with legs kicking back behind you. This is not good running form. When you have good running posture in the water it can feel a bit strange almost like you are leaning backwards, and requires effort to maintain. So every time you find yourself exaggeratedly leaning forward move back to good running posture.
I found it hard to keep my heart rate up above 110 while aqua running, so relied more on swimming for cardio training with aqua running for a short time at the end. Aqua jogging also gave me more knee pain than swimming, but I understand this would not be the case for all knee injuries.
AlterG Anti-Gravity treadmill
Ideally all injured runners would be able to cross train on an AlterG treadmill but I have put it as third on the list because of cost and accessibility. AlterG treadmills use differential air pressure technology (used by NASA to enable astronauts to exercise in space) to reduce a user’s body weight by up to 80%. The reduction in body weight can make running painless for a lot of injuries. Benefits include being able to maintain running fitness while injured and gradually increase body weight to 100% before returning to normal running. This allows a much more gradual return to running than if you go straight from doing no running (other cross training activities) to running with 100% body weight. Finding an AlterG treadmill to use can be really difficult, particularly if you live outside of Sydney or Melbourne. Most AlterG’s are owned by physiotherapy clinics or sports institutes so are not open for general use. For example in Canberra we only have two AlterG treadmills. One at the Australian Institute of Sport which is only available to program athletes, and one at a physiotherapy clinic in Tuggeranong. The physio that has the AlterG is only open 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday which are the exact hours I am at work. It is also on the opposite side to Canberra that I work and live.
AlterG training is also quite expensive. Session prices cost $30-$60 per hour. Usually an initial consult from a physiotherapist is required, adding $120 before you can even use the treadmill. If you can access and afford AlterG treadmill training, make sure you check the model type and top speed of the treadmill before committing. Some earlier AlterG models have lower top speeds as they are aimed at rehabilitation only, so would not move fast enough for sprints or interval sessions if you are an advanced runner.
Cross trainer/elliptical
The next best thing to AlterG is the elliptical. After two weeks of swimming my knee had reduced inflammation enough that there was no pain using an elliptical. The elliptical pedals move in a circular motion which is similar to but not the same as running. There are different elliptical machines. Most commonly in Australia, you will see elliptical with moving foot pedals, moving long handles and stationary short handles. This machine most closely replicates cross country skiing by requiring you to push forward with your arms at the same time you push down with the opposite leg to move the machine. Pushing your arms forward and back does not mimic a running motion and leads to a very slow cadence if you do use the machine in this way. To make the motion more like running there are a few options:
There are two approaches to using the elliptical for running cross training. You can use a low resistance and high cadence to replicate running, or you can use a higher resistance for strength training. Be clear what the goal of your session is. When trying for a high cadence I look at the runners on the treadmills in the cardio area and try and keep pace with their cadence. It is hard work to keep cadence up on an elliptical. I have found that elliptical is one of the best ways to get in a high heart rate work out without agitating my knee, so I mainly use the elliptical for hard intervals (30-40min sessions) to supplement all the steady state cardio done swimming. Elliptical is not a trendy cross training option, as there are more exciting things like assault bike and ski erg machines to use, but quite closely resembles running.
Boxing
Boxing has limited relevance to running but is fantastic stress relief, especially if you feel incredibly frustrated. Boxing does put some stress on the knee, but I found if I bent it minimally, I did not get any significant knee pain. Clearly you will have to do your own assessment of whether boxing will work for you. My heart rate monitor showed I could get a solid cardio workout in through boxing.
Sled rope pull
This can be complicated to set up and may require the stars to align to get all the equipment and space you need if you train during gym peak hour. You will need one sled and two ropes. You will also need a sled track. Attach or tie a rope to each end of the sled. Start sled at one end of the track and sit down at the other end of the track with rope extended and legs in front of you. Lean forward, grab the rope with two hands and pull the rope before going for the next grab. When the sled gets to you, stand up and walk to the other end of the track where the second rope should be lying stretched for you to start the next pull. Some gyms might have a rope pull machine. If I worked hard I could get an average HR of 150 when doing a 30min sled pull session. When your knee improves you can progress to standing sled rope pull with slight knee bend
Ski ergometer
If you can access a ski ergometer this is a great cardio machine to use to get your heart rate up. However, it does require sustaining a position with slight knee bend so might not be ok for knee injuries where any knee bend hurts. It is also very upper body dominant, so if you have been doing other upper body dominant cross training like swimming, it would be a struggle to continue cross training with the ski erg for long. The resemblance to running is minimal.
