Paris 2024 Olympic Update #6: Eduardo Garcia

This is the sixth update from Eduardo Garcia regarding his participation in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Monday 8/5
​This was my hardest day since I’ve been at the village. I felt like everything that could possibly go wrong did. For example, to start the day I was supposed to run my last harder session at the designated course for the athletes racing the marathon. Upon arriving at the transport mall, I learned that they closed the venue for the day. I made a pivot and decided to go to the practice track instead. I ran my warm up and felt good. However, once I got on the track to start the workout, I started experiencing the same upper hamstring tightness that I had last week. Again I made the call to stop the workout. At this point I was feeling pretty discouraged. I rode back to the village and went to the clinic for the athletes. They have an abundance of resources that are free  and I wanted to take full advantage. I had shockwave therapy done, where a physiotherapist uses a device that aids in the stimulation of the body’s healing process. I knew something was wrong with my hamstring. I started to spiral into a rough spot and I remembered a piece of wisdom from Coach Morgan, who coached me during my first year at the University of Florida before departing to coach the Women's distance program at the University of Virginia.  He always reminded us, “don’t let the lows get too low and don’t let the highs get too high.” I’ve always kept this principle close to me and today was just “one of those days.” I sat down in my room and wrote a road map on how I was going to manage this adversity and wrote some inspiring words to myself to look on when I was feeling worried. I followed Coach Caldwell’s adjustment to training for the afternoon and cross trained on the bike for 30 minutes at an easy to medium effort. I was watching the women’s beach volleyball match between the USA and Canada. They were battling back and forth and I was getting pumped up watching them give it their all. I was reminded  why I’m here and cranked up the intensity and elevation some. I chanted to myself, “you’re a warrior!” I got a good sweat with no pain and got the heart rate going too. I finished with some light stretching afterwards. I closed the evening with a session of Game Ready boots, which combines both cold and compression at the same time. 

Tuesday 8/6
​I got a great night of sleep and woke up around 7:30am. My mind felt clear and I wanted to focus on having more clarity on everything. I did my only prescribed run and I’ll be honest, it didn’t feel the best. I could still feel the upper glute/hamstring area. This pain feels familiar to me. I suffered this same condition in the same leg and area during my last year running at the University of Florida in 2016. It was officially diagnosed as proximal hamstring tendinitis. I didn’t require surgery and was able to make a full recovery after a rehab program administered by the great Scott Greenberg at Florida. It wasn’t until recently in the month of July that I started feeling the same pain. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions about the diagnosis and went to the clinic to seek guidance. There I worked with a physiotherapist named Lydia. She was a Godsend and gave me a series of different treatments for over an hour. She used Tecar therapy which uses electric currents to transfer energy to the tissues of the body to promote recovery. She followed that with isometric exercises to help strengthen the glute/hamstring. We finished with the Game Ready cold compression boots. She showed me the Alter G treadmill that allows running without using full body weight on the legs. We came up with a game plan to use the Alter G treadmill for the remaining days leading up to the race and the same treatment that I received today. She also went one step further and made an appointment for me to see the doctor to make sure everything was ok. I saw the Doctor and he confirmed that he believes it may be proximal hamstring tendinitis. He wanted me to get an ultra sound first to further look into the affected area. The radiologist did see some major inflammation, but did not see any tears. He suggested that I get an MRI to be completely sure as the ultra sound doesn’t always show tissue damage. I got the results back within a few hours. The MRI showed a partial tear of more than 50 percent on my conjoint tendon in my hamstring. I felt like all the air got knocked out of my stomach. I was in disbelief and the doctor went over the scan to show me the tear. I could tell by his reaction that it was serious. He recommended that I not race the marathon. I could feel my world crashing down. I was devastated. The timing was terrible. I didn’t understand why this was happening to me. After some time to myself to accept the diagnosis, I spoke to Coach Caldwell and we both decided it would be okay to start the race and enjoy the experience since it didn't hurt when not running faster.  After 5k I would withdraw due to the injury. I knew that this was the right decision for my long term health. 

Wednesday 8/7
​Although yesterday I received bad news, I was also very grateful to know what was wrong with my hamstring. This allowed me to make an informed decision. I looked at it as a gift because had I not gotten an MRI I could’ve risked serious injury that could’ve ended my running career and affected my long term health negatively. Oddly enough, having these answers gave me closure and solace in knowing what action to take. I saw Sylvia again at 8:30am and we stayed with the treatment protocol that she set up for me. I was still doing my due diligence to prepare for the first portion of this race. My routine would remain the same. I did the Alter G at 75 percent of my body weight for 45 minutes. I adjusted the grade to 4 percent to simulate certain sections of the course. The hamstring seems to be alright when I’m not running fast, so I felt that I could stick to the plan and get to the first 5k before withdrawing from the competition. When the run was over, Sylvia administered the Tecar therapy and I finished with the Game Ready boots. She was really encouraging and could tell how much this means to me. I knew she was going to do everything in her power to get me ready for the start line. We said our farewells and I commuted to the coffee lounge area. I spoke to my parents for almost two hours and they listened to me and supported my decision. They told me how proud they were of me and to keep my head up. Tomorrow I would get to see my wife Sydney, my parents, and my in laws. I was feeling excited and couldn’t have asked them to come at a better time. I’m making memories and I want these to be positive moments that I can reminisce on with our baby someday. There are certain aspects in life that are outside of my control, but my mind and how I respond to adversity are some of the factors that I can control. I’m choosing happiness.

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Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is in its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris, four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles, one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru, three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA, one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE also produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year. 

​The program is sponsored and supported by the 52-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, UCAN energy products, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility), On Pace Wellness (nutrition coaching) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.​