sirrunsalot
The diary of a Runner's quest towards the Beijing Olympics!
optimism G'day again! So it's been a little over a week since I last updated. The past 7 or so days have been pretty trying. It's not TOO bad in the grand scheme of things, and I've started to come out of it already. So let's get right to it shall we?
I woke up last Saturday (1/12) with a slight soreness on my right big toe. It was a little awkward and stiff to walk around the house, but I didn't really think TOO much of it. I had breakfast and headed out for my run. I ran about 13 miles and did my (somewhat newly introduced) hill drills/sprints. I never felt the toe past the first few minutes of the run. After the run I did my typical: stretching, showering, eating, napping.
Lorraine & I had planned a 2 x 2 mile Workout @ Eldorado Springs again. I was feeling unusually tired/sluggish, so we scrapped it. I instead went indoors for my 2nd run and to do some core afterwards. I really started feeling my toe hurt later that evening and thought, "oh ohh.....".
SUNDAY (1/13): I wake up and can barely walk! My right big toe didn't feel like it was a part of my foot at all, basically just a piece of iron or something. We spent the next few days from Sunday through Wednesday rehabbing it. I did things like: icing, epson salt baths, ionic foot baths, Migun Massage, & even taking pictures and filming the energy spots around my foot through: Polycontrast Interference Photography. All in all it was an eventful four days off I had. I decided not to do any cross training as virtually any type of cross training would've involved the bending of my foot/toes which would cause more pain.
We knew I wouldn't and couldn't lose any fitness in just several days so that wasn't a concern. What was a concern (to me at least) was my overall mind frame. See I LOVE to run, I don't just do it because I can be pretty good at it or (god willing) one of the best in the world. I actually like being out there running freely and losing myself in my thoughts. It's almost like a relaxing meditative state I get into. I often work out a lot of my life's problems or dilemmas while running.
Harlan & Lorraine (Lorraine = my coach, Harlan = her husband) put it best when they said, "Just look at it as a chance for your body to absorb all the training you've been doing and it's regenerating itself." That's just the sort of optimistic and different point of view thinking I get from them daily. They apart from my mother (Nuria) and father (John) have been by far the most supportive people to my running I've ever met.
So by Thursday I was feeling ready to go! I wasn't 100% yet (still not there as of today), but I knew that I was over the hump, as far as it feeling better and stronger each day. I figured I'd test it with a short run and if the next day (Friday) it didn't hurt, then I'd be good to go. I ran 20 mins (3 miles) on Thursday. I felt fine but a little sluggish. I guess that's what happens when you're on the shelf for a few days. I felt my toe, but not enough to slow me down.
Friday came around and I woke up and felt a little better than the previous day -which was the hopeful result- so I went out and tried to run a little bit closer to my avg training pace. I ran 10 miles in 61mins30seconds. It fetl very cruisy and comfortable. I felt my toe, but it didn't slow me down. That was good news, as it was more of a test than the previous day.
Saturday (1/19): Lorraine decided to give it a REAL TEST and try to get back into our routine that we have barely just introduced. We drove to Eldorado Springs again for the 2 x 2 mile workout. We had planned on taking it one mile at a time as not to over stress the toe. We got there and it was VERY VERY windy. We could tell right away it was going to be more of a test than planned. I was just happy to be able to run. The 1st 2 miler was rough! Lorraine drove next to me in the car attempting to shield the wind. It wasn't very helpful as the wind was head on, but still nice to be able to glance over and see her supporting me and keeping an eye out on my form. I finished that one @ 9:51, which without the wind probably would've been close to 10 sec faster, but who knows...
Anyways we pulled the pin (aka. Stopped the workout) about 400 meters into the 2nd set, as I was feeling considerable pain/stiffness in my lower right leg (just behind the calf area). It wasn't anything TOO bad, but it was enough to call it a day. We more or less got what we wanted to out of the day, as I completed only 1/2 of the workout but got to see my biomechanics up close (well Lorraine did) and got to test out the toe.
I iced the rest of the day and went back to Migun, to get a massage and treatment on the lower leg area. I left there feeling much better and was already looking forward to Sunday's long run. Yesterday (Sunday) I ran my 1st long-ish run in 12 days. I felt good, but not as fluid as I would've liked. I chose to go run a very hilly rout to really test the breathing/legs and basically my overall state. I had hoped to go closer to 20 miles but cut it short at about 17 miles or so. I started feeling my lower right leg area a bit and decided to play it safe.
So there you have it. That's more or less what's been going on the past week ( 1/ 13 - 20). I'd like to also congratulate one of good friends: Martin Fagan, on qualifying for his 1st Olympics for Ireland in the marathon this past week at the super competitive: Dubai Marathon, where Haile "Geb" went after a new world record in the marathon. Seeing different training mates of mine qualify for Beijing only makes me that much hungrier.
