As usual, I have managed to acquire a bit of a tinge that is bothering me (piriformis... again). Go figure, I did a twelve-miler for the first time in months (though I had previously done two runs of 10-11 miles), and THEN on Friday our commander had us do a 4-mile run for time. My time was actually really slow considering I normally do that pace on regular runs when I'm barely pushing the pace... but after the twelve-miler, and with the cold/snow and that really uncomfortable and bulky winter physical training uniform we have to wear, the effort felt pretty hard. And my lungs were burning afterward, SO, I'm not surprised at all that my hip/glute is hurting me again. I took today off from running... even though I really didn't want to because I had to take a week off the week before last because of that gum surgery, but I'm trying to avoid further injury. Anyways, some things I think I need to do so I stop hurting myself:
1) I need to not worry about what other people are thinking. I'm going to start incorporating walk breaks into my longer runs... At the end of that last long run, I felt pretty beat up, and it wasn't even a race. Normally my legs don't hurt WHILE I'm running unless it's a race. Well, they were hurting at the end of that long run. That's telling me that the pace was too fast. It sucks, though, when you're on an infantry post... and I HATE HATE HATE stereotypes about how women are lazy/out of shape/shouldn't be in the Army, blah blah blah. I think that tends to make me push harder... which is good for some things, but not so much when I'm doing a long run and trying to increase endurance. So, I need to stop thinking about what other people are thinking and slow down. And take walk breaks early on (I was reading Galloway's running method... and even though he PERSONALLY came to West Point when I was on the marathon team and talked to us about it, it didn't make much sense to me then... reading it now, it makes sense). Anyway, I think SPEED is what keeps killing me, not distance.
2) Not think so much about miles for the week... My mileage is actually pretty low compared to a lot of runners. I try to average around 30 miles per week, which really isn't high at all, and I think I could easily increase that IF I slow down.
3) Remember to do my strengthening exercises... Yeah... I am working on that one. It seems I only remember to do them when I'm actually injured. But when every physical therapist tells me "You have weak hips and that's why you keep getting hurt!" I guess I need to keep up my exercises when I'm NOT hurt.
I guess the list isn't extensive, but looking back, those seem to be my biggest training errors. I don't think I've been guilty of too much too soon in a very long time. At least not when it comes to distance... I increase my distances pretty safely. It's the speed and hills that seem to hurt me. And not speed WORKOUTS, but running my regular runs too fast... And while I haven't had an injury that's REALLY put me out since I started running in more minimal shoes/working on running form, I keep getting these random injuries that slow me down by making me stop for a week or so at a time.
I will admit though... as much as I really really detest wearing that terrible winter physical training uniform for my long runs (seriously, it really sucks... it's like wearing bags on my legs/upper body), I like doing my long runs for PT in the morning since we are now in the process of marathon training. That way I don't have to spend my weekends doing it :) I can go for a leisurely 6-8 mile run or something instead of taking hours for a run. It's quite nice :)
Love,
Nina
1) I need to not worry about what other people are thinking. I'm going to start incorporating walk breaks into my longer runs... At the end of that last long run, I felt pretty beat up, and it wasn't even a race. Normally my legs don't hurt WHILE I'm running unless it's a race. Well, they were hurting at the end of that long run. That's telling me that the pace was too fast. It sucks, though, when you're on an infantry post... and I HATE HATE HATE stereotypes about how women are lazy/out of shape/shouldn't be in the Army, blah blah blah. I think that tends to make me push harder... which is good for some things, but not so much when I'm doing a long run and trying to increase endurance. So, I need to stop thinking about what other people are thinking and slow down. And take walk breaks early on (I was reading Galloway's running method... and even though he PERSONALLY came to West Point when I was on the marathon team and talked to us about it, it didn't make much sense to me then... reading it now, it makes sense). Anyway, I think SPEED is what keeps killing me, not distance.
2) Not think so much about miles for the week... My mileage is actually pretty low compared to a lot of runners. I try to average around 30 miles per week, which really isn't high at all, and I think I could easily increase that IF I slow down.
3) Remember to do my strengthening exercises... Yeah... I am working on that one. It seems I only remember to do them when I'm actually injured. But when every physical therapist tells me "You have weak hips and that's why you keep getting hurt!" I guess I need to keep up my exercises when I'm NOT hurt.
I guess the list isn't extensive, but looking back, those seem to be my biggest training errors. I don't think I've been guilty of too much too soon in a very long time. At least not when it comes to distance... I increase my distances pretty safely. It's the speed and hills that seem to hurt me. And not speed WORKOUTS, but running my regular runs too fast... And while I haven't had an injury that's REALLY put me out since I started running in more minimal shoes/working on running form, I keep getting these random injuries that slow me down by making me stop for a week or so at a time.
I will admit though... as much as I really really detest wearing that terrible winter physical training uniform for my long runs (seriously, it really sucks... it's like wearing bags on my legs/upper body), I like doing my long runs for PT in the morning since we are now in the process of marathon training. That way I don't have to spend my weekends doing it :) I can go for a leisurely 6-8 mile run or something instead of taking hours for a run. It's quite nice :)
Love,
Nina
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