hoping it's just a mild strain . . .

[profmom]

DD was having some ankle pain, so I took her in last week to see the doctor. He diagnosed an Achilles strain/tendinosis. She's been off practice all week and will almost certainly miss her meet this Sunday, but it does seem to be improving and she reported almost 0 pain this morning. I'm really hoping this turns out to be nothing!

I'm trying to downplay it somewhat, but I've read her the riot act about not working out or pushing herself to compete if it hurts. We just got our permission slips for states, so it's easy to make the case that it's better to take a week or two off and miss a small meet now than to forge ahead and have to take a month or two off and miss states. Still, I expect significant grumpiness and tears if I pull the plug.

My older son, the soccer player, came home yesterday from a run complaining of ankle pain around the Achilles, so maybe it's time for us to start doing some gentle conditioning at home!

 

[wallinbl]

There are two things that can give the appearance of tendon strains, but are not actually tendon strains. One is muscles that aren't properly stretched. This puts added tension on the tendons and will make them hurt. The other is muscle strength imbalance within a muscle group. This causes an imbalance of pulling on the tendons and joints.

Stretch a lot, and be sure to work opposing muscles, both pushing and pulling when you do conditioning. Bicycles are great for legs and put very little stress on tendons and joints compared to other exercises.

None of this is to say that your kids don't actually have tendon strains.

 

[jsfofec]

We just got our permission slips for states, so it's easy to make the case that it's better to take a week or two off and miss a small meet now than to forge ahead and have to take a month or two off and miss states. Still, I expect significant grumpiness and tears if I pull the plug.

It's so hard for them to sit out and miss a meet. At that moment, nothing seems more important than that particular meet. But if you step back and look at the big picture, it's just one meet of many many meets. DD missed the first meet of the season due to a wrist injury and she was not happy about it. If she tried to compete, she could have been out for the season. Now that the meet is in the past, it's just that, in the past and now there are bigger things to look forward to...states and regionals!

You can look at meets as an extended form of training, where all meets are just a quick view to see where you are at. The goal should be to build up and be ready by states, regionals and so on. That's when you want to peak and be at your best.