Peace & Love
I woke up last Saturday (1/12) with a slight soreness on my right big toe. It was a little awkward and stiff to walk around the house, but I didn't really think TOO much of it. I had breakfast and headed out for my run. I ran about 13 miles and did my (somewhat newly introduced) hill drills/sprints. I never felt the toe past the first few minutes of the run. After the run I did my typical: stretching, showering, eating, napping.
Lorraine & I had planned a 2 x 2 mile Workout @ Eldorado Springs again. I was feeling unusually tired/sluggish, so we scrapped it. I instead went indoors for my 2nd run and to do some core afterwards. I really started feeling my toe hurt later that evening and thought, "oh ohh.....".
SUNDAY (1/13): I wake up and can barely walk! My right big toe didn't feel like it was a part of my foot at all, basically just a piece of iron or something. We spent the next few days from Sunday through Wednesday rehabbing it. I did things like: icing, epson salt baths, ionic foot baths, Migun Massage, & even taking pictures and filming the energy spots around my foot through: Polycontrast Interference Photography. All in all it was an eventful four days off I had. I decided not to do any cross training as virtually any type of cross training would've involved the bending of my foot/toes which would cause more pain.
We knew I wouldn't and couldn't lose any fitness in just several days so that wasn't a concern. What was a concern (to me at least) was my overall mind frame. See I LOVE to run, I don't just do it because I can be pretty good at it or (god willing) one of the best in the world. I actually like being out there running freely and losing myself in my thoughts. It's almost like a relaxing meditative state I get into. I often work out a lot of my life's problems or dilemmas while running.
Harlan & Lorraine (Lorraine = my coach, Harlan = her husband) put it best when they said, "Just look at it as a chance for your body to absorb all the training you've been doing and it's regenerating itself." That's just the sort of optimistic and different point of view thinking I get from them daily. They apart from my mother (Nuria) and father (John) have been by far the most supportive people to my running I've ever met.
So by Thursday I was feeling ready to go! I wasn't 100% yet (still not there as of today), but I knew that I was over the hump, as far as it feeling better and stronger each day. I figured I'd test it with a short run and if the next day (Friday) it didn't hurt, then I'd be good to go. I ran 20 mins (3 miles) on Thursday. I felt fine but a little sluggish. I guess that's what happens when you're on the shelf for a few days. I felt my toe, but not enough to slow me down.
Friday came around and I woke up and felt a little better than the previous day -which was the hopeful result- so I went out and tried to run a little bit closer to my avg training pace. I ran 10 miles in 61mins30seconds. It fetl very cruisy and comfortable. I felt my toe, but it didn't slow me down. That was good news, as it was more of a test than the previous day.
Saturday (1/19): Lorraine decided to give it a REAL TEST and try to get back into our routine that we have barely just introduced. We drove to Eldorado Springs again for the 2 x 2 mile workout. We had planned on taking it one mile at a time as not to over stress the toe. We got there and it was VERY VERY windy. We could tell right away it was going to be more of a test than planned. I was just happy to be able to run. The 1st 2 miler was rough! Lorraine drove next to me in the car attempting to shield the wind. It wasn't very helpful as the wind was head on, but still nice to be able to glance over and see her supporting me and keeping an eye out on my form. I finished that one @ 9:51, which without the wind probably would've been close to 10 sec faster, but who knows...
Anyways we pulled the pin (aka. Stopped the workout) about 400 meters into the 2nd set, as I was feeling considerable pain/stiffness in my lower right leg (just behind the calf area). It wasn't anything TOO bad, but it was enough to call it a day. We more or less got what we wanted to out of the day, as I completed only 1/2 of the workout but got to see my biomechanics up close (well Lorraine did) and got to test out the toe.
I iced the rest of the day and went back to Migun, to get a massage and treatment on the lower leg area. I left there feeling much better and was already looking forward to Sunday's long run. Yesterday (Sunday) I ran my 1st long-ish run in 12 days. I felt good, but not as fluid as I would've liked. I chose to go run a very hilly rout to really test the breathing/legs and basically my overall state. I had hoped to go closer to 20 miles but cut it short at about 17 miles or so. I started feeling my lower right leg area a bit and decided to play it safe.
So there you have it. That's more or less what's been going on the past week ( 1/ 13 - 20). I'd like to also congratulate one of good friends: Martin Fagan, on qualifying for his 1st Olympics for Ireland in the marathon this past week at the super competitive: Dubai Marathon, where Haile "Geb" went after a new world record in the marathon. Seeing different training mates of mine qualify for Beijing only makes me that much hungrier.
Peace & Love
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