Kayaking and kayak machine
This is a very unique movement but can be useful if the aim of the session is just to achieve a high heart rate.
When knee has become less agitated:
-cycling – requires a relatively large range of motion for the knee. If you can cycle without knee pain, the most important thing is to ensure bike is set up properly, as if the seat height is even slightly off, this can increase pressure on the knee.
-rowing – Requires knee to go through an enormous range of motion.
– Assault bike – For my injury I found assault bike excruciating as the knee is not secured to the pedal and therefore quite unstable. All knee injuries are different and assault bike may work for you, especially if you are predominantly relying on your upper body or quite advanced in returning from injury.
When choosing cross training options remember to consider your physiotherapist’s recommendations and listen to any pain. Ease into new types of cross training slowly to avoid getting a further injury. Interested to hear about any cross training options I may have missed
I have only ever participated in the 2018 and the 2019 National Series, so I can’t comment on previous years. The 2019 National Series was levels up from what I experienced in 2018. The 2018 series was held late in the year from September to …
1 JUNE 2019 Reasons I entered this race: I had never raced a True Grit before (minus the Night Attack stadium race in Adelaide 2016); I was curious as to what Enduro racers go through, the race being one lap of the Enduro course; I …
Initially I wasn’t going to write a race report for the Picton Beast because I was injured, was in a lot of physical pain during and after the race, and could not perform well. But after a week had passed I wanted to write a report because the course had the best design I had ever experienced and in different circumstances I would have been smiling the whole race. Picton was also the final race of the 2019 National Series, and Beasts always have a few twists above and beyond that in the Sprint and Super distances.
Course review
The Picton Beast had probably the best course design I had ever seen at an OCR event. The hills were used to their maximum potential. Instead of predictably following a firetrail up and down, the first few kilometres were almost exclusively off trail in deep grass. There was also techy descending off-camber which tested ankle mobility, tendons and technique.
In Australian Beasts there are always a few mental challenges over and above what is normal in a Spartan Race. At Picton, elite racers had to carry the sandbag from the first cargo net crawl to the sandbag course then carry the sandbag around the course. There was also an extremely steep bucket carry that descending down to and up from the creek, an 8 foot wall on an uphill late in the race, and most psychologically difficult of all, 5 cargo net crawls in a row. The scaffolding monkey bars were also staggered at different heights, though there are definitely ways Spartan could make the monkeys and multi rig harder. Overall, I was very impressed by Spartan’s course design. The last four kilometres went up, across and around the same two hills, which made it feel as though you were about to enter festival area and finish at any time. There were about three or four more hills than I expected, so this is was good twisted psychological design. Strategically put right at the end was the rolling trenches and the deepest water crossing of the race, which could cause havoc for anyone who was experiencing any type of muscle cramping at this point.
The course marking was fantastic, with the key intersections so clearly marked that even when extremely fatigued it was clear where to go. The course marshals and volunteers were all very well briefed and increase with professionalism every race.
Lead up to Picton
After Buffalo Stampede I developed peroneal tendonitis and heel pain in my left foot which meant the two weeks prior to Picton I only ran very short distances and almost all of my preparation was cross training. The week before Picton, my right foot also developed a peroneal tendon and heel problem. I was lucky and the resting, cross training and physio treatment meant that I could run on the flat with minimal pain by the time it was time to race. I wasn’t really ready for racing or steep hills, but timing in life is not always perfect, and I was happy to be running and cleared to race. In addition to the tendons, the night before the race, I sliced the top of my big toe getting into the Airbnb shower. The cut was really deep and it took an hour of constant pressure to stop the bleeding. It hurt like crazy and throbbed in any shoe. I secured it for the race by using superglue to pin down the skin flap and taping.
