Tag: Pain

Week 48 Um Ouch Recap

After the last week, I am so glad I don’t have anything to put under the “Training For” label. I had such high hopes for getting back to running but life was like yeah no. 😛

Monday– I packed all my stuff for an evening run and I was looking forward to testing out my new reflective vest and tights. My back started to feel sore bordering on painful towards the end of the day which I thought was odd but other than that didn’t think much of it. Since I was also waiting for a new shoe delivery I used it as a reason to rest. I figured I had the rest of the week to run, right?

Haha! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday- Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch

My alarm went off on Tuesday and I damn near screamed when I went to turn it off. Whatever had been wrong with my back the day before was nothing compared to this, I could barely move without crying. Getting dressed was one of the most painful things I’ve done and I have a pretty decent pain tolerance. Every movement hurt. And kept hurting. I could have used a sling, I basically kept my left arm at a right angle and glued to my side for 3 days. Instead of screaming or cursing, I would only whimper with the occasional moan.

Problem was I realized just how left hand dominant I am. I am right handed so I write and eat with my right hand but I do damn near everything else with my left hand and arm. I felt like I forgot how to do everything. I kept losing the computer mouse at work, I’m not used to having it on the right side! Grrrrr. Anyways, I was about as active as a lump on a log those days. A moany lump on a log.

There were Shiny moments though- I saw Fantastic Beasts and it was awesome! Movie theater seats were not a good idea but the movie was great! Thanksgiving was a very low key, chill day with family, just the way I like it. I’m also not a huge fan of traditional fare so it’s the one day a year I have no worries of overeating. 😛😛 I was feeling a little better on Friday, so with slooooow, deliberate movements, a coworker and I decorated the building for Christmas. I guess that was pretty active, I hung lights around 9 windows. 🙂

Saturday was crazy rainy but I was feeling a little better so I took advantage of a break in the rain and headed out to attempt a short run. I made it 3 miles and kept it super slow both due to my back and the now 3 weeks off. I feel like I am starting over! That said, it was a pretty good run, it helped that I had zero expectations about this run. I was pretty happy that I was even able to get a sports bra on.

Sunday was spent doing some Christmas shopping. I also returned the Hoka’s. They just weren’t working. My toes felt bruised every time I wore them and I still have that odd spongy feeling in my left arch every now and then. It never existed until the Hoka’s. I hate returning shoes but I also can’t afford to just eat the cost on $130 pair of shoes either. I exchanged them for another pair of Nike’s. That is the only pair of shoes that hasn’t caused me any issues other than I can only wear them up to 8 miles. But it’s not like I will be hitting the double digits any time soon so these should get me through. Also, fingers crossed that the Hail Mary Sayonara’s that arrived on Monday will work for longer runs.

My back is still sore but drastically better then it was during the week. I feel a knot or something but I’m still going to take it easy until it is back to normal. This has happened once before, years ago. I remember rolling over to get out of bed, feeling and hearing something pop before the pain hit and I couldn’t get up. I also remember yelling for help for 40 minutes before someone in the house heard me. That may be why I forced myself to try to work through the pain this week. That or I am stupid. My boss tried to get me to go to a chiropractor but 1- they scare me, 2-by the time I jump through the insurance hoops it will be next year. 😞

How was your week?

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you run a Turkey Trot?

Ever break yourself while sleeping?😛

Week 43 Training Recap

Training for-

Paso Harvest Marathon 13.1
Golden Gate Half

It’s the final countdown! Come on, sing it with me! Sorry, I think the lack of sleep is making me slap happy. 😛 I’m still not sleeping but I’m also tired of whining about it. It is what it is so I am trying to just find the shiny and keep moving on.

I actually ran all the miles planned this week and almost pulled off some of the paces. Who am I?!? I started off the week by taking some rest days. It’s how being told to rest by someone else takes some of guilt away. I think my brain needed that after the last few weeks.

Monday- Yoga What?!? I used an app on my phone and did a beginners workout just to try to loosen up and relax a little. I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before so I was dragging.

Tuesday- Rest This day was a Monday Redux. Seriously, it was rough at work. I was so glad I didn’t have to run.

Wednesday- 4 miles After a few days off, I was feeling nervous like I forgot how to run. As you can read here– the run was freakin’ awesome!

