New year, new race…

It’s already begun. Just signed up for my first race of the new year, and the honor goes to…

*drumroll, please*

The Go Green St. Patrick’s Day Half Marathon!

I’ll be gunning for a PR in this one, so time to step it up with my training. The good news is, I’ve started integrating spinning into my cross-training, and it seems to have done wonders for my cardio. After a brief 2 1/2 week respite from running due to a minor injury (that’s what I get for running a marathon less than 2 months after running my last one–lesson learned), I went on my first run last weekend and was able to run at a fairly good clip without the usual effort such a pace would require from me.

And just to prove that wasn’t a fluke, I tested out my cardio capacity this morning on a 3-miler and sure enough, I was able to run that at a pretty decent pace as well. This spinning thing is the real deal!

The off-season of my discontent

I had high hopes for this off-season. I was coming off my best season yet, setting PRs in my 10K, half marathon, and full marathon races, and I was excited to work with a run coach to ride the wave and build upon that momentum.

However, it appears my body had different plans.

First came the broken ankle/ligament tear. Then came the inflamed intercostal muscles (ribcage muscles, in plain English–and by the way, I don’t even know how this injury came to be). And now, four months into the off-season that was supposed to take me to the next level when the real training season started in late May, I am fighting just to get back to where I was before my injuries.

But enough with the whining. I decided I should focus on the positives that came out of this. What, you say? There are positives? Why yes, there are.

1. I discovered new ways to cross-train: when I was banned from running and the elliptical machine (and even swimming), I learned to love the activity I tended to avoid like the plague, which was the exercise bike. Now? It’s actually my cross-training activity of choice, imagine that!
2. I learned to eat better: I was already a pretty healthy eater, but since I had to cut back a ton on my activities, I had to really watch my calorie intake if I had any prayer of not gaining 20 pounds.
3. I learned to listen to my body: I pulled back when I felt pain or discomfort, I modified when I needed to, and most of all, I eased back into activity once I was given the all clear. Can’t stay injury-free forever, I guess, but we can do what we can to prevent it as much as possible.
4. I became more patient: ok, maybe this one’s a work in progress, but I did take a few baby steps towards being more zen. Kinda. Sorta. Ok, not really. But I meant to–and doesn’t that count for something?

Back in the saddle again…

It’s been 9 weeks since my memorable (and not in a good way) trail race, where I fractured my ankle. I’m happy to report that I am finally back in the swing of things! I got the officially clearance 3 weeks ago to get back to running, albeit cautiously and watching for any signs whatsoever of pain or discomfort. Technically, I’m still another few weeks away from the bone and the ligaments being 100% healed, but I’m enough of the way there that I can resume all normal activity–one stupid move, however, and I could be back to being immobile faster than you can say, “setback.”

 

So I’ve been very conservative indeed and not running for more than 30-40 minutes at a time. I’m feeling no pain (yay!), but as I learned from this whole ordeal, apparently I can’t trust my pain sensors to tell me when I’m going too far–after all, I ran on a broken ankle at one point. I always thought of myself as having a very low tolerance for pain, but I’ve been told by several people now that I in fact have a very high tolerance. Hmm, I’m not sure whether I should be happy or scared about that ;).

 

In any case, I’m so happy to be back to doing the things I love. I didn’t realize just how much I missed it until I went on my first run and found myself tearing up–yes, actually tearing up. I feel very lucky to get to do these things: be active and use my body when there are so many others who would give just about anything for that chance. I definitely don’t take this blessing for granted, and I think that’s why I’m so determined to use that ability to do something good and make a difference.

 

Summer season for Team In Training is now just a little over three months away and I can hardly wait. It feels so good to be back in the game!