listening to your body

First race and a Tweeked Knee

February 17, 2014 by Michelle 12 Comments

My quest for #14in2014 got underway this weekend. My training plan called for some race pace miles for Saturday’s long run so it seemed like a perfect time to put some of those miles towards the Stop Stroke Shuffle 5K. I had so wanted to do this run on the road but after taking a quick trip in my car to survey the roads there was just too much ice.

So I headed to the gym – not to self NEVER go to the gym on a Saturday at 9! I finally got a treadmill, did a quick warm up and then got started. It was a fairly uneventful run until the final half mile or so – that was when I felt the first twinge in my left knee. It was soon followed by another that lasted longer than the first. Not good….and I knew by the time I finished my knee was really unhappy. I still had miles left to do but when I tried a cool down run it was pretty clear that I just needed to pack it in.

Since then there’s been a lot of ice, a compression knee sleeve and rest. I passed on Sunday’s recovery run in favor of more shoveling as cross training.

Race #2 is just two weeks away and at this moment I’m not feeling very confident about making it to the starting line – it’s a 10 miler and thanks to cutting Saturday’s run short, the longest run I’ve logged so far is just 6.5 miles. While it’s not a goal race, I’m not loving the idea of heading into a race under-trained….on the other hand, I’m not crazy about passing up the chance to run this 10-miler. I’ll be checking in with Coach Bennett this morning to get his take on it.

WWYD – Would you run or sit this one out?

Filed Under: #14in2014, left knee, listening to your body, race report

Reassessing

November 13, 2013 by Michelle 15 Comments

I’m hanging up my half marathon training shoes for the rest of this year. There will be no half for me on December 8.

As you can imagine that is not an easy thing for me to see in print – not an easy decision, but it’s the right choice. While my foot is making progress, my attempt at returning to half marathon training has proven to be one step forward, two steps back. I may be able to kill my track workouts, but maintaining race pace on the unforgiving surface of pavement and roads is proving to be a different story – I can get 4 miles at best…clearly a problem when the goal is 13.1! And as I said to Coach Bennett during our last call, the one thing I am clear about is that I do not want to have to will myself through another race that my body isn’t prepared to handle. I’ve done that and know I don’t have the mental energy, nor desire to do it again.

So I may eye a couple of 5Ks before the year is over – after all I’ve only got 2 races left to complete the #13in2013 Challenge – but there will be no long distance races for me until next year.

Time to start building my 2014 race calendar!

Filed Under: #13in2013, choices, foot pain, half marathon training, injuries, listening to your body

Half Training – Week 11

April 23, 2013 by Michelle 8 Comments

Well I’ve reached week 11 in my training plan and it’s once again a race week! This time I’ll be toeing the line at the Newport 10 Miler Sunday – still not sure of what my race goals yet – last week was a mixed bag including really solid intervals at the track one day followed by a craptastic long run the next. Going to wait and see what this week serves up then check in with Coach Bennett on Friday.

On the schedule for this week:

Monday — 6 miles with a negative split on the back 3

Tuesday — Cross-training

Wednesday — 5 mile Fartlek

Thursday — Track work: 300 meter repeats & Yoga class

Friday & Saturday — Rest days

Scheduling snafus galore forced me to have to swap Monday & Tuesday’s workouts so I’m off for a rainy 6 now. Running 3 days in a row is usually something I avoid, but mentally I know I’ll beat myself up if I cut back on my mileage too much. I’ll see how it goes…

Filed Under: half marathon training, listening to your body, Newport 10 Miler, week ahead

Change in race plans

March 11, 2013 by Michelle 6 Comments

Black ice and an already tweaky knee quickly turned a 10 mile run in to 3 miles yesterday morning. I was lucky to not fall but the slide aggravated an already cranky left ITB/knee. I was only a mile and a half into my run when it happened and this little voice in my head said don’t push it…go home. Usually I’m fairly stubborn and would have kept going, but this time I think I made the right call.

I have been quietly agonizing for the last couple of days over the question of whether or not to run the New Bedford Half next Sunday. That same little voice I heard out on the road today is the same voice that has been getting increasingly louder over the past two weeks questioning whether running New Bedford is a good idea. Despite it not being a goal race, the truth is I am not where I’d like to be going into a race – and slogging through a race just for the sake of saying I finished it sounds really unappealing! Nor do I think it makes sense to push this knee/ITB and jeopardize the rest of my spring races and beyond.

I had this race on my calendar for two reasons – as a check in to see where I am in my training and because it’s suppose to be a fun, well-run race. Well I think I have my answer to where I am right now and as I said, the fun will quickly be negated if I’m out there slogging along.

So after an email exchange with Coach Bennett I’ve decided I will not be toeing the line next weekend. Still hard for me to type that, but I know it’s the right choice.

Have you ever gone through with a race when you know you shouldn’t have?

