ARRRRRRRRRRRGH.
I think that describes exactly how I feel right now.
I've spent the last week with back pain that keeps getting worse. I used to get low back pain quite often in my early 20s and tried several different treatments with varying levels of success- physical therapy, chiropractic care, massage, etc. Luckily, in the past few years, I haven't had any back pain at all- particularly since starting yoga (oops, shouldn't have backed off on that recently)- until now. I'm really not too worried about it in the long-term and am pretty sure it will go away with time. The last time I went to a doctor about it he told me to take 800 mg of ibuprofen 3x a day and alternate ice and heat, and I'm confident that will work now, too. What I AM concerned about it that I can't run. Actually, I really can't even walk too well (Corey says I look like an elderly, crippled woman. Not too far from the truth!). I tried to run on Thursday and made it only a few feet before I was almost screaming in pain. So that's a no-go for sure.
This is not a great situation considering that I have a half marathon coming up in exactly one week! Granted, though, things could be worse. To be honest, I'm not really racing any of these races, and really, it's not like I was going to make any huge progress in the last few weeks before the race. The main goal is just to run in my new city with one of my favorite people from my old city (well, in the world, actually- let's be clear ;)). And I've got to think after another week of totally babying my back it will be fine. But- has anyone ever taken on a long-ish race without running at all in the weeks prior? Is this crazy? And speaking of crazy, anyone have any magical cures for hurt low backs? :)
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Negativity and Self-Doubt
So I was talking to Corey last night, and he was feeling really bad about the fact that he didn't run the half-marathon. He said his knee was feeling good on Saturday so he really thought he could have run it. I, of course, as the outsider, know this is ridiculous. The last long run we did-- only a week ago!-- ended with me having to run home to get the car because he could barely walk. I reminded him of that but know it doesn't really help too much. I am no stranger to self-doubt, either. Whenever my times get better, I am guilty of thinking things like, "I probably haven't really improved; I've just learned to persevere and keep going." (As if that was a bad thing!). Even worse, I am REALLY bad about qualifying my times by saying things like, "Yeah, I ran a half-marathon, but it was really slow." Or, "I'm planning for a marathon in the spring but I won't be running it fast."
The problem with comments like these is that not only do they take away from my accomplishments, they also hurt others. I've been on the receiving side of these comments, too, where people say, "I'm sooooo slow" and they're clearly much faster than me. It stings, even though I know they're doing the same thing I'm doing--- essentially saying, "Yeah, I run, but I'm not a real runner. Please don't set your expectations too high for me because you'll be disappointed." What if we all agreed not to do this and were just our own biggest cheerleader? Not only in running, but in everything? I hate to be Blogger McPositivity and all, but I'm really going to try not to do it anymore. I know I've improved and I refuse to qualify that with a, "but I'm still not that good." It takes away from any work that I've done to get to where I am and the sad thing is, it probably would never stop, no matter how much faster I ever get! And this isn't true only for running- it's really true for all of us, no matter what we do.
I'm off to Boston this afternoon for a work conference where I'll reunite with several of my work friends. :) Looking forward to it! There's also a conference 5k walk/run on Wednesday that should be fun. Hope everyone has a great week!
P.S. I realized I didn't define "PR" in my last post for all my non-running readers. Here you go! PR
The problem with comments like these is that not only do they take away from my accomplishments, they also hurt others. I've been on the receiving side of these comments, too, where people say, "I'm sooooo slow" and they're clearly much faster than me. It stings, even though I know they're doing the same thing I'm doing--- essentially saying, "Yeah, I run, but I'm not a real runner. Please don't set your expectations too high for me because you'll be disappointed." What if we all agreed not to do this and were just our own biggest cheerleader? Not only in running, but in everything? I hate to be Blogger McPositivity and all, but I'm really going to try not to do it anymore. I know I've improved and I refuse to qualify that with a, "but I'm still not that good." It takes away from any work that I've done to get to where I am and the sad thing is, it probably would never stop, no matter how much faster I ever get! And this isn't true only for running- it's really true for all of us, no matter what we do.
