Back to back posts today. After rereading my previous post, I decided to not make any excuses and to at least get on the treadmill and walk. I walked at a 3 for 2 minutes and noticed that my ankle didn't hurt too bad. I wanted to see if I could do a 5. I ran at a 5 for 2.3 miles. I stopped because of cramping in my side not because of my ankle. I ran basically right after eating, not expecting to accomplish much, hence the side cramp. It felt so good to push through the pain and watch the distance rack up. While running, I called my sister, who is a runner herself, to help distract from the pain and make the run go by more quickly. 8 tenths of a mile went by rather fast while on the phone.
I don't think I would have run today if I had not written that last post. Seeing it down on paper, that I was accepting failure, made me want to give it all I could. I will not sell myself short.
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It is tempting to try to run through pain, and there seems to be "good" pain and "bad" pain. Unfortunately, as I've experienced, you don't always figure out which is which without practice. However, there are a few things that I have experienced that might help here (go back to my old posts to confirm):
1. I ran through some heel pain, thinking it would get better...it didn't. I was out for a month, limping around
2. around the time I hit the 10 mile mark (after running for a year, and training for a half), I was really psyched...I kept pushing. I went for 13 miles in one run, and my knee hurt at the end of the run. Then it got worse, and I slowed down, but my knee hurt for 5 months and nearly cost me running my race!
It is better to take breaks, especially as you're building up. It is not considered failure to stop to avoid injury (although it may feel like it at the time). Trust me...it feels worse to have an injury stop you altogether for a month.
Running 4 days a week is generally enough. If you run much more, or push distance or time too much, then you will get injured and be much worse off. Check out a training schedule online for your length of race, so you can see what is reasonable.
Injuries are way too easy to get, and need to be taken seriously. My goal this time is to try to avoid injuries altogether, because each year I've had at least one significant injury that affected both my running, and the rest of my daily life.
Thank you for the advice. I understand completely where you are coming from. I know that deciding to run yesterday was a risky decision. It seems as if every time I run I end up limping for the rest of the day with some sort of leg, ankle, or foot pain. Usually by my next run, I'm feeling almost 100%. This was the first time I probably could have given myself an extra day.
It is difficult, when I am trying to prove to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to, to know when to give myself a break. It's a balance of trying to make sure I am not standing in my own way of success, and understanding when I really need to take a break. I'm sure as time goes on, I'll start to understand better what the normal aches related to long distance running are, and what pains require extra caution.
I have been following a 10K training plan for running, cross training, strength training, and resting; however I have been pushing my running days to my personal max, rather than the recommended mileage. It feels good to improve my distance every other day rather than weekly like the plan recommends.
Today I broke the training pattern by running 2 days back to back. I was disappointed that I hadn't broken 3 miles in almost a week, so I ran 4 today. Maybe I am too hard on myself....I'm like this in all aspects of life...I don't know how to pace myself...I set a goal and try to achieve it as quickly as possible. This has worked well in professional aspects, but physically, I'll have to be more cognizant of what my body is telling me.
Hopefully I won't have to learn this lesson the hard way. For now, I think I am good to keep going.
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