Filed Under: choices, ITB, listening to your body, New Bedford Half, to race or not

Resisting the urge to run

September 6, 2012 by Michelle 15 Comments

Towards the end of my long run on Saturday, I tweaked my left knee. I was on my last down hill when I must have landed funny on my left foot because I felt a zinging sensation on the front outer part of my knee that radiated up my ITB — pretty much stopped me in my tracks. I walked for a minute and it seemed to subside so I went on to finish the run (I only had just over 2 miles left). After the run I iced my knee and then went on to join the family for more vacation fun. On Sunday we did a little hiking, nothing strenuous, but I didn’t feel any soreness until towards the end of the day…so more icing.

After a 7 hour car ride Monday, I was stiff and tight and really looking forward to my run on Tuesday. Unfortunately, my knee was not! Within the first half mile I was uncomfortable and by the time I reached 3 miles I was starting to worry that I was just aggravating the situation so I cut the run short for more icing and rest. I got in touch with Coach Bennett to get some advice on whether to attempt my easy run on Wednesday. Given that the soreness is persisting, his advice was to not run again until my next long run Saturday. With just two and a half weeks until ZOOMA, he told me that I’ll benefit more from additional rest than running hills today.

So despite that fact that I’m itching to run, I’m heeding his advice, taking the extra rest and focusing on the strengthening exercises he’s given me so this doesn’t turn into a full-blown injury. Fingers crossed for Saturday!

Filed Under: half marathon training, left knee, listening to your body, ZOOMA Cape Cod

Thursday Thoughts (aka 3 Things)

January 19, 2012 by Michelle 5 Comments

1) I either need to find more hours in the day or tone down my somewhat ambitious to do list. Perhaps it’s the shortened week after the boys being home on Monday, but really feel like I’m struggling to keep all the balls in the air.

2) Is anyone else getting bombarded with summer camp brochures/email reminders? I mean seriously people it’s January 19 – what’s the rush?! I like to be as organized as the next girl, but sometimes it feels like there’s so much focus on the next thing/season/activity, etc. that there’s no time to just be in the moment and enjoy now. Of course, this is coming from someone who recently posted a full year’s race schedule…ironic, I know.

3) My training schedule’s going to need some tweeking. In an effort to increase my weekly mileage, I’m running 5 days, but with my weekly hour of pilates butt-kicking…I mean class on Wednesday nights this means I’m running twice and doing the class all within a 24 hr period. While I’ve been able to do it, I’m freakin’ tired by the time Thursday afternoon rolls around. And even with Friday as a rest or yoga day, I’m finding I’m still a little low energy when I head out for my long run on Saturday. I’m going to play around with the plan over the next couple of weeks and see if I can come up with something that’s a little kinder to my 45-year-old legs 😉

How’s your week going?

Filed Under: 3 things, listening to your body, to do list, what's the rush

Just a few hours til race time

October 10, 2011 by Michelle 6 Comments

“Just take your time and have fun.

Every race is not a PR but every race is an experience.

Just enjoy the crowd/other runners.”

— Runnerbee08 during #runchat (Twitter)

In about 4 hours I’ll be lining up with 7500 women for the Tufts 10k for Women….and I have no idea what to expect. I ran this race last year – it was my first 10k – so I know it will be a great atmosphere, but as for how I’ll do today I don’t have a clue.

I ran very little last week and not at all the week before as I try to coax my ITB away from a full revolt. And with Philly just 6 weeks, I don’t want to do anything that will put me further behind. So I’m basically going into this race without any expectations. My strategy is to see how I feel and just enjoy the experience!

Wish me luck!

Filed Under: listening to your body, no expectations, Tufts 10k

Are you listening?

September 1, 2011 by Michelle 6 Comments

Some days your body is trying to tell you something…the question is…are you listening?

Do you ever have those mornings where body parts are in revolt before you ever roll out of bed and touch one foot to floor? But you shake it off and think…wow I’m stiff this morning – (or, as was the case for me this morning….getting old sucks!)

Then as you move around going through whatever your routine is before heading out the door, those same body parts continue to voice their displeasure with what you’ve got planned – but you wave it off and think I’ll be fine once I get moving.

Now you’re out the door and moving…it’s not pretty at first, but at least your moving. By a mile in, you’ve found a rhythm and you feel like you’ve shown those body parts who’s the boss. But as you start mile 4, the revolt has returned in earnest and you can’t ignore the message that you might have gotten a little carried away with yesterday’s strength training, and that if you don’t want to be walking funny the rest of the day that it’s best to back off the pace…right now!

So you wrap-up your run, much slower than you want, but the rebels are for the moment pacified, content that they got their point across.

Yeah…well that’s pretty much how my run went this morning. Clearly my legs were still feeling the effects of yesterday’s workout and continuing to push today just might not have ended well, and I didn’t want to do anything to risk missing this weekend’s long run.

But it’s always an interesting question for runners – when do you push through and when do you back off?

Filed Under: general musings, listening to your body, to push or not to push