So… I realize it has been quite some time since I last posted. It is not from lack of desire or lack of running.
When last I left you, I had just failed to meet my goal for SF10. No, I did not go dark because of failing to meet my goal. But running did go to hell in a hand basket shortly after. Not by choice, mind you…
My first run after SF10, I headed out for a 5 miler and had to cut it short at 4. My right IT Band decided to become very angry and by the last half mile of run I was in too much pain… and I have a pretty high pain tolerance. So I bailed and walked the rest of the way home and immediately got up close and personal with my foam roller. Only rolling out my IT Band didn’t actually hurt the way I expected to hurt…
Read – rolling out did NOT hurt like hell
I was baffled and thought maybe it was just a weird thing so I tried to run again the following day but two blocks into the run and pain was already where it took 3.50 miles the previous day… I knew I had to stop.
I tried one more run (which failed) before I decided to take a week off. For the most part, after SF10 I had planned to maintenance run for roughly 7 weeks before starting my training plan for my late fall half… my true goal race.
But there was another race on the schedule and I attempted a run the day before and it still didn’t go well after a week of rest and rolling. Then my favorite 10K was black flagged due to weather. Normally this would have made me a bit irked because it was a race I was originally going to run for time but this was a blessing for me. I was barely a mile into the race before I knew it was going to be a run/walk (mostly walk) due to pain.
While running the race and splashing in puddles on the way back to the Zoo to meet up with my father, I had an epiphany… I should try rolling out the top of my right calf muscle… and that’s exactly what I did… after eating a wonderfully yummy breakfast and a hot shower.
Now THAT was the pain I had been expecting the entire time i was rolling out… after a day of rest and a lot of rolling, I attempted a short run and had success… I felt tenderness but not pain. So I tested it out for the week using my “normal” schedule (5 days) but keeping all of the runs under 3 miles… Hell, I kept the runs under 2.50 miles… and continued to roll my newfound “spot”
The week was a success… all things considering… it was far from the week I had originally planned to have but it was far better than the previous two weeks. So I decided to do a mini run streak.
The streak from last summer seemed to be the catalyst to kick start my fall training and a season of PRs so I figured it would be worth it to do again to get me back on track. I kept all of the distance short and put a mental cap on the streak of 20 days.
It wasn’t easy and there were a couple of days where it meant a quick streak keeper after getting home at 9 pm to fit it in but in the end it served it purpose… and got extend by 5 days unintentionally when my schedule for the week wouldn’t allow for weekend running. I also PR’d at my next race… but 3 and a half minutes.
It hadn’t been a goal race originally but things lined up perfectly and half way through the race I knew I was on pace for a massive PR.
So yes, the streak served its purpose, once again, nicely.
Once the streak was over, I threw myself into my training plan for my big goal race. All along, I knew it was an aggressive plan but the goal was there and I was determined. There were a few snafu’s… and some insanely long work days which did not help but I managed to maintain a majority of the plan… and luckily I always have built in “wiggle room” in all of my plans.
That’s the main reason I put together my own training plans. It works for me. I don’t mind the longer than necessary training cycle and I know the sacrifices I have to make in order to nail it.
And really, after my huge break through last fall, I knew I finally had it in me… a confidence entering a training cycle that I haven’t had in YEARS.
More importantly, I WANTED it.
People have often asked me why I haven’t run a marathon and why it is not a goal for me (and likely never will). For me, it is a simple answer, I don’t want it. Wanting it is key for me… it is the only way I can have a successful training cycle. If I don’t want it then I won’t do it.
You see, I love running. Truly love it. Going for a run (pretty much) daily is not difficult for me because I actually like it. It clears my head, lets me think and calms me. And for the first time in what feels like forever, I haven’t felt extreme anxiety about needing to run long.
When I sat down to put together the training schedule, I knew it was aggressive (and even a co-worker thought so as well) but I also knew it was I needed to do to meet my goal. The plan would loosely start the last two weeks of July. It would “officially” begin the first week of August. It would contain 10 runs over 8 miles… and a year ago there was no way in hell I would have put that kind of a plan together.
And I have digressed…
So I went dark and focused on the running… well… and work…
My life has been work, running and sleeping. Work has been insanely crazy lately and that was something I couldn’t cut back on. So I made my choice… one of the things that had to give was the blog… even though I have continued to run and write blog posts on my head…
But as I am getting closer to winding down this training cycle, I have been itching to write again… I can’t guarantee I will stay on top of it until my goal race is over… but I am at least going to try to maintain this thing to some degree.
I have a LOT to catch you all up on and I have serval race reports to write up. I have some changes and new goals on the horizon and I really want to put down a lot about this most recent training cycle.
If you want something enough, you are willing to make sacrifices for it and this has been just one of the sacrifices I have made… But it was never going to be permanent.
It Never Gets Easier - You Just Get Better 