The Denes Diaries: The year-round, all-round athlete marathon story. |
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Training Blog July 29-August 4, 2007 |
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The importance of flexibility is once again making itself clear to me. You’d think that after a year in Mammoth Lakes, California, running with Andrew Kastor’s weekly training club, I would believe in the benefits of his flexibility drills—the same ones his wife, Deena, uses every single day. You’d think that if nothing else, as an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon, I would understand about stretching. But of course all my scientific training leads me to question everything, and I’ve never found any evidence in the sports medicine literature to indicate that stretching decreases the injury rate in athletes. So I don’t stretch. I do some yoga positions in the mornings, and after long days in surgery, but I’m not that guy who starts and ends every run leaning over each leg as it’s propped on a park bench. I’m the guy running past him. Well, I was the guy running past him; except now I can’t run. I’ve got ITB syndrome, so now I stretch. <<More >> |
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Training Blog August 12-18, 2007 |
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| Training for a marathon requires endurance and consistency, perhaps even more than what’s required on race day. I’m facing that challenge now. Keeping up requires unwavering dedication to your regimen, even devoting time to recovery on rest days. The iliotibial band syndrome affecting my right knee is finally improving, and I’ve been able to do some light treadmill workouts in the past week, in between some long road rides. But now I’m facing another obstacle which will demand some creativity on my part to maintain my fitness. This week I’m with the U.S. Ski Team at their training camp in the Chilean Andes. As one of their team physicians, I will be providing medical coverage for any of the athletes in the event of an injury. <<More >> | |||
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Training Blog September 2-8, 2007 |
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| Marathon training in the austral winter in the high mountains of Chile turned out to be just as difficult as I expected, but with some creativity, and with the resources of the U.S. Ski Team at my disposal, I managed some measure of success. The stationary bikes were a godsend, allowing me to do some easy spins in the mornings after breakfast, while the athletes were stretching out for their day of skiing. <<More >> | |||
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