Bump in the road.

I would love to blog about my awesome race last weekend in B'ham and how I finally got down under 1:19 in the half, but unfortunately then I would be lying.

With the exception of 13.1 miles I ran on Sunday morning, the weekend was a nice get away. I got a chance to room with Meagan, eat expensive/tasteless room service and get 8+ hour of uninterrupted sleep. However, the task I set out to complete Sunday morning didn't even come remotely close to happening.
I dropped out a 4 miles. Not from injury, pain, or puking. For lack of a better excuse, I simply didn't have it in me. Motivation = 0.

I know that's sad. Who spends 6 weeks preparing for one race only to show up and not try. I understand what some people might think, however I do believe that there are some things in life that do not necessarily need to be discussed on a blog, however open diary like blogging truly is, and therefore I really have no further excuses. My heart wasn't in it. As soon as it got hard I just couldn't make myself go...AT ALL.

I dropped out at 4 miles (29:33 I believe) took off my number, started walking back...when I realized that it was probably easier just to finish the race then to try to make my way back to the start. I then put my number back on and jumped back in, covering the last 9 miles at about 6:30 pace. At least I put some work in.

Fortunately, I wasn't sore after Sunday, so I went out Monday for a quality 12 miles and workout on the roads Wednesday. Because it was early and cold, we opted for 6X5min @ tempo w/ 2 min runs in between. We started out conservative and worked our way down to 10K pace by the last 2. Surprisingly enough, I recovered pretty fast between each of the hard sessions and figured I had set myself up for a highly successful training week.

.....

Wednesday afternoon I (once again) pulled my intercostal muscle. This time the pull didn't hurt as much walking around, but it hurt more to breath. Thursday I managed a slow 40 minutes breathing in short fast gasps. Friday I ran 70 minutes but slowly, about 8 minutes per mile. Friday I moved around too much and made it worse.

One positive is that I can still log treadmill miles with this injury, its just the road (pavement/concrete) that is too painful. Saturday I ran 17 quality miles on the t-mill, nothing spectacular, but good enough.

60 minutes @ 6:53/0.5 incline
20 minutes @ 6:15 & 0 incline,
3 rest/jog
20 minutes @ 6:15 & 0 incline
15 minute c/d

My legs just didn't have it today and I felt uncomfortable, so I left the incline at 0 on the hard segments. I know its not the same as 6:15 on the flat road, but it was still tempo effort, whatever pace it was equivalent to.

I'm probably going to have to jog around just a few more days until my breathing gets better. Hopefully it will be just long enough for me to get my head back into the game. For everyone that is racing this weekend, have a good one and Run Happy!

Running injury caused by parenting

I don't get injured much. Being a toe runner (not a fore-foot runner or a mid-foot runner, a TOE runner) most of my running-related injuries are having to do with my achilles and calf. Non-running related, when I was in tenth grade I took a really bad fall on my snowboard and could not run for almost an entire week. In 11th grade I hurt myself playing rugby that put my on the sidelines for a few days. The injuries you get from everyday life that keep you from running, I despise those injuries.

These past seven days were suppose to be pretty intense, 3 hard sessions with one in the middle of an 18 mile run. Tuesday I ran a speed fartlek in the morning around the inner loop of Sherwood, with warm-up and cool-down it was only about 6-7 miles, so that afternoon I went out and ran a moderately paced 8 miles. Wednesday I took it easy, 8 in the morning, 3 at night. Thursday I ran in the morning and had planned on running the Glow Run 5K on campus in the evening. I felt pretty good throughout Thursday.

Thursday around 3:00pm I was pulling Maddy's car seat out of my car to give to her Grandmother (my mother-in-law), she had come into town to help me prepare a meal for a co-ed service fraternity that I am the advisor for, among other things. I was in the parking lot at my work, the straps were stuck in the seat, I was pulling hard to get them out. I must have turned too much to one side...afterwards I was having trouble breathing. I thought maybe it was anxiety or the medicine I was taking for the chest cold. It started to get painful. I soon realized I had pulled a muscle in my back.

I went home to change, thought maybe warming up would help. I got back to campus, jogged two miles. The jogging was not helping, it started to hurt more and breathing became more difficult. I grabbed my bag and left.

I tossed and turned most the night, every once in a while I would turn a certain way only to be woken up with a sudden jolt of pain. Upon waking that morning, my back hurt but my breathing was better. I wrapped myself up in a tensor bandage and jumped on the treadmill for a slow 8 miles. I was able to manage 8:20 pace with only a small amount of pain, about 80 seconds per mile slower than I would have ran that morning.

