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Wingz' Journal (Read 593 times)

Wingz


Professional Noob

    One of my favorite sayings is that if you fall down seven times, you get up eight. To me, that is the center of my strength. I've fallen down many times - in life and running both. But I keep getting back up and trying again. Not always the same way, but again nonetheless. In that spirit, I start ... erm... restart my injury-free half-marathon quest. I restart with a recently aggravated/injured IT band. I've taken the obligatory three days off running. I've taken enough ibuprofin to threaten my kidneys. I've iced. (In fact, I accidentally gave myself frostbite for the first time last week!) I've been stretching. I'm doing side-leg lifts. And I've been pain-free for several days. I restart with a new habit. As I mentioned in the Running for Weight Loss group, the habit I want to develop this week is to stretch my IT band and do exercises for it on every running day. I want to make this a part of my running routine so I don't have any chance to forget it. I am tired of being side-lined by this injury; it's time to take a more active approach. I start running again tomorrow. I dare not today because of the event going on. But tomorrow is a good day to restart. I've missed running. I always do when I have to take days off. Next week, I'll be running in some unfamiliar territory. I'll take my GPS and my watch and make my best guess. I'll be trying short runs, aiming for 2 miles each. I'll feel a lot better once I get running again and I'm NOT feeling any knee pain. Right now I'm nervous. There's no cure for that but actually going out and doing it. So that's what I'll do. Starting tomorrow.

    Roads were made for journeys...


    Future running partner.

      I wish you plenty of luck on your journey. It sounds like you have a very good plan to stay injury free. One thing I would suggest to help you stick to your routine is to make checklist for your routine. Each day fill it out at the end of the day and keep score each week It serves as a good log cause if you do get injured you may be able to tie it to not doing this or that otherwise there is something else missing. Also stick to the 10% rule as you increase your mileage. Last year I was a first time HM'er, so I've recently experienced what you have gone through. You may be able to learn from some of my mistakes.
        Good luck! Keep us posted.
        Wingz


        Professional Noob

          Well, I can certainly say that stepping it back to the 1-2 mile range is hard on the pride! This week, I was running while on vacation visiting some relatives. My first run (Sunday) I set out thinking I'd do maybe 2-3 miles nice and easy and no big deal, right? Well, my LEFT knee started aching when I was only a half mile out. Turning around at that point was one of the more difficult things I've had to do. Almost as soon as I turned around, the knee stuff went away. I was tempted to continue running, but shortly before I got back, my left hip started hurting, and more than the knee had been. Suddenly, I realized that my hip pain had gone away during my days off with ibuprofin. I hadn't even noticed! I also realized that I couldn't treat my hip ITB pain and my knee ITB pain separately. They're the same thing. And if running through knee ITB pain is stupid, so is running through that hip pain. (The lightbulb goes on!) Just because my hip pain's not crippling doesn't mean that I should run through it if the irritation is contributing to the crippling knee pain... Roll eyes Run: 1.012 miles, 14:22 min. Monday: Too shy to go outside running because I didn't know when I'd need to stop. Ran on the hotel's treadmill instead. 1/57 mi in 22:09. The L hip again started talking, and I stopped. Tuesday: Hotel treadmill. 1.40 miles in 20:07. Again, that L hip causing me problems. I noticed that around the 10 minute mark I felt a little fatigued and my running form deteriorated. I bend forward at the waist (love them hotel mirrors!). Unsure if it's from tight hip-flexors or just years of bad self-esteem, but whatever the cause I'm including hip flexor stretches in my routine and concentrating on proper alignment. Wednesday: traveling and had a really rough day - no running. Thursday: Back home, and using our apartment's TM. Got 1.5 in around 22:22. Again, that left hip was hurting. It was aching just walking around the house (again!) as well as during most of the run. Stubborn me. Looks like it's time for another 3 day ibuprofin break... I've been faithfully icing, stretching and doing leg lifts. I've been semi-regular on taking ibuprofin. My right side's not given me any trouble this week, only the left. And until today, I would have said it's not been as bad with hurting just walking around the house, etc. So I think my last break did me good. One thing I noticed this week is that my L side, which is currently the one giving me trouble, is also much tighter than the R with stretching. Cause or effect? I'm not sure. Just noticing the difference. A 3 day running break will start me back up on Monday. Let's try again...

