Category Archives: Running

7 for 7: Injury

December 14, 2010 By in Reflections on Training Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I have no idea why I left injury for the conclusion to 7 for 7. Maybe it’s because I have such a sunny disposition. Who knows.

The list of injuries I’ve sustained while running range from the humorous to the frustrating. There was the time I ran into a hidden tree branch in downtown Denver and spent the evening in Denver General waiting for stitches. In retrospect, pretty funny. I’d give anything to have video of me as I ducked through what I thought were some leaves, but were actually camouflage for a ninja sawed-off tree limb. What aren’t typically very funny are your garden-variety “overuse injuries,” to use the catch-phrase bandied about by so many general practitioners whose last experience with athletics was that time they were picked last for kickball in 2nd grade. I love that phrase…”well, you overused it, so it’s hurt. Stop if you want it to not hurt.” Thanks a bunch, doc…

The injuries I battle most are plantar fasciitis and iliotibial (IT) band syndrome. The former is a painful swelling in the tissue on the bottom of your foot, usually concentrated around the heel; the latter is an inflammation of the iliotibial band, a long piece of connective tissue which runs pretty much from your ankle through your knee, and up to your hip. My plantar fasciitis is bad enough that it occasionally wakes me up in the middle of the night, but my IT band issues typically flare up and take off again if I spend some time on the foam roller.

I have no idea why I have these recurring issues. I have a feeling my IT bands are tired of being attached to my wickedly bowed legs, but the plantar fasciitis is beyond me. It showed up in 2005 for the first time in my life, and has been an uninvited guest ever since. I just sort of suck it up and do some painful golf ball massage when it gets really bad.

Running injuries in general can be incredibly frustrating for the reasons I allude to above – naturally we want to know the cause so we can fix things. But there is rarely an easy answer, except in the case of trauma. It could be just about anything, from physiological responses to life stress, to the complicated relationship of your core strength to your running stride. Thankfully, injuries that threaten to sideline you rarely show up overnight, which means an attentive mind can correct identify and correct issues early in the process.

 A powerful aid for this is your training log. As soon as something start feelings off, maybe a bit wrong. You need to write down as much info as possible and continue to document it throughout training. Nothing is worse than trying to figure out exactly when the pain started as you try to figure out possible causes. A good rule of thumb – if something painful develops and grows worse over about three days, you’re probably staring down the barrel of something bad and you need to intervene immediately. What that intervention looks like is completely individual. For some, it’s simply anti-inflammatory pain meds and pressing forward. For others, it’s aggressive deep tissue massage and plenty of ice…it all depends on the athlete and the injury.

Something else to remember about injury – it’s your body’s means of communicating with you. The message: “Dude, something is wrong and you need to fix it.” Overly conservative folks will immediately assume time off is the called-for panacea, but I tend to err on the aggressive side in that time off is usually the last thing on my mind. These days, I start with my core and my life. Is my core strong or have I neglected it for three months straight (the answer to that question is “yes,” which is why my lower back has been nagging me)? Am I recovering adequately between sessions with quality food and sleep or am I travelling tons, eating lousy airport meals and working 18 hour days? Find what is lacking, put it back in and see if it helps.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: injuries suck. The disappointment associated with putting in the training, only to be derailed by a stupid injury should not be underestimated. However, I’ve never read a study that indicated self-pity was the Rx that cured the problem. It’s natural to be depressed and disappointed, but you have to turn that emotion into something positive…like ruthless determination to fix the problem and never have it again.

Injuries – they’re a big bummer but they hold important lessons for us if we have the foresight and wherewithal to make it happen.

I hope you enjoyed 7 for 7, because this iteration is officially over and out. Next time, I’ll try to deliver on the whole “7 days” aspect as opposed to 10…but I’m sure you didn’t mind a few days off J It’s been a good habit-builder to me as my day has started to feel incomplete if I don’t post at least a little something each day. I’m already dreaming up my next series, so keep alert for updates…

7 for 7: Racing

December 14, 2010 By in Reflections on Training Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Where were we?

Oh, that’s right: Racing.

I’ve stolen a bit of my own thunder through the course of 7 for 7 and my weekend race report, so I’m going to quickly cover a few things about racing that are very important to me.

RESPECT

Sometimes advertisers don't lie...

It should come as no surprise that I love this ad, considering my elitist streak. Don’t get me wrong – some people train very hard, yet still run very slowly. “Can’t put in what God left out,” as Coach Stanforth used to say every season back on The Hill. I get that. What I don’t get are some of the people I saw at Chicago. I mean, really, lady? You’re walking on the course, talking on your cell in the middle of a race? How about you, dude? Is it necessary for you to update Facebook every mile? Seeing these people, knowing that my wife was out there having to maneuver her way around these clowns at the water stations…it really got under my skin.

Respect the friggin’ race, people (and I don’t think I’m talking to anyone who actually reads this blog). Whether it’s a 5k, a 5 mile, or a five day race, respect those of us who are out there to seek a better version of ourselves. If you don’t belong out there, then stay home. Make the sacrifice, and earn your spot on the starting line.

HEADPHONES

"What? I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am!"

Leave them at home. Racing is an experience that engages all five senses; how much do you miss out on when you eliminate 20% of everything you could possible take in? The simple, miraculous sounds of your own breathing; your name in exhortation; even the lousy music inevitably played at every race (Eye of the Tiger anyone?) – these are all a part of the experience, and things you miss out on when you tune out the world with your iPod/Nike+ Super Neato Keano Marathon Motivation Playlist. Want to use your little mental crutch in training? I won’t blame you…I run with mine all the time. But on race day, do yourself a favor and leave it home.

