The Art of Not Running

Or ... "Now What do I do on Saturday morning?"


I am not enjoying recovery at all.

I have learned this about myself - I have absolutely no patience with my own physical limitations.

I am counting the days until I can run again.



*big sigh*

Working out the pain

Today I bit the bullet and went for an hour of bodywork (a.k.a. deep tissue massage).

It was both painful and a relief at the same time. Or as Sherri, my massage therapist, said it is a "good hurt".

Afterwards, I was amazed at how easily and painlessly I could walk.

So much tension was gone from my body that I went home and slept for a few hours. She warned me I would be sore later. I am.

But, the achiness is of the good healing kind.

The Last Long Run

This morning's run was our last long run before the Marathon. It was 24 degrees when we got started on the Rail Trails. The Rail Trails are paved over railroad tracks which are in extreme NW Jacksonville. The whole trail runs from Jacksonville to Baldwin. It is really very rural. There are woods surrounding the trails in some places, and farmhouses also along the way. And a gun club.

We started before dawn in the extreme cold. There were very few runners present. Some had run the Disney Marathon last weekend and were not there due to that. Others? I guess the cold and distance (26 miles today) kept them in bed.

Coach Chris usually talks for a good 10 min before we start. This morning was so cold that he spoke very briefly. He only reminded us that a group of runners in Chicago training for our Marathon were taking off this morning in -7 degrees. Someone yelled, "they're idiots", and we were off.

I had already decided to run with Group 8 today. Due to ITB issues, I wanted to take it easy and run as far as I could. But, where were they? It turns out that just 4 of us showed up - Lauren, Nicki, Richanda, and me. No pace group leaders. But between the 4 of us, we had a Garmin and a watch so we set off.

It was cold, really, really cold. But, once we got moving it was just ... cold, really cold.

Around the 1 mile mark, a rooster crowed to signal the approach of Dawn. He was a bit early. We really didn't see much light until mile 4. When the sun finally came up (just light, no warmth really), we noticed that the ground off the trail was all white! Searching my memory banks to time spent in NC, I realized that the ground was covered with frost. Some in our group had never seen frost before. I'd like to never see it again.

I started having ITB friction pain at mile 2. I ignored it. At mile 10 we spotted a deer running through the woods. Also, by this point, my ITB was screaming at me. So, I changed things around and tried some ChiRunning. ChiRunning felt much better on my ITB. I guess the positional shift helped some. Soon we were at mile 13, our turn around point.

I continued the ChiRunning; but, the pain was increasing. At mile 15, we spotted a hunter in the woods. The pain was becoming unbearable, and I fleetingly thought of stopping; but put that thought away. After all, my walk minutes were still only a little painful.

But, after a few more miles, I could not walk on it anymore. I was done. TJ had quit at mile 17. She was having side stitch problems that wouldn't stop. Carol wasn't there. Her ITB started bothering her at the 23 mile run and she is in PT and out of the marathon.

So ... after Phil picked up TJ at 17, he picked me up. I could not stand on my left leg anymore. In addition to the ITB pain, I am also having Achilles tendon pain (also left leg). After sitting and recovering for an hour in ice wraps, I was ready to go home. I am disappointed that the longest distance I have run to date is 20 miles. I am also disappointed that I need to stop running completely for a minimum of 2 weeks.

Here is the really frustrating part ... mentally, cardio-vascularly, and everything else ... I felt good on that run. I could have made the whole 26 miles IF my stupid ITB hadn't derailed me. This just sucks.

I have been advised to consider not running at all until the marathon.

I have 2 weeks to think about it.

Speedwork

Rocks!!!

I was supposed to run 6 miles this morning with my group. The run site is about 40 min from my house. I got up this morning with every intention of going until I turned on the Weather Channel and heard that the temp was 37° with windchill in the low 30's. So ... I rationalized that I could run 6 miles on my own in the afternoon.

Of course, left to my own devices, I decided to change it up a bit and opted for some speedwork instead.

I ran 1 mile repeats at my 5K pace with .25 mile walks in between. I was able to get in 3 sets of this before the sun went down.

It felt great! And, the best part is that my IT band did not hurt at all.

Cross-training revisited

Cross-training is something I have done consistently since I started running 19 months ago.

Always 3 days a week. Always. Until my ill-fated 18 mile run back in November. After that I went into "recovery mode". All I could think about was running and how I couldn't do as much of it as I'd like. AND, I stopped doing everything else.

I completely forgot about cross-training.

Well, last night I started back with it again. I pulled out one of my old DVDs, Sexy Arms with Dave Sinclair. Admittedly, Sinclair is kind of a big doofus; routinely interjecting phrases such as "Right On!" into the workout. But, the workout is sound and easy to follow. After I completed it, I felt pretty good.

And, I slept well. Better than I have in a long time.

Cross-training is now back as a part of my regular routine.

Maybe tomorrow I'll pull out one of my Neena & Veena DVDs.

1st Run of the New Year!!!

This morning's group run was 8 miles at the Beach. We ran at one of my favorite places to run - Atlantic Beach. At the start of the run it was 53°, 97% humidity, dewpoint of 53. So, yes, there was fog.

Fog at the Beach is heavy and beautiful. It quiets and calms. Well, that's the effect it has on me anyway.

Today was an unusual run. It was the annual "scavenger hunt" run. We collected assigned items (e.g., best lawn ornaments) with a camera. It was a bit goofy, but fun.

Group 8 - Marathoners and Half-Marathoners

Personally, the run was good. I did have some ITB friction pain, but not enough to stop me. It started at about mile 3 - nagging and annoying. I ran through it.
At around mile 6, I raced ahead of the Group so I could turn and take a photo of them running towards me through the fog.

OK, that hurt and probably wasn't very smart. But, the photo was good!!!

I made it the full 8 miles. I am very happy about that. I hope that means this is healing, because I want many more runs like this.

A few Scavenger Hunt photos with the clues beneath:

"Our Gracious Host"

"Runners' favorite Pit Stop" - Thanks, Miles!

"A Symbol of what we are running for"