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It’s eight o’clock on Saturday morning. I’m at my desk writing.
Some of you will recognize right away what this means: Saturday mornings are my time for marathon training. If I’m sitting at my desk writing, I’m not outside running. My sore quad is still enough of a concern that I opted not to run this morning.
This isn’t completely bad, however. The soreness is definitely improving. When I walk over flat surfaces, there’s no pain at all — just a sort of vague tightness. But when I walk up and down the stairs, or when I jog, there’s still some pain. It’s not a stabbing pain as it was earlier in the week, but it’s sore nonetheless. After consulting with my coach (Mac’s wife, Dr. Pam), we both decided it would be best for me to skip today’s run. (Although it’s a run I’ve been looking forward to for weeks — a completely flat course over a multi-use path that runs near my home.)
“How far is this going to set me back?” I asked Pam. I was worried about not having run since Monday’s race. “Am I going to fall behind?”
“You should be okay,” she said, “especially if you can find other cardio workouts to do next week. You won’t be able to jump into the longest distance [15 miles next week], but you should be able to start where you left off [13 miles].”
It seems strange to think I might have to go almost two weeks without running. It’s become an important part of my life. But in order for it to continue as an important part of my life, I need to be cautious of injury…
Mac
7 responses so far ↓
1 Josh Eaton // May 31, 2008 at 8:05 am
The title of your post could not be more appropriate. Glad to hear you’re not pushing it to further injury.
2 IronMo // May 31, 2008 at 7:38 pm
JD, do you know about the foam roller? IF not, definitely check it out - it helps a ton, esp with quad/ITB soreness. See here: http://www.smiweb.org/roller.pdf
Good luck!
3 greenman2001 // Jun 1, 2008 at 6:04 pm
What “other cardio workouts” does Pam have in mind?
4 J.D. // Jun 1, 2008 at 6:58 pm
5 Metroknow - AlmostFit.com // Jun 1, 2008 at 7:26 pm
So glad you wrote this post - paying attention to mild injury can’t be emphasized enough. If you are like most running junkies, when you are forced to stop by a physical injury, the mental game becomes nearly unbearable. Depression from the lack of endorphins among other physiological and psychological factors leads to things like…eating worse. And given your other posts on chocolate cake and wrappers on the floorboards of the car, it is all too easy…Don’t look under my carseat - you’ll find a similar wrapper, lately.
6 J.D. // Jun 1, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Right now it is KILLING me that I can’t exercise. KILLING me. I’m trying not to think about it, but it’s making me mope about the house. Plus the food thing is beginning to rear its ugly head. While I was exercising, I could eat more. Now that I’m not getting exercise (except weights), I haven’t reduced my caloric consumption. And, in fact, my eating habits are worse, as you guessed. I’m stress eating because I’m stressed about not working out. It’s quite a struggle…
7 brad // Jun 2, 2008 at 4:11 am
Rowing might work, but it’s still quite a leg-intensive workout. In proper rowing form, you push hard with your legs first, then pull with your arms to complete the stroke. That’s why rowing is a near-total-body workout; a lot of people assume it only exercises the arms and back but in fact after a long row on the erg it’s my legs that are the most fatigued.
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