So, there wasn’t much running involved in my workouts last week…you already knew that. I didn’t post my training last week though out of bitter resentment, so here’s a look at how all the non-running training went:
Yea, so that number ^^ is very minuscule compared to where I should have been. But, considering my two week injury hiatus from running, I will gladly take any miles over none. And in spite of not being able to run, I was happy with how I managed to keep activity levels high. I am still in love with my BodyPump class, particularly the instructor, and I think it’s been doing really good things for both my strength and coordination.
In other news, after a beautiful rest day yesterday, I was able to run 8.4 miles today! It wasn’t very pretty, and it wasn’t very easy, but hot damn it happened. And guess what? My ankle felt better than it did during Sunday’s first run back! It was still a little cranky, but it seems that this persnickety tendonitis beast may be on its way out the door. It’s really encouraging that my ankle seems to be getting better while still running on it…and it’s making me feel inches closer to making the decision to race. Don’t worry, I’m still going to take it easy and play the super-taper game…but in the mean time it feels great to pound some pavement again.
On my run this morning, I thought a lot about what would happen if I do decide to race. Because when I don’t wear headphones, my entire life—all past, present, and future aspects of it—seems to engulf my brain.
I felt a whole number of things this morning, but mainly encouraged and anxious. I can feel the possibility of doing the Chicago Marathon getting higher, but simultaneously I’m getting scared for just what finishing, (read:surviving), the race will entail.
I need to come to terms with that fact that not only will I be slower than normal and will potentially walk some of the race—there is a good chance I will be in pain during a good amount of it. Pain on top of normal, typical marathon pains. It’s certainly not an ideal scenario—and it’s one that will require perhaps more mental preparation than any other race, should the opportunity come.
Time will tell people. However, I did hear last night that a friend in Chicago is willing to host BF and I for race eve…..and he lives ONE MILE from the start line. We were originally planning on staying out at the airport…a good half hour away. Universe coming together? We’ll see.
In other news, here’s a look at what was a fan-effing-tastic weekend. The weather in Seattle was perfection, and somehow BF and I managed to be way more social this weekend than we have been the entire year.
Spoiler: There was a lot of beer.
Mariner’s Game!
Double dating and baseball night—the Ms even decided to win!
Ferry ride post-game. DON’T WORRY I REPAINTED MY TOES FINALLY. I told you it was a productive weekend.
Seattle skyline via water transportation. Love.
The following morning…
What’s the best thing to come home to after a 2 hour swim? Your boyfriend making pancakes for you. You can’t really tell…but the one underneath is pink. That’s love.
One invite from another couple later…and we were at the Fremont Oktoberfest party ready to cash in our ten tasting tokens. (I only made it to 7…)
Oktoberfest! BF…that mug is just the perfect size for you…you dainty man you.
This was my last beer, I think…and one of 4 attempts at this photo. Low tolerance + high percentage alcohol beer= drunk Robyn.
Right now…I love fall. We are in the perfect phase where it’s not raining, it’s not too cold, and it’s not too hot. The leaves are crunchy and the air promises Halloween and cooler temps shortly. And by Halloween, I mean “I’m probably going to buy candy this weekend.” Loving it. In fact, I might break my pumpkin spice latte rule and not wait until October. CRAZY TALK…I rage.
Last Saturday, I spent the morning running 1/4 mile, failing, and then crying about it while simultaneously trying to swim. Not a pretty picture.
Fast forward to yesterday. After having not one but two spin classes cancelled on me, and after plodding up and down on the stair-stepper for a while…I decided to see how my ankle would hold up on a run.
I was nervous, I had ridiculously low expectations, and I had to mentally prepare myself for the fact that it may be a huge fail.
So after my morning gym session, I went home, changed shoes, grabbed a handful of Cheerios, and drove down to my beloved Alki beach trail. Cautiously and hesitantly—off I went.
The way my “running” has been going for the past two weeks has been like this—a few steps of normalcy, a twinge of pain on both sides of my ankle, followed by my ankle swelling so much I have no range of motion.
