Pings, pangs and PULLS!

I’ve never been an athlete.  I am 5’9″, so of course had an entire high school experience of being asked why I didn’t play basketball.  Well, my height never made up for my fabulous lack coordination and I didn’t do well with large objects flying towards my head.  But ultimately, nothing ever appealed to me.  Simple as that. 

Now that I have found something (we’ll just say “later” than high school..) that really interests me, I now have a completely new set of experiences…. the injury.  I have really tried to approach those minor aches, pains, and general issues of soreness as just part of the process.  And not being an athlete or having experience as such, I was told that was the right view to take.  I was told that there would be the little nuisances that occurred pretty frequently.  And as one of my friend’s blog trained me, there could be so many worse injuries to work through. 

Sure, that is all well and fine until you actually get an injury.  In my case, it is a pulled muscle.  Something called a Tensor Fasciae Latae.  Apparently, the Tensor Fasciae Latae is a small muscle that is on the outside of the hip bone.  It attaches ultimately to the iliotibial band (ITB) – who knew?!  I typically try to work through those irritating “pings” and “pops”, but when it feels like someone is stabbing you in your hip each and every step you take, well… maybe it is time to take note.

I never really realized that there was this small muscle that played such a large role in the entire function of the hip.  I’m being told now that it is the wonderful ice, rest, etc, etc pattern to start the healing process.  I am also being told that it will be 4-6 weeks to ensure the pull doesn’t get worse.  I’ve apparently already pushed the issue because I tried to get out again too soon after I first felt the pain.  Guess I’m just stubborn.  But now… my stubbornness has led to more irritation.   UGH…

The worst part is that the race season is here!  I am already signed up for a 5K next weekend, which now I won’t be running.  I am really sad about that and more prominently, I am feeling extremely antsy because I can’t even go out for a short run.  This is going to be a long 4 weeks! 

Ok, I’ll look at the bright side.  Guess I can focus on doing some strength training while I wait.  Maybe I can get some rockin’ summer arms! 

Good luck to all of those that can run their races!  I’ll be thinking of you!

Let the race season begin

It is that time of year for me.  The weather is getting warmer and I can start running outside again.   Yeah, yeah… I  know I live in Minnesota and I should be very used to the full range of seasons that doing so “provides.”  But running on the ice and in the freezing weather?  Not so much!

So as I was saying, the weather is getting warmer and I can start running outside again.  Now, along with the warmth, I am also getting the beginnings of an excitement only found from the other part of summer running…the race season!  It seems that everywhere you look, there is a race that can be found.  So far, I have one race per month from now till October.  I am so excited!  There is truly nothing to me like the feel of being in a race. I’ve only done two 5Ks so far in my running career, but I was completely hooked from the very first  one I did. 

There isn’t anything like the camaraderie I feel when I am out there with all of the other participants.   Each person striving to achieve their own personal  goal.  It is fun for me to pace myself with different runners.  Keeping up, doing better, or just picking someone else to keep up with that is more my speed – all are equally motivating when I am out there.  My goal?  Just to finish.  I’m sure as I do more runs, I will be tempted to actually set goals and try to do better in race after race.  But for now, I’m ok with just  saying I did it. 

Well… and getting that fabulous bib number to hang on my office wall!

A slight stepback

I must admit, after starting this blog, I started to suffer a bit from some of the strange aches and pains that many runners probably get.  I’ve been dealing a little with some hip pain and sore knees.  Honestly, I think I just got a little carried away and added to much too fast.  But who isn’t guilty of that?  In any part of life!  We all over indulge (if that is what you can say about running)…  I am sure that anyone who has visited my site have done the same thing (and I hope people are actually visiting my site – I’d love to think that there are a lot of you out there that hang on my every word… ok, ok, I know you don’t and that there are a lot of sites out there)…

Anyway, because of my minor irritants, I have had to step back my routine a bit.  It has actually helped a lot to just ratchet down my training by cutting back about 5 miles for a couple of weeks and then start back out a little slower.  What is the old adage?  Slow and steady wins the race? Ok, then I’ll take it!   

