Anyway.
So, last Saturday I ran 12 miles with my friends Dawn and Jamie. Dawn is training for her first half marathon (Labor Day weekend!! :)) and Saturday was her first 12-mile run ever in her life! I told her I'd join her for the momentous occasion! :) It was great...and I am so proud of her! Dawn has been training using intervals...so we did the run using her current training plan strategy, which is a 3-1 interval, or 3 minutes running, 1 minute walking. It felt good to "take it easy" since my leg was definitely causing a lot of pain last week.
It started out a few weeks ago with inner thigh pain. Two weeks prior to this coming Saturday, I started feeling it in the outside of my right knee as well. I knew that was a sure sign that something was amiss and I needed to ease up. So, I took it easy last week...and thought that doing the run/walk 12 miles with Dawn and Jamie would be a good, easy training strategy for the weekend.
Sunday I was supposed to do 20, according to Hal...but I did nothing. Yup...read: NOTHING. Ugh, it totally pained me...but I really didn't have a whole lot of choice. My knee AND thigh both felt awful. Heinous. So, I rested...thought it really irritated me. To make matters worse, my husband went out and ran 10. Talk about torture!! It was SO hard for me not to go out and do SOMETHING, too.
Monday night I ran six....
And it was awful.
One of the most painful runs of my life. I was bawling my eyes out when I rang the doorbell upon arriving back home. Jeremy took one look at me and informed me that I was taking a week off.
It was a pretty darn LOW feeling. I stretched, iced, ate, and slept. I felt a bit better in the morning.
(NO, this wasn't related to PMS or anything like that ;). It was legitimate emotion caused by sheer frustration at feeling failed by my ailing body)
Tuesday, I didn't run...but I played sand volleyball. It was great stress relief :).
Wednesday...I didn't run. We had dinner at some good friends' house. It helped keep my mind off the fact that I wasn't running...almost.
Tonight? I went over to the Sports Enhancement Center and got some advice from my friend Kristin's husband David (a PT) and Nate (an athletic trainer who runs marathons himself). It was great...really. Nate gave me some really useful (I think!) strategies about changing my stride...and I tried out the strategies tonight.
I am not sure if it's just all in my head (I don't think it is!), but it felt great. Sure, it felt good just to finally be out and running again...but the suggestions Nate and David gave me really seemed to help. It seemed less effortful to run quicker...and it really felt as if it was putting less stress on my knee as well.
I ran with my friend Jamie, who wanted to run 4. I was planning on doing 6. So, we ran out 2 and back 2 for her 4...and then I set off, planning to go out 1 and back 1 to make my total 6. Well, after I made it out 1 (for a total of 5 miles), I felt awesome...so I ended up going 1 more mile...and then back 2...for a total of a very glorious 8. It felt good. I feel as if I am almost "back in the saddle."
When I was a half mile away from my car, I decided to dig in and speed things up. I didn't push as hard as I could've...but ran the last half mile at a 7:30/mile pace...and it felt wonderful.
Ah, I needed a high :). It felt great tonight.
I am going over again to visit with David over my lunch tomorrow and getting some sort of treatment on my knee...and was instructed by him that after that I can't do any running tomorrow. So, tomorrow...a day off...again. It will be ok :). (Right??)
4 1/2 weeks to go!
Anywho....happy running, all! :)
1 comment:
Well, at long last, a running coach. At least sort of. Cool beans. :)
Of course everything is going to be fine. It may not be what you expected, yet it's going to be fine. After all, does anything turn out exactly as planned ?
As you are a person of faith, I'll give you a running quote from one of the finest. It does remind me of you:
"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." -- Eric Liddell
If you get a chance, watch the film ,"Chariots of Fire." Even Jeremy will like it once he sees Alice Krige's character. You can stream it on Netflix, if you have that. It's an older film, but won a stack of academy awards.
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