But yesterday? Oh, dear sweet yesterday…I was able to run. I’m not saying it was without pain, and I’m not saying it was flawless, but it happened and I finished with a stupid smile on my face and heightened hope for the possibility of the Chicago Marathon actually happening. I finished with a total of 6 miles, and while my ankle definitely felt it—a session of ice and an anti-inflammatories afterwards, I was good to go.
So encouraging…and you better believe I rode out my 6-mile-runner’s-high all day long.
So what now? Admittedly, I still am not 100% sure what to do about Chicago. My doctor gave me the go-ahead to try, and as he said, “The worst thing that can happen is that you won’t finish.” He said that doing the race would more than likely not make my ankle any worse—which I took with a grain of salt, but it was encouraging.
It’s really hard to figure out what to do from this point in terms of taper/testing my running/deciding if I should do the race. I want to continue to rest my ankle as much as I can, of course, but I also need to be sure that going to Chicago is going to be worth it. I certainly don’t want to DNF—but I would also like to know that if it happens, it would be around mile 18 as opposed to mile 7, you know?
So I need some advice…in terms of balancing taper and testing my ability to run…what would you do? My plan is to make the final call next Sunday, so I think I’ll go with my originally scheduled 12 easy miles on Saturday. If I feel like I can do that (and could keep going) I *think* I’ll go for it.
Ahh this is such a weird/different approach to tapering. I am someone who operates with the mindset of, “You never know until you try,” but I also don’t want to fly all the way to Chicago to run less than half of the race.
We’ll see…but in the meantime, I would love any input you have on the matter!
The best news of all: my ankle is not falling off.
And, according to my X-Rays and my highly optimistic Ortho-doc, I have no signs of stress fracture, and my bone structure is “ideal.” Essentially, this was equivalent to hearing, “Robyn, you have perfect hair, teeth, and generally perfect everything in life.”
Good bones=happy runner.
To bring you up to speed, after many days in a row of running, peak marathon training mileage, and a very unhappy 20-miler-turned-17-miler, my ankle was in a lot of pain for no obvious reason. I was limping, I went to Urgent Care (fail), and I panicked about how I could actually pull off a marathon in a month.
Obviously, I wanted to call in a pro ASAP.
The diagnosis I received at my 9 am appointment yesterday morning went something like this:
“Suck it up. Load up on Aleve. Keep running. You’re a huge wimp and don’t understand that running is painful sometimes. Why are you here?”
Okay, it was *actually*closer to this (although the above is in essence what I heard):
“I think you’ll be fine. Get back out there, keep up the pain killers, heavy on the icing, and tell me if it gets worse.”
If you’re thinking, “Wow Robyn, that’s pretty much what every runner would want to hear in your scenario…so did you jump up and down in excitement and make out with the dude while lacing up your Brooks?”
No kissing or lacing up, but yes—you’re right. This is an ideal diagnosis. Particularly for someone like me, who would be grumpy with even the mention of “toning it down” or “taking it easy.”
However, while I am relieved—I’m also going to be a little more careful than Dr. “All Runners Love Me” told me to be.
You see, the reason I went to the doctor was to determine what this pain is not as opposed to what it is. Hopefully, the diagnosis was right and this isn’t something serious (i.e. stress fracture, etc.) BUT, that doesn’t mean that it’s not something to take care of.
With every little ache and pain, we runners spend so much time agonizing over, “What is this?” “When will it go away?” “Can I run through it?” I’m a HUGE culprit of doing this (perhaps THE culprit), no thanks to the magical powers of the interwebs, but here’s the fact of the matter:
If something hurts, you shouldn’t run on it.
I realize my circumstances are a bit different, considering I have 26.2 miles of running to do on October 7, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to try and be bigger than the pain. I’m fortunate enough to have done enough training that waiting out this issue a little while longer (yes, longer than even the “professional” said to do) won’t do much damage. In fact, continuing to run on my questionable ankle would probably undo the strides I’ve made so far in my training.
So I’m sitting it out for a little while longer. I’m definitely not going to pretend that I’m completely calm and collected about this, or that not running is anything but easy.
I’m back-and-forth between being sensible and being irrational. But, I’ve been here before—and I know that the truest test of an athlete’s will and determination are the times that set them back. So yesterday, when I was at work going back and forth as to what I would do for my workout later on, I stopped myself right in my tracks.