I'm off to Boston this afternoon for a work conference where I'll reunite with several of my work friends. :) Looking forward to it! There's also a conference 5k walk/run on Wednesday that should be fun. Hope everyone has a great week!
P.S. I realized I didn't define "PR" in my last post for all my non-running readers. Here you go! PR
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Half Marathon #3 done
2:14:55, which happens to be a new PR!
Corey didn't end up getting to run- between his esophagus issues and a bad case of runner's knee, he's kind of a mess right now. :( He was an awesome spectator though, and showed up about every 2 miles! Every time I started to feel a little worn down I thought, "I'll see Corey in a few minutes and I better look strong", so I kept on trucking!
Our friends Nicole and Brandon came in town last night and both ran the half today as well. Nicole finished in 1:51, her fastest half ever! Brandon and I were planning on a similar pace so we ran together. We chatted for about the first 8 miles and then we played a game until the end. Fortunately it kept me fairly occupied so I didn't focus on how many miles we had to go!
I was feeling pretty undertrained for this race and didn't have a great sense of how I was going to do. I'm so glad I had someone to run with who kept me going and entertained the whole time, and a great husband who was there cheering and making sure I was motivated. Now for a nap!
Corey didn't end up getting to run- between his esophagus issues and a bad case of runner's knee, he's kind of a mess right now. :( He was an awesome spectator though, and showed up about every 2 miles! Every time I started to feel a little worn down I thought, "I'll see Corey in a few minutes and I better look strong", so I kept on trucking!
Our friends Nicole and Brandon came in town last night and both ran the half today as well. Nicole finished in 1:51, her fastest half ever! Brandon and I were planning on a similar pace so we ran together. We chatted for about the first 8 miles and then we played a game until the end. Fortunately it kept me fairly occupied so I didn't focus on how many miles we had to go!
I was feeling pretty undertrained for this race and didn't have a great sense of how I was going to do. I'm so glad I had someone to run with who kept me going and entertained the whole time, and a great husband who was there cheering and making sure I was motivated. Now for a nap!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
No long run- but a long day
It's only 6:30 but it's been a long day so far! Corey and I were planning to do 11 miles this morning- our 2nd to last long run before the Rocktoberfest Half Marathon- before going to lunch and spending the afternoon with his parents. Instead, we spent all day in the emergency room...
Last night Corey swallowed a piece of steak that then seemed to get stuck, so we went to urgent care first thing in the morning. Being good former public health students (!) and not wanting to use the ER wastefully, we didn't rush off to the hospital last night because it didn't seem life-threatening (he could breathe, it was just uncomfortable). However, as soon as we got to urgent care and told them the problem, they encouraged us to go to the ER immediately and said it couldn't wait. So, we ended up in the hospital for about 8 hours. It turned out that some sort of allergic reaction over time and irritation/inflammation had caused his esophagus to close up so they had to go in and put in a balloon to expand it to close-to-normal size. Scary! Fortunately he's fine now (just sleeping off the anesthesia) and from here, he follows up with the gastroenterologist in a few weeks to try to figure out what to do next. I'm about to go out and buy clear liquids while he sleeps because that's all he can eat tonight.
So yeah, in the grand scheme of things, missing a long run's not a huge deal and I'm definitely glad he's ok! Half marathon training pales in comparison to someone's health. Unfortunately, though, we've both missed a few long runs since July, which is not a great thing at all for the training plan. Once we skipped it because we both were in some pain so we decided to intentionally take the week off and rest, once we were out of town for the weekend and were supposed to do the long run on Friday but I woke up with a bad migraine, and then today. Corey's also been experiencing a lot of hamstring pain on the last few long runs that have caused us to stop quite a few times so I'm a little concerned about how the race will go. We still have one more long run, though, so hopefully that will go well and we'll be back on track. Fingers crossed....
On a positive note, I was talking with Pamela on gchat the other day and she asked if we could run the Thunder Road half marathon together! I am SO looking forward to that! We did all of our long runs together when I was still in VA but didn't race together because she's so much speedier than I am. But for this one she's going to lag back with the mid-packers so we can spend time together and get to run together again. I can't wait!!
