Thursday, August 02, 2007

I Don't Want to Write This

Because then it might be true and not just some awful nightmare where you wake up in the middle of the night sweating and then smile because you realize IT WAS ALL A FUCKING DREAM.

I made it out 5 mile on our 14 mile run yesterday...only to have my "twinged" hamstring become a full fledged problem. The entire back of my leg hurt from the top of my leg to my ankle was pretty tight and in pain. So to try and save any resemblance of LeahRunner, I decided to junk the run and head back. We ran into Mike on the way and we walked to McCormick Place and found a pay phone to call Barb to come grab us. It was quite the adventure getting out of McCormick place with a few dead ends non-exits....but we eventually found our way out...and met up with Barb. Thanks again to those two kids for being such good friends...those kind of people really do exist. You guys are the best.

I'm sad.

I don't know what to do. I know pain and I know my body. I can run through just about anything and have a very very high pain tolerance....so I know that I didn't stop because I just didn't want to run or whatever. I knew I would be pushing it to keep going and actually keeping going wasn't a viable option. It was the first run I have missed since about April.

Today we did have a 6 mile recovery which I am going to skip. Tomorrow was an off day anyways. We have a 6 mile recovery on Saturday and then 15 with 12@MRP on Sunday.
I am going to ice aggressively today (working from home) and hopefully the shortened run yesterday and the two days off with icing will get me back to normalish.

I am of the camp that to achieve a goal that might be slightly out of reach....but totally graspable with hard work and consistency....you have to do the fucking work. I am *freaking* about missing some runs....and my precious 3:40 is looking farther away. I know it's probably not as bad as that because there is still a lot of training to go and if I can get it under control and healed I'll be ok.....but I don't like missing runs. Son of a Bitch.

Fucking Bullshit.

I am going to be joy to be around today.

9 comments:

Jonathan said...

Shoot, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear that Leah. That's one of the scarier running injuries. As hard as it might be, you need to let it rest, and then get back into things slowly. I don't think a week or two of taking it easy will affect what you're trying to do in the marathon.

Berner said...

Unfortunately, I have far too much experience with hamstring injuries myself. I lost 2 weeks of training for my last marathon, and at least 6 days training already for this year's Chicago marathon, due to hamstring strains.

No 1. thing I learned: you can't run long or hard on a strained hammy. You will make things much worse, both for the injured muscle and for other muscles (because you will not be able to run with proper form).

No. 2 thing I learned: you will feel miserable each day that miss a scheduled run. It sucks; no lies.

No 3. thing I learned: you will not lose as much fitness or speed as you fear, even if you have an extended layoff. The harm (if any) of missed workouts is offset by the increased rest and recovery. Even with a week or so off, you do not instantly turn from athlete to couch potato. On the contrary, the added rest can actually help you break through to new training levels.

Hope your recovery is a quick one.

MNFirefly said...

((Leah)) Hang in there, girl! Rest up!

Sailor Sue said...

Leah, do what the major league baseball players do - take a week or two off and still collect a paycheck.
Hmmmm....not quite the same for you. But much resting of the hammy sounds necessary and experienced Berner above makes good points. You'll come out of this rested and ready!

Triseverance said...

Leah, I am sorry to hear about this but know a couple of things.
1) You are not alone
2) You can still run the 3:40

Here is the deal though, you need to be creative here. You need to take the stress of the hammy, ice and ib and all that jazz, you know the drill.

Then I would go see a PT find one that will give you a free consult and get his advice on rehab.

Take at the very least the rest of this week and likely a good part of next week off from "running". And when you feel like it's better wait a few more days to test it. Try swimming, strength training or whatever you can come up with to fill the void. Like Berner said your hard work will not all go away in a flash, you will be fine.

I know it's hard but do what you can to rest it, you still have plenty of time and you are so far along. Hang in there, things will get better. Good mojo heading your way from the Northland, even if you are a cub fan. :-)

Triseverance said...

Here is a link for you

http://www.time-to-run.com/injuries/injurygift.htm

Laura said...

Leah - One word: Swim. Seriously. The one thing that is helping my running the most I think is swimming. In the triathlons I did this year my swimming improved due to a commitment to swim class, but amazingly my running also drastically improved. My running splits improved by almost 30 seconds per mile over last year. I PRed in every 5K I've done this year and have only done a track workout the past two weeks. The difference between this year and last (besides the lack of track) is being consistent in swimming. You can also do the running in the pool which shouldn't put too much stress on your hamstring either.

Also, my favorite hamstring stretch (mine are chronically tight) is putting your heal against the wall at a doorframe and extending your leg with the other leg on the side of the wall. Do those for up to five min at a time and it will really stretch out your hamstring. My PT gave me that stretch when I had bursitis earlier this year.

I know it sucks not to be able to run, but you won’t loose that much fitness in your weeks off, and by cross training you will be able to maintain – you just won’t gain fitness.

Colleen said...

Leah that sucks! I'm sorry to hear about your hamstring problems. You already know you've got to rest it, but I know how hard that it is to do. I agree with everyone else that you won't lose fitness from taking a few days off. But I can totally understand where you are coming from because I have OCD when it comes to the running schedule.

Take a few days of rest, do some cross training if you can, and come October I'm certain you are still going to rock out a 3:40 or better.

Full Metal Lunchbox said...

Are you going to see a doctor?