And here’s what I asked myself: Is delaying the healing process, which will ultimately get me to the start line in Chicago, for a random Tuesday sweat session worth it?
Absolutely not.
So, I defied my habitual inclination of working out my stress away, and here I am today—no less in shape, in tact, nor capable of living. I am, however, with a more rested and better-feeling ankle.
{See Mommy, I’m growing up.}
I’m realizing that the way we handle injury corresponds directly to the reasons we run in the first place.
The fact of the matter is this: I don’t run to hide my feelings. I don’t run to justify the things I like to eat. I don’t run to prove anything to anyone.
I run because it’s what I love to do more than anything else, and sometimes that love needs to be shown in the bad times and not just the good.
Run love is not just about logging miles, clocking lower times, and registering for races. Run love is also about give and take. We take a lot from this sport—the endorphins, the pride, the toned legs, and the runner’s highs. But how much do we give to it? We give our early mornings and cash in shoe replacment…but I’m realizing that giving back to this sport should be about respecting it—and our bodies—more than anything else.
Running is tough, running is hard, and running wears us down. In order to give to running as much as we get from it—sometimes we need to back off. We don’t prove anything by running through pain or by exercising when we know we should be resting. All those things do is show that we’d rather let this sport abuse us rather than build us up.
If you hadn’t guessed, the “we” pronoun I’ve been using is a lot of me talking to myself. You, dear reader, just got to come along for the ride.
So what is this very long-winded explanation of my injury trying to say? Well, I think for the first time—I’m getting it. I’m getting the give-and-take of running, I’m getting the “rest” thing, and I’m getting that the truest test of myself as a runner comes from how I handle the lower points.
So I’m taking it easy, I’m hoping for the best, and I’m thankful that I’ve *mostly* been able to learn something from my former habits that resulted in mistakes.
Here’s last week for you…let’s see if you can spot where the big scary hiccup occurred:
M: 9 m run slow
T: 10.2 m run ~8:15 avg. pace
W: 7 m run, no watch + lifting
T: 10.4 m run, 8:20 avg. pace
F: REST
S: 17 m run
S: Yoga
Total: 53.6 miles
Don’t see the hiccup? Well, allow me to backtrack to Thursday, where I said I had a “20 mile long run” on tap for the weekend.
That 17 miler up there? That right there was the first time I have ever cut a run short—and no, not because of fatigue, boredom, or a time crunch.
My would-be 20 mile run turned into 17 because I was in too much pain to finish it. That not-so-significant shin split I mentioned last week turned into a very-significant-holy-shit-hurts pain in my entire left ankle/foot pretty much all at once during my run on Saturday morning. I tried to tough it out, but after a few miles of stopping to alleviate the pain every mile—I knew it was best to cut it off. Thankfully a nice lady with a puppy let me use her phone when I asked (I choose the strangers I approach based on their pets, btw). She was probably a bit frightened by the sweaty, salty, and nearly-in-tears girl hobbling down the side walk—but she complied. Bless her.
As soon as BF picked me up, I lost it. I don’t really need to explain to you all the frustrations I was/am feeling about this. I was in Urgent Care yesterday morning after spending Saturday unable to walk, and I have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor tomorrow morning.
Nothing like prompt medical attention.
I’m trying to not jump to worst case conclusions right now (although I spent a lot of time already doing that). Many thanks to my best friend Anna, BF, and Nicole for calming me down a bit. BF has been a superstar through this also (I think he more than anyone knows how Robyn with Injury goes), and following Saturday’s breakdown he immediately helped remedy my sobbing by making me pancakes, attending to my every ice, Aleve, and compression needs, and accepted his tear-and-sweat stained girlfriend for who she was.
Now that the storm has passed, I’m going to let the pros decide how I should handle this situation.
Luckily, since whatever-this-is happened, my ankle has consistently felt better fairly, and it seems that the more I walk—the better it feels (indicative that it’s probably not a bone thing). But like I said.. I’ll be leaving my fate up to science and X-Rays and stuff.
