Well, I was feeling fine to go to speed training -- tired, but not sore. The workout was a continuous 3-mile run in 200 m in-outs. Basically, 12 laps around an outdoor track going your 5K pace plus 20 seconds per mile on the first half of each lap, and your 5K pace plus about 10 seconds per mile on the second half.
I was the slowest person there again by a noticable margin, and I must admit it was discouraging to watch the friend I used to keep pace with pull farther and farther ahead (and to see the fasties finish when I had yet to finish mile 2). But, I finished the 3 miles in 27:52 -- under a 9:20 pace, which is right where I was supposed to be. Granted, there's no way I could have gone any faster than that, but still. I really have to remember that even if I'm slow compared to my teammates, I'm going pretty fast for me.
No noticeable pain. I'm tired and sore, but not hurting, really. However, I still don't feel quite right. At random times during the day and night, my hip will start to ache. Running or not running doesn't seem to matter, and it never happens if I am focused on something else, which suggests it might be partly in my head. I find this sort of worrisome, but I'm trying to be patient.
I hope soon, I just start feeling normal again.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
(sigh)
I'm pretty sore this morning. Not sure what to think of that just yet. Hoping to be ok for speed work this evening.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
... really?!
Ok, so... please note the following:
Today, I felt almost nothing in my psoas. Maybe every fifth time I raised my knee, I felt a twinge, but that was it.
So, after work, I went for a run, not sure if I would do 5K or 8K.
When I got to 5K, I was tired, because it was just as hard as yesterday. But I wasn't hurting. So, I said to myself, "Katie, today was hard regardless of if you stop here of keep going. But if you keep going, tomorrow might be a little easier." So, I kept going and finished an 8K.
I forgot my stopwatch, but I did look at the time on my phone when I started and ended. I finished the 8K somewhere between 48 and 49 minutes.
Additionally, I am certain I spent at least a full minute waiting at stop lights, and likely closer to two minutes.
Do you know what this means?
I just finished an 8K in less than 48 minutes -- faster than I ran the Shamrock Shuffle.
Granted, today's weather conditions were stellar and the Shuffle's were horrid. And, finishing the Shuffle was not hard for me, whereas today's 8K kicked my butt.
But still, I am really happy about this. Maybe the climb back to where I was will not be as slow as I thought.
Also, the psoas is a little more sore than before the run -- I feel it every time I lift my knee, but NOTHING anywhere close to worrisome.
I'm so relieved I can barely stand it.
Today, I felt almost nothing in my psoas. Maybe every fifth time I raised my knee, I felt a twinge, but that was it.
So, after work, I went for a run, not sure if I would do 5K or 8K.
When I got to 5K, I was tired, because it was just as hard as yesterday. But I wasn't hurting. So, I said to myself, "Katie, today was hard regardless of if you stop here of keep going. But if you keep going, tomorrow might be a little easier." So, I kept going and finished an 8K.
I forgot my stopwatch, but I did look at the time on my phone when I started and ended. I finished the 8K somewhere between 48 and 49 minutes.
Additionally, I am certain I spent at least a full minute waiting at stop lights, and likely closer to two minutes.
Do you know what this means?
I just finished an 8K in less than 48 minutes -- faster than I ran the Shamrock Shuffle.
Granted, today's weather conditions were stellar and the Shuffle's were horrid. And, finishing the Shuffle was not hard for me, whereas today's 8K kicked my butt.
But still, I am really happy about this. Maybe the climb back to where I was will not be as slow as I thought.
Also, the psoas is a little more sore than before the run -- I feel it every time I lift my knee, but NOTHING anywhere close to worrisome.
I'm so relieved I can barely stand it.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Uphill Climb Begins
Well, I had a bad day yesterday, physically and emotionally. I took Thursday through Sunday off from running, and Saturday and Sunday off completely (no aerobics or upper body, either). And, inexplicably, I was in more pain yesterday than I have been since the injury happened. I found this really disheartening, and finally all my pent up frustration came out and I cried for a while. I was really worried that I was never going to recover in time to be ready for the 10 miler or the half marathon.
Today, though, is 100 times better. I had very little pain when I woke up this morning, even after I did my stepper exercises. When I got home from work, I felt almost nothing, even when I lifted my knee. So, I went for a 5K run. Now I am back, and happily, I still feel almost nothing when I lift my knee. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, because there have been really good days followed by really bad ones. But this feels like progress.
The bad news is that my 5K run felt WAY harder than a 5K has felt in a long time. I really struggled. It was bound to happen. It was wishful thinking to hope that taking two weeks with almost no running wouldn't make my return to running hard. (But I did wishfully think it, nonetheless.) These two weeks probably set me back four weeks worth of training.
But, if the pain continues to subside in my psoas, I'm starting to regain some confidence that I'll be ready for the half, and maybe even the 10 miler if I'm lucky. I'm not looking forward to the struggle, but I made this uphill climb once, and I can do it again.
