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November 28, 2004
Poor Timing
Given the fact that during the past few weeks, running has not been easy for me, I know that it is getting to be time to take my annual break from running. Well, really it is a bi-annual break. During the summer I usually take a short break, four or five days in a row with no running. In the winter I usually take at least a week off from any kind of running. Sometimes the break could be longer, or shorter, depending on how my body is feeling. At this point, my body is feeling pretty broken down and beat up. I'm still not sure if I'm going to start my break now, or try to hang on through next Sunday when there is a final big race in the area.
I'd like to do this race for a few reasons. First, it is one of the premier races in the area. It draws a great field. Second, the only time I ran it, the course was not the traditional course. I'd like to run it on the regular course, not the horrendous course we ran when they did not have access to the regular route. Finally, I'd like to run one half-decent 10K this year. From what I've been told, the regular course sets up very well for someone who races the way I do.
After staying up way too late at a party last night, I slept in this morning. I didn't get home until after 2 AM-I never stay up that late! It was raining this morning and I putzed around wondering if I was going to run or not. I decided that I would talk to J tomorrow and see if he thinks racing next Sunday is even worth the effort. My feeling is that, I may as well do all light running this week, go up and see what happens. After that, call it a year and take time off. I finally got myself out the door to run around 10:30. I hardly ate yesterday since I had such hot soup for lunch and I knew that I was going to a party, so I had a really light dinner to save room for munchies if there was anything I ate. Of course there was nothing that I ate at the party. I had two glasses of wine during the six hours that I was there and was starving by the time I headed home.
Once I got outside, I knew that it was not going to be the greatest run. I walked outside and it was misting. About a minute into the run, a steady cool rain started. Needless to say, I felt like I had wet myself the entire time I was out. Also, I was feeling really weak from not eating much yesterday and running so late in the morning. My calves felt trashed from racing in spikes yesterday. I guess that wearing them once a year can do that to you! I already have a tendency to run on my toes, so putting on spikes really exaggerates that.
Right now I'm icing my shin. That funky feeling has been coming back. This is one of the reasons I know that it is time for me to take my break. I don't want to push through anything and end up with a real injury. The only good thing I can think of about this "discomfort" is that it feels more like it is in the muscle instead of the bone. It felt pretty good yesterday after taking the entire day off on Friday. The good thing is that the ankle that had been bothering me for about 10 weeks now is hardly feeling tight at all!
I'm planning on scheduling two massages in the next few weeks. The first is my usual deep tissue, leg-work only massage. The other is with my other massage therapist. Yes, I have two. One for purely running related work, the other for relaxation and upper body work. She does everything, but she is not a runner and does not have a physical therapy background the way the other therapist does. So one is painful, and the other plays the new-age music and burns incense. It's my Christmas present to myself!
Posted by Blondie at November 28, 2004 02:25 PM