I was tired going into Patrician last week, then after hopping straight onto a red eye and pulling an all nighter, I felt absolutely destroyed. But runs had been going so well the past few weeks, I didn’t want to back off. I also didn’t want to admit defeat on this measly mileage total of 35 miles per week. So I kept on trucking until I realized mid-week that it hurt to walk, and the muscles in my right hamstring had become so tight that I couldn’t touch my toes without sending sharp pain shooting all the way down to my knee. Runs had slowed to a crawl… but I kept thinking one more day of jogging and things would feel better! False, M, false.
After spending a day, sitting on my aching right buttock and contemplating whether or not I had managed to give myself some odd stress fracture of the pelvic structure… I was a little bit freaked out by the fact that I couldn’t really remember exactly when it had gone from good to bad. Which was the day that put me over the line from acceptable fatigue to “you are headed for a serious injury”? Looking back at my logs and spreadsheets, I can’t really tell. I didn’t really start to slow down significantly until this week, but thinking back really honestly, the right hammy wasn’t okay dating back to Napa… I just didn’t really want to deal with it because I was busy and as long as I could crank out those 7:20 miles, it didn’t seem worth worrying too much about.
Anyways, it all goes to show that older is not always wiser. Making good choices is a constant struggle and not just a one-time lesson. I started stretching and doing my PT again every day since Wednesday, and my right leg feels tons better. The weird pain in my L ankle is also stabilizing… I still feel sort of wiped out in general, and runs don’t feel peppy and strong as they did before, but I think I’m headed towards recovery.
Sunday 12/18/2011: Off, traveling home. Legs exhausted today, did some light jogging, 3 miles (total) to and from Dad’s apartment to deliver cookies and cakes, but I don’t think I’ll count this as mileage. Uphill segment I timed at almost exactly 9 minute miles, the downhill segment was probably slower, turns out its slow going trying to run while holding delicious comestibles.
Monday 12/19/2011: Second Smallest Charles River Loop (6.8 miles), 53:52 (7:55 pace). Legs still feeling a bit heavy and dull, also mis-timed this run so ended up running the last stretch of crappy trail/pavement in darkness. The sketchy footing probably made this already slow jog even slower. Wasn’t super amused.
Tuesday 12/20/2011: Fresh Pond from House (7 miles), 53:15 (7:36 pace). This run felt terrible. I felt like I was huffing and working hard, but in reality my HR was low and I was going really slow. Though my right hamstring/glut/everything else in there felt like worlds of pain, I thought perhaps I just needed one more day to recover from Patrician…
Wednesday 12/21/2011: JFK St. via Elliot Bridge (6.5 miles), 49:08 (7:34 pace). The first thought I had when I woke up today was “gahhhhhh, my hamstring!” My right upper leg had frozen overnight into a solid, useless block of pain. In order to get the thing out of bed and moving forwards, I felt like I had to physically lift the whole leg up and then plunk it down slightly in front of where it used to be. Refer back to the intro as to why I ran today…
On the plus side, Mom was inspired to run today, so we went on an 18 minute jog around the golf course. She did great! I also don’t think I could have gone on my run without this jog to loosen up my R leg. It was also pleasantly drizzly today.
Thursday 12/22/2011: River St. via Elliot Bridge (8.0 miles), 1:01:30 (7:41 pace). Warm up with Mom on golf course, followed by another slow jog. R leg felt a little better after stretching and PT yesterday, so ofcourse I had to push my luck by going on another run… Less pain but so, so much fatigue. Felt a little bit better on the uphill leg home.
Friday 12/23/2011: Off. Finally, a good decision. Though to be fair I was contemplating jogging to Harvard Square and back (approximately 5 miles) to meet a friend. Was saved from this horrible life choice by timing and a ride from Mom. Got back and did the 18 minute golf course jog with her again (actually the same loop took us 19 minutes today… probably because I was slacking on my pacing duties). Frankly, this was about as much exercise as I could handle.
Saturday 12/24/2011: River St. via Elliot Bridge (8.0 miles), 1:00:55 (7:37 pace). I think this was the first day that I woke up pain free and it didn’t hurt at all to walk, so I was hoping for a faster run, but I guess that might fall under “unreasonable expectations”. Felt pretty good in the beginning, then deathly tired, then good again. Weird. Also day 4 for jogging with Mom, so proud that she's sticking with it!
Week #8 Total: 36.3 miles, all jogging, but still managed to hold training volume while healing the injuries, that’s gotta be worth something!
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