Saturday morning I awoke and was determined to get a good run it. I once again, wrapped a tensor bandage across my chest and started running. Because my regular sitter was out of town and I didn't know how long this run would last, the treadmill seemed like my best option. Due to my legs feeling pretty fresh and pure stubbornness, I proceeded to have the best "treadmill" tempo run I have ever had.

4 mile warm-up @ 6:58 & 1 incline

30 min @ 5:49 & .5-1.0 incline

5 min rest (tending to Maddy)

20 min @ 5:49-5:46 & .5 incline

4 rest (tending to Maddy)

10 min @ 1.0 incline & 6:15 pace

5 miles @ 6:58 & 1.0 incline

(19 + miles)

I say "treadmill" because treadmill running and running on the roads are very different, I know that. Most conversion charts say that a 6:00 at 0 incline on the treadmill is equal to about a 6:15 on the roads. I am not sure if I agree with it being 15 seconds per mile different, but it probably pretty close. I am trying to get used to the 1.0 incline, throughout the workout I hovered between 1.5 and .5 incline. 

Yesterday's 19 miles left me feeling confident for Mercedes. Though I missed three quality running days do to a freak injury, its going to be ok. I've learned another valuable lesson; make sure your husband takes the car seat out of his car before he leaves for the weekend.

Run happy.

Just this past week's log

Monday: 1:36 w/ strides

Tuesday: AM: 40 min PM: 43 min w/ strides

Wednesday: 2 mile w/u, 4 x 2 miles, 2 min jog rest, 1 mile c/d (treadmill -under a tornado watch so indoors was my only option)

5:56 pace, 1 incline

5:52 pace, .5 incline

5:49 pace, .5 incline

5:52-5:49, .5 incline   

Thursday: am: 12 min run PM: 72 min w/ strides

Friday: AM: 20 minutes PM: 60 minutes 

Saturday: 17 miles w/ 10 @ 6:30-6:43 (mile 15@6:10)

Sunday: 80 minutes on south farm (felt great) 

(85 miles)

Houston traveled half the week so I had a few more treadmill runs then I would have liked, but i'm not complaining. I really have no problem with treadmill miles when I have access to things like Pandora and Netflix. Still battling the chest cold of death.

Change.

This week my running took a turn for the better. I'm finally starting to feel fresh and I had one of the best 4x2 mile session I've ever had. My mileage peaked back up to 85, and I got the sleep I needed and the nutrition. I'm finally starting to feel fresh on my morning runs and my legs are not throbbing when I'm sitting or when I go too long between meals.

Honestly, running is an amazing hobby to look forward to everyday, and I'm so glad I'm good at it, but its not worth being fatigued in all other aspects of my life. Frying myself last fall left me beat up,  lethargic, moody, cramping, sore, and slow. It got a little out of hand, and therefore I'm glad the Fall turned out like it did. I learned another valuable lesson - you can't will your body into shape when it resents you. If you don't listen to the warning signs, it will eventually shut you down.

I spent about half of last year surviving on 6 hrs of sleep and paying zero attention to my eating habits. In a country so consumed with calories and diets, I really just wanted to believe that none of that mattered. Once again, I was mistaken. You can get away with less than optimal eating habits for awhile, but it will always come back around. Starve yourself of the basic nutrients you need, and you will suffer the consequences.

Unfortunately, though I am trying harder in the recovery, eating, and sleeping part of my life, I've still had what I consider to be the chest cold of death. The awful thing has stuck around for nearly three weeks, and cost me a few good sessions and a day off from running the week prior. Ironic, maybe, but part of life living with a two year old in day care - you get everything.

For someone that claims to hate doubles, I've ran twice three days this week. I plan to keep up this trend (1-3 times each week depending on the mileage goals) because it actually helped me recover much better between the hard days. Most weekday mornings I typically get 11-13 miles, but the length of those runs is still difficult for the body, especially when I've got to get up at 4:15 to get that kind of mileage in. If found that I can easily get 6-7 miles in my lunch break without it interfering with my work. Also, the lunch time run helps with productivity in the afternoon, major plus!

As for the racing plans. My first half is Mercedes. It probably going to be well short of amazing, but it will be a start to whatever running brings my way this year. Regardless, I'm going to enjoy it, one stride at a time.

happy running.

M.