Athlete Interview: Austen Arbuthnot
Austen Arbuthnot, a veteran runner and member of the Arcadia Track Team, is usually a powerhouse when it comes to the sport. But no veteran is without his fair share of injuries. Austen fell victim to a distal hip flexor strain and shares his experience with the injury. This article will review his road to recovery and his mindset as track season looms closer.
Can you describe your injury and how it developed? How did this affect your training and races?
“Currently I have a strain in my left distal hip flexor that makes running at any high speed very painful. As a mid-distance track runner this can prove problematic as running fast is the main part of the sport. I originally developed this injury during cross country season sometime in November while I was doing very fast 200m sprints. This in combination with the fact that I had just run 6 miles brought immense pain in my left hip. Now that I am doing training for track season the injury has returned as it may have not fully healed from last time. Fortunately, I haven’t missed any major races yet but I may not be able to recover before those.”
What methods did you use for rehabilitation?
“I frequented my school’s physical therapy office where I got lots of guidance on how my injury occurred, how to recover from the injury, and how to prevent it in the future. Jack, one of the school’s physical therapists, said that my core could be the cause of my injury so he recommended that I work on my core and train at a low level of intensity for about a month.”
Can you give some tips to other athletes who might want to prevent getting this injury?
“My advice would be to stretch often– before and after workouts– as I did not and still don’t do this. Icing and doing a lot of hip mobility helps a lot. Resting is also a good way for recovery as it lets the body heal and repair itself.”
After recovering did you perform better or worse? How did you rebuild your strength for the future?
“As of right now I haven’t fully recovered yet but I will continue to follow my recovery plan so I can be ready for track season.” replied Arbuthnot.
Conclusion: Hip strains are a huge obstacle in an athlete's day-to-day training, especially for track athletes, but Austen is well-equipped to fight against the injury and get back into action. Austen plans on going crazy in the 800-meter race in the upcoming track season. Good luck Austen!