Vanessa Back in Business

Anyone who follows athletics closely will have noticed that Vanessa hasn’t been in action this winter. Vanessa has been struggling with painful Achilles tendons since last summer. It’s an injury that has flared up regularly over the last two years and has prevented Vanessa from training consistently. Despite these difficulties, Vanessa ran a LBFA record of 2:01.05 last summer. In this blog, she takes us through her rehabilitation process.

Hi Vanessa, how are you getting on these days? It’s been almost a year since we last saw you in action on the track.

Hi, yes, that’s right. My last race was at the European Team Championships in Maribor last year. That was about 11 months ago. Physically, I was probably in the best shape of my life, but the pain was getting worse and worse. It was also the first time I’d had pain in both Achilles tendons. So I decided to call a halt to my season. I’d been in the same situation the year before and mentally I was a bit worn down by it. I had also worked really hard all winter to be pain-free, and after just a few races the pain was back in full force. At first, I still thought the pain would go away if I rested and trained differently. But this time it turned out to be more of a struggle.

Take us back a bit… how did you get to the point where you decided to have PRP injections?

After a whole summer of struggling to ease back into training, I was able to start running a bit more again in October and at a slightly faster pace. I hadn’t had a single normal training week before that, and I still wasn’t 100% pain-free. I’d had shockwave therapy, but that wasn’t helping anymore. By November, we were getting a bit closer to normal training weeks again, but the Achilles tendons were flaring up quite badly once more. Mentally, something snapped inside me. I couldn’t carry on like that… I’m still far too ambitious and want to achieve so much, but it wasn’t going to work out this way. So I took a very radical approach. We spoke to experts, had an MRI scan of the tendons, had my feet screened, sat down with a surgeon… I was determined to find a solution! The tests showed that my left tendon was badly affected and the right one was starting to give trouble too. It turned out that the Haglund’s deformity I have wasn’t the cause, but the strength of my foot muscles was inadequate. So we decided to go ahead with PRP injections and to strengthen my feet, calves and tendons. After the PRP treatment, I certainly couldn’t walk for 2–3 days.

That sounds painful…

Yes, it certainly was. I had the injection in my left foot first, and a week later in my right. For the first few days I walked on crutches, and then I was able to start walking gently. But the first three days after the injection were no laughing matter.

Could you explain to us exactly what PRP is?

PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) is a treatment in which they take a blood sample and spin it in a centrifuge. Your own blood plasma, which contains a high concentration of platelets, is then injected into the area to be treated. In my case, both Achilles tendons. This is done under ultrasound guidance. The platelets stimulate the growth factors in my tendons to help repair the tissues.

How did the rehabilitation go after such a treatment?

Much slower than I’d expected. Together with my physiotherapist, Frederik Adriaensens, we started a rehabilitation program. During this, I wasn’t allowed to run for a few weeks. Once I was allowed to start running, I used the Lever Movement, which really helped with the transition to running training. At first, my tendons were still causing me some discomfort, but that has gradually improved. What did take a long time, however, was the fact that I couldn’t run any faster than an endurance run. Every time we tried to do an anaerobic threshold training session, I’d have a severe reaction in my tendons the following day. That did cause me a lot of doubt at times. Fortunately, regular ultrasound scans were scheduled to monitor the progress of the tendons, and these did confirm the improvement.

I’ve heard you mention Lever Movement – what exactly is it?

Lever Movement is a brand or a piece of equipment that you place on the treadmill, allowing you to run at reduced gravity. We received one of these devices as a sponsorship for 2-Boost Performance. So that certainly came in handy. We were given the travel model that fits into a backpack, so we can take it with us on training camps. I think it’s a huge asset in rehabilitation. I still use it at the moment when I suffer from stiff calves after a tougher session. That way, I can still run and there’s less impact on my body.

So, are you now fully ready for competitions?

No, I’ll be running at the interclub this week to help out the club. And we’ve also discussed with the physio that it’s a good test for the tendons. We think they’re ready for this now. It’s been six months since the PRP, so it’s been a long rehabilitation. I think my tendons are ready for it, but I’ve only completed four ‘normal’ training weeks so far. In terms of kilometres, I’m currently at around 60–70 km, but when it comes to everything from the anaerobic threshold to speed and endurance, I’ve still got quite a bit of work to do. I’m glad I can now start training normally and I’m enjoying the progress I’m making each week. The most important thing is that my tendons are strong again – stronger than they’ve been in recent years. And now I just want to enjoy running pain-free, put in consistent weeks, and the results will follow.

Good luck with the interclub and the build-up that’s still to come!

Thanks!