Injury niggles

Ouch.

I finally went to the physio after the knee pain I picked up at Sani failed to disappear. I was hoping rest might sort it out, but alas, it didn’t.

 

It turns out that I have a muscle imbalance in my legs. My quads are stronger than my hamstrings and my glutes leading to bad biomechanics and unwanted friction in my knee. Long story short: I need to sort out my body. A weak core and muscles at the back of my legs couldn’t cope with the stresses that my quads are pushing through my knee. The bad form lead to friction on the bursa (small sac filled with fluid that my knee cap rests on) and that is now inflamed. read: very uncomfortable. Even dancing with Alicia in her living room last night irritated my knee again.

 

All those rides where I forced myself to push bigger gears to get stronger didn’t help at all. I built stronger quads, but at the detriment to the rest of my legs.

 

So now I am on anti-inflammatory pills, have a bunch of stretches and exercises to do, and I’m off the bike and off running until next weekend. Then I can ride in Eselfontein (yes please!) as planned, rest the week, and then race in Gans Baai. Obviously I’m not doing any of the hill training I wanted to do for the Gans Baai race, and I might not improve on my time of last year, and I might have a very uncomfortable knee. But I will  still klap it something silly on the race and try to kill myself.

Then we will re evaluate the knee, if it still hurts, I might need to get an injection and more time off the bike. But I’d rather do this and sort out the root of the problem than struggle with more injuries later. I don’t get paid to ride, so it needs to be fun.

 

The focus going forward will be to rehabilitate my knee, build up my core strength, and while I’m at it my upper body as well. Start working for a six pack  in winter and I might just have a flat tummy in summer.

 

I plan to combine running with a bit off cross training off the bike with some fun MTB rides to keep me motivated during the winter and to rebuild my body.

 

Lesson learned: overall strength and a balanced body is more important than strong legs. And don’t push through mechanical pain in your knees.

 

My next post will probably only be after Eselfontein, with lots of cool stories and nothing about my knee or crashes. But to be honest, gammy knee or not, I’m really looking forward to the weekend away.

 

Keep the rubber side down, and look after your bodies.

 

Peace, Love and Understanding

Philip