Injuries Suck

There is really no way around it. Injuries suck; especially in a sport like running where the training shapes your lifestyle. Although the lifestyle seems boring and mundane, its something I am craving.

With injuries you can't do anything. Except grind away in the pool or the bike. The first day of cross training is fine, but by the middle of the first week the idea of doing this for weeks on end start to sink in. Then, it gets tough.

However, I am currently in the worst phase of being injured. It's the part where you've been hurt long enough, and know that the end is near. But, in the back of your head you know that if you start up again too soon, its going to relapse. And your back to square one. It sucks, but hopefully, I'll be running by next week at this time.

Week II: 12/26 - 1/1

M: AM - 45 min walk; PM - 45 min walk

T: 20 min bike / 30 min core / 20 min bike

W: 35 min bike w 10[1/1] / core / 25 min bike

R: 20 min bike/ core / pool run

F: pool run

S: 40 min walk

S: 10 min walk-5min jog - 5min walk - 5 min jog - 10 min walk

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

The Beginning

If you run 100 miles a week, you can eat anything you want -- Why? Because
(a) you'll burn all the calories you consume,
(b) you deserve it, and
(c) you'll be injured soon and back on a restricted diet anyway.
--Don Kardong

These are very true words.

I am currently on week 7 of my sacral stress fracture from running those 100 mile weeks. There has been zero running during that time, and my "restricted diet" to which Don Kardong (look him up) is talking about has been primarily a liquid one.

Out of sheer boredom, I have decided to start this blog. I figured why not, and why not now, especially since I am now at another beginning.

I recently ran into a local masters runner on the train. We didn't recognize each other at first because we weren't in our running gear. Once we did, we began talking. I explained my injury. He stated that it was time for another beginning. As a guy who is his late 40s, he stated that he has had close to 50 "new beginnings" whether it be from illness, injury or life. For some reason that stuck to me. I have had a lot of "new beginnings" in this sport, too, but each time came back stronger and more motivated.

When this last injury struck, it came at a bad time. I was running the highest mileage of my life in hopes of qualifying for the Olympic Trials. Then one day... Boom. Done. This sport has given me the highest highs and the lowest lows. For those who don't run it is very difficult to see why anyone would. With this blog, I hope to give a glimpse or my training and write down some thoughts along the way. We'll see how long this lasts, without further ado...

Week I: 12/19 -12/25

M - 15 min bike warmup + 45 min pool run with 10 min tempo and 5x1min on/off

T - AM - 45 min walk in the Res; PM - 30 min walk on SHU treadmill, then wharton stretching

W - 15 min bike warmup + 60 min pool running w/ 6x[3hard-1easy-1hard-2easy], wharton stretching and core

R - 1 hour pool running

F - off, wharton stretching

S - 1 hour bike

S - 1 hour bike