- The nine most common triathlete injuries
- Prevention tips from Carilion Clinic's chief of Sports Medicine
- Advice on training with an injury
Plus highlight videos from our 2023 IRONMAN and IRONKIDS events!
Carilion Clinic is not just the title sponsor of the IRONMAN 70.3 Virginia's Blue Ridge; our Sports Medicine team led the medical tent and hundreds of Carilion medical professionals volunteered their time to help participating athletes before, during and after the event.
The Nine Most Common Training Injuries
To help participants train safely, Christopher John, M.D., Sports Medicine section chief with the Carilion Clinic Institute for Orthopaedics and Neurosciences, shared his expertise with the IRONMAN organization about preventing and treating the nine most common triathlon training injuries:
- Swimmer’s shoulder, or tendonitis/tendonosis
- Knee pain, or patellofemoral pain syndrome
- Handlebar/cyclist palsy, or carpal tunnel syndrome/ulnar nerve compression
- Big toe/ball of the foot pain, or metatarsalgia
- Wallet hip, or piriformis syndrome
- Heel pain, or plantar fasciitis
- Shin splints, or medial tibial stress syndrome
- IT band pain
- Runner’s knee, or patellar tendonitis
Read the IRONMAN article for Dr. John's prevention and treatment advice for each, as well as what to look for.
Training With an Injury
Training injuries don't always put your athletic goals out of reach. Dr. John talked with IRONMAN about when to train through an injury and when to take a rest day (or more).
“If there’s soreness while you’re training that goes away by the next day, or is more of an aching, a stiffness or a throbbing, that's usually a sign that it's more of an overuse injury,” says Dr. John.
“If there was a specific injury you remember, however, or the pain is sharp, keeping you from training, and not responding to a week or two of rest, you should see a specialist.”
Unfortunately, for many athletes, the prescription for pain will often be rest.
“As a sports specialist, we try to keep you in the game. It's the last resort to tell you to stop doing something,” said Dr. John.
Need Training Inspiration?
If you're recovering from a training injury or just need a bit of motivation to get started, these videos will inspire you!
