Hirofumi Tanaka, an exercise physiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, bristles when he sees dirt paths carved out of the grass along paved bicycling or running routes. The paths are created by runners who think softer ground protects them from injuries.

Dr. Tanaka, a runner, once tried it himself. He was recovering from a knee injury, and an orthopedist told him to stay away from hard surfaces, like asphalt roads, and run instead on softer surfaces, like grass or dirt. So he ran on a dirt path runners had beaten into the grass along an asphalt bike path.

The result? “I twisted my ankle and aggravated my injury while running on the softer and irregular surface,” he said.

In the aftermath of his accident, Dr. Tanaka said he could not find any scientific evidence that a softer surface is beneficial to runners, nor could other experts he asked. In fact, it makes just as much sense to reason that runners are more likely to get injured on soft surfaces, which often are irregular, than on smooth, hard ones, he said.   (Read whole NYT article by  Gina Kolata)

image by lululemon athletica

The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery is the first and only comprehensive exploration of the art and science of athletic rest. Runners, triathletes, and cyclists will gain more fitness from every workout with this new book from Sage Rountree, an expert cycling, triathlon, and running coach and yoga instructor.

Endurance athletes plan their workouts carefully, yet it’s during the crucial recovery period between workouts that they become faster at their sports. Recovery is when the body repairs itself and adapts to become stronger than before. Those who neglect their recovery will gain little from training, risking injury, overtraining, and burnout.

Rountree’s book guides athletes to full recovery and improved performance. She explains how much rest athletes need, how to measure fatigue, and how to make the best use of recovery tools.

Drawing on her own experience and extensive interviews with coaches, trainers, and elite athletes, Rountree details daily recovery practices, demystifying common aids like compression apparel, supplements, and ice baths as well as more exotic technologies. Athletes will discover which methods work and how and when they are most effective.

Rountree offers recovery plans for a variety of events, from short distance bike races to ultramarathons, so athletes can rest assured that they are ready for the next phase of training and racing.

The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery is an invaluable resource that enables athletes to maintain the balance between hard training and rest so that they can feel great and compete at their highest capability.

(read the whole article from womenscycling.ca)

A week ago this morning, I was in the Central Vermont Medical Center recovery room after an emergency appendectomy.  A day earlier, I had been running with the dog - albeit with a little gut ache - but Thursday’s excruciating pain with a trip to the ER started a long process to remove a perforated appendix.  I was hospitalized for four days.

My surgeon was able to use laparoscopic surgery and thus I left the hospital with three small wounds.  He is a mountain biker/skier and has mentioned to me several times “not to worry about loss of fitness -- you’ll get it back.”  And that’s the attitude I’m using because in spite of daily small gains in recovery, there’s little I can do physically but walk the dog.

The Vizsla’s reaction is interesting.  Of course, she knew I was gone for four days in spite of good attention from our family who gathered.  Now, she has sort of adjusted her pace in the woods to reflect my slow plodding.  She’ll stop and look back, waiting for me to move along.  The roots and rocks on our trails make walking different from walking hospital floors, and a lot more interesting.

As I continue to feel better, I’ll probably just crank up the walking mileage a bit for now because about everything else I can think of uses the abdomen.  I have an old Soloflex downstairs which should allow me to work on some muscle groups such as arms and shoulders soon.  It’s a matter of patience -- and after what my body’s gone through, a few more weeks to heal and strengthen is nothing.  My goal is to be able to bring in and stack our firewood now drying out in the woods.  It's a Fall project. We’ll see.

My friend Linda Freeman recently had both hips replaced. She writes about it in this moving article:

"There are both expected and unexpected events in life with which to deal. Some blindside us as calamities. Some are simply goals established that need to be met. Some include negative stress, some include positive stress. Some are completely out of any sort of control.

Based on recent personal experience, I believe that there is a positive link between training and the challenges presented by injury, surgery and rehabilitation.

Each of us, at some point in our lives, will face disappointment, discouragement, accident, loss or illness — often caused by factors out of our control and requiring courage and energy to combat. I have just experienced eight months of physical challenges, resulting in surgery, and have some thoughts I'd like to share.

Because of my previous life as a professional ballet dancer, I had badly damaged hips. Notwithstanding, I had switched careers to that of a fitness professional-athlete and have devoted the past 20 years to teaching and living a strong and healthy lifestyle. Those 20 years have rewarded me with huge interest.

When it became apparent that the degeneration in my hips was no longer tolerable, I was scheduled for bilateral, total hip replacements. Yup, as we say in Vermont, that's right: I had both hips replaced. And that's where the 20 years of regular strength training, good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle have come home to benefit me...."   (read complete article)