training stuff
Despite my glowing last post, I have continued to struggle with my right leg. The pain seems to move around, and now it’s settled in my hip, which of course goes down my leg and causes my knee to hurt. I’m a bit mad at myself, as I had long ago quit doing my PT exercises, which honestly I do really need to do. I’m 2 months out, and I should have this fixed. I’m just going to pray that if I am consistent from now on, I will be right as rain come April.
I ran 10 miles yesterday. That’s a huge deal for me…even if I am hobbling around right now.
I actually thought I was going to do it pain free; I was 100% good until I turned around at mile 5. Typical. Also I have no screenshot evidence as my Garmin kept losing the satellites so it shows the wrong mileage. Gah! Next time, and yes there will be a next time!
This has been the first run where I’ve gotten tired from running; usually I have to stop because of pain, not because I’m actually tired. It only took doing a TT on Saturday and then 10 miles in the mud to get there. ?
My alarm goes off on Friday morning at 6am. I am a light sleeper, so even the slightest whisper of alarm wakes me up fully. I lay in bed for a few minutes, thinking of only one thing: how cold the water is going to be for that first lap around the pool.
I took a long hiatus from training. Before I broke my back mountain biking in 2010, I trained _a lot_. I woke up at 5:30am to do hill repeats. I avoided traveling or any weekend activities that would interfere with the hours upon hours of riding I did. I perhaps over-trained as a cyclist, and I _definitely_ over-trained as a triathlete. It certainly paid off: I went from complete beginner to Cat 1 in two years. I won some races. I actually won the only 2 triathlons I did (okay so maybe my field was tiny, but details).
The very first time I recall trying to “go for a run” was when I was maybe 11 years old. I thought I was fat and needed to lose weight. I won’t really go into how messed up it is that an 11 year old thinks this, but I did, and so I began running. The first few times I went, I could barely make it around the block. Every year we had to run the mile at school, and every year I mostly walked it. In 7th grade I miserably failed everything on the presidential fitness test, and after that I finally decided enough was enough. I trained for it, including finally becoming limber enough to touch my toes. I ran an 8:30 mile in 8th grade. It was a crowning achievement.
I spend a lot of time “improving” myself. Especially as an athlete, we’re told to do so many things to improve performance: foam roll daily, stretch, visualize success, go easy, go hard, ice bath, get massages, sleep 10 hours, take naps, eat protein, eat carbs, eat fat, don’t overeat, have x% body fat, strength train, work on your core, do your PT exercises, ice your knees, don’t run downhill, only run on soft surfaces, pedal in a circle, swim with your arm pits, do one leg drills, one arm drills….