It's a tip that everyone gives you. Listen to your body. Of course it is easier said than done. Also, it can often be tough to tell what is a problem and what is actually just some soreness. With that said, I've really learned to listen to my body and know when it is time to back off.
Thursday's group run was a great workout and I did much better than I expected. I was sore afterward, but only a little worse than usual. However, I ended up doing a good number on my legs with a lot of walking over the weekend. First, I spend about 6 hours running around and photographing a high school track meet on Friday. Then I spent Saturday in a gym watching 9 hours of high school basketball. The one good thing about that was that I was sitting all day. Sunday, I watched a lot of friends run the St. Luke's Half Marathon. I photographed that too. I also ended up walking probably the equivalent of a 5k or more to do that.
I was so hungry to run after watching everyone complete the 13.1 miles. I wanted to get out for an evening run. My ankles and knees were killing me though, so I wisely rested in the evening. I wore my compression socks to bed and felt great in the morning.
I decided to head to Jacobsburg for a trail run this afternoon. After being sore, I definitely wanted to stay on the trails. I'm trying to run on trails a lot now anyway to reduce the impact. I was hoping to run about 3 miles and maybe incorporate some of the tougher hills in there.
I started off near the main parking lot and it quickly became apparent it was going to be a short day. My ankles had recovered, but the joint on the inside of my knee below my kneecap was sore. I couldn't even use proper form because I could feel it every time I impacted the ground. It did get better as I ran, but still bothered me throughout the run. It also improved when I was on dirt trail as opposed to crushed stone.
The short hills were a little tough, but overall not too bad. I was considering running a loop route, but then I came to a hill that was just too long. I turned around and made it an out and back. I thought about quitting at the one mile point due to my soreness.
I made it to a mile and a half. I wanted to at least get 15 minutes of running in. It wasn't a great run, but I was able to salvage it and get something useful out of it. The soreness isn't so bad that I can't run, but I need to back off now before it becomes a problem. If it was a race, I would've run through it. Since it's an early workout, I'll back off.
My body already has allowed me to do more than I expected this early on in my comeback. Now, it is time to listen to it and take a few days off. I probably won't run again until Thursday at the earliest and even then, I might not run. On Saturday, some of the Breakfast Club Runners are doing a long night run. I can't run far, but I love night runs, so I'll be there with them at the start and might crew for them later.
Everyone hates having setbacks and not being able to do what you planned. The reality is that sometimes they are good for you and you need them to get stronger moving forward. This was one of those days.
1.5 miles - 16:13 (10:49 pace)
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