My whole career in skiing, since I joined AWS at around 10 years old, has been pretty smooth, if I'm being totally honest. Not too many big problems, which I am very grateful for (especially now, looking back).

Skiing is a tough sport, and to do well, you need to be tough. I am very grateful to have that skill, as well as having access to Jan’s ability to encourage that skill in his athletes. However, toughness can be a problem when applied to everything, including injuries and sickness. As I get older, I've gotten much better at noticing when an injury is developing, and stopping whatever is bothering it, however inconvenient and annoying that can be. Sometimes this has meant walking the rest of the way home when my calves get tight, or stopping a speed workout because my shoulder was getting sore (and missing the next skate sprint TT)…(last week). Even better, I’ve started to prioritize “prehab”: all of the things that I can do to prevent those nagging injuries from popping up again. For me this means foam rolling, mobility, and some stretching, and I’ve even taken the step to approximately weekly meeting with a PT this summer.

The PT that I’m working with is Zuzana Rogers from Runner’s Edge. They’ve been doing home visits so far, but are moving into their own space soon. It’s been super convenient for me to have her come on an easy day and check in or we go through what’s been bothering me and how to help. This summer she’s helped me with a sore ankle from spring skiing, getting my calves strong and balanced enough for running, and getting a stiff shoulder working well again with some back mobilization. Without her, all this stuff would’ve taken me way longer to figure out, and I gotta train, man!! Working with a PT has been one of the biggest steps forward I’ve made this summer, because all that recovery work goes a long way in making training more effective.

As I continue training a lot, I know these problems are only going to grow and develop, so I’m doing my best at starting the fix to a problem right when I notice it’s even becoming a problem. It’s fun to feel so much control over this stuff, because overuse injuries are preventable (100% cure pro tip: do less).

…but I can’t do less, so I do PT and emphasize big sleep and recovery!

Massive thanks to Zuzana for all the help this summer! It’s not the first time she’s helped out big time, and it definitely won’t be the last. Hit her up!

https://runnersedge.physio