A Day Off - Kind of

Well I took yesterday off - kind of. I did my normal walk during lunch (1.67 miles) and then started back on my softball team. I play second base for an 'upper D' league here in Irvine California. Now this group hasn't been together for about 6-8 months and I haven't even touched a ball during that time so I expected to be rusty, but the whole team came out on-fire and we never were challenged after the first half of the first inning. It was good seeing the guys again after such a long layoff.

My plan was to run two miles once I got home after a 8:50pm game - but that didn't happen. I rolled into the drive at 10:45 and with my body still reeling from the hard runs earlier this week and now the bending motion(s) from playing softball I was really sore. (Plus I had recorded the Laker game that I HAD to watch.) I decided to just take a warm shower and relax. I iced my lower back and feet for pretty much the hour it took to watch the game and felt pretty good going to bed.

Oh my GOD! I woke this morning and my body was screaming at me. I could barely move; my feet, calves, lower back, ass and hips were all really sore - almost painful. (Notw I'm getting old and really didn't take care of my body when I was younger so normally I walk like a penguin when I get up but this was 10x worse)

Needless to say, I'm planning on taking another day off today - and I'll remember now not to run my long run after a quick race pace run like I did earlier this week. (stupid I know but I felt so good earlier this week.) I did bring my stuff to walk during lunch, but I might just use that time to buy/look at new shoes - My NB shoes are getting up there in miles, and I really haven't been happy with them in their cushioning and stability. (If fact I think they may just be aggravating my back enough to cause me pain after my runs.)

But like I mentioned in my last post - I'm going to take it easy the remainder of this week - the loss of mileage this week won't have any effect on my Thanksgiving race at this point. I just need my rational part of my brain to overcome the other part that is screaming; "You need the miles! Don't miss the miles! You lazy bum get out and run!" That's when running isn't fun anymore.....

Keep Steppin' <-- very gingerly today....

Bob

Difficult Training Runs

We know everyone has them. But even after 30+ years of running I'm always surprised when one of these runs 'hit' me. Yesterday I got home early and the family was away from the house so I decided to go out for a run. Now this wasn't a 'normal' run for me =<3 miles so I mapped out a course that wound through town and it turned out to be 4.6 mile. No biggie, I'll just go out in a 11 min pace and should be able to complete this with no problem. Low and behold as soon as I stepped out the door and took that first step; the discomfort started. Notice I didn't say 'pain'. That comes a little later......

Normally I'm a slow starter and need to get warmed up - so these first few steps of discomfort didn't alarm me too much other than the fact that I noticed right off that my legs were sore from the other night. "No problem though - I'll just start a little slower than planned. Plus I really want to do this course since it's new." I told my brain. Slowly the kinks worked themselves out of my legs, and my breathing was coming pretty normally. Unfortunately that lasted about a mile. My first split: 10:43. "Good - I'm right where I want to be. This shouldn't be too hard - that first mile was all uphill so this second uphill mile should be easy now I've warmed up." Don't you hate it when your head plays with you? Damm it's getting harder - glancing down at my watch only about 5 mins has passed, my breathing is becoming a little ragged and all of the sudden my left foot his killing me. Where the hell did THAT pain come from? It hurts so bad I can feel it in my right knee.... What!?! My RIGHT knee? OK what the hell is going on? I'd better slow to a stop. Walk a min, run a min, walk, run; mile 2 marker: 13:42. Damm what happened?

I eventually overcame the issue and went on to finish with mid 10 min splits for the final two downhill miles, but it got me thinking about how the mind works regarding these 'bad' runs. I can have good run after good run but somehow over the years I tend to remember the bad ones more. Don't get me wrong I do remember good ones also - but just not as clearly. Is it because of the pain? Some of my best runs that I remember have come with pain so that's a common feature. But I tend to believe that it's more that that. Somewhere in me is my brain's filing system that 'stores' milestones - and a lot of times these difficult 'bad' runs seem to be stored. Why? Is the old adage "No Pain No Gain" really true? Maybe to some extent it is. For me at least I tend to remember these runs better when there is pain involved. But usually these runs are also followed by a decision I need to make in my training. Do I continue to try to get better and take it to the next level? Or do I back off and keep the pain to a level where I enjoy running at and not get any better?

Now just because I choose to work with the pain doesn't mean I'm stupid and go out and get hurt. It just means I decide to plan a little bit better, and work smarter to get to my goals. (Adjustments are made)

Still it think is funny how the brain works on these types of runs.... I still remember painful runs way back from High School and college. One in particular run was when I was a freshman in high school. I joined the x-country team upon begging from the Coach (we were a small school and needed another runner to fill the squad) I ran a soft riverbed course in something like 26 +change (3 miles) I felt like I was going to die, and could have quit right there without any shame. After puking my lunch (hotdogs of all things and purple CoolAid) I decided right there to run a sub 20 min for that season. (I didn't hit that goal until my sophmore season, but I did hit it and went much further.) Still even though I don't remember the winning time of the race, the weather, or even the time of day - I still remember how I felt over that last mile and a half and how I overcame that feeling. Not because of the race or the finish, but because I overcame something inside telling me to quit.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

I have a follower! And other running stuff.....

It's kind of hard to believe that Someone is actually reading this - I wasn't going to mention anything (I though maybe it's bad blog protocol), but Thank You Kelly for taking the time reading my little edge of the blog sphere. I hope it's not too boring and that you continue to keep reading. BTW I love your blog and encourage anyone to read it.

On to running related stuff - I'm currently in the process of switching my running log over to RunningAhead. I had been using FavoriteRun for about 15 months and haven't really been happy with it. The thing that sold me on RunningAhead was the creator himself: Eric. After dropping Eric an e-mail on Wednesday, I promptly received a e-mail back within 24-hours with answers to all my questions, and concerns. I'm convinced that this guy is dedicated to producing a nice 'free' running site. Eric has put together a nice easy-to-use site with custom graphing functions. Mapping is included with fairly quick page loading times, and a fairly active board where there are people who respond quickly and nice towards even the most basic of questions. (The fact that most of the BB'er are refugees from the old Cool Running site is a rather nice bonus.) If you're in the market for a nice on-line running log take at look at what Eric's created over at RunningAhead.

Now comes the personal running stuff; over the last few days I been struggling with lower back issues, at first I wasn't sure where it was coming from but I know the pain was enough to cause actual pain and difficulty in walking. So for about two days I popped some painkillers and waited to see if the pain would go away. What was it? I was leaning towards a pinched nerve and sleeping 'weird' but that didn't seem right to me. It was only after I pulled out the 'tens unit' did I get any relief. In fact it worked so well I decided to try running last night. Low and behold I felt pretty good, so I added another mile. Still in the back of my mind was; "Why am I hurting so much? Am I overdoing it with my running? Putting in too many miles too quickly?" Only when I went to do my sit-up for the day did I know where the pain was coming from. I'm USING MUSCLES that I haven't used in a while! The tens unit had loosened up my back to the point where I wasn't feeling any pain, but as soon as I tried to do a sit up it locked back up! Damm I'm stupid! At lease I found the cause, and I can work around it now. (I really need my core muscles stronger, otherwise I'll never get any better in my running.)

This morning I feel a little better - still hurting, and in fact I'm using the tens right now as I type. But I'm happy to find the source, and I know I can work around it. If I'm careful I'll stronger here in the next few days. I just need to get over this hump.

Miles: 2.0
Running
Avg Pace: 10:09
Time: 20:18

Keep Steppin'
Bob

PS once I get my log transferred and reviewed I'll make it available for viewing. Hopefully that will be completed by this weekend.