Hope & Despair

When an athlete is injured, their mind often ping-pongs daily from hope to despair.  I spent most of October through December in that state as I dealt with not one, but two bizarre (non-running related!) injuries that left me unable to run.   I'd wake up hopeful:  maybe today I'd feel better!  But the despair would flood in:  It's going to be forever until I can run again - and I'll be starting from scratch.  The truth is, I often had a hard time choosing to be hopeful - even though I know that psychologists have proven that hopeful people live longer, happier and healthier lives.   I tried each day to choose hope.  To choose to be hopeful, to be grateful for everything in my life that was going right, even if the running wasn't going the way I'd wanted.   I know that statistics say that around 79% of runners will be injured in a given year, so most of us are in good company when we do suffer an injury.  Of course, that doesn't mean we like it.  Running is a source of great joy - and for me the need to run feels akin to the need for a daily shower.  It has simply become a part of my daily routine.  So how do we keep our spirits up when we are forced to be apart from the sport we love? Do Something Different: 

I decided I'd take the opportunity to try some things I'd never done - like a BodyCombat class - and surprised myself at how much fun I had getting my cross-training groove on.  Yes, it definitely wasn't the same as running and I missed my running friends and routine, but thankfully I got to get to know several amazing women at my gym and their friendship gave me lots to look forward to when I was putting in miles on the elliptical instead of on the roads.  If you are injured, use the time to do something you've maybe always wanted to do but hadn't had the time or energy to pursue.  It doesn't have to be a physical activity, but trying something that you are interested in can help remind you that there are so many things in this world to be passionate about.  

Count Your Blessings: 

Study after study has shown the positive effects of practicing gratitude:  happiness, reduction of stress/anxiety, better sleep, and improved health are only a few of the many well documented benefits.  I tried hard during the weeks rehabbing my injuries to write down a few things each day that I was grateful for.  Most of them were not athletically related and that's okay - it helped me open my eyes to the fact that while running is a big part of my life, it's not the only part.  Taking a few minutes to write down three things you are grateful for each day can go a long way to improving your mood during a time of forced rest.

Keep Your ATHLETE Mentality

When I'm injured I tend to go one of two ways:  I either let everything slide (nutrition, sleep, core work, stretching) or I use the forced time off to focus on improving each of those things.  I'll let you guess which one helps more in the long run.  :)  I started off with the first option (way too many cookies!) but halfway through my time off I decided that I wanted to feel better - less down in the dumps about not being able to run.  And in order to do so, I needed to get back into an "Athlete" mentality.  That means realizing that even though you are injured, you are still an athlete.  And you can choose to use this time to get stronger and to work on establishing good habits that will improve your running when you DO make your comeback.  And speaking of that....

Believe You WILL Come Back

For most of us, though we may feel like we'll never run again, an injury just means we have to take a certain amount of time away from doing what we love.   We are fortunate that for 99% of us, these injuries do not spell a total end to our running career.  It simply puts it on pause for a bit while our body heals.  While we rest, we are still allowed to dream of big PRs, of hard tempo workouts, of long runs on crisp fall mornings.   Even if you have such a layoff that you are essentially starting from scratch, know that your mind and body will remember how to do this - the road back will not be as steep nor as long as you fear.  You must believe that you WILL come back, and that it will be worth the work to do so.  And your success will be all the sweeter for the struggle.

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As for me, I was very, very cautious when I finally got back on the roads.  I ran 2 days the first week, then slowly added in a day at a time.   I am being rewarded for my patience - I am back to running 6 days a week and even had a small workout this week!  I am just SO, SO HAPPY to be back out there.

Run happy, friends, and be grateful.

Rest and Reset

Erie medal and race bib hung up with pride

Let's catch up, shall we?  It's been three and a half weeks since the Erie marathon and I'm in a much different place (mentally).  I've hung up my medal and bib as I always do, and I've hung the beautiful framed print that they gave me for 3rd place.  I've had a chance to reflect on the race and take away a few lessons learned:

What went well:

• The injury-free buildup.  I think that sticking with the strength training and a similar running schedule that had worked for me in the past helped me get to the starting line injury-free.   I'm so grateful for that.
• Tempo runs this cycle.  I'm shocked that these went as well as they did.  I credit my friend Kevin to pulling me along on these and making me push a bit harder than I might have if I'd done them all on my own.  Having him out in front of me at 5am in the morning helped wake me a up a bit and by "chasing" him I saw faster paces on my watch than I ever have for tempo runs.
• Competing for placement.  It's only been within this past year that I've been in races where I've suddenly been in contention for the top spots.  This is a big mental shift for me and I'm still very new to the whole idea of racing against others - I've always just raced myself or the clock.   I'm proud of myself that I didn't give up at Erie when I knew I wouldn't get my sub-3 - instead I refocused and worked on placing 3rd.

Lessons learned:

•  Carb loading.  I think I overdid it a bit.  I felt heavier (and WAS heavier - weight-wise) going into this race.  I think a little less focus on carb loading (perhaps 1-2 days vs. 3) would have been a better idea.
• Water & Fuel during the race.  I am terrible at water stops.  I have a hard time getting liquid from that cup into my mouth while running 6:50 pace.  I need to practice that more often.   I also need to adjust the gel intake, or be more diligent about it.  Once I started feeling bad during the race and saw my pace slipping, I got lazy on taking my fuel.  Which only led to more of a slowdown.  Not the brightest idea.
• My mental attitude during the last two weeks and on race day.  After the half marathon didn't go as well as I'd have liked it to, I kind of got down on myself and started to doubt my ability to run the sub-3.  And on race day when I saw my friend pick up the pace during the race, I thought immediately that it was too fast for me - that I couldn't hold that pace - and slowed down.  I needed to kick myself in the pants and convince myself that YES, I COULD hold that pace, and put my head down to keep fighting for it.
• Peaking for this race.  I think I may have peaked about 4 weeks before the race.  I'd been training since April and my awesome run in Gettysburg may have been my body telling me it was ready to go.  I did seriously contemplate just tapering for two weeks right then and then trying to find a marathon to go run, but do to logistics and costs that wasn't feasible.  But I felt READY.  I hung on for the remaining 4 weeks until Erie, but I think I'll try a shorter marathon-specific buildup for my next one.

