My mileage has now been reduced quite significantly. If you saw my last post, you’ll likely suspect ITBS as the culprit. (And you’d be correct, actually.)
I’ve been doing my PT. I’ve been resting when the knee gets inflamed, but progress has been up and down. I did a ten mile run last Tuesday with zero issues. Then I did the same run on Thursday and had to tap out at eight miles. (Eight being the “not feeling like I should mess with this level of inflammation, and wow my gait is pretty off” point. I experienced the twinging and pre-pain signals as early as four miles in.)
So after that run, Coach Jenny put me on a run-walk routine. And we deleted a race from my December schedule.
There’s nothing like an injury to optimize goal prioritization.
I was really looking forward to this event. Twelve hours, three loops: just log as many miles as you can before the day is over. The idea wasn’t to hit any particular goal mileage, but to keep moving well all day, and practice my fueling and pacing strategies in preparation for my 100 mile event this February. It was a fantastic plan. But since we can’t count on my IT band to behave for even two or three hours lately, a twelve hour event is out of the question. It no longer supports my goal race.
The priority is getting to Rocky Raccoon two months from now healthy and strong. Hence the reduced mileage, the run-walk protocol, my new PT regimen, and my regular strength training.
To be honest, I both miss the regular Friday and Saturday long runs, and I’m kind of enjoying the break. Though there’s still plenty of hard work happening, the running part takes way less time. And there’s something really liberating about taking a race off the calendar . . . even one I was looking forward to!
So while opportunities to post trail running pictures have been reduced, I did manage to capture a few other fun life moments this week:
Remember when I gave the BeReal app a try? Well, I stayed on. My feed is still kind of lame most of the time, because although I decided to keep and post to the app daily so I can see what my daughter is up to, I didn’t turn on notifications, so I’m not likely to post in real time unless my phone is already in hand when the “time to post” alert goes off.
The above three images feel relevant enough to share here in long-form.
To be fair, in the first picture I wasn’t using my phone. But my daughter noticed the alert while I was knocking out my PT for the day. Here she captured me performing a Bulgarian split squat. Go, me! Looking strong! As Coach Jenny said in my log, “. . . HECKKK YAAA YOU GOT PT DONE!!!!!!! We are going to celebrate that BIG . . .” As helpful as I know it is, some days it’s not easy, so I’m with Jenny—celebrating helps. And way to go, social media savvy daughter, for the assist on that BeReal capture!
I usually listen to long running podcasts on my long runs, but listening in the car on errands works too. Last week on Some Work All Play, I enjoyed the Adam Peterman interview. If you’re here because you love ultra running—or are intrigued enough to keep exploring—I can’t recommend Megan and David Roche’s weekly podcast enough. They are smart, successful, and savvy coaches who freely share their training thoughts and takes on a myriad of running topics—and non running topics. Though they are endlessly positive and a joy to listen to, they don’t aspire to a SFW label, so consider yourself warned. (Sometimes the whole listening in the car thing is a bit traumatizing for my tween and teens, but let’s be honest: exposure will happen. This context is far safer than some others they could find themselves in, no?)
The third BeReal was captured while I was doing after-care for my new piercing. I had my nose pierced for a very brief stint in my mid-twenties, and have been meaning to get it re-pierced for years. No better time than a Saturday when my run-walk only took 40 minutes, right? It’s been a fun distraction from the reduced mileage, and is it’s own kind of endurance event. Did you know I may have to wait six months before I change it?