The Return of Valbymania this Saturday

Valby is amazing doesn’t draft like tuohy she just throws it all in the line and is a cult hero. Much respect to Valby.

I was thinking shin problem because of the compression sleeve, which I don't think she usually wears.

Mary Slaney got instant pain relief when they first slit her shin fascia, but I think years later she regretted all the surgeries.

She ran on one leg Terry Fox style.

Thanks for posting the race.
Sadly she looked quite rough from the start, not smooth like she was in cross country.
She also looked quite unfit and out of shape, though strong considering the circumstances.

I have to wonder if the type of cross training she's been doing is different than a year ago.
If so, the change has not been an improvement.

There's a significant lack of coordination from whatever she's been doing, which likely contributes to the injuries.
I hope she can overcome this and wish her the best.

I am not buying her whole “not working out” story and should be taking with a grain of salt.

3 weeks ago she posted on TikTok that she ran 13 miles outside in Florida. If she is running that much on the ground, but doing her workouts on the arc trainer, she is probably in great aerobic shape. As we know she, and others, can get in. So she is running, just not running workouts, and is working out….just alternatively .

There is probably deep underlying mechanical issue. Could be cs as others have mentioned, but could be something rare. Remember Kate Murphy? She had some crazy artery problem.

It’s honestly really unfortunate because she is obviously extremely talented and works hard. Hopefully someone can get to the bottom of it because it’s definitely going to inhibit her ceiling and no body she be putting there self through pain long term.

I was looking forward to seeing it but the obvious limp made it difficult to watch over the final few laps.

I was wondering why she hadn't pushed earlier in an attempt to separate. The hitch answered the question.

And about the coaches letting her run. If she has been tested over and over again, and they can’t find anything, they probably are just like well if it’s not going to make things worse, go for it.

I don’t think that’s the right choice.

But maybe she is in the position that she might to give running a break after college and wants to compete while she can?

What's up with Mercy checking her watch instead of really trying to lean and go for the win? She look more concerned with stopping her watch than trying to win at the tape

The problem with some injuries, like an entrapped nerve(s) or compartment syndrome, is they can seem to be good-to-go, but then manifest again after tissue swells.

I had to search to find out what you were referring to. I was just guessing at the possibility of nerve entrapment in the calf/shins (Mary Decker), but in some cases of Piriformis Syndrome (Starliper) or with a disc bulge, irritation of the sciatic nerve(s) higher up in the body’s midsection can manifest injuries all the way down the kinetic chain.

Yoga stretches and strengthening of the core, (using Pilates exercises as an example), can help in treatment of such cases.

Wondering what the projections would be for the time she would have run if not dealing with this issue? Faster, if so by how much?

I’m not going to venture a guess. Last time we saw her healthy was at XC Natty’s, when her coach in an LRC interview, at the time, said something to the effect of her being able to take out her previous PR’s.

Her fitness is obviously stellar. No doubt about it, Valby has the ability to be incredibly fast. I believe the predictions that Valby has the potential to run sub-15:00 is absolutely true.

However, that was difficult to watch her suffer through that. That was worse than watching Lauren Gregory push herself through injury during Indoors. Far worse. 15:25 is incredibly fast considering her favoring her left leg the entire time, but that was really hard to watch.

I would be surprised if we see her at Regionals. She shouldn’t be running.

I say 15:14 without pacers and 15:05 with pacers give or take!

Yes, she is quite aerobically fit. Until an athlete becomes fully healthy, they sometimes don’t realize how much even a persistent niggle was cutting into their efficiency.

Runners like Valby and Cook that heavily rely upon aerobic machines are possibly deficient in the progressive overload stimuli that comes from actual running. Consequently, they should supplement their machine-training with other load-bearing stimuli, like plyos, weight-training, even jump rope, even if the plyos and supplementary running are done in sand (for shock absorption).

Granted, unlike pros, college athletes are under significant time pressure, and probably struggle fitting in extra prehab/rehab activity along with all of their school work.

She is fit and strong, but she is not fit for running, not only because of the injury but also because her training has been apparently different from prior to cross country.

This was evident in her uncoordinated running action, the jerkiness in her movements, the stiff legs, and the excessive non-running related muscularity compared to last fall.

Funny you mention that. There were moments during the race where it looked like she was mimicking the motion someone has when they’re on an elliptical machine or arc trainer. Probably because that’s been 90% of her training.

She obviously has shown real commitment to trying to maintain fitness despite being unable to run enough miles to be competitive. I respect that commitment, but wonder how long she can keep this up without losing faith in the process. The next step though is to not lose her running form while doing so much cross-training. I am rooting for her to resolve the physical issues that are currently undermining her promising career.