So how am I feeling right now? Admittedly, hopeful—since it is feeling better and seems to continue to feel better. But, the speed in which this thing came on really scares me, and I’m really going to have a tough time swallowing a diagnosis that not only eliminates Chicago—but eliminates my Fall 2012 running career.
I’m feeling a lot of things right now— frustrated (3 injuries in 6 months—AWESOME), sad, pissed, pessimistic, optimistic, relieved, etc.
I’ll explain it all in another post—because I’m doing my best to not jump to conclusions (no thanks to Dr. Google) and allow no news to be good news. At least until tomorrow morning.
Will fill you all in soon.
Cross your fingers, wish upon a star, and break some wishbones (yikes, no pun intended) for me that this isn’t the worst. I’ve really been very careful in terms of training, resting, and mileage—and I’m more than a little bothered right now with where my bff running has landed me.
In lieu of any suspense-filled build up, I’m just going to get straight to this point.
This happened yesterday:
Now, I know what you are probably thinking…because I was/am still thinking the same thing.
“Um Robyn, haven’t you, like, not run at all since the Tacoma Marathon and been complaining incessantly about your injured IT band?”
Yes and yes. Let’s back track a bit though, and perhaps this will make more sense.
I had come to terms with the whole “injury” thing, and I’d accepted that I needed to focus on r&r as opposed to long runs and fartleks. Kidding, I never do fartleks.
However, despite the fact that I was getting over my boohoo, “woe is me” phase of being injured, that didn’t mean that I wasn’t still on the lookout for anything that could help me start running again.
Which brings me to Friday afternuun. I was in need of some Nuun and went to West Seattle Runner to pick up some new bottles. Also, strawberry lemonade *might* be a new favorite.
While there, I happened to see this little gizmo hanging on the wall with all the other braces and such:
Now, if you’re sitting there with one eyebrow raised full of skepticism, trust me—I was right there with you. I asked the guy working what was up with this thing, and he didn’t say much about it other than, “A guy bought one for his knee pain and he never came back, so that’s good?”
Right. I was mainly skeptical because a) this was perhaps the least technical thing I’d ever seen, and b) in the nonstop research I’d been doing on healing IT band injuries, I’d NEVER seen anyone mention these.
However, thanks to return policies, I decided why not—I’d give it a go. I definitely wasn’t optimistic, but I figured $16 for a velcro strap was worth trying before building up some lovely PT bills. I decided to check online to see if anyone at all had any success with this thing, and much to my surprise—a lot of people had. Amazon’s reviews were full of positive accolades for this strap, which definitely heightened my curiosity.
However, I was still very wary. When you’re injured, it’s easy to get really excited about a potential “cure,” only to be disappointed that it doesn’t immediately alleviate your ailment. I’ve learned this lesson too many times, and I’m very settled with the fact that injuries require patience and time to truly get over.
Fast forward to Saturday: BF and I decided to hike Mt. Si in honor of our four years of couple-hood, and I figured I’d wear the strap for poops and laughs. I wasn’t concerned about the going up part, as that’s not what irritates my IT band/knee. No, the downhill is what worried me—and I knew that this was when I’d be able to tell if the strap had any advantages.
From the top! Washingtonians, you must hike Mt. Si, it’s fantastic.
I had zero pain going up, and as we started going down—I was anticipating the stabbing knee pain to start at any time. I kept waiting, and still…no pain. I could definitely feel the pressure of the strap, but not even a glimmer of the pain I’ve been having for the past 6 weeks. So, in a completely reckless and probably unsmart move, I asked BF if we could try running a bit…just for fun.
Off we went, in hiking boots no less, and still…no pain. This was shocking. Even if I can get away with little knee pain in exercise, going downhill or downstairs will always flare it up. But there was nothing, and the further we went—the bigger my smile became. I love running down trail hills, and it felt so good to be flying down each switchback. We stopped a few times to make sure my knee was cooperating, and still…absolutely no pain. I was shocked and encouraged.
After we finished, I removed the strap, expecting to feel at least some of the familiar knee stiffness, but there was nothing. Aside from some very tired quads, my leg felt completely normal.
Obviously I was excited about this excursion, but I was still very wary. The true test would be how my knee felt the next day, and more importantly—if it worked again.
