2019-06-01_220_Triathlon

TRAINING

102 / /June 2019

THESECRETSTUDIONET

comfortably,andthere’sa naturalbreathing

pointwithinthestroke.Thedownsideis

thatit’sa slowerstrokecomparativelyto

freestyle(ifbotharedonereasonablywell),

andwetsuitsaren’tdesignedtostretch

laterally(i.e.,outtothesides)sothiscould

addextrafatiguetoyourswim.

If youdochoosetodobreaststroke– or

switchbetweendoingbreaststrokeand

freestyle– thentherearea fewthingsthat

youcanfocuson.Withyourarms,aimto

keeptheminfrontofyou,whereyoucansee

themasopposedtotryingtopullyourhands

backtoyoursideseverystroke.Withyour

legs,thinkaboutbringingyourheelsup

towardsyourbum,withyourkneesfairly

closetogether;thenturnyourfeetsothey

pointoutwardsandpushyourfeetback,out

androunduntiltheycomebacktogether

fullystretchedbehindyou.Finally,aimto

havetheonlypause/stopinyourstroke

whenyou’refullystretchedout,ina

‘streamlined’position.Therhythmshould

besomethinglikearmspullwhiletheheels

comeuptowardsyourbackside,thenarms

pushforwardsasyourlegskickback,then

glidefora moment.Youcouldalmostthink

ofyourselfcoilinguplikea spring,and then

explodingoutwards.JohnWood

EARLY-MORNINGRUNINJURIES

q

If yourunearlyinthemorning,are

youmoreprone to injuries?

DanHartwell

a

Thoughit’sbeensuggestedthatrunning

inthemorningis a riskfactorfor

runninginjuries,a literaturereviewin 1985

establishedthatwasn’tthecase.Whilethis

is a veryoldpaper,themajorityofthemost

recentresearchhasfocusedonotherrisk

factorssuchasvolumeofrunning,previous

injury,etc.Thereasontheyfocusontheseis

becausethey’rethemostcommon,which

suggeststhattheriskfactorof‘early-

morningrunning’is lowerdownthe

potential-to-cause-injurylist.That’snotto

suggestit’snota crediblerisk.Onestudy

talkedaboutinjurieswhileearly-morning

runningduetoslipsandtripswhenrunning

inthedark!Butofcoursetheotherreason

thatearly-morningrunningmaybea risk

factoris if you’renotproperlywarmedup.

Asyousleepyourbodycoolsdown,

meaningthatwhenyouwakeupyour

bodyis colder.Thisincludesyourmuscles,

ligamentsandtendons– allthingsthat

mightgetinjuredif notwarmedup

properly.Soif yougetup,grabyourshoes

andgostraightintoa temporun(not

advised!)thenyou’regoing to be more

susceptible to injury.

I advisemakingenoughtimefora full

warm-upbeforeanyrun,andespecially first

thinginthemorning.Scott Findlay

MUSCLEACHES

q

WhydomymusclesachewhenI’m

comingdownwithsomething/ill?

Andisit okaytotrainlikethis?SamTyrell

a

Whenwebecomeill,ourbodyproduces

whitebloodcellsandantibodiestofight

thecoldorflu-likesymptoms.Thisprocess

requiresa largeamountofenergythatcan

leavethebodyfeelingtired.

A commonsymptomisachingjointsand

muscles.Bodyachescanvaryinintensity

andfrequency.Theymayfeellikesharp,

intermittentpainsora dullpersistentache.

Thisispartlyduetoourimmunesystem

havingtoworkincrediblyhardtofightoff

thevirusthathaspenetratedthebody.Our

whitebloodcellsaretypicallyusedtorepair

themusclefibresandjointsandtokeep

themhealthy.However,whenwe’reill,

they’redivertedtofighttheinfection.Our

musclesquicklylosetheirstrengthand

becomemorefatigued.Thisresultsinthem

becomingsore,weakandexhausted,soit’s

veryimportanttotakesufficientrestto

restoreourenergyandregainstrength.

Trainingwhileyourbodyisfightingan

infectioncanbedetrimentaltoyourhealth

andoverallperformance.Tryingtosustain

a trainingroutinewillonlyaddmorestress

andincreasethedemandsonanalready

maxed-outimmunesystem.Focuson

keepinghydrated,eatinghealthilyand

beingpatient,andyou’llbebackto full

training in no time.Nick Beer

QUICK-FIRE

(CONT)

HowdoI makesure

mygogglesdon’t

failmeontheswim?

Firstofall,sticktoa

tried-and-tested

brandthatyou’ve

usedbeforeand

worksforyou.On

raceday,toavoid

losingyourgoggles,

putthemonunder

yourswimcap.If you

can,havea short

swimbeforethestart

totightenand

positionthegoggles.

Foropen-water

swimming,usetinted

lensestocombatthe

sun’sglareand/ora

mask-stylegoggleto

provide better vision.

Whatisan

overactivethyroid

andhowdoesit

affectyour

training?

It’sa relatively

commonhormonal

conditionthatoccurs

whenthere’stoo

muchthyroid

hormoneinthebody.

Excesslevelscan

thenspeedupthe

body’smetabolism,

triggeringa rangeof

symptoms,suchas

nervousnessand

anxiety,hyperactivity,

unexplainedweight

lossanda swellingof

thethyroidgland.

Somelow-intensity

andmoderate

exercisesmayhelp

torelievevarious

symptomsofthyroid

imbalance,however,

high-intensity

exercisesshouldbe

avoidedasthebody

mayreactnegatively

tothem.Always

consultyourGP

beforedoing any

exercise.

Whilerunninginthe

morningisn’tproven

toincreaseyourrisk

ofinjury,notwarming

upsufficientlyor

adequatelybeforehand

is,asyourbodywill

beatitscoolestafter

waking up.