Thursday-3.5 miles Interval ouch. The workout called for 6×400 with warm up and cool down. Normally I love 400’s but I was so damn tired and I knew I would be chasing the sunset. I had an option of rest or a light jog between the 400’s and I chose the rest. Even with that, the intervals kicked my ass. My paces were 7:58, 7:53, 8:41, 8:25, 7:56, 8:33. Not sure what happened with that third one. I was whipped at the end. I could not have run another one if I tried. I was proud that I finished the work out but damn that was hard.

Friday- Rest Oh crap, I think I broke myself. I was limping all day and my left knee and shin were pissed. I was kind of freaking out. I had 12 miles on the plan the next day, what do I do?!?! Does it really hurt or am I just being a baby? I have a mental block with 12 mile runs. Give me 11 or 13 or 15 and I look forward to them after marathon training, but 12? I hate them for some reason. Was I just whining? I texted Coach Jenny for her opinion and she agreed I should push my run back to Sunday and rest.

Saturday- Rest I attempted to catch up on sleep. Did I mention Thursday night was another 4 hours if I was lucky? Then I ran a few errands and read a book-Run!. I love reading Dean Karnazes’ books. Even if they make me think crazy thoughts. I signed up for my first marathon 2 months after reading Ultramarathon Man. What now?

Sunday- 12 miles Of course, when my alarm went off I was in the most comfortable moment of sleep that I had had all week. I hit snooze for 40 minutes before dragging myself out of bed for my run. My plan called for 6 miles @ 12:00, 5@ 9:30 and the last @ 9:00. My leg felt a little better but I was planning on taking it easy and keeping an eye on how it felt. I even had my mom on alert in case I needed a pick up.

I kept it nice and easy in the beginning and just focused on my leg. Mile 1 was super slow and I managed to keep the bridge mile at 10:00 which is fairly calm considering I usually bolt across it. At the halfway point I was actually right on pace and I felt ok so I tried to pick up the pace a bit. I couldn’t get to 9:30 though. Miles 7, 8, and 9 clocked in at 10:00. I was still pretty stoked about that though so I was hoping I could keep it up. Then I slammed right into a wall. Miles 10 and 11 were 11:18 and 10:57. Oops. I didn’t necessarily feel tired but I could not move any faster. I took so many walk breaks. I had already run more miles than I thought I was going to pull off so I decided not to stress about the pace. That said, I was so glad to see my watch hit 12. Success!

19.5 miles- an improvement over the last few weeks! Woo hoo! And now it’s on to race week #1! Eeek!

How was your week?

I whined a little didn’t I? Oops.

What are you reading?

Week 39 Training Recap

Training for:

City to the Sea 13.1
Harvest Marathon 13.1
Golden Gate Half

Where has the time gone?! We’re into the last week of September, how? I know I whine about this quite often but I really just can’t wrap my head around how fast this year is moving. Slow down!!

Last week was interesting as I received a tentative training schedule from Ekiden and a phone conversation with my coach. Woo hoo!! But also eeeek!!! Can I handle this? Someone give me a pizza, I’m freaking out over here. 🍕🍕

Monday- Rest Migraine from hell. Apparently I’ve turned into a big baby and any heat kicks my ass. Sunday’s long run while not super hot was too hot. I hydrated well but I couldn’t fight off the headache that started that evening. By Monday it was a full fledged migraine and it was all I could do to get through work.

Tuesday- 3.1 miles First run in the Hoka’s. Not too bad, nothing felt immediately off. Making it to 3 miles was huge though- I never accomplished that in the PureFlow 5’s. I also ran into a tarantula so I stopped and chatted with a gentlemen out walking about it.

Wednesday- Rest Yeah, I am sure I did something but I don’t remember what it was.

Thursday- 5 miles Half days for the win! I got off work early and finally went to lunch with my uncle. We’ve only been trying that for 4 years! Then I went home to wait for a call from my coach. 🙂🙂 It was a good conversation and I am looking forward to seeing what happens with this. Then I headed out for a run. The plan called for 4-6 easy miles with pickups so I figured I would run my 5 mile route. I was also trying the Hoka’s again so I wasn’t sure how far I would make it. Not too bad. My average pace at the end looked like an easy pace but in reality I was kind of all over the place. Oops. I did pretty good on the pickups though. I did have to reroute due to a large, angry dog though. Grrr. The shoes felt pretty good but I think I have a different definition of cushion than everyone else. I think they feel kind of hard.

