running

Okay, so I decided to create a blog just for my running. I think this way I will be more likely to stay up to date with my running log. So here is my first post:

My running has been down for a while now. I have been on and off with injuries for the past 18 months despite having high aspirations. I have run some decent races here and there but haven't come even close to meeting my potential. I was a mediocre college runner and feel that there is a lot left in the tank; if I can just get and stay healthy long enough to string together a few months of solid training I can run some significant PRs. We'll see though.

Last week I ran a whopping 15 miles (give or take 5) trying to come back slowly from ITBS, an affliction that haunted me a year ago and returned about three weeks ago.

Monday I ran 42 minutes for just under six miles. I took yesterday off and I am about to go out for a late evening run. I'll probably go around 30.

The goal for the week is to take it easy and not take my running too seriously. I won't set a mileage goal because I don't really care how much running I do.

I hope to be back to running decent and consistent mileage by early summer to prepare for a cross country season in the fall and maybe a fall marathon for a Boston Qualifier. I just need to take the comeback very slowly. I have been extremely overzealous and impatient in the past year when coming back from injury which has led to further setbacks. I want to go straight from point A to point Z without going through B to Y. I have lofty goals but lack the patience to achieve them. I come off of one injury and immediately want to jump right into high mileage again and skip the build-up fearing that spending two weeks to ease back into the point I was before will prevent me from reaching my potential for that season. Once I do establish some consistency I try to maintain mileage at any cost. For instance about a month and a half ago, I came back from a short break due to a lingering injury and immediately ran 80 miles the following week. I felt great doing this so I had every intention of maintaining it. The next week I missed a day of running. Feeling guilty about the negative impact this would have on the week's mileage I did a double on Friday totalling about 23 miles. Then on Sunday I ran a small race on a whim and only got 6 miles in. Later that day I decided to go ahead and do my long run of 18 miles. I ended up crashing from lack of sleep and energy. I ended up with 85 miles or so. The next week I missed another day. Again, feeling guilty from the zero day, I did a double during the week for a 20 mile day. The next week my IT band syndrome started coming back.

So if I can get around my impatience and my obsession with hitting mileage, I think I can make a great start on running injury free. So here is my list of things to do to stay injury free in the next year:

1) Stay positive when an injury comes on. An injury isn't the end of the world and certainly isn't the end of my running career. Having a positive outlook on my running through good times and bad will certainly keep me motivated and grounded. A positive attitude will also help me do the things I need to get better.

2) Treat the cause not the symptoms. Stay on top of the therapy and make sure the injuries go away and stay away.

3) Learn patience. When kicking the injury it is important for me to remain patient. Think long term. Two or three easy weeks is a lot healthier training than four or five months of injury riddled training.

4) Don't become obsessed with mileage. If I miss a day, don't make up for it by running 56 miles in the last three days of the week. Being 12 miles shy of the week's goal is a lot better training than the 12 mile weeks that will likely follow such an idiotic campaign.

5) Run consistently. There are 7 days in a week, if I am running high mileage, use all 7. If I don't run 7 days in a week see rule number 4.

6) Stay tuned but don't be super sensitive. It is important to pay attention to my body, but every little ache in the general region of the previous injury is not the injury returning.

7) Run for the joy of running. Don't worry how the potential onset of the nearest ailment is going to affect my future training and racing. Run in the moment and run for the fun of it again. I enjoy running; don't mess it up by being on constant guard.

8) Complaining won't fix things. If a positive attitude is impossible not having a negative attitude is the next best thing. Nobody likes a Negative Nancy and nobody wants to hear whining about the latest problem (running or not). So beyond asking for serious advice, talking about the negatives is off limits.

Here's a start. I'll see how these work.