Tri-State Velo

You know how I preach about executing every aspect of training perfectly, from warm up, to cool down and stretching? Well, it’s time for me to practice what I preach and issue a warning to those of you I don’t have the opportunity to observe. On Tuesday I did the "Stand and Deliver" workout we all love. As I was busy conducting business at the club during the warm up, I arrived just five minutes before the efforts were to begin. Since I wanted to do the workout with the guys, I decided to forgo the proper warm up and just jump right into the first effort. Except for a bit of lactic acid build up in the quads after the first set, I felt pretty good. So, in the subsequent sets I increased the gearing beyond those stated on the workout instructions. I believe my form was nearly perfect and although I couldn’t wait for the recovery between efforts, I executed the efforts to near perfection, albeit in a larger gear. After a proper cool down on the bike I went straight to the showers, did a couple of half-assed stretches (about 30 seconds worth) and was on my way. The next morning I awoke to a slight ache on the hip, but gave it little thought. By Thursday afternoon, however, I was having difficulty lifting the right leg. The pain was now elevated and localized to the area of the IT Band attachment at the hip around where the femur plugs in. That night the pain intensified to the point that I could find no way to lay, sit or stand without extreme discomfort. I started icing and only managed to get maybe a couple of hours of restless sleep. On Friday I was unable to walk the dog and decided to rest as best I could and continue with the icing. I also talked with a life-long athlete friend of mine who had a severe IT Band injury several years back and said he hoped I hadn’t suffer the same. The icing seemed to help, but Friday evening was even worse than Thursday night. The pain was now severe at the point of origin and radiated down the IT Band and across the front of my quad to the groin. I decidedit was time to consult the expert, so on Saturday morning I called my good friend and top orthopaedic guy, Dr. Neal Stansbury, for an appointment. He saw me immediately and gave me a complete examination with x-rays and determined it to be an "over-use (the nice way of saying stupid)" injury. The diagnosis was an inflamed bursa and IT Band. Luckily, it wasn’t a career-ending injury. As I am allergic to non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, he treated me with a cortisone injection and a prescription of pain medicine. He also told me I must stay of the bike or any other activity that would stress the effected area for a period of one week. After that time I can come back slowly. Guess what. I will execute his instructions perfectly. Moral of the story. I am probably the most fit (cycling specific), 60 year old individual you know. I have been doing exactly the same kind of workout I did on Tuesday for over eight years. But, I didn’t execute the workout perfectly and as a result will miss a block of at least 2 - 3 weeks of training. A simple 20 minute warm up before the efforts and a few minutes of stretching after the cool down would most likely have prevented this "waste" of time. Nuff said! I promise to be a better, and more compliant, athlete in the future. Steve Lehman Tours, Ltd.648 West Spring Street Fleetwood, PA 19522