Friday- Rest day The computers crashed for the 3rd time in a week. And never came back. Seriously?! I didn’t end up getting off work until 7. Ouch.

Saturday- ~~30 minute shake out~~ 1.3 mile power walk I completely overbooked myself. I slept through my first alarm, oops. Then I headed out to work for the morning, thankfully the systems were back up. Traffic was nuts on the way home, there was a huge cycling event on the highway. I was volunteering at registration / packet pickup for the HOB Fun Run and I had to decide between lunch and running. I chose food but went with my mother so she could drop me off at packet pickup. After my shift was done I power walked home. Something was better than nothing right?

Sunday- HOB Fun Run 10K/5K Recap in next post.

18.8 miles for the week. Not too bad, better than previous weeks. I have some weird aches and pains right now so I am hoping that they go away quickly. I’ve been foam rolling and icing and wearing compression socks. Fingers crossed!!

How was your week?

What do you do at work when the computers go down?

Any tips for tight ankles?

Week 17 Training Recap

Upcoming race– SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus– Keep working on the 4x a week and enjoy a step back long run.

Mission partly achieved. As for the other part- uh oh? For someone who has a propensity for colorful phrases, whether cursing or not, my training week ended with a very quiet, meek “uh oh”.

Monday- 3 miles 3rd day in a row and I was feeling a little tired. However, that was part of the plan so I kept moving. Mile one was super sluggish but I loosened up for mile 2 and 3. I finished strong and headed home. I did miss running with NikeC though.

Tuesday- 4 miles 4th day in a row?! Who am I? There is a method to my madness here, really. By the end of the work day I was not feeling like running at all. So I ran in work town; I knew that if I had to drive anywhere else, I would lose motivation and bail. My legs are not used to 4 days in a row yet so they were feeling pretty tired. I kept the pace easy and just tried to enjoy the view. By the time I got to the eucalyptus trees and shoreline I was glad I had stuck to my plan. Mile 4 felt the best to me which was funny as it is all uphill. I was just shy of 4 miles when I hit my car so I figured another loop of the block would get it done. Except I cut through the alley behind the police station. Should be safe right? And it was if you don’t count the crazy Husky that charged me. Seriously, what is my luck these days?! Someone called the dog off but he had the crazy dog look like he could snap at any time.

Wednesday- Rest Except my mother had a random Wednesday tennis match so without pizza night or running, I felt a little adrift. 😝 Ha! I ended up cleaning half of my car. It still needs to be vacuumed though.

Thursday- Rest I planned to run, I even changed into running clothes after work. My mother wanted to reschedule pizza night but I said I wanted to run first. Once again, she dropped the dad kryptonite. So I enjoyed pizza in un-sweaty running gear.

Friday- 10 miles I worked on Saturday and had plans to spend a day shopping in SLO, both of those things were stressing me out about my long run. I was able to leave early on Friday though for a partial day. As I was changing into my running clothes it started pouring in work town. Boo. I headed towards home hoping it would clear up on the drive. When I parked it looked stormy and threatening but was not even raining. A little rain is one thing, the pouring diagonal mess I drove in- not so much.

My first mile was super slow- more walking than running- I was mentally debating if I was going to run or bail. I didn’t have a mile goal in mind at all anymore, I was just out running. At every point where I could make the run shorter or longer, I would assess the situation. How did my legs feel and what did the skies look like? It was cold and windy but the storm clouds were holding. My upper left thigh felt a little off, kind of like there was a band around it. Nothing hurt, so I kept running. I was keeping a pretty steady pace and while it was faster than it should maybe have been, it felt good.

I was coming down a hill about a mile from my car when I felt it. Something in my left leg moved. I felt it shift on the outside of my upper thigh. I calmly said “uh oh” out loud and continued to run. Smart, right? It didn’t hurt but it felt very off if that makes sense. Good news was that the band feeling had gone away. I finished out 10 miles and stretched really well. At least I hoped so. I also attempted some butt kicks and high knees. Things felt weird. Oh crap.

Saturday- Rest I still wasn’t in pain but things weren’t normal. By midday, I was limping. But it still didn’t hurt? How does that even make sense? I chose to skip my planned easy run. Boo. If I didn’t have a race (SLO!!) next week, I may have pushed it.