So that's the Erie Marathon post-mortem.  Onward and upward, right?

Indulging in local spirits - had this in a cocktail out at dinner. Amazing! I love spice so this was the perfect way to make a cocktail with a kick!

After taking 11 days totally OFF (expect for teaching BodyPump), I was ready to get out there and enjoy a good two weeks of nice and easy running.  My usual post-marathon routine is two weeks off, followed by two weeks easy.  I didn't make it quite two weeks totally off, but the weather was so beautiful that I was eager to get out there and enjoy Richmond's limited run of Fall weather before it switches over to FREEZING.  I ran with friends, ran some with my Dad, and enjoyed eating all of the delicious bad-for-you foods that one indulges in post-marathon.  (Beer!  Doughnuts! Ice cream! Yes I DO, in fact, want that second slice of cake!)  Last week I decided to get back into a bit more easy running and aimed for 30-35 miles in the week.  Things were going great until....

Ouch.  I stepped out of bed one morning and....my heel hurt.  "Huh.  That's weird.",  I thought to myself. I shrugged it off since it didn't hurt while running but the next morning...there it was again.  That weird heel pain.  At this point, the dreaded thought occurred to me:  Plantar Fasciitis.  My mom has had it.  My running partner Kevin struggled with it for months.   A visit to the podiatrist confirmed it:  a mild case of Plantar Fasciitis in my right heel.  ARGH.

Whomp waaaaaa.

So, this week has been filled with cross-training and lots of stretches, icing, and an appointment for Graston work on my foot.  I'm hoping that I can nip it in the bud if I take the time now to rehab it.  My hip is a bit tight (same side - right side - of my body as the heel) so I'm headed to the sports doc tomorrow to make sure that's just a tight muscle and nothing else.  Thankfully I don't have a race looming on the horizon and I can focus on getting my body healthy and ready for the next round of training.  So that's what I'm working on now.  Getting healthy so that I can get back to doing what I love.

Thankfully, I'm able to live vicariously through several friends who are running fall races!  (Hi Jessica, Shawn, Tia, Lesley and Kris!)  I will be watching Chicago play out this weekend and cheering in spirit for my friends chasing PRs in the coming weeks.

I'd love to live vicariously through you guys too - who is racing in the next few weeks? :)   

The Fall Marathon...Jinx?

Last week I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers and hit "confirm" to register for this:

And....the next day I promptly injured my hamstring on a 3x2 mile tempo run.  To be fair, it was a bit sore after the speed work from the following week.  I'd done speed again on Tuesday, then run easy on Wednesday and Thursday.  It was feeling much less sore, so I went ahead with the second dose of speed work on Friday as planned.

The workout was 3x2 mile at 6:20-6:30 pace.  It was raining so I opted for the treadmill.  Did a 1.5 mile warm up, then 6:31, 6:31 - 2 min rest - then 6:27, 6:27 - 2 min rest.  I started my third set at 6:27 and was alllllmost done with that 5th mile when I took a step and felt a huge twinge in my right hamstring that made me jump to the sides of the treadmill, wincing in pain.  Tried to run easy for a few paces and the hamstring was not having any part of it.  So I scrapped the workout and run and just gently stretched and cooled down.   I sadly (but wisely) decided not to run the Saturday long run with friends as planned and spent the day with family celebrating my nephew's birthday.  I foam rolled and iced and wore my compression shorts around the house.

Sunday I went for a tiny little run to test it out.  Still very sore, but improving.  Felt like I wasn't getting the proper push off and power on that leg and my gait felt off.   Was hoping for 6 miles but called it at 4 since I felt like I was doing more harm than good by trying to force it.   On a happier note, I also taught BodyPump and had some of my very favorite people show up to take my class:  my family!  Three of my sisters, my sister's boyfriend and my Mom all took my class and had a blast - along with getting a great workout!  They only heckled me a little bit and I got a big kick out of making them work hard!!  Extra pushups for everyone!

Cross-trained Monday on the Arc Trainer and had a massage.

Today I went out (with fingers crossed) for a 5-mile run.  While that leg still feels off (adductors are very tight on that side, and hamstring still feels tender), it was much improved and I was very happy to be able to run without wincing at every step.

Fingers crossed that this is a little bump in the road on the way to my Fall marathon.  I am having flashbacks to this time last year when I was injured right at the start of marathon training for Harrisburg and had to take the Fall season off.  It seems every time I actually hit the "confirm" button on a registration for a race, something pops up!   Hopefully I've caught this early enough and with a few days of easy running and cross training I can nip it in the bud and be back on the roads to ramp up for Erie.   I'm really looking forward to running Erie again.  While the drive up there is LONG (almost 9 hours!), the course is great and several of my friends from my running group are planning to go up as well.  I can't wait to train alongside them this summer as we all gear up to run.   If I'm going to train through the heat and humidity of RVA summers for a September marathon it sure makes it nice to have others suffering along with me!

Fingers crossed for me on this hamstring, eh?  Anyone out there have hamstring strain recovery advice? Who is running an early Fall marathon?  Anyone else in for Erie?  (you'll have a great time, I promise!)