Today, though, is 100 times better. I had very little pain when I woke up this morning, even after I did my stepper exercises. When I got home from work, I felt almost nothing, even when I lifted my knee. So, I went for a 5K run. Now I am back, and happily, I still feel almost nothing when I lift my knee. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, because there have been really good days followed by really bad ones. But this feels like progress.
The bad news is that my 5K run felt WAY harder than a 5K has felt in a long time. I really struggled. It was bound to happen. It was wishful thinking to hope that taking two weeks with almost no running wouldn't make my return to running hard. (But I did wishfully think it, nonetheless.) These two weeks probably set me back four weeks worth of training.
But, if the pain continues to subside in my psoas, I'm starting to regain some confidence that I'll be ready for the half, and maybe even the 10 miler if I'm lucky. I'm not looking forward to the struggle, but I made this uphill climb once, and I can do it again.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
So-so psoas
Well, the good news is on two fronts. First, I went to speed training on Wednesday, and had no pain at all while I as running. I know, I know, I wasn't supposed to go, but at the last second, our coach decided that he was going to introduce a new workout, and I really didn't want to miss the instruction. In the end, the run felt great, and I was glad I went. And afterward, my hip didn't really hurt any more than it did before I went. It still hurt to lift my knee, but nothing like when I first got hurt.
The other piece of good news is that I'm pretty convinced at this point that I don't have a stress fracture. For one, running does not seem to make the pain any better or worse. Also, the worst pain is in the morning when I get up, when my muscles are tight. And when I wrote to the injury screener to give her an update, she said it sounded more and more like the psoas. So, muscle problem is better than a stress fracture.
However, the recovery is going much slower than I hoped. I've only run twice this week, and the muscle feels the same as it did a week ago. I think it's going to be a long time before I feel normal again.
I'm going to try to start running semi-regularly again next week, being super conscious of how I feel. If rest isn't helping, I may as well try at least some easy training.
Keep thinking good thoughts for me.
The other piece of good news is that I'm pretty convinced at this point that I don't have a stress fracture. For one, running does not seem to make the pain any better or worse. Also, the worst pain is in the morning when I get up, when my muscles are tight. And when I wrote to the injury screener to give her an update, she said it sounded more and more like the psoas. So, muscle problem is better than a stress fracture.
However, the recovery is going much slower than I hoped. I've only run twice this week, and the muscle feels the same as it did a week ago. I think it's going to be a long time before I feel normal again.
I'm going to try to start running semi-regularly again next week, being super conscious of how I feel. If rest isn't helping, I may as well try at least some easy training.
Keep thinking good thoughts for me.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Injury Screening
Well, things are progressing as well as I have a right to hope. I woke up this morning with no pain at all, even when I lifted my knee to a 90-degree angle (what has been hurting the most). As I went throughout the day climbing stairs and whatnot, I felt twinges a couple of times, but nothing that I even would have thought twice about if it weren't for the injury.
So, I decided to jog the couple miles to the store for the injury screening tonight. I was a little afraid of what I would feel, but I figured if it still hurt a lot to run at an easy pace, that I was something I should be able to tell the injury screener.
I went very slow, probably at an 11 minute pace or less. By the time I got there, I was still only feeling tiny twinges, and only when I lifted my knee up.
When I described the pain to the screener, she grimaced and said it sounded like a stress fracture. (Ugh.) But then after she moved me around and put pressure on things and whatnot, she was less convinced, and said it may be a strain of one of my groin muscles (the psoas). It's the muscle responsible for lifting the leg, which would make sense because on my run on Monday, it hurt the most when I was running up curbs.
She gave me some exercises to do to strengthen my glutes, which apparently will make me less dependent on the psoas. She wasn't completely convinced it wasn't a stress fracture, though, so she told me to contact her in a week or two if it didn't stop hurting by then.
She also said I should pay attention to when my foot struck the ground, and try to focus on striking underneath my body and pushing backward with my glutes. Right now, I apparently I focus more on pulling my leg up and tend to strike in front of my body, which is why so my psoas are overworked. More glute, less psoas. Easier said than done, but at least it's something to work on.
(Go ahead and laugh at how many times I've said groin and glutes. I know you're dying to do so.)
I asked if I should rest more from running, and she said that she never tells people not to run. She just tells them to be smart. Translation: you can run as long as it doesn't hurt. She said that basically, the less I run now, the faster it should get better, which is really nothing I didn't already know.
I did the same slow jog on the way back home, and I'm still feeling pretty good. It hurts a little more than it did when I got to the store, but not much, and still only when I lift my knee really high.
I think the smartest plan for me this week would be to take tomorrow off (I'm not really going to have time anyway), and then try another easy run on Wednesday. I hate to skip another speed workout, but those entail a lot of hard running and I think I'd be pushing my luck. I won't have time to run Thursday or Friday, either, so my next chance will be Saturday. Hopefully, I'll be feeling really good by then.
So, everyone root for the psoas and not a stress fracture.
Also, note to self: actually do the prescribed glute exercises. (Again, ugh.)