The race
The race started on time with minimal fuss, which I appreciated, as the last couple of races had been delayed and every minute waiting in the start chute is an extra minute to place seeds of doubt in the mind. The first two kilometres went up and down steep and techy but shorter hills and I was coming first but only by a short distance. I started to think that maybe my feet would be fine and maybe I would be able to race normally. There was congestion at the first cargo net crawl which was frustrating, but at least the course had been designed so we could run quite a bit before the crawl obstacle. After the cargo net crawl there was about 500m to the sandbag carry but instead of running to the sandbag carry containers to start the carry, elite racers picked up the sandbag after the cargo net and carried the sandbag to the start of the sandbag carry hill that all racers carried the sandbag up. I was overtaken by two girls here and both my peroneal tendons were immediately painful upon walking up the hill. Although I was running on the flat with my own bodyweight before the race, I had no time to build up to hills and get my body ready for carrying the additional weight of the sandbag and carries. The hill and carry really set them the pain in my feet off.
I could not land my feet properly because of the tendon pain, meaning I could not engage my glutes properly and relied more on other muscles like my calves that I don’t ordinarily place so much pressure on. After about another kilometre I had rolled my ankle and my other ankle had been smashed by a rock so I stopped after the slip wall to check and also rearrange my running vest because my water was leaking. I rarely if ever roll my ankle so this was probably from being unable to run properly. Stopping took a couple of minutes and I was passed by a few other girls. I decided to continue because that was really the only option. To qualify for World Championships in 2019 you need to place top 10 in the National Series and the only way to do that is to complete all three races. If I pulled out of the race, my only other option would be to compete in the Asia Pacific Championships, where top 4 qualify for the World Championships, but at the time I thought the championships would be in Beijing in August which would be 32 degrees and 80% humidity, which is almost impossible to train for during Winter where I live in Canberra. So I continued, and luckily the pain did not get worse, my race improved, and after I had become used to my feet I could run at a moderate pace. If the race had been shorter, there is no way I would have been able to get to the pace required for a solid finish.
The next obstacle was Olympus which I failed and then did burpees. At this point I think I was coming approximately 7th or 8th female. There was lots of running after this and not particularly steep which helped so I could make up time, as I could run with less pain on the flat. After this point I was happy with how I raced except I just couldn’t quite get running fast enough with my improvised foot placement, particularly on the descents because that was the most painful. When I caught up to 3rd at about 15km I would overtake on the uphills and then get caught up on the descents, but I was doing as best I could with foot situation. Close to the end was the 8 foot wall and then rolling ditches, plate drag, swim and then A frame before the finish. At the 8 foot wall my calves were cramping, I think because I hadn’t been able to land on my feet properly so was using my calves a lot more than I normally do when I run. Strangely, Spartan had decided to put a wooden block to assist females over the 8 foot wall, which made the obstacle much easier than normal. I would have had trouble without that block because I could not approach as fast as I usually do to get enough momentum to grab the top of the wall.
The rolling ditches were almost impossible to get out of because both my calves kept cramping. People nearby all asked me if I needed help, but as we are all aware, elites cannot receive any outside assistance or they will be DQd. Not surprisingly I was overtaken here so 4th near the finish line. Then in the swim I was also cramping so I just couldn’t catch 3rd who then finished 20s in front. Despite the frustration and pain, I was really happy to finish and know that I can trust myself to get it done when needed. I think two years ago this race would have been a DNF for me, so it is good to know I am getting mentally tougher. In an ideal world we would never race when injured. It is not something I recommend to anyone, but sometimes if you really want to qualify for something or achieve a goal, racing when injured is required. When races don’t go to plan we learn so much about ourselves. I think I have done enough of this learning for now, and hope next race will be much smoother.
I really hope there is another Beast at Picton in the future because the course was fantastic and if I had been able to run properly I would have had a fun time on course. Anyone who completed the Beast here should be incredibly proud of themselves.
I was very excited to go home for Easter and join the family on a trip to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Usually we go to Wilpena Pound, Parachilna Gorge or the lower flinders ranges. We usually camp. This trip we stayed on a …
I use power posing before races because the poses help me feel more in control, strong and able to start races aggressively. I have had questions about what I am doing standing around so strangely, so thought I would share a bit about power posing. …
I desperately wanted to be on the podium for this race and winning is a great feeling. But do you know what is even more awesome than winning? Knowing that you have given absolutely 100% and left everything on the course.
