Flat and Slow

After missing yesterday's workout, I took it very easy today. I ran a slow and flat four miles in the neighborhood by my parents house. It went pretty well and allowed some recovery for my sore body.

My hamstring, which had bothered me for a few days, is no longer a problem. I felt good early on and all throughout the run. The only issue was a headwind in two of the four directions that I traveled.

After finishing up, I felt a little sore. I noticed that now my left calf has some soreness. Stepping on it funny a few minutes ago briefly aggravated it too. It might be because I'm not putting as much pressure on my right leg when I walk.

My right groin does seem a little better, but it is still sore. I'm concerned because it isn't healing as much as I hoped. It doesn't bother me most of the time, only when I step the wrong way.

I should be ready to go come Saturday, but I'm definitely concerned going forward. I should be fine in the race because my injuries aren't bothering me during running. It is only afterwards that I have a problem.

Hopefully the two days off after the half marathon will allow me to fully recover. I've been using a lot of ice and heating pads lately and staying off my feet as much as possible (when not running). Regardless of how I feel, I'm going to take next week easy. I'll still try to do the planned mileage, but not with as much intensity as I had been doing before.

I'm just really concerned that this won't heal before the marathon and it will in fact get worse. This is the time where I should be building up and now I might have to cut back. I'm so focused on the marathon and I was doing so well in training and now this. It's really frustrating, but I guess I have to keep taking it day by day.

I'm not as eager about the half marathon as I was before. I'm still confident I can run well though. I guess that's a good thing. They made the course flatter too, with some recent updates. That should alleviate some of my issues.

I guess I just have to be patient and smart from here on out. I complained about training being too easy and then I pushed myself a little too far with hill sprints and more intense runs. It's time to back off a little after the race and see what happens.

Hopefully I can come up with some good stretching and strengthening exercises. That really helped me recover from my IT band syndrome this spring and early summer. If I have to, I might incorporate some walk/run technique to try to recover. The next few weeks will be crucial to see where I'm headed.

4 miles - 35:40 (8:55 pace)