          Roads were made for journeys...

          Wingz


          Professional Noob

            As I sit at this computer desk, I cross my legs in my habitual typing posture. Both hips ache as I do this, and I am reminded that I had decided to try to stop doing that. D'oh! Old habits die hard. Yes, the hips are still aching. Mostly the left, sometimes the right as well. Rolling over in bed, getting up from the chair, walking to the apartment office, they complain. While running, they do not complain. I stretch them thoroughly most days, including non-running days, and have been doing side leg-lifts my running days. I've been a good girl. Three running days so far this week. One mile each. I've been climbing the wall wanting to run more. One mile is NOT enough to feed the addiction. It's better than nothing. It's better than not being able to run. But it is not enough. On the other hand, I've been able to do that mile. I like that. I just want more. Looking back at my running, I'm noticing that I have a habit of clumping all my runs together in the beginning of the week. Sometimes it's been due to injuries. Often it's been due to scheduling and convenience. But whatever the reason, that too may have been contributing to my ills. So starting this week, I resolved to run every OTHER day, rather than three or four days in a row at the beginning of the week and then nothing later on. Duh. If I'd been looking at someone else's log it would have jumped out at me. It's a big red flag of my own that I've been ignoring. Injury prone? Spread the runs out. Duh. So here I am in the middle of two planned weeks of running one mile every other day. My goal remains the same: run without injury to the best of my ability. So far, so good. Hopefully next week will continue to improve and I'll be able to start increasing the frequency of my runs.

            Roads were made for journeys...


            Future running partner.

              Are you doing any core exercises? When my hips and my lower back hurt this past winter I went to the doctor and had some x-rays taken to make sure it was nothing serious. Turns out it was just some inflamation. I started doing some core training from RunnerWorld website and within a few weeks I was pain free. A good portion of these injuries are do to muscle inbalances. One muscle or tendon has to overcompensate for a weeker one and thus gets overly stressed. I found a good article that might help. http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=3528&PageNum=1
              Wingz


              Professional Noob

                Thanks, Tom. I'd maxed out the info on RW, but hadn't looked into Running Times. Smile

                Roads were made for journeys...

                Wingz


                Professional Noob

                  Well, I made it through another week of this insane conservatism. Next week I'm giong to start stringing these mini-runs together two at a time and see what happens. After all this I do NOT want to have any relapses! I am wondering if part of my problems may be shoe-related. I suspect my Brooks Adrenaline 8's of causing me problems. I had no trouble when I was wearing the 7's. And boy it sure would be nice to be able to point to a pair of shoes and say "there's my problem!" I really have no idea if that's the trouble or not. But it's a good excuse to get new shoes. Tongue As I was doing my runs this week, I was reminded of the time when I first let myself get addicted to running. I had recently separated from my husband, and found the running to be an invaluable stress releif. Plus it was something I had felt very unsupported on. (Let's not go there...) So there I was, doing something just for myself, something I knew to be good for my health, and by doing so I was affirming that I was worth taking care of. As simple as that: here I am taking care of myself, so I must be worth taking care of. I found running to be a very healing thing. I found that feeling again this week. Here I am, doing these tiny little 1 mile runs every other day, and by doing them I am declaring to the world that I am worth taking care of. It's amazing what acknowledging that can do for you. Next week I start doing a two days on - one day off routine. My mid-term goal is to be running up to an hour most days while remaining pain free.

                  Roads were made for journeys...

                    Well, I made it through another week of this insane conservatism. Next week I'm giong to start stringing these mini-runs together two at a time and see what happens. After all this I do NOT want to have any relapses! I am wondering if part of my problems may be shoe-related. I suspect my Brooks Adrenaline 8's of causing me problems. I had no trouble when I was wearing the 7's. And boy it sure would be nice to be able to point to a pair of shoes and say "there's my problem!" I really have no idea if that's the trouble or not. But it's a good excuse to get new shoes. Tongue As I was doing my runs this week, I was reminded of the time when I first let myself get addicted to running. I had recently separated from my husband, and found the running to be an invaluable stress releif. Plus it was something I had felt very unsupported on. (Let's not go there...) So there I was, doing something just for myself, something I knew to be good for my health, and by doing so I was affirming that I was worth taking care of. As simple as that: here I am taking care of myself, so I must be worth taking care of. I found running to be a very healing thing. I found that feeling again this week. Here I am, doing these tiny little 1 mile runs every other day, and by doing them I am declaring to the world that I am worth taking care of. It's amazing what acknowledging that can do for you. Next week I start doing a two days on - one day off routine. My mid-term goal is to be running up to an hour most days while remaining pain free.
                    WTG on your running hun!! I bow down to you at your patience and dedication! My hips hurt when my shoe's are dead so I think it could be that those are the wrong shoe's for you. You are so right about running being healing!! You are definitely worth taking care of! Love the way you think!!