Last night Corey swallowed a piece of steak that then seemed to get stuck, so we went to urgent care first thing in the morning. Being good former public health students (!) and not wanting to use the ER wastefully, we didn't rush off to the hospital last night because it didn't seem life-threatening (he could breathe, it was just uncomfortable). However, as soon as we got to urgent care and told them the problem, they encouraged us to go to the ER immediately and said it couldn't wait. So, we ended up in the hospital for about 8 hours. It turned out that some sort of allergic reaction over time and irritation/inflammation had caused his esophagus to close up so they had to go in and put in a balloon to expand it to close-to-normal size. Scary! Fortunately he's fine now (just sleeping off the anesthesia) and from here, he follows up with the gastroenterologist in a few weeks to try to figure out what to do next. I'm about to go out and buy clear liquids while he sleeps because that's all he can eat tonight.
So yeah, in the grand scheme of things, missing a long run's not a huge deal and I'm definitely glad he's ok! Half marathon training pales in comparison to someone's health. Unfortunately, though, we've both missed a few long runs since July, which is not a great thing at all for the training plan. Once we skipped it because we both were in some pain so we decided to intentionally take the week off and rest, once we were out of town for the weekend and were supposed to do the long run on Friday but I woke up with a bad migraine, and then today. Corey's also been experiencing a lot of hamstring pain on the last few long runs that have caused us to stop quite a few times so I'm a little concerned about how the race will go. We still have one more long run, though, so hopefully that will go well and we'll be back on track. Fingers crossed....
On a positive note, I was talking with Pamela on gchat the other day and she asked if we could run the Thunder Road half marathon together! I am SO looking forward to that! We did all of our long runs together when I was still in VA but didn't race together because she's so much speedier than I am. But for this one she's going to lag back with the mid-packers so we can spend time together and get to run together again. I can't wait!!
Monday, September 26, 2011
I'm not trying to freak out, but...
Saw this on FB today...
Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 8k
Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 8k
Wow. But- one thing at a time, right? Marathon training doesn't start until after the Thunder Road half marathon, so I'll wait to freak out about it then. Gotta keep base building and stay healthy until then! Can't train for a marathon if I'm already dealing with aches and pains...
Had a great night last night. I went to my second class at Be Yoga and it was exactly what I needed. I was enjoying my classes at the other yoga studio and getting an amazing workout, but that peacefulness and acceptance that I'd always felt with yoga was missing there. I feel like Be Yoga is just what I was looking for- it's NOT hot yoga, there are no mirrors to distract me, and it doesn't feel competitive...I think I fit better there and I'm thrilled that I've found it! I still will probably continue to try other studios in the area but I'm really happy that I've found a place I'm excited about.
Going to try a new run club tonight sponsored by Lululemon! Crossing my fingers that it will be a good group!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Laaaaze
OMG. I have had an amazing morning so far.
Typically we do our long runs on Saturday, but my hip's been achy recently and was REALLY hurting last night (OK, that part's not so amazing) so I thought an extra rest day might help. We're doing it tomorrow morning instead. Which means I was in bed until 10 AM this morning! When I finally dragged my lazy self out of bed, I was really craving pancakes so we took a morning trip to IHOP. Strawberry and banana pancakes = heaven for sure.
Now I'm parked on the couch with these little guys and don't plan to move for at least a few hours:
Aaaaah. Perfect. I'm a little disappointed that it means I won't meet my weekly mileage goal but this morning may have been worth it. Now fingers crossed that my hip feels all better tomorrow! Lots of icing and foam rolling today!
Typically we do our long runs on Saturday, but my hip's been achy recently and was REALLY hurting last night (OK, that part's not so amazing) so I thought an extra rest day might help. We're doing it tomorrow morning instead. Which means I was in bed until 10 AM this morning! When I finally dragged my lazy self out of bed, I was really craving pancakes so we took a morning trip to IHOP. Strawberry and banana pancakes = heaven for sure.