Sunday- Rest For the most part, I felt better. Every now and again, I would feel an odd twinge but overall it felt ok. I spent the day schlepping around SLO and by the end I was exhausted. I haven’t slept well in almost a month so even though there was plenty of daylight when I got home, I passed on a run. I did however spend a very long time at The Running Warehouse, trying on all the shoes. At least it felt like that. The Launch’s and I broke up for good after that last cramp-tastic run. I hate returning shoes but I also can’t keep giving them to my mom. My budget is not that big!

So yeah, not the week I was hoping for but it could have been worse. I wasn’t planning on tapering for SLO but that will depend on my leg feels on my first run this week. It’s being weird so who knows? Fingers crossed?

Funny story, Friday I was sitting at my boss’s desk talking to her. I heard something behind me so I looked- crazy husky!!!!! He was in the building! Turns out he was looking for a treat. Small towns, right?

How was your week?

Ever have an odd, weird twinge? I’m thinking it’s my IT band.

Stressed Out

A little venting can be good for your mental state, right?

While my statement last week about my long runs being more consistent was true, what wasn’t mentioned was all the failed long runs along the way. And they failed in spectacular ways. Like I don’t know how I ever call myself a runner ways. And I just don’t get it.

It’s not that I expect all runs to be sunshine and roses, I mean let’s be real here. There is just something about these runs that just punch me in the gut and leave me pissed off. So what is it?

The long runs where I fight my inherent laziness and get up in the morning have been pretty consistent. Slow but that’s intentional, it’s the main point behind 80/20. It’s the midweek long runs that are kicking my ass. I love getting my long run done before the weekend. Every month I work a minimum of one Saturday. That means I typically get a half day during the week. Yay for extra running time! I love getting the long run out of the way before the weekend; that way I only have a short run to fit in then I can be lazy the rest of the time. However, this year, all attempts have just sucked. Misery, straight up.

First, there was the slowest 10 miler ever in January. February saw the 5.5 mile blow up- because sitting on the ground at a busy street corner is so normal. Today- attempt number 3- 12 miles was the plan. Reality saw 7.5, painful and slow miles. Grrrr.

I was looking forward to today, I was so excited to leave work to run. It was predicted for the mid 70’s, so I was thinking shorts would be perfect. I’ve been sore and tight lately, so I also had compression socks on. On an odd note- I was tight like this last year at this time-I swear it’s like an allergy. My calves were painfully tight so I walked more of the first mile than usual. Mile 2 saw more of the same plus stopping to stretch out my calves a few times. They hurt but I was having trouble figuring out if they were hurting in a injury way or just more tightness. Less than 2 miles in and I was hot, tired, hurting and having troubles maintaining any sort of pace. I was walking more than running and felt like bailing. I considered it but decided that I was just stiff and sore and needed to get better at toughing out runs. By mile 5, I was pissed off and talking to myself, no way in hell was 12 miles happening.

I had 2+ miles to get to the car and slow running wasn’t getting me anywhere. So it might not have been the best idea but I ran fartleks back to the car. Oddly enough, I was holding goal half marathon pace for the same amount of time I had been running slowly before. The walk breaks felt better too. The only time things felt rough was when I looked at my watch and figured out I was running a sub 7 pace. Oops. Hello crazy, slow the hell down. Yeah, it was only like a minute and a half and slightly downhill but it was a good minute.

The last 2 miles helped wash the sting of the first 5ish off but I just don’t get it. Have I not adjusted to temps in the 70’s yet? I made sure to eat breakfast and a small early lunch. I usually run races on an empty stomach without fuel. Was it the food that threw everything off? All three of these horrible runs were run in shorts. I am so self-conscious in shorts right now- like I wonder if I should burn them all. Could that really make me so uncomfortable that I tank my runs? I don’t get it!!!! The more I stress about it, the more I freak out and the more the run sucks. It’s driving me crazy!

Do I forego any more weekday long run attempts? Do I get over my desire to not have to run long on the weekends I work and just do it? Do I just make the weeks I work on Saturday a cut back week? I can’t decide!

Also, I’ve been running slow for 3 months now and I feel like I am getting nowhere. You would think an 11:something pace would be something I could maintain by now but no. Do I keep putting in the slower miles? Do I change things up while I have the time before marathon training gets really real? Or did I just need to whine it out?

If made it through this- thank you!

What do you think?

Happy Friday!!