I made several stupid decisions regarding my training that culminated in a painful injury, leaving me recovering today.But I'm getting ahead of myself. First stupid decision: On Thursday, I decided to do my medium-length run to the library. I had a few books to return, but nothing too heavy, and it would give me a nearly eight-mile run. I got my rusty backpack from high school out and packed it up, then set out on my little run.
I regretted my decision less than one mile from my house. Even though the pack was less than five pounds, it felt like 50. Plus, the backpack was rubbing against my lower back in a very uncomfortable way. When I got to the library in a very slow, painful pace, I was spent, but still had to run home. Sigh. I ended the day with a terrible rash on my back and a miserable time for the run.
The second mistake I made was training through pain. I've been having some pain in my thigh, which I really only noticed when I crossed my legs, so I ignored it.
So on my second run of my trailer camping weekend in my awesome new running outfit, I resolved to take a long tour of the country. I wanted to knock out at least 10 miles.
The weather was perfect: the sun was low, I had plenty of time and the weather was crisp and cool. As I ran past open pastures where the mist clung low to the ground and horses grazed, I thought this would be perfect.
And then, the pain started. First, it was just a bit of reduced mobility in the same leg with the thigh injury. Then, it felt like someone had stabbed me square in the side of my knee. I headed back, but not before my phone's GPS timed out. I have no clue how far I went, but it hurt.
The best I can figure is that with the pulled thigh, my other muscles were trying to compensate, leading to more tweaks and strains. As a result, despite the fact that I have a measly 19 days until my first half, I'm easing up on my training plan. I should have made a 12 mile run this weekend, followed by several longer runs during the week. Instead, I'm not going to hit the pavement until Sunday. I did the elliptical yesterday, which I'm doing again tonight. Tomorrow, I'm going to bike around town, then do an Insanity workout Thursday before resting Friday and yoga Saturday. Then, we'll see on Sunday what my leg is doing.
I will finish the Big Hit Half Marathon.
Mantra: Strive for progress, not perfection.
5 comments:
I'm no physical therapist, but have you been stretching/foam rolling? Last year, while running, I would occasionally get pains in the side of my knee, but it would go away after a few minutes. Then, in the middle of a 15K race, I got that same knee pain - but instead of going away, it got worse and worse, even with walking the second half of the race. Major bummer.
Anyway, through my own Dr. Google diagnosis, I think the culprit was a tight IT band. Now I try to foam roll the side of my legs from hip to knee whenever I remember. It seems to help - I don't get that knee pain anymore.
BUT like I said I am in NO WAY an expert. It could be something else.
Check this out:
http://www.runtothefinish.com/2010/01/7-tips-for-it-band-recovery.html
http://www.runtothefinish.com/2011/08/it-band-recovery-part-2.html
Thanks, Maggie, I'll give it a try! I asked for a foam roller for my birthday because I keep hearing from runners about how it changed their lives.
I think Maggie has good advice to foam roll. But also, quit running through pain, as you now know :) Hopefully it will all go away before the half!
Do you use body glide or vasoline? That will help with chafing/rashes if you decide to run with a backpack again.
And props to you for running to the library. That totally sounds like something I would do :)
This (fortunately) has been my first experience with chafing. I'd love to say I'll try it again and slap on some body glide, but I think I'll just abstain from running with a backpack. It really messed with my form as I couldn't keep my elbows close to my body and my gait suffered.
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