Now I'm parked on the couch with these little guys and don't plan to move for at least a few hours:
Aaaaah. Perfect. I'm a little disappointed that it means I won't meet my weekly mileage goal but this morning may have been worth it. Now fingers crossed that my hip feels all better tomorrow! Lots of icing and foam rolling today!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Tough Run Thursday
Man, tonight was a tough one. I'm not too sure why- it was just a 6 miler at a normal pace- but for some reason I was exhausted from the beginning! I wasn't thrilled at all with how it went since I ended up walking about 3 times but I was pleased to finish it at least.
There are a couple of reasons I can think of that the run may have been extra hard today. One is that last night I went back to one of the running group runs. I should probably explain this group a little better- it's a meetup group that has about 1000 members or something but very few are actually active. There are multiple runs scheduled a week and you just choose which ones you want to attend. This was the first one I'd been to on a Wednesday night and it was a totally different group of people than the ones that are usually there on Monday.
One thing that wasn't different is that once again, these people were fast! I started out with a group that was in the back of the pack and we finished the first mile in 8:45- woo-hoo! The problem with me starting out that fast, though, is that I then faded quickly. The group left me behind shortly thereafter and I actually ended up cutting my run a little short (3.5 miles instead of the 4.5 I'd planned). So...kind of a fail. But, to put a positive spin on it, I at least saw an 8 on my Garmin which I've probably only seen about 5 times! So, it's something, right? But even that one way-faster-than-normal mile seemed to leave me still exhausted today!
The other thing that may have impacted my run this evening is that my lunch was a (delicious!) buffalo fried chicken salad from Taco Mac. I went to another UGA alumni group lunch which was great for getting out of the house but probably not so great for pre-run fuel. That combined with a late afternoon nap left me feeling pretty drained when it was time to run.
I'm starting to feel a little pressure since the Thunder Road half marathon is less than 2 months away and the Rocktoberfest Half Marathon is FIVE weeks away. I'm only running the Rocktoberfest one as a training run (and Corey's first half-marathon- yay! :)) but I still want to feel good while I'm doing it. I'm where I had hoped to be with distance but not at all with speed. The fact that I faded so quickly yesterday was a good reminder that I need to keep pushing the pace and doing some more planned speedwork to get faster. It's so awesome to have a built-in running partner in Corey and it definitely keeps me consistent, but since he's so new he's not ready to do speedwork yet so that's one's up to me. Gotta keep at it!
There are a couple of reasons I can think of that the run may have been extra hard today. One is that last night I went back to one of the running group runs. I should probably explain this group a little better- it's a meetup group that has about 1000 members or something but very few are actually active. There are multiple runs scheduled a week and you just choose which ones you want to attend. This was the first one I'd been to on a Wednesday night and it was a totally different group of people than the ones that are usually there on Monday.
One thing that wasn't different is that once again, these people were fast! I started out with a group that was in the back of the pack and we finished the first mile in 8:45- woo-hoo! The problem with me starting out that fast, though, is that I then faded quickly. The group left me behind shortly thereafter and I actually ended up cutting my run a little short (3.5 miles instead of the 4.5 I'd planned). So...kind of a fail. But, to put a positive spin on it, I at least saw an 8 on my Garmin which I've probably only seen about 5 times! So, it's something, right? But even that one way-faster-than-normal mile seemed to leave me still exhausted today!
The other thing that may have impacted my run this evening is that my lunch was a (delicious!) buffalo fried chicken salad from Taco Mac. I went to another UGA alumni group lunch which was great for getting out of the house but probably not so great for pre-run fuel. That combined with a late afternoon nap left me feeling pretty drained when it was time to run.
I'm starting to feel a little pressure since the Thunder Road half marathon is less than 2 months away and the Rocktoberfest Half Marathon is FIVE weeks away. I'm only running the Rocktoberfest one as a training run (and Corey's first half-marathon- yay! :)) but I still want to feel good while I'm doing it. I'm where I had hoped to be with distance but not at all with speed. The fact that I faded so quickly yesterday was a good reminder that I need to keep pushing the pace and doing some more planned speedwork to get faster. It's so awesome to have a built-in running partner in Corey and it definitely keeps me consistent, but since he's so new he's not ready to do speedwork yet so that's one's up to me. Gotta keep at it!
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