Glass City: Weeks 6 and 7 and a Race!

Ugh, where to begin.  The train came off its track during week 6.  I was doing so well, hitting all my runs, times, and feeling as fantastic as could be.

And then I noticed during my first few runs of Week 6 that something felt off.  My right knee was a little achey and was progressively getting worse.  I took 3 complete days of rest and attempted to run.  I couldn’t even make it a minute.  Sharp, stabbing pain on the inside of my right knee…pain like I’d never experienced before, stopped me dead in my tracks.  I cried.  Then I cried to my husband.  I was done and my training cycle was done, I was absolutely sure of it.  The knee that I’ve had more problems with was acting up again and I didn’t want to risk really trashing it just to run.

I didn’t do anything all Week 7.  I popped my bike up on the trainer and biked until my rear end was bruised.  I did all the self PT I could think of, used the foam roller, used the stick, iced, ibuprofened, etc.  The best decision I made was to have my husband check out my leg length at the beginning of Week 7.  Lo and behold, my right leg was sitting way short.  Like 1/2 inch short.  Thank you very much cantered roads.

All week, I had him do corrections to my back and eventually got things sitting level.  I finally was having no pain by Thursday.  That left me with obviously a terrible decision as I had registered for the Great Black Swamp 15K on Saturday, 3/19.  To run or not to run?  I checked out the course map, it was a giant squarish circle that allowed for no dropping out.  It also involved super long straightaways which could be bad if the road was too slanted.

I decided I’d at least give it a shot.  If I was going to be there to watch my parents race, I might as well try.  If I wound up doing the walk of shame through cornfields to try to navigate back to the start, so be it.

The weather was chilly, the breeze was kicked up, and I was ready to run.  Or whatever.  I was going to be happy just to finish and not cough up a few lungs (because, yes, I have bronchial coughing symptoms–again).

The race started without much fanfare and I decided to figure out what was going to be a comfortable stride and speed.  This would not be a race for me, it simply would be my long run.  A training run.  I wanted to stay well within myself and avoid any signs of my knee beginning to act up.  So I ran.  And ran.  And ran.  Periodically coughing up a small troll doll and then continuing on.  I found a small group that was running a comfortable speed and silently latched on.  I stuck with them until shortly after 6 miles and then proceeded forward.  I tried to make the last few miles a little faster and finish on a good note.

Crossed the line in 1:14:20 for 7:59 avg pace.  I was pleased.  Consistent pacing.  No knee pain (it helped that most of the race was on the right side of the road).  The only bad thing is that I ran terrible tangents because I had nearly .2 miles extra on my watch.  Oh well.

Hoping that I can continue to stay healthy the rest of this training cycle to make to the start line on April 23.  Until then, it’s more core exercises, Kinesiotaping, and hip exercises for this pelvically (I just made a new word) unstable girl!

Glass City: Week 5

Another week is officially in the training book and it was the first chapter that finally felt…hard…er…ish.  There definitely was a kick up in the mileage and intensity of my workouts, so the rest days and strength workouts became even more important.  Squats are my jam. My foam roller and stick have become my BFF’s.  It’s important to keep the niggles from becoming naggles from becoming full-blown injuries.

 

Monday–Rest Day
Tuesday–Treadmill Easy 4 Miles in 31:40 prior to work.  Note to self: still not a morning runner.
Wednesday–Treadmill 3 Easy Miles in 23:18.  Didn’t keep it as easy I should have.  Probably because I was trying to get it done ASAP.
Thursday–Treadmill 400×8 with 1/2 mile WU, 1/2 mile CD for 31:00.  Did a quick strength sesh after consisting of lunges, bodyweight squats, bridges, calf raises.
Friday–Rest Day
Saturday–8 Mile Long Run and because I’m apparently a sick, sick individual I elected to do this on the treadmill.  There was no reason I couldn’t run outside besides me not wanting to put on tights and long sleeves.  I did catch up on My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (does anyone else watch that show?!) which was nice.  1:04:16.
Sunday–3 Mile Pace Run in 22:31 OUTSIDE.  I figured 1 run needed to be outside, so this was it.  Then I did a quick strength sesh outside and almost biffed it trying to do squats off our porch swing.  Always the epitome of grace, I am.

Totals: 22 Miles

Next week is supposed to be a cut-back week, but I’m going to have to fiddle around with my plan because I am doing my 10K and 15K races out of order (such the rebel).  I’ll be doing the Great Black Swamp 15K on March 19 and the Second Sole Spring 10K on March 26.  The plan is to not actually race (hardy har, said no runner ever) the 15K and try to race the 10K.  I will most likely just do whatever feels right that particular day.