Listen to your body!

ROZ WARNE, on WHY DIDN’T I LISTEN...............

to my body that is!!!

I had a huge physically active year in 2009, 2 x 100km team events and 3 x marathons, this meant I was training at a hard level all year as well as living the busy lifestyle I lead as a WWOT coach and personal trainer. Towards the end of last year I started to feel a niggle in both my left hamstring and right foot, I ignored them both thinking just a niggle it will be ok.........

As my big goal for this year was Tibet and Everest Base Camp, I didn’t plan to enter any big events would just train to stay fit and healthy, don’t want to injure myself I thought totally refusing to think that the niggles were in fact already injuries!!!!! In April I went trekking in Tibet, 5 weeks later Jatbula. I noticed getting in and out of the water holes and walking on rocks in Jatbula caused me a lot of pain in the foot but I was happy that my hammie seemed to have settled.

Then suddenly, during a regular training session, I accelerated into a sprint, and BANG went my hamstring. Ouch! I knew I’d done some serious damage. Trips to physios and sports doctors, MRI’s and ultra sounds revealed a partial tear in my hamstring and a tear in my plantar plate!!! Ok so now I am broken and discovering that my body needed to be listened to when it first started talking to me.

Why don’t we listen? For some of us, we think we’re invincible. For others, we just love that feeling we get when we exercise, or the endorphins we get afterwards and we just don’t like to stop. But, we need to listen to our bodies, stretch and rest when needed.

Initially I was annoyed at getting injured until I read somewhere “use an injury as a gift”! Use the time to get yourself into an even better physical state. I am taking this on board it is helping me deal with my time out. I am seeing a physio who is helping me get my body in correct alignment. I probably haven’t been in alignment for years I’ve been told! I have changed my training doing lots of strength training, found alternative cardio workouts and my body probably looks and feels stronger than ever! I am following a rehabilitation program. I stop if my body twinges, for the first time I am listening to my sensible inner voice!! I have been told that it could take me 3 to 6 months to get back into the endurance events that I love! That’s ok I haven’t been told that I’ll never be able to do them again so I am running with the positive.........

A lot of you have signed up to our Coastrek event in March 2011, an awesome challenge. You should be starting to get your training programs together; you actually need to start training now. You need to look at your current training and build on it. If you are only able to manage a 10k walk comfortably now don’t launch straight into a 20k walk. Ideally you will add 10% per week to your distance walks. You need also to take the time for cross training such as swimming, cycling and yoga, to have regular massages and stretch A LOT!! Make sure your diet is healthy and you stay hydrated and well fueled.

We all enjoy the benefits that exercise gives, so we need to make sure we remember to LISTEN TO OUR BODIES!!