I feel like this year has been like a horror movie. Every time I think I’ve slain the bad guy BAM he’s back from the dead and just not giving up. Ugh!
Flash back to April this year when I strain my hip adductor. The road to recovery on this one has been long and probably a little more holistic than I’ve experienced before. The muscle injury was just a symptom of the underlying problem: poor flexibility and mobility. So I’ve been working on that for a while and progress has been slow. Well, slower than I would have liked. I’d have a couple of great weeks then SURPRISE my adductor wants to have some cutback weeks. And while not quite back to square one, it felt pretty close.
Then BOO! I managed to tweak my right Achilles and then wore some trail shoes that cut the back of my feet really badly so I could no longer tell if it was my gaping wound (slight exaggeration) or tendon that was hurting. Turns out it’s the tendon. Luckily, I’m seeing my PT on Tuesday and will get her advice on how to work through it (she’s a pro running-if-you-can PT).
But I’m still getting runs in and need to think big picture. So, pity party dismissed and here’s what happened this week.
Monday: 3.1 miles @ 9.57 pace. Easy recovery. HR 140 bpm. Bike commute 11 miles round trip.
Tuesday: Bike commute 11 miles round trip.
Wednesday: 4.1 miles @ 10.16 pace. Trail run. HR 156 bpm. Elevation gain 430 ft. Bike commute 11 miles round trip.
The same route I did last week but Oh My God I thought I was going to die. Usually, when I run this trail I drive to work (it’s right by my office building). This time I biked to work and then two hours later I went out to run. Bad idea. My legs were just not ready. My calves were burning and I had to stop to stretch them out – which has never happened to me before but seemed to help. I also had to walk up some uphill sections that I usually run up. It was all a bit demoralizing. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?
Thursday: Run commute home from work. 5.5 miles @ 8.35 pace. HR 153 bpm. Elevation loss 590 ft.
I am signed up for a half marathon at the end of October that comes down one of our canyons and finishes about a mile from my house – with pizza! It’s mostly downhill so I thought I’d get some practice runs in over the next few weeks. This was nice and easy – although a little warmer than I’m used to – and I got to wear my vest so I looked totally legit!
Friday: Bike commute 11 miles round trip.
Saturday: 7.5 miles @ 9.02 pace. Long. HR 163 bpm. Elevation gain 240 ft. Bouldering.
I ran around some of my old stomping grounds on a beautiful Saturday morning. But this felt a little harder than I would have liked. But good to finish the week with 20.2 miles of running and 44 miles of biking. I also had my first trip to a climbing gym in forever. It was so fun and reminded my how much I enjoyed figuring out those climbing problems.
Sunday: Gym! After realizing my complete lack of upper body strength at the climbing gym, I headed to the regular gym for a whole body workout and it felt great. We’ll see how tomorrow goes LOL!
irishrunnerchick 
Sorry to hear you are suffering with some injuries. It’s so frustrating…I’m injured right now too (but ran a double race on the weekend). Looks like you had a great week though of workouts!
I feel like we’re in the same boat! Start recovering and then something else comes up. Glad that you had a great race weekend!
So sorry to hear you are dealing with this. I have certainly been there. Sometimes when it rains, it pours with injuries. And when they are there, it feels like they are never going away. There are times when it felt hard to remember a time when I wasn’t injured! I hope you are healed up and healthy soon!
Thanks Sarah! I’ve had a few great runs – that just remind me I’m out of shape. It’s all small overuse injuries which means fixing gait and imbalances which takes FOREVER (or more than 3 months in non-runner time).
Oh man, that sounds really frustrating. Hopefully your PT is able to get your tendon fixed up quickly. Despite all that, it sounds like you are still getting in some nice workouts, especially that trail run sandwiched between two bike commutes!
I love being out on the trails – so beautiful at this time of year. I think I just have to ease into it though – as my calves and Achilles have let me know!
Ugh, I’m sorry 😦 This always seems to happen when you are finally out of the woods and I feel so bad for you! Fingers crossed for a good session with the PT
I’m about ready to be done with all these stupid injuries. So incredibly frustrating. I’m so jealous of people who can go for whole training cycles with no issues. But I get some answers from the PT and am feeling more optimistic.
Well, I’m jealous of people who can struggle with injuries all spring and still crank out sub-145 half marathons. Maybe we should combine to be the perfect runner 🙂 good luck!!!!
Boo for injuries 😦
But it looks like you stayed busy nonetheless 🙂
That race with pizza at the end is perfect. ❤
Yes – injuries suck! I am so over them. But pizza will keep me going for those last miles…..mmm pizza…..
Frownie face for the injuries.
Post-race pizza is always a good thing. I often pick races by the post-race food they offer.
My last half marathon has freshly made pancakes which were amazing! And beer is always a plus.