So, I decided to jog the couple miles to the store for the injury screening tonight. I was a little afraid of what I would feel, but I figured if it still hurt a lot to run at an easy pace, that I was something I should be able to tell the injury screener.
I went very slow, probably at an 11 minute pace or less. By the time I got there, I was still only feeling tiny twinges, and only when I lifted my knee up.
When I described the pain to the screener, she grimaced and said it sounded like a stress fracture. (Ugh.) But then after she moved me around and put pressure on things and whatnot, she was less convinced, and said it may be a strain of one of my groin muscles (the psoas). It's the muscle responsible for lifting the leg, which would make sense because on my run on Monday, it hurt the most when I was running up curbs.
She gave me some exercises to do to strengthen my glutes, which apparently will make me less dependent on the psoas. She wasn't completely convinced it wasn't a stress fracture, though, so she told me to contact her in a week or two if it didn't stop hurting by then.
She also said I should pay attention to when my foot struck the ground, and try to focus on striking underneath my body and pushing backward with my glutes. Right now, I apparently I focus more on pulling my leg up and tend to strike in front of my body, which is why so my psoas are overworked. More glute, less psoas. Easier said than done, but at least it's something to work on.
(Go ahead and laugh at how many times I've said groin and glutes. I know you're dying to do so.)
I asked if I should rest more from running, and she said that she never tells people not to run. She just tells them to be smart. Translation: you can run as long as it doesn't hurt. She said that basically, the less I run now, the faster it should get better, which is really nothing I didn't already know.
I did the same slow jog on the way back home, and I'm still feeling pretty good. It hurts a little more than it did when I got to the store, but not much, and still only when I lift my knee really high.
I think the smartest plan for me this week would be to take tomorrow off (I'm not really going to have time anyway), and then try another easy run on Wednesday. I hate to skip another speed workout, but those entail a lot of hard running and I think I'd be pushing my luck. I won't have time to run Thursday or Friday, either, so my next chance will be Saturday. Hopefully, I'll be feeling really good by then.
So, everyone root for the psoas and not a stress fracture.
Also, note to self: actually do the prescribed glute exercises. (Again, ugh.)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Highs and Lows
Let's start with the positive. On Monday, I went out and ran a whopping 9.3 miles! Looking at my schedule and the weather, it seemed like I wasn't going to have another chance for a long run this week, and I was feeling great on Monday. So I did it. And I didn't really struggle much! Actually, when I got to the end of the 15K, I considered going a bit farther to make it 10 miles. But then I thought, why not save another victory for another day? I was really on a high as I was cooling down.
But, unfortunately, after I made it up to my apartment, I found myself in some major pain. My right groin muscle hurt so bad that I could barely limp from my couch to the refrigerator. I was seriously freaked out. Forget not being able to run -- I am completely dependent on walking to get around, and I climb at least 6 flights of stairs a day. Any limits on my mobility felt really scary.
Thankfully, the next morning the muscles were still sore but I could move. That was yesterday, and today it is even better. I'm hoping that if I take the rest of the week off, I will be ok next week.
I learned my lesson. No need to push too hard too fast. I've got 4 months before the half marathon, and almost 2 before the 10 miler. When I start up again, no need to push as hard as I've been pushing.
I must confess that I hate taking time off. It's killing me to not be at speed training right now. I know I'm doing the smart thing, but some irrational part of me thinks all my hard work is being lost right now. I'm trying to enjoy the break and tell myself that months of dedicated training won't suddenly disappear over the next few days.
I also scheduled a free injury screening for next Monday, so if it still is bothering by then, I'll get some professional advice.
(sigh) This really killed my high, but I'm still proud of the nine miles and still proud of doing the Shamrock Shuffle. To end on a high note, let me just say that I got the link to my Shuffle photos today, and they were awesome. I just dropped $20 on a copy of one because it was just too good to pass up.
But, unfortunately, after I made it up to my apartment, I found myself in some major pain. My right groin muscle hurt so bad that I could barely limp from my couch to the refrigerator. I was seriously freaked out. Forget not being able to run -- I am completely dependent on walking to get around, and I climb at least 6 flights of stairs a day. Any limits on my mobility felt really scary.
Thankfully, the next morning the muscles were still sore but I could move. That was yesterday, and today it is even better. I'm hoping that if I take the rest of the week off, I will be ok next week.
I learned my lesson. No need to push too hard too fast. I've got 4 months before the half marathon, and almost 2 before the 10 miler. When I start up again, no need to push as hard as I've been pushing.
I must confess that I hate taking time off. It's killing me to not be at speed training right now. I know I'm doing the smart thing, but some irrational part of me thinks all my hard work is being lost right now. I'm trying to enjoy the break and tell myself that months of dedicated training won't suddenly disappear over the next few days.
I also scheduled a free injury screening for next Monday, so if it still is bothering by then, I'll get some professional advice.
(sigh) This really killed my high, but I'm still proud of the nine miles and still proud of doing the Shamrock Shuffle. To end on a high note, let me just say that I got the link to my Shuffle photos today, and they were awesome. I just dropped $20 on a copy of one because it was just too good to pass up.
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