Runner world Article on Pacing and Injuries

http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-prevention-recovery/your-injury-caused-pace-or-distance

The Last Straw

When I saw Kobe's season ending torn achilles  injury in the news this morning something struck me. It was in the playoff run and he was being worked extra hard. Sound familiar RG111/Redskin fans?
He also said he had made a similar move a million times.  It was the proverbial last straw for his achilles.  The achilles tendon looks like a bunch of straws in cross section and when you examine it with diagnostic ultrasound.  The blood supply near the insertion for healing is terrible, hence the proverbial achilles heal. You can tell when the fibers are starting to fray BEFORE there is injury.  So why not take studies of these at a base line if a high level athlete is doing the type of workload these pro and college athletes are faced with? Tools like laser, EPAT and prudent rest might prevent headlines the next day. It may never happen. It is the pros after all.

The Power of Negative Thinking

Bob Knight wrote a book out called "The Power of Negative Thinking"  what he says is that in order to win you must look at the options which will cause you to lose and take corrective action. He took that philosophy to just one play when Keith Smart drained the shot to win the IU the 1987 NCAA  championship in the closing seconds. Daryl Thomas had the ball under the basket but had no shot so he passed the ball out to Smart who created the shot opportunity after he had passed the ball to Thomas. In the world of medicine having a clear eye for what could go wrong can prevent things from getting worse or avoid a disaster.  The thrust of Knight's book is really about the will to prepare rather than being a pessimist.
 Having an appreciation for your deficits can cue you in to what you need to do to make them better whether it be strengthening , stretching or working on agility. I started taking that philosphy to my training. If I'm hurt (for example as I write this I have achilles tendonitis) do something else. I did a boxing /combat class to work on upper body , core and cardiovascular to give my achilles a rest but still advance my fitness. Notice I said advance because there are things you can do to not merely maintain but improve your fitness when you are hurt. In short You identify whats going to continue on a negative trajectory and do something else to get to your end goal a different way.

How to Not Lose Your Head With Cutting Edge

There is a lot of so called "cutting edge" technology that is out there in healthcare and some of it's good and some of it is just industry trying to create a new procedure.  So how does the layman know how to tell good from bad?

Rule number one: If someone uses the term !00% think twice
Rule Number two: Ask Around - not just the folks who are on the internet
Rule Number three: Technology is only part of the puzzle
Rule number four Do your do diligence- from meta-analysis reports like the Cochrane Reviews to asking someone in your running group.