LEARN

Racing is battle, all else is prelude. As such, racing is our greatest opportunity to learn. It’s the battleground, whether your opponent is a real-life rival or simply your own weakness. You could learn that your local age-group rival is weak in the hills, or has a habit of starting way too fast. Maybe you find out that for all your physical training, your mind is not ready to attack the goal. Whatever the case may be – take the opportunity after a race to sit and think quietly for a few minutes about what just happened. If you really take the time to sit down and evaluate your performance, you’re going to recall some things that make you smile, as well as some that will make you wince. You need to pull it all together and not waste a great opportunity to learn.

Well, that’s all for today…I guess I should have called this series 7 for 11 instead of 7 for 7, huh? Oh well. Tomorrow, we end the series with an uplifting bit on…injury. Don’t worry – things are always better than you think they are.

Race Report: Laurens YMCA Reindeer Run 5k

December 12, 2010 By in Racing Tags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Small-town 5ks have an odd kind of charm for me. While I enjoy a big race with awesome support and goodies,  little races can be a lot of fun too. Laurens is a rinky-dink little town about an hour outside of Greenville, and I can’t say there is anything truly special about the town. It’s another little place, off the grid, hit as hard as all other small towns by the current economic situation. But when you show up to these things, you can tell the people appreciate your support, and I honestly appreciate what the people do to put on events like 5k road races. The local shops donate refreshments, local law enforcement shows up en masse to ensure safety, and signs in front yards show supports for a just a handful of folks out on a cold morning’s jaunt.

After we register, I head out for my warmup on the out-and-back course, and what it reveals destroys my hopes for a fast course. The first half mile is uphill (surprise surprise), followed by a gradual climb to the turnaround. 16:45 is probably not in the cards for me today, I think, and decide that breaking 17:00 is probably a better match for my abilities on this particular course.

When the gun releases us, I find myself in a swarm of high-school kids. Two guys are immediately off the front, and I decide the most prudent course of action is to go through the mile comfortably hard, which keeps me in the midst of the young’uns. My legs feel pretty solid, and within 400m, the high schoolers are starting to drop like flies after some pretty aggressive starts. I’m working hard, but for some reason the word tempo comes to mind as I crest the hill and approach the one mile point.

“Five thirty eight, thirty nine, forty,” is what I hear as I pass the man shouting splits. Damn. No wonder I was thinking tempo…still, I’m thinking that if I pick it up slightly, I should still be okay. Within meters, I’ve passed the last of the kids, and I’m in a distant third by around 20-30s. I don’t recognize first or second but they’ve clearly come to play.

When I hit the turnaround, it’s time to move, so I make a conscious effort to really start reeling in second. Coming down the gradual decline, I feel like I’m working hard, but not at a level I can’t sustain. A thought hits me – dude, you were made to run downhill…crush this skinny little dude! I lean forward a it more and let gravity and my tree trunks do the rest. As I’m coming down, I spot Jen, who is still ascending. Man, this is cool…we exchange breathless encouragement and then she’s gone.

At the two mile, I’ve closed to within 10s of second. I see 5:30 on my Garmin. Damn! Still too slow if I want to break 17. Now my effort kicks into earnest mode. Quick math tells me that I’m currently on track for closer to 17:20, so it’s time to go if I want to break 17. Like really go.

I will #2 closer, tugging the invisible cords connecting the two of us. With a half mile to go, I’m closing hard. 20m, then 10m, now we’re even. I tuck in behind him, catching a brief respite for just a few seconds. But soon I realize I’m not going hard enough. My breathing rate has dropped from 2-1 to 2-2, which means I’ve slowed. Not good.

I make my move with 600 to go, strong off his left shoulder. I feel him try to stay with me for a couple of paces, then he’s gone.

Now it’s just me and the clock. At 3M, my Garmin says 5:15. This is going to be close, but I’m not sure how close since I can’t see the clock yet. In the last 100m, I can finally make it out and my heart drops: it’s cresting 16:40 and making a bee-line for 17. Time to drop the hammer.

It’s an all-out sprint. Arms and knees driving, leaning. As I cross the finish, the last thing I saw on the clock was 16:59, but it was just before the finish and I didn’t hit my watch. It’s going to be close, but I will have to wait for the results. I jog back up the course, and encourage Jen through the finish, then we cool down. The results are posted by the time I make it back from my cool-down:

17:01.

—

All in all, 17:01 for second was solid. It tells me that my baseline fitness is there  for 16:45. I just need to put it all together, and maybe tweak my training a tad. Other lessons: while negative splits (5:41, 5:30, 5:15) are a smart way to race, my conservative strategy in the first half of the race left me no wiggle room in the last mile. I had to run my last mile faster than I have in any of my training, and even with downhill it was no easy task. Also, that short break I took before pulling ahead of #2 probably cost me the 2-3s I needed to break 17. In retrospect, I had more than enough in the tank to simply cruise right past the guy and maintain until the finish. Finally, I need to shift my paradigm from the marathon. Marathon pacing is hard, but you don’t hit Red Line City until the last few miles. Even then, it’s more a cumulative fatigue than the gut-wrenching distress associated with 5k intensity. I need to internalize what I talked about earlier this week – it’s not about the pace feeling easy, because if it does I should be going harder.

Still, I took home 55 bucks, which makes $110 extra for clean water through Mocha Club. And let’s not forget Jen, who ran 25:50 off nothing but maintenance training and took home first in her age group! Not a bad day for the clan, I’d say…