All through Sunday, and all through yesterday, I felt fantastic and decided last night to really see how this thing fared in some real running.
And you already know the results of that. I was blown away, confused, and mostly super excited. I stopped every two miles to stretch my IT band and check on my knee, and every time I stopped my knee felt completely normal. I admit I got a little ambitious with my pace and my mileage, but I couldn’t help it. I haven’t had a pain free run since before the marathon, and it felt so good to be runningmy familiar route. Not walk-running. Honest to goodness running, the entire way.
I was wiped by the end, understandably, and after finishing and doing some regular post-run stretching and foam rolling, I was still pain-free….and continue to be today.
Now the question becomes… what does this mean?
Well, for starters, while this IT band strap definitely does work—I understand foremost that it’s really just a bandaid. It’s alleviating the symptom of my injury, but it’s not solving the root problem. I’ll still be rolling and stretching regularly, icing, and popping anti-inflammatories. I won’t be stupid or reckless just because I “can” run again. I’ll get back into it slowly and cautiously, and be aware that the goal is to run without the strap at some point.
So, I’m going to be smart. But guess what? It looks like I’m also going to be running!
Who knew that a 1 1/2″ piece of material with velcro could be so effective? Remember, I am speaking solely from my own experience with this thing—I have no professional medical training or education (I know, you’re shocked), so please seek expert advice when considering options for treating this injury.
However, this IT band strap has helped completely reduced the pain in my knee caused by running. It also could be a number of other things—I hadn’t run for over a week when I tried this guy out, I have been consciously rolling and stretching a lot, and I’ve given this thing a while to sort itself out. I don’t know if this strap would have been helpful even two weeks ago, but no matter the combination of why my pain is going away—I’ll take it.
I realize that was an incredibly long-winded way of saying, “I bought a weird strap thing, and it’s working,” but I think you could have figured out that brevity isn’t my specialty
In other news…this little girl is back in my possession:
MY BABY’S HOME!!
My credit card is also feeling incredibly appreciated.
Things seem to be getting fixed around these parts, and while I’m trying to stay cautious, I can’t help but feel pretty darn hopeful as well.
Have a great day!
SEATTLE PEOPLE! If I organized a group hike (either to Mt. Si or elsewhere) would people be interested? Let me know, and any suggestions are welcomed!
I would generally consider myself someone who’s conservative with their money.
I’m not particularly stingy or tight, but overall I’ve never been a big spender.
Part of this, I think, has to do with two things. The first is just the way I was raised, and the second is that I just don’t really like to shop that much.
Sure, I can find 123,900 things in Target I don’t need in a solid half hour, but tell me that I’m going to go on a “girls’ shopping spree” for the day, and I’m honestly less than thrilled. Malls and stores make me tired, and although I do like pretty and new things, the whole process of actually getting them wears me out.
What normally happens is that I’ll find something I like, try it on, debate for about 10 minutes in the dressing room if I really need it, and eventually I’ll decide I don’t, then I’ll do the exact same thing in the next store, on and on. It’s very unproductive, and all the time I “waste” by talking myself out of buying things is reason enough to keep me out of shopping centers a lot of the time.
You can imagine my surprise, then, when I recently had to cut myself off because I’d been spending so much more money than normal on things. Not Menchies or race registrations like I normally save all my pennies for, but real things.
And why, you might wonder, did my credit card recently decide to get all stir crazy?
My official diagnosis is this: Injury Coping Mechanism, also known as an unusual, subconscious habit you develop to distract you from being injured.
You see, once I actually realized the increase in money I’d been spending…there was a very obvious thread in all the purchases being made.
Every. Single. Thing. was for running.
I think it’s no coincidence that over the time I’ve been unable to run, somehow I decided to buy the neon pink top I never would have considered otherwise, or the Garmin I’ve been putting off buying for months, or the pair of shoes that were unnecessary but might make running easier.
There were a few more items purchased, but I’ll spare you for fear of being called a lush.
Which I’m not, I swear. I just happen to have a very odd coping mechanism when it comes to being injured, in the form of outfitting myself for whenever I am running again. A bad case of ICM, apparently.