Going into this race after last weekend I just wanted to put in a solid effort, work hard and do well with no drama. Warming up it was 5 degrees, and standing at the start line I was slightly cold which means perfect fast racing weather. The first 3km is flat single trail, and the start was fast, but I managed to stay with the lead group of men and Jasmine Sargeant who was just in front. Rebecca Wilkinson was just behind. Jasmine got a bit of distance on me up the Mystic climb, but I was solidly running/power hiking and ran much more than I ever have up Mystic. This year the course went straight up the firetrail, no use of the single trail which made for quick times.
I found the Mick’s Track turn off and then descended that as fast as I could. Mission – stay on course – accomplished –last year I missed this turn off. Mick’s Track is a techy descent with areas of scree. In my head I repeated “I am safe”, seems extreme, but it worked and I descended 3 mins quicker than last year. Also helps choosing footwear with good grip. Last year I chose fancy, shiny shoes with no grip. Always choose what works for you not what colour coordinates well with your hydration vest. Transitioning to the Mt Clearspot climb my legs felt good, still plenty of climbing left in them and quads not sore from the descent.
There is good visibility at Mt Clearspot and I could see Jasmine about 400-500m ahead power hiking super quickly. My mantra for Clearspot was “up, up, keep moving up” (I think complicated things during races). There is not much opportunity to run up Mt Clearspot (1.66km 518m vert), and power hiking is not a strength of mine so I just really tried to focus on keeping moving at a steady rate. It was more techy this year with fallen trees and more scree, so that worked to my advantage and I summited 4 mins quicker than 2018. There was a summit party happening with cowbells and the crowd and volunteers were great. I quickly refilled my water flask and then descended like a crazy woman, because I felt good and if you feel good at half way time to push harder.
This descent is the hardest in the 20km, it is 31% av gradient, super slippery, there are no plants or bigger rocks to help control yourself, and you have to dodge everyone power hiking up. I was about half way down and thought I was going quickly, but I passed Teegs who was on her way up and she yelled at me to chase harder so I did, and was 3 mins faster on the down than 2018.
I had just been trying to survive the descent but on the flatter jog to the Mick’s Track climb I found Jasmine was just in front, and I was able to power hike past her and top out of Mick’s Track with a 2min lead. Mick’s Track is beautiful to ascend. Techy and rocky with plenty of plants and soft ferns. By this point I was tanked. My ribs were hurting (bruised them last weekend) and my feet had heat blisters from descending Clearspot so fast. But one thing I have learned the past year is that if you are hurting chances are everyone else is too.
Jogging the last hill to the Mystic landing pad was a bit of a struggle but I was so stoked to be coming first I was ready to put everything on the line. The Mystic descent is beautiful because the gradient is not so steep that every step is potentially dangerous. I put my foot on the gas because traditionally I get caught on the hills. I am like a cat. I like to climb up, but down has never come naturally. Spartan races have given me plenty of practise on Mystic descents, and the terrain is exactly like Canberra fire trails, so I felt really relaxed. I also was not worried about the last 3km because it is flat. I am now queen for this strava segment which is surreal because “I don’t run fast downhill”. I think my new view on my downhill skills is that “I can run fast downhill when I am super scared of being caught by second place”. I passed two guys on this descent right near the photographer. I had not seen her so it was a bit of a jump over her. I apologise for that, but there wasn’t much room to go anywhere else.
Any thoughts of getting to the finish line efficiently were immediately shattered as within 500m of running on the flat my blood pressure had dropped so much that I was seeing stars and felt like I was going to pass out. My quads had been completely destroyed so I think that contributed, but in the end it meant I had to lean on a tree for a few breaths and then walk for about 30 steps before I was ok to keep running. It was pretty demoralising, but skyrunning is not glamorous, that’s what I like about it. The whole 3km I was just waiting for someone to pass me. But I managed a jog (and my time on this segment was faster than last year). I have never felt so glad to see a finish line.
Just finishing any of the Buffalo Stampede races is a massive achievement, and it was great to see so many first timers cross the line (total race vert is 1,431m). My time was 2hr 23min and I kept pretty close to the boys finishing 5th overall and 9 mins ahead of 2nd female. More importantly than winning, I achieved what I set out to do, which was leave everything on the course, put in a solid race effort, and get some race confidence back.
I would have liked to write this race recap like this: After a strong start on hilly terrain, I failed olympus. I lost a lot of time because the obstacle was wet so I was using hands only and fell off right before the bell. …