This week was a mixed bag when it came to running.
Monday: I had a lot of work stuff on my plate so I made excuses and planned to run Tuesday. Physically Philosophical has made a couple of recent posts that really resonate with my life... the ongoing give/take between focusing on good training and focusing on getting writing done. Monday was a run-fail day.
Tuesday: It got much colder again and snowed a little after days of rain. Sam and I ran in the evening, but we went on roads rather than the trail in the dark, and it was a freaking icy, snowy skating rink of a run. It was terrible and when we got back we just looked at each other and were like, "Man, that was tough." "Yeah, that was really tough." My sore hip was on fire after that run... lateral movements and gingerly stepping seem to always make it worse.
Wednesday: I went to the chiro and came home too tired/sore to do much of anything. I spent the evening icing my neck and shoulders, of all random things.
Thursday: Group run in the evening; thankfully the ice had melted. Did 5 miles. Nothing much to report... hip felt ok.
Friday: Intense writing day. After filling myself with coffee and not getting enough sleep, I didn't want to push it by trying to squeeze in a run too, especially when I was planning to do 14 on Saturday. What this also meant was agreeing to the fact that I would not be meeting my goal weekly mileage of 30 this week, or even coming close. Fail.
Saturday: At Saturday's run, the usual people who I run with were for the most part gone for various injury-reasons, but I got to run with some cool new people so it worked out well. Anyway, though, I was hoping to do 14 miles on Saturday but my hip was killing me again. KILLING. I don't know if it was still flared up from the ridiculous 5 miles on ice that Sam and I did on Tuesday, or if there was something about how I was running on Saturday that made it worse. So, I did 9 miles and came home semi-demoralized. My insurance only covers 4 more chiro appointments and if it's not fully cured by then I'm on my own. I stretched and foam rolled and iced.
Sunday: I promised myself that I'd head out for a run today as well, to make up for missing those miles yesterday. I know it's not quite the same as doing one long run, but I figured if I got the miles in across 2 days it wasn't as bad as not doing them at all... so today I did 6. Weirdly, my hip felt mostly fine. A little pain at the very end of the run. I have no idea, though, why today wasn't as bad as yesterday. Saturday there was some ice still on our run, and also I was feeling exhausted, and I think when I'm really tired my form goes to pieces...so maybe it just was that.
So between Saturday and Sunday I got in 15 miles, which isn't too bad. Normally I just do a long run Saturday and then take Sunday off for recovery. Beyond the hip thing, though, the 9 miles didn't wreck me too much so I was good to go today. I'm thinking of considering the "weekend run" like this now and then instead of just killing myself with miles on Saturday all at once.
The weather's looking better this week. Today it was over 50 degrees which was awesome.
Also, thanks to those of you who have been commenting... it's brightened my week even though I haven't had a chance to comment back with all of the work-chaos lately!
Hey, those are some still impressive workouts considering you're pain. I mean, it IS most important that you let yourself heal, so kudos for airing on the side of caution and watching out for yourself.
ReplyDelete(Awesome that you mentioned Alison's blog because sometimes in my blog reader I totally think that your blog is her blog, and her blog is your blog. You two could be twins. :) )
xoxo,
A
Haha, yeah... Alison is awesome :) It seems like we're both in almost the same place with our work and balancing work/life and etc. She's just much more badass with the weight-training regime than I am!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement! :)
Aw mate, my sympathies on the writing and the hip pain! Average A is right, our lives are aligned in a freaky way!
ReplyDeleteDuring periods like this, I try and remind myself that being a good runner (and doctoral student) is not just about the miles run, or the words written, but about balancing priorities and knowing when to rest and when to push. Sometimes, the best thing you can do for your running and / or the thesis is to pull back a bit. Or to release the pressure in one area or the other, whichever is most appropriate on any given day, or week, or month..
As for the hip, I know that whenever I've run on ice I've ended up with some random pain or other. It definitely alters your gait. So hopefully it will settle down again in due course. As for the chiro, can you space the appointments out a bit, to prolong the treatment?
And isn't writing up hell!? HELL!!
Yes! YES! to submitting 34 pages!! We know that it's never as bad as we think it is post all-nighter, and you inevitably make faster progress once your advisor has given feedback. S'all part of the process. And getting to the finish line. YES!
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