Lesson Learned

My left knee is beginning to feel the strain. After Tuesdays run I started to feel tenderness and a small ache on the outside of my knee cap and decided to ice it as a precaution. The next morning it was throbbing for the first few hours of the day. But it didn’t last. I suspect the pain was caused either by the shoes I wore to work the previous day or the way I slept. I will be keeping close attention to this. I am only one full week in and have six left until the 5K race - so far as I can help it, my knee will not hold me back.

Interestingly, I also started the Tuesday run stressed out. I knew that I was frustrated and in a sour mood but ran anyway hoping that running would cheer me up. Instead, I ran with the weight of my frustration on my shoulders and it slowed me down. My shoulders were tight and my heals pounded the pavement harder than they needed to. At one point I remember running on a sharp turn while trying to massage out a pinch in my shoulder. 

The next morning I saw an article posted with the caption “If you’re stressed out on the run, your injury risk increases.” Lesson learned. Even though the run ultimately did change my mood around, it would have been best if I had tried to put the stress aside before I went out. So, today I tried to continually keep my thoughts on my running in the moment and I left my worries at home. Not surprisingly, I came home not needing to ice my knee.

Beginner Blues

This next post has been challenging for me to write. I have successfully completed each run this week without walking and even had  a cross-training day. And yet, I feel completely discouraged. After each run I have been calculating my pace just like I did in my previous post. To my surprise, the next two runs both came in at least 30 seconds worse than the first run. Why am I not improving? I don’t feel like I struggled any more and my mind has even managed to turn off Babble. In fact, for the second run I was required to do 4 sets of “strides” (see here for the training key with explanation http://cdn.womensrunning.competitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Training-Plan-Key.pdf), which means that I was required to add short bursts of sprinting to the run, which in turn should ultimately increase my overall pace. Instead, it did the opposite. So, this week I have been forced to accept my body’s athletic level. 

Accepting my body’s limitations is not a new concept for me (probably not for anyone). I was probably born the least flexible person on the planet. Only within the last 6 months have I been able to touch my toes or when bending at the waist have my finger tips reach the ground. I have made these small improvement with some Yoga practice but through my running I can tell I still have a long way to go. My leg span while running is small. It feels unnatural for me to push harder off my heal to force my leg span to widen. My hip joints feel open, tender and exhausted after a run. I have to accept that these things will only improve over time. It is inevitable that they will improve so long as I continue doing what I am doing. In reality, I am doing everything right because I am not injured. I am just anxious for my time and distance results to match the effort that I am putting in.

Yesterday I did sets of leg raise exercises about and hour or so before I went running. I think that this may have been part of the reason I came in slower. My hip muscles tightened back up after exertion and I wanted them to keep pushing. So today I have not done any leg raises to see if it makes any difference in my performance. Later this evening I will be doing my first 22 minute run and I want to finish proud of my pace time. At this rate, I will be happy with just remaining in the 8-9 minute range. If I slip any further…I hate to even think of it. 

So, this week the lesson is not about patience and waiting for results to come around - it is about acceptance. I am a beginner. My body is learning how to adjust to these new demands I am putting on it. It is telling me that it needs time. It is asking me to be happy with the level we are at and to keep going. I am not injured. I am not dehydrated or dealing with fatigue. In fact, while writing this it has become clear; I am exactly where I need to be in order to succeed. I can definitely accept that!

Babble Crazy

On the first day of starting something new I usually get overly excitable or nervous with cold sweats and a dry mouth. This goal has added a new interesting experience to the mix: babble. My mind went wild with ideas and worries all day at work, knowing that I was scheduled to do my first run in the evening. Which route should I run? Can I really do 15 minutes straight without stopping? What about that hill on the way to the park? Oh! I don’t know where my old digital watch is. Should I hold my iPhone in my hand and set the timer? Do I really have to time it? And on and on… Once home, I washed dishes, I put in a load of laundry, I did some stretching, I found my 10 year old bright pink watch that latches with velcro- until finally, I decided I just have to go out there and do it. 

I walked slowly waiting for the exact second to begin running. This run will be exactly 15 minutes, just like the online schedule says, I told myself. I made the assumption that I was already able to run 15 minutes without walking and skipped week 8 on the schedule. If I couldn’t run for 15 minutes straight I would have trouble progressing through the rest of the training. It would be an immediate fail. All my running up until this point was gauged by distance. I would set myself a goal like; I will run 5 laps around the perimeter of the park. I never brought a watch with me and timed it. Often I would look at the clock before leaving the house and again when I came back, but during those runs I also allowed myself to take walk breaks. 

Within the first lap Babble showed up again. How many minutes have you been running? Really? That’s it? You’ll have to do that 10 more times. There’s the hill, I bet you’ll need to walk once you reach the top. Bah! This babble persona I didn’t know I had followed me from work and self-appointed itself as my new running partner. 

To my surprise, despite all the drama happening inside my head, the run was not overly challenging. I was able to keep a steady pace and I chose a route that had less of an incline than my usual route to make sure I preserved my knee. On a lap around the park I passed a grey haired man hobbling along in an indigo blue Hawaiian dress shirt. When I was a few feet ahead of him he yelled, “Wanna gimme a piggy back?” So, I can only assume that I looked confident and strong. In fact, I looked so strong that I am capable of running with a grown man on my back. 

Later in the evening, I went to map out the distance of my run (http://www.mapmyrun.com/ca/). It turns out, I ran 1.87 miles (Unfortunately the website only calculates in miles) in 15 minutes, which is the equivalent of 3K. Not bad! Much better than I thought I would do! With this information, using an online calculator to determine my pace (https://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/pace/#) I was again surprised to learn that my pace was 8 minutes and 1 second per mile!  Running 5K without taking a walk break is a possibility. At that pace I will be able to run the total 5K in approximately 40-42 minutes. I can already nearly run half that! Take that, Babble! This is all theory, of course. Adding on another 25 minutes is sure to lower my overall pace. Knowing this, I am convinced that in following this schedule I will achieve my goal.

Now I know where I need to challenge myself for the next 7 weeks. I must focus on maintaining and increasing my pace and on pushing myself on the days that include Strides, Hill Strides, and Long Runs. I will get my first chance tomorrow. It is my first 20 minute run with 4 Strides.

Babble is not invited.