And it might be time now to start adding some strength training to my routine -  I’ve read a lot that a stronger core and muscles have been linked to much better stamina and performance.  Anybody that has some training recommendations, please bring ‘em on!

The “Bad Run” Forgiven…

It seems ironic that the day I started my blog and posted of how Zen running was for me, I had a dreaded “Bad Run.”  I haven’t had too many of these yet, so it is a pretty new experience for me.  However, I have seen many posts from other runners that seem to consistently mirror my experience.  The bad run is pretty common it seems.  You probably know the drill…no matter what you try to do, nothing seems to be going right in your run. 

Well that happened to me, and as much as I love running, all I wanted was to be done!  I couldn’t keep my heart rate in check.  My head, back, knees, feet, and even my toes (which were already – oh, and still are - bruised from a previous run) hurt that day!  It was all I could do to get done and even then I had to end with less mileage than I had planned.  Typically, I can push through – not that day. 

When I got home, all I wanted to do was be upset with myself at how I didn’t finish the entire run.  But I couldn’t – you know?  I still got out there and did as much as I could.  It may not have been the originally scheduled 9 miles, but it was still 8!  It was then that decided to accept and appreciate it for what it was…8 miles that, last year at this time, I couldn’t even fathom doing! Last year at this time, I was still officially a “couch potato” and not doing anything remotely near running.

So, the next run day…I put my shoes back on.  Forget the bad experience.  Forget the past.  It is another day, another run, and the ability to start again with a clean slate.  Okay, granted the next run in my training plan was the Easy Run and was only 2 miles.  But after the disappointment of a really bad run, even 2 miles can be daunting. 

And guess what?  It flew!  I could breathe easy, kept my heart rate controlled, hurt less (except for the toes), and before I knew it I was done.   And again… I was back to feeling awesome! 

My lesson learned…bad runs  happen to good people.  They just do.  So the next time I go, I can remember that I have a new chance at a really, really great one.  Bad runs happen, so note to self - get over it.  Move on.  Lace up!

Running is my Zen

So how did I get to Zen?

As I began to create my blog and pondered what to name my very first posting, I came upon the idea of “Running is my Zen”.  Sounds good, right?  Hits the mark?  (Although, maybe not for everyone.  Those that run to the cadence of “I hate this, I hate this, I hate this” won’t fully understand – and you know who you are my friend!).

Okay, I admit.  Anyone that is a runner probably at some point or another didn’t feel overly Zen.  Nor did I.  But this feeling was really only at the beginning, when I struggled to run for each one minute interval before I had to take my two minute walk break in between.  

But 9 ½ months into my running journey, I can actually say that this is the best description ever.  I’m sure that there are other things in life that bring about this incredible feeling.  But for me, I think about how far I have been able to come it really makes me feel accomplished in a way that nothing else has.  Oh, and by the way, my long runs are 9 miles as of today and I have done two 5K races!  I’m shooting for my first ½ marathon in October, so wish me luck.  While, I’m sure this is nothing for some of you that may have stumbled upon my little piece of the blogging world, but I’m pretty darn pleased with it – for now…

Ironically, while I thought I was being very clever in my naming creativity, this apparently old hat.  Who knew that there are actually books, websites, and other blogs that focus on this very idea!  Hmmm…Guess I really did hit the mark! 

By the way…for those of you interested, a couple of the books I found on the whole idea of Zen and Running are called “The Zen of Running” by Fred Rohe and the other is “Zen and the Art of Running: The Path to Making Peace with Your Pace” by Larry Shapiro. I can’t profess to have read Rohe’s book because it was actually published in 1974.  I am on the hunt now for a used copy. For Shapiro’s book, I did actually pick it up just yesterday.  So far it is pretty interesting…  I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks for joining my journey…