                    Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head." - Joe Henderson

                      WTG on your running hun!! I bow down to you at your patience and dedication! My hips hurt when my shoe's are dead so I think it could be that those are the wrong shoe's for you. You are so right about running being healing!! You are definitely worth taking care of! Love the way you think!!
                      Seriously. Agree on the shoes. More knees for me than hips. But I'm starting to learn the difference between an injury and when it's time to change out the shoes. Another reason to keep multiple pairs in rotation.

                      When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?


                      Future running partner.

                        Just a thought. Are you running on roads that are a bit off camber. I had some trouble after running around the Lake Lynn trail, where most of the path is slanted.
                        Wingz


                        Professional Noob

                          Just a thought. Are you running on roads that are a bit off camber. I had some trouble after running around the Lake Lynn trail, where most of the path is slanted.
                          Lake Lynn's the worst! Black eye Whenever I've run there I've made sure to alternate directions. That helps. Some. I had my most recent acute episode while running trails in Umstead, though. Since most of the times I've had a (comparatively new) IT injury I've been out on trails, I've banned myself from trail running for an indefinite period of time. Sad So far I've been sticking to a TM - between originally not being sure I could make it a mile (no problem now!) and this %$^ 100+ degree heat, I've been quite content to be indoors facing a wall... Roll eyes

                          Roads were made for journeys...

                          Wingz


                          Professional Noob

                            Thanks, Pam & Mike. The shoes I'm about ready to pitch I've only run for less than 100 miles. Shocked I was rotating them with my older ones. They were the new model of one that I had no problems with on the older one. *sigh* I plan to go shoe shopping this week.

                            Roads were made for journeys...

                            Wingz


                            Professional Noob

                              Next week I start doing a two days on - one day off routine. My mid-term goal is to be running up to an hour most days while remaining pain free.
                              I've been thinking some about this and I'd like to get some feedback. I am concerned that with these 1 mile runs (done at 14 min/mile pace) I'm only getting 14 minutes of CV exercise at a shot. Aside from joint issues, a lack of CV health has been one of my greatest weaknesses in running. My legs can run at a 6:30 pace without undue strain, but my lungs can only run at that speed for about 25 yards! I liked my original plan because I desire to be running most days. But I'm thinking now that perhaps I'd be better served working my way up to 2 mile runs (27-28 minutes) over the next two weeks and THEN working on increasing frequency. Do you think that this is largely a matter of personal preference at this volume of training or is one approach significantly better than the other?

                              Roads were made for journeys...


                              Future running partner.

                                I've been thinking some about this and I'd like to get some feedback. I am concerned that with these 1 mile runs (done at 14 min/mile pace) I'm only getting 14 minutes of CV exercise at a shot. Aside from joint issues, a lack of CV health has been one of my greatest weaknesses in running. My legs can run at a 6:30 pace without undue strain, but my lungs can only run at that speed for about 25 yards! I liked my original plan because I desire to be running most days. But I'm thinking now that perhaps I'd be better served working my way up to 2 mile runs (27-28 minutes) over the next two weeks and THEN working on increasing frequency. Do you think that this is largely a matter of personal preference at this volume of training or is one approach significantly better than the other?
                                I think you can gain more benefit by focusing on increasing the duration of each run first as apposed to frequency. As you build up time on your feet your CV will catch up to your muscular ability which is not uncommon. More importantly it takes even longer for your joint and ligament strength to develop. So it helps to develop you distance slowly. Your progress will come faster by running 3 days a week at 5 miles each workout then by running 5 days a week at 3 miles each workout. It's the same total stress. But recovery time is increased (with 3 days a week) which is when your body actually gets stronger and develops adaptations. On the days off, X-train as a supplement.
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