Filed under: Longest Run Ever, Training Runs | Tags: healing, injuries, off day, running, running routes, shoes, struggle, winter
Yesterday I ran seventeen miles, give or take. I think it might have been a bit too long – though it is also possible I ran more than seventeen miles, because I got a little lost, and my phone, on which I had installed a temporary GPS device, died at mile fourteen.
Sorry for the run-on sentence (hee). I feel quite accomplished that I even finished the seventeen-miler, and I’ve been told I shouldn’t be upset about a bad run, especially since, you know, most people DRIVE that distance to get where they need to go, and complain about the commute time.
The thing is…it hurt, and not a healthy, worn-out way. When I stopped running, my ankles, feet, toes, and knees were throbbing. Admittedly, this week had some variables – most of them my fault – that I hadn’t dealt with since starting my running plan: I didn’t cross-train the day before the run, it was twelve degrees outside, iced tea is NOT proper hydration, my shoes are due for a replacement, I worked six days last week, I finished the route by estimating the time it would take to run three miles on my watch, my paces were WAY out of wack, etcetera…I know, get the violins out for a weep.
Variables or not, though, I’m not risking actual injury by running next weekend’s twenty-miler. At the most, I’ll repeat this week and try to accomplish higher-quality runs. All too clearly do I remember the achilles injury that cost me six months of running in graduate school. Much as I wanted to, I wasn’t ready to run those 6.5 miles after three weeks of training, and I’m similarly not ready to run twenty miles right now.
I’m feeling much better today, though that blasted tendon still aches just a tad. Here’s to an easy week and a quick recovery.
Filed under: Dealing, Speedwork, The Race | Tags: marathon, off day, running, Speedwork, struggle, Tempo, treadmill
I’ve been doing my intervals on the treadmill. It’s simply easier to keep track of my pace and distance, despite the tedium. Today was a difficult day: three 1600 meter intervals at 9:22 pace with 90 seconds of fast walking in between. In fact, this workout shouldn’t have been much different than last week’s workout.
I don’t know why it’s so much harder for me to run on a treadmill, but by the third 1600, I really needed to be done. I pictured any number of things to get me through it: the marathon, the last mile of Sunday’s 11-miler, people cheering…anything to look away from simulated track on the screen. I did finish, though, and this is encouraging. I’ll need that confidence when I run the race, and knowing that I can keep going even when my legs are leaden and my stomach is squirrelly is comforting.
Food and apparel planning for this weekend’s fun run are already beginning. I’m excited to take a little vacation. Hopefully I can still pull off my old bathing suit.
Filed under: Dealing, Rest Days, Training Runs | Tags: days off, off day, Rest Days, running, sick
…I’ll go for more than a month without getting sick or injured. Sadly, I was struck down with my annual Fall head cold shortly after my hilly jaunt in DC. It took all of my energy just to play my instrument, and running was out of the question. I was woozy, sniffly, drippy, coughy…really, just a big pile of Gross.
I’m visiting my parents between performances, and I’m finally feeling up to running again. Woke up at 11 AM, ate a big bowl of oatmeal with milk, and am looking forward to running four or five miles before the day is out. Here’s hoping it goes well.
Filed under: Dealing | Tags: half marathon, injuries, long run, nerves, off day, running, running routes, struggle
Please excuse my absence. I’ve been running, but my runs have taken a turn for the worse lately, and I’ve been lazy about updating.
My longest long run was supposed to be Sunday, eleven miles to Waltham and back along the Charles. I finished the whole route, but I didn’t run all of it. After about five miles, the inside of my right ankle began to hurt in a horribly familiar way. I tried to run through it, but the pain kept increasing. So began the six mile sorry shuffle back to my house, half walking, half running, through a very depressing and chilly rain.
I have to say that I’m very discouraged. My ankle still hurts a little bit, and my taper weeks begin tomorrow in preparation for the Columbus Day Half. If this were the only “run gone wrong” in the past few weeks, I wouldn’t be so downhearted. However, the last long run wasn’t so hot, either, and I won’t even TALK about the last six-miler, which was interrupted by a bathroom emergency of epic proportions.
Basically, it seems like there have been very few runs lately in which I haven’t gotten lost, tired, hurt, or something else. I’m quite fearful that I’m not ready for this race, and am having awful visions of my ankle busting up at mile three, my angry self hobbling to the sidelines to watch my friends finish.
I guess what will come will come, but I sincerely hope that my taper weeks leave me slightly more optimistic. Running has been a solace to me these months, and I don’t know what I’ll do if it’s taken away.
Filed under: Training Runs | Tags: beginners, days off, good advice, long run, off day, Runners' World, running
Yesterday I went for my second short run of the week. And folks, it was SHORT. The plan? 5 miles. The result? Yours truly gets lost in her new city, and in a series of strange turns, unexpected hills, and a hot sun, finally finds her way back. She’s only run TWO POINT FIVE MILES.
Lame, I know. I’ve decided to attempt the 9-miler, anyway. The folks on the RW beginner’s forum, as well as some friends here, have not expressed too much concern about the injury factor. Apparently, cutback weeks are good, even if they come by accident.
Details about the 9-miler to come later this weekend…
