Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon: Weeks 11 & 12

Hello, once again, from the long delayed world of the injury doldrums - round two. While resting for a week definitely helped heal my leg somewhat, the pain came back again and necessitated some more time off. My focus right now is to get through my last real week of training and make it to my taper. I'm bummed I might not really get to enjoy taper, but hopefully those three weeks will allow me to heal completely.

In other news, my new job is awesome! Learning a whole new industry (again...) is hard, but I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of things and can do some tasks on my own now like a real person. My team is great and really friendly. It's so refreshing to enjoy work again, and I'm amazed how much better I feel when I get home, especially since my commute is so short. (I worked more than eight hours today and still made it home before five. It's like magic!

Sunday, October 4
rest

Monday, October 5
5 mi easy (10:59 min/mile)

This was my first run in my new shoes, and they felt awesome! Having fresh, thick cushioning underfoot made for a much gentler ride. I moved up from the Wave Rider 17s to the 18s. The bottom is exactly the same, but the upper changed enough I went from a 7.5 to an 8. They feel a bit like clown shoes.

Tuesday, October 6
8 mi easy (10:56 min/mile)

This was my last day at my old job, so I left early and got home early enough to do the whole run in the sunlight. It was beautiful.

Wednesday, October 7
4.8 mi hills

Once again, I had six sets of hills on the menu. I won't lie and say it wasn't hard, but I realized around the fifth set my breathing, while heavy, was actually pretty controlled, and my legs didn't feel really beat until the last set. This is a long way from when two sets wiped me out pretty hard! I don't want to get cocky, but I certainly feel very prepared for the hills at this race.

Thursday, October 8
rest

Friday, October 9
1 mi WU, 8 mi @ 9:53 min/mile, 1 mi CD

My sleep patterns got really messed up on my days off (I wanted to stay up ALL THE HOURS, and then felt like all the crap during the day). I could really feel the lack of sleep eating at me on this run, but nothing was wrong, so I pushed through. I guess it was good mental training?

Saturday, October 10
20 mi long (11:21 min/mile)

I felt like I nailed my nutrition this run and never got in a bad mental place. The last five miles were a bit tricky since it was dark enough I had to do smaller laps in the neighborhood. The last two to three miles really taxed me mentally. I wanted to be done so badly because my legs were just so tired, but I knew that was the whole point, and nothing hurt, so I kept going. I was pretty done when I got home, but super proud of myself!

Run Miles: 47.8 mi
Total Time: 8:41

Sunday, October 11
rest

Monday, October 12
5 mi easy (11:14 min/mile)

I didn't make any notes for this run, which means I think this is when my leg started hurting again, but I didn't want to admit it.

Tuesday, October 13
rest

I got stuck at work a bit late training, and then I had to go across Cleveland to see the Hobbit Extended Edition in theaters. (Yes, yes, I know.) I didn't have enough time to run, and I certainly wasn't about to skip my movie to do it.

Wednesday, October 14
Yoga for Runners - A Stretch for the IT Band

I spent all day trying to hide a pronounced limp at work (rather successfully, I might add!), so I decided maybe running wasn't the best option for me.

Thursday, October 15
rest

Friday, October 16
Yoga for the IT Band and Outer Hips
IT Band Healing Yoga
20 Minute Deep Stretch Yoga for the Hips and Quads
Yin Yoga for Runners - Hips and Hamstrings

My leg was really painful, so I tried every IT band/hip yoga video I could find. I'm not sure how much any of them really helped.

Saturday, October 17
rest

But don't worry - I got my heart rate up with the best play ever in college football. Seriously, if you did not see the ending of the Michigan-Michigan State game, go watch it. I highly recommend the version with the MSU radio broadcast cut on top, since our color commentator completely loses his mind (as well he should). I think Michael and I laid on the floor after the game for fifteen minutes, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Run Miles: 5 mi
Yoga Time: 1:47
Total Time: 2:43

Looking back, I had forgotten how good my leg was two weeks ago. I was feeling a little disheartened that it flared up again, but writing this post made me feel better. I'm glad at least since it's my IT band, that I won't be able to do any permanent damage. I'm also thinking I should find if someone in the area will do ART - I have a feeling a good chiropractor could probably clear out a lot of the problem.

It's hard to believe the marathon is less than four weeks away!

4 comments:

  1. The week of running while your leg was okay was BOSS. It's such a shame that it acted up on you again! IT Band pain is the worst. KT tape helped me when mine put me out of commission. It didn't make it "heal" but it helped hurt a little less when I ran. Might be a good option for your race!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! This pain is weird, whenever my IT band has hurt before, it feels like grinding in my knee, which I know how to handle. This is just a roving ache in my quads. I'm hoping to get into a chiro, which should hopefully clear it up.

      Delete
  2. You got a really solid week in before your leg acted up at least. Plus you still have plenty of time so rest up and hopefully it'll be better before you know it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It's just frustrating because I want to enjoy some shorter runs (finally), but instead I'm stuck doing nothing.

      Delete