I know it’s been a while and I apologize for my absence… I had a
pretty busy spring and got away from my routine of checking in but I’ll get
back on track from here…
My appropriately titled entry for today “March 2015 - Spring
Straining” really of sums the challenging and very educational month of March I
had this year, let me explain…
… so the first week of March we had our hardwood floors refinished
and as I don’t particularly like asking for help, I attempted to move three
full bedroom sets down and then back up 2 flights of stairs by myself. Upon lifting and carrying the heaviest six
foot long antique dresser on my back I slipped on the stairs and cracked a disc
in my lumbar vertebrae. It has been healing (slowly) ever since but
has had a noticeable effect on my left hip and knee and causing some stride
issues to date.
The second week of March I was still recovering from the
back issue when I caught a nasty flu virus which knocked me out of the 2015
Gaelic Gallop and sidelined my training for another few days... unfortunately I
had to travel to NY for work during this time but I was determined to get back
on track after missing time because of my back.
I struggled through the week in NY sick as hell running 20 miserable
miles while feeling horribly run down and throwing up a few times per run and
much more after… my body was screaming for rest but I ignored...
The third week in March I got back to Dubuque and while I
had finally stopped throwing up from the flu but I was extremely dehydrated and
overall very worn down from pushing my training instead of appropriately resting
my body. I continued to train on piling
on the miles to get back on track while adding in more hills and speedwork,
this combined with my still injured back and altered stride inevitably lead to me
straining my right hamstring… lucky for me it is fairly minor and I’ve been
able to continue to run (smart) while it heals.
I’m feeling much better now as I type this in April but I certainly
learned (and relearned) some important lessons last month and definitely had a
great humbling experience..
Running 101 Lessons Learned – March 2015
1.)
Listen to
your body - everyone is different and reacts differently to injury and
stress - I always have had a higher tolerance
for pain and heal fairly quickly so I tend to ignore advice to rest and put
that rest talk in the “Wuss” category. I’ll
be doing a better job of self-evaluation and treatment in the future and looking
at the “W” word in a different light.
2.)
Don’t
chase numbers – I fell victim to
this in March, when I started to fall behind because of missed days, I wanted
to lump the miles on instead of correctly recognizing the issue, adjusting and
moving forward… remember numbers and totals don’t define you as a runner.
3.)
Adjust
your goals – Probably the hardest pill to swallow this spring was identifying
and accepting I was not at where I should be in my training. I had to make some important scheduling
changes to my training and races to keep myself healthy and ready to rock in
the fall.
4.) You Can’t Do it Alone – You would think
I’d know this by now with how involved I am with group runs but there was a
point this spring when I hopped on that bandwagon of thinking “I have to train
alone to hit my correct paces for race training”. Now it is true that some pace work you may
have to do by yourself but don’t forget how important others are in your
training, not only for comradely and a good push but also for sound advice. I specifically remember the run I had with Bill
when I got back from NY where in 12 miles he talked some much needed sense into
me and completely changed my outlook from negative to positive; it was a real
turning point which got me back on track and refocused on my goals.
In conclusion, if there was one take away you could get from
this entry it is the following… in
running, training and life everyone makes poor decisions, fails and falls short
of their expectations at times; believe me that has been much of my life in a
nutshell... but know that those falls do not define you, it is what you do next
that does…
…so dust yourself off, get your ass back up, and keep moving
forward… you’ve got a lot more running to do!
-Cory