The funny thing is that I actually didn’t realize what I was doing at first. It wasn’t even until I was recounting some of my latest additions to my running lifestyle to someone else that I realized just how much I had bought in such a short period of time. And for someone who is normally very thrifty with their money, I could only look to my IT band as the culprit of it all.
It really does make perfect sense. Though I may have being doing it subconsciously, a part of my brain obviously wanted to feel like it was “preparing” or “getting ready” to run again. I think it’s a comfort thing: if I’m acting the part, I must still be a runner, right? Of course, I know I will be and still am a runner despite my injury and shiny things, but it’s interesting to note just how injury coping emancipates.
I think everyone has certain things that they do, I guess this just happens to be mine. And don’t worry, I’m cut off—and everything I did buy during my ICM-induced craziness will actually be useful once I’m out on the roads again.
What is your injury coping mechanism? Chocolate? Cross-training? Sitting on your butt and loving every minute of it?
So what happened? Well, consider my lack of communication an act of sparing readers from my down-in-the-dumps-ness. Yes, that makes sense.
You see, I had big plans for some positivity, some weekend recap, and some random banter. However, life chose to thwart that plan a bit—and alas, my ability to even fake happiness yesterday was completely zapped away. I didn’t feel I should divulge my feelings to the Internet, so I decided to follow the mantra that Mom always says, “It will be better in the morning.”
And you know what? It is. Sure, things are still pretty damn crappy, but thanks to my unavoidable optimistic hard-wiring, I’m feeling about 700% better than yesterday. And heavily caffeinated, which is a staple in the RB recipe book of creating a good mood.
But let’s back track a bit. Because despite my resentment toward the shit that’s gone down, I cannot leave you hanging like that. Note that I am wary about reporting personal, non-injury related bad news on my blog, however this isn’t so private. So, onward.
On Sunday, BF, my friend Anna, and I were headed east to do some hiking. BF was driving my car, while Anna and I followed in her own. To make a long story short, BF started going 30 on the highway, pulled over, we screwed around with some engine starting and stopping, and it was concluded that we needed to get the car towed. We still managed to get in our hike thanks to Anna’s vehicle, but at the end of the day BF and I spent our evening getting my beloved Glinda settled at an auto repair shop in West Seattle.
Gooooooooood times.
(Side note: AAA can see right through it when you try to get a membership after you need their services. In summary, get AAA before you need them—it’s worth it.)
Anyway, yesterday I went back to the auto shop with some high hopes for a simple, fixable, not-too-expensive diagnosis for my poor car.
Can you see where this is going?
Take the opposite of those high hopes, and that’s exactly what the mechanic got to tell me.
Essentially, my car needs a new engine, which including the labor involved in installing it, is going to come to oh just a little bit less than I initially paid for the car. Super duper fun times.
So, after a lot of discussion over what to do (you know how those conversations always need to happen in crappy car situations), I decided to bite the very expensive bullet and get my car fixed. It’s really, really not an ideal situation—but that was the best decision to make, and so all I can is move forward.
Other than feeling really bad for my car (she’s my baby!) and being pissed at the blow to my bank account, I was mostly just sad for all the things I wouldn’t be able to do/would need to put on hold due to this super inconvenient circumstance.
In truth, I was really just feeling sorry for myself. I spent most of yesterday alternating between crying and racking up a list of all the things I need to currently buy, pay off, and save for that will have to go to the back burner.
You know, because adding up all those things was really going to make me feel better about the whole thing.
It was a pity party to say the least, and while I’m still wallowing over the set-backs this will undoubtedly produce—the truth is, these things happen…and it’s going to be okay.
Sure, it sucks, and as a young 20-something I’m not exactly the most equipped person to handle the financial blow of it all. But, it really is all about perspective.
I might not be able to buy the road bike I’ve been planning on for a little while longer, but you know what? I’m still healthy, I’m still clothed, I’m still fed (a lot), and I’m going to be fine. There are many people who would have had to cut their losses completely in a scenario like this. And with that said, there are many people who don’t even have a car—nor the means of retaliating from a situation like this. When I can shift my perspective in that regard, it makes the whole scenario a lot more manageable.
