I'm feeling really angsty right now, so I hope this post doesn't sound too whiny. Last week I was recovering from a hip injury. I wasn't sure how bad it was, but I think I just had a muscle strain on my outer left hip. I vowed to take it easy for the next month and no speed work for two months.
My training last week looked like this:
Monday 2/2 -Rest
Tuesday 2/3 -Rest
Wednesday 2/4 3 mile run @ recovery pace
Thursday 2/5 3 mile run @ recovery pace
Friday 2/6 Circuit Training at the gym
Saturday 2/7 Rest
Sunday 2/8 Rest (my baby girl turned 2)
Last month I was adding items to my wish list/wait list for e-books with the local library. I put myself on the wait list for a book on running called 80/20. It became available over the weekend, and I dove in head first. I began to ask myself, "Am I running my easy runs too fast?" and "Will slowing down help me go faster?"
At this point with my running I'm worried that I am no longer improving and that I am starting to feel burnt out. I love to run and race, and training for a race always gives me a goal and something to look forward too. Training with a Garmin has given me the ability to track paces, and stats. But, I think the Garmin is messing with my head. Also going from one race to the next with speed work in the mix has left my body feeling tired.
But, back to 80/20- I decided to try out running slower, than my easy pace for a training run. I went for an easy 3 mile run on Monday during my lunch break and here's what happened....
 |
| right knee |
 |
| left knee |
I think I was trying to focus on running slowly too much. I
was trying to cross the street and while I was paying attention to the cars, I
stopped paying attention to the road beneath my feet. I don't think I
lifted my foot off the ground high enough and I caught it on a raised edge of
the sidewalk and I fell. I got up really fast and kept on running because
I felt really lame. I was so mad after I fell. I just felt so dumb,
I got back to my office cleaned up my knees and then I finished my workout,
with some circuit training.
I was full of piss an vinegar on Monday, thinking "I'm fine
it's just some scrapes", but then I noticed my wrist feeling really sore,
and by Tuesday morning. I really felt like shit.
I haven't ran since then, and I'm not going to try to lift weights
with a sprained wrist. I'm also beating myself up for being careless.
What if I would have hit my head on the sidewalk first?
I don't even care about 80/20 running anymore.... I just
don't want to be in any pain for the next few weeks..
On the bright side of things my hip doesn't hurt anymore.
The old witch doctor trick - hurt your knee, and your hip stops hurting! I haven't read 80/20, but I don't love running with my Garmin. It can be deceptive. If you expect to see a number on there, and you don't, you speed up to hit it - but that's not the point. If you want to run easy, you should run what feels easy, not the number that you think is your easy pace. You might be slower because of weather, fatigue, etc. - and running a specific "easy" pace negates the easy part! So I only use my Garmin for workouts, like a tempo or speedwork when I need to know time and/or pace, and for long runs, when I need to know distance (for my shorter, every-day runs, I follow routes that I know the distance to). Anyway, works for me, and it might work for you. Get better soon!
ReplyDeleteI had my first running spill on a recovery run. I was kind of shuffling to keep the pace slower and I caught an uneven sidewalk with my toe much like you did and hit both knees, my right palm and left wrist and arm. It's been two weeks and I still have scrapes on one knee. My whole body felt jarred by the accident for a couple day's. Not fun. Who knew the slow runs would be dangerous?
ReplyDeleteHope you recover ok. And it'll be interesting to hear how 80/20 works for you. Have you tried using a heart rate monitor to watch your effort level?