Monthly Archives: March 2008
Staying on two wheels, for now
To sum up my left foot injury in one word, I must say that it’s annoying more than anything else. It’s like a silent injury. It came from nowhere in the race and now it’s playing mind games. In the past few days, it hasn’t hurt when I get up in the mornings and it doesn’t bother me during the day. When I take my dog on a walk it doesn’t hurt, but as soon as I make an attempt at running it hurts.
On Thursday, I ran a half mile and it didn’t really bother me. But on Friday, it did. And today it did. So, instead of forcing myself to run, I’ll just continue to not run for a couple of more days before I try it again. It’s not really an intense pain like it was when it first started — it’s just dull and annoying. It sort of feels like a bad bruise that’s almost gone.
In the meantime, I’m amazed at how quickly I’ve gotten used to riding a bike. If this is what I have to do every day for a little while to stay in shape, then I’m OK with that. I’m approaching April as a month to get healed. If I can get to May without being hurt, then I’ll have plenty of time to be in tip-top shape for the Rock and Roll Half. All these goals of setting PRs in other distances will take a back seat until I’m 100 percent.
Take it and run Thursday: Injuries
On a day that I ran a half mile for the first time in two weeks, I find it a bit ironic that today’s theme for Take It and Run Thursday over at the Runners’ Lounge is on injuries.
In four-plus years of running, I consider myself lucky that I haven’t had too many injuries. The only problems I’ve ever had is when I increased my mileage - first in 2006 in training for a 10 miler, at the end of last year after my first marathon and less than two weeks ago in the Shamrock Half. Without really haven’t to go into too much detail, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to rest, rest, rest and rest. If you have a problem that impacts your running form, you have to stop. In ’06 when I had knee problems, I treated it with ice and Advil, which helped get me through the race, but after a hilly 10 miler, I couldn’t hardly walk for a week.
I used my first injury, though, to motivate me. I wanted to be a distance runner. Instead of sitting around that winter, I trained for a half marathon. After basically not running for two weeks after that race and then taking it really easy for a couple of more weeks, I came back feeling great. Resting was key.
At the end of last year with my heel issues, I just stopped running altogether and didn’t run again until I felt no pain. With the gradual increase in miles, I came back pretty strong, only to have the other foot hurt. Today, actually, is the first day that my foot hasn’t hurt at all, but I’m in the “one more day” frame of mind before attempting a few miles.
In the past two days though, I’ve realized how awesome it is to have a bike. In two days, I’ve rode about 9 miles and I’ve worked muscles that I forgot existed. In a short time, I already realize how important cross training needs to be and how a bike can prevent losing endurance.
The hardest thing I’ve encountered is how to deal with everything mentally. This recent injury hasn’t been so bad, since I know that I need rest. But with nice weather, it’s tough to sit still. Thankfully, I now have a bike, but I’d rather run. There’s no cure for that itch to run. When you’re hurt, you don’t want to see other people running, you don’t want to talk about it and you don’t to read about it. Just know that if you’re hurt, there is an end. The more patient you are, the quicker than end will get here.
4.5 miles on two wheels
So I finally bought a decent bike and got in 4.5 miles this morning. Not much, but it was the first time in at least five years that I’ve gone more than a few miles on a bike. Boy do I have a lot to relearn. Of course I didn’t forget how to ride — who does once you learn — but the whole shifting gears thing and getting my butt used to the bumps will take some adjusting. Either way, I’m happy to get an aerobic workout in. My foot is still bothering me slightly, so I haven’t done any running since the race.
Anyway, I’ll have more details soon about my bike and the experiences I’ll get on it this week …
A gift for my feet
After my post below, I went out shoe shopping and left the store with Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8. I got the black ones since that was all the store had, but I used to have this obsession with black shoes when I was a teen, so it’s sort of a retro thing for me. This is my second pair of Brooks - I got the GTS 7 last summer. They lasted 250 miles, which is good for me, and I really had no complaints about them. The Asics 2130s I have now just don’t seem to be working like I want. The insides are coming apart and they’re pretty close to 200 miles. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I can easily wear out some shoes. They still have some life in them, but not for running.
The Brooks today just felt right, so I’m looking forward to something new. Plus the sales people at the store were very helpful with explaining the shoe and gave some insight to why my mechanics likely lead to my shoes wearing out so quickly. So if you’re ever in Richmond, I highly recommend stopping by the Roadrunner Running Store on Cary Street.
No marathon, no problem
It’s hard to believe, but the first quarter of this year is almost over. If you’ve followed along, you know that it’s been an interesting few months. I’m ending it much like it began by taking a little break. Sandwiched in between foot issues, though, have been some exciting times of building my mileage back up and having another half marathon under 1:50.
I feel like with April right around the corner, there are some new beginnings waiting for me. I’ll soon be buying a bike to get more serious about cross training and to give my legs a bit of a break from pounding; the weather will hopefully get warm and stay warm so I can get in a normal routine every morning and evening; I’ll soon get a new pair of shoes that will hopefully make my feet feel better; and I don’t have to think about training for 26.2 miles.
This certainly makes me look forward to being a homeowner again. I’ll have some time to do some yard work; I’ll be able to open up the windows and get some painting done; I’ll be able to take a vacation in June and not care too much if I miss my long run; and maybe I’ll sleep in occasionally on Saturday and Sunday (if my dog lets me).
While I am focused on the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in August, I’m looking forward to a much different spring and summer than last year. Yes, I’ll still be running a lot and doing races, but I won’t have those extremely long runs that just ruin a weekend day. Last year it seemed like whenever I got to about 14 or more miles in the morning, the rest of my day was worthless.
Running has helped me become a more goal-oriented person, but it seems lately so many of my goals have focused around running. I should have a goal to get my dining room painted by the end of April. Maybe I will … as long as that PR in a 5k is somewhere close by. 
The search for a bike
Note to self: Never buy an $80 bike. It only causes issues 5 minutes after riding it. And never buy a bike from Target. Despite loving everything else in this store, including buying 99 percent of my running gear from there, when it comes to bikes, the staff isn’t so helpful. Perhaps Target’s PR department has Google alerts set up and they’ll read about this and get back to me.
I’ll be headed to another store very soon to complete my cross-training purchases and buy a bike that might have tires that last longer than a half-mile trip down the street and have a staff that might be willing to get another bike for me if I return it …
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