Am I going to be paying an extra, hefty monthly bill for a while? Yes. But, it’s not the end of the world.
When I began realizing that this situation is only going to be as severe as I make it, I began to draw the same parallel to my lingering injury. The fact is, I’m still in pain, I’m still not feeling like I’ll be long running for a while, and I’m still in and out of very pissy moods about this whole thing. However, when I can pull out my better-self and think about this injury in the grand scheme of things, much like my car, it doesn’t seem to be such a big deal.
I can’t run right now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t run again. I know I keep repeating this (mainly because I have to keep re-telling it to myself) but all runners get injured. You are almost as much a runner when you’re injured as when you’re busting out PRs…it just comes with the territory. When I think about all the professional and Olympic-bound (Kara, I love you) runners whom I admire and look up to, it’s comforting to realize that all of them, at one point or another, has been sidelined—and, obviously, that never stopped them from doing great things.
Being a great runner isn’t about always being able to bust out a marathon on a whim or running fast every single day. It’s not even about times, podiums, or number of medals hanging in our houses. It’s about having the mentality that no matter what situation we’re in, whether sidelined or on the race course, all we can do is our very best. If we do that, there’s nothing to be disappointed in.
The transition from the whole car perspective thing to my injury reflection was a bit janky, I realize, but I think the biggest lesson I’m coming to terms with is that no matter what the scenario…everything will really be okay. In the big picture, hiccups happen, but they are only as big as we make them out to be. Even when we’re feeling overwhelmed, sad, or generally pissed off at the things that have brought us down, it’s so important to remember that we are still in control—no matter our feelings to the contrary. Because we are…we just need to keep the reigns in our own hands instead of letting our emotions and stress take them away.
Okay, enough serious stuff. I will leave you with some pictures from the weekend, instead of detailing all the adventures. As I said on Friday, my friend Anna came to visit me, and we had a wonderful time. Here is some documentation of that wonderfulness in photos. Spoiler, there was a lot of food involved.
Ikea! Please note our new indoor tree. Name yet to be determined.
A trip to Via Tribunali in Upper Queen Anne was the ticket for our Saturday night feeding, and it did not disappoint in the least.
Whole bottle of wine at dinner, check.
…And what goes better with a bottle of wine than a huge floppy pizza? This was all mine, in case there was any confusion.
BF approves.
And obviously after you are full of wine and pizza…the next best move is for…
Molly Moons ice cream! No, both are not mine, this time…
So, obviously I have a certain tendency to take pictures at meals. No need to photograph our beautiful hike, or any other activities for that matter apparently…I promise to get better at this!
So, regardless of the car mishaps, my weekend was certainly fantastic, and I’m thankful to have such a wonderful friend who will venture across the state to eat, play, and laugh with me.
I hope your week is going well so far! And if it’s not, try taking some control over your situation, and remember that although things could be better, they could always be worse as well. And if all else fails, go find yourself a pint of B&Js, or a puppy to play with. Strangers’ puppies are perfectly acceptable.
So I’m not going to lie. Waking up to a Twitter and Google Reader full of “National Run Day!” hoopla stung a bit.
Okay, it stung a lot.
Did you know it was National Run Day? It is. Happy holidays!
As someone who is a lover of every last holiday, including the random, probably-made-up days our country tends to promote, National Run Day is obviously right up my ally. Normally, I would celebrate with a double-digit morning run, in my favorite running outfit, and probably blog all about being in love with running after visiting the local running store to geek-out over miles and gels.
I take my holidays seriously people. And when you give me an “official” day to celebrate running, I will enthusiastically twirl a baton and wave at spectators at the running parade.
However, this year…my celebration plans aren’t exactly going to pan out as I would like.
Honestly, I could run today. My leg is definitely feeling better every day, and after 68 minutes and 7.5 miles of run/walking on Monday, my hopes are much higher for a quick comeback. I have been spacing out my runs with several days in between since I started back up, allowing any soreness or knee kinks to completely evaporate before trying again.
The thing about an IT band injury is that you’re not necessarily making things worse by running on them. Running doesn’t feel too great, that’s for sure, but it’s still do-able. Running with this injury essentially just elongates the healing process, because it tightens the band, therefore straining the knee, and even more icing and stretching is needed.
So, physically, I could run today. My soreness from Monday is nearly gone, there’s good-ish weather, and of course it’s National Run Day!
The question, then, this morning became…should I?
I absolutely hate the thought of being someone who doesn’t pay tribute to their favorite thing on a “national” day of recognition. As pretentious as it might sound, if there are people out there today logging miles thathardly run otherwise, surely I must be out there as well.
I’m a runner, I should be running today, that’s a given. And I can run! (kind of) So why not?
Essentially, I was thinking that it was a dishonor on my part to not run today. Yea yea yea, I know it’s a fake holiday and running any other day wouldn’t be any less fun or sweaty. But, I was still feeling pulled to run. Just to know I did it. Just to know that I am still a runner who can run whensoever she feels.
But then I got to thinking:
“Okay Robyn, is going out and gimping out a few—potentially painful—miles really going to prove you’re a real runner?”
(I don’t really think in third person, just go with it.)
Part of my brain said yes. It said, “Go on! Prove you’re getting back in the game. Prove that even without running for a month, you still have it in you.”
But prove what to who exactly? To running? Because I’m mad at running? Because I’m afraid of running and feel like I have to redeem myself worthy again?
This is when the other part of my brain started to infiltrate my thoughts. The part that is sensible, rational, and dare I say—smarter. She helped me realize that running for the sake of running today wasn’t going to actually help anything. It wasn’t going to send positive recovery vibes to the universe or “prove” to anyone or anything that I am still a runner.
No, all it could possibly do was set me back.
And all at once, my sense of reason took over, and I realized the truth.
If I love running so much, why would I want to run when I shouldn’t be?
If I want to “prove” my love for running, what I really should be doing is the sensible, careful thing…which would be allowing enough recovery, not pushing my limits, and slowly building back my strength. Running now (when I probably shouldn’t be, for no reason other than pride) would only prolong my ability to run in the future that much further.
And do I want that? No.
The best way for me, then, to celebrate National Run Day—a day where running should be given all the love it deserves—is to sit it out. My biggest downfall as a runner, as demonstrated in the Tacoma Marathon, is that I abuse the privilege of running. I can never get enough of it, and instead of treating running with TLC, I play roulette with it and my body—leading to collapses and injuries.
In that regard, I don’t need to “prove” anything in terms of my ability to get up and run. That’s not the hard part for me. The hard part is understanding that running is not something to be careless about, and in fact it needs the same kind of essentials as the rest of us—including some time to step back, lay out, and sip a summer brew.
(Go with my metaphor on this one.)
My point is that run love is not all about logging miles and miles, day after day. That’s a huge part of it, for sure, but run love also includes the times when we know we ought not to run. I know that if I truly want to prove how much I love to run today, I should let other people pound the pavement while I save my body for the time when it really can run again.
If I wanted to wind up in the same self-destructive mindset that led me to my downfall in the Tacoma Marathon, I would go run today. However, I want to be smarter, and I know that if I really want this sport to be in my life for a long time, I need to learn when to back off and be less selfish. Because running today would be the selfish thing to do, and in honor of my unconditional, pure love for running—in an act of selflessness, I’m going to start releasing the reigns.
With all that said, Happy National Run Day! Despite injuries, racing casualties, missing toenails, and an always full laundry hamper—I love this sport so incredibly much. As much as I might have whined in the past month, and as frustrated as I might get about being injured, I still ardently believe that even on the sidelines—nothing can teach us more about ourselves than running. And for that, I am thankful.
Whether you’re running or not today, I hope you show off your run love. Or, if you don’t run, go on and wave at someone who is. I can guarantee they are happy to be doing it…or at least they will be once it’s done
And mark my words, once fully healed, I will be celebrating my own self-made National Run Day with many happy miles, and anyone who wants to participate is invited.
How are you showing your run love today? How do you show your run love everyday?
Greetings friends, strangers, and family members who lovingly check in on my life.
How’s it going?
It’s JUNE. How did that happen?! I seriously feel like I was just bundling up every day and cranking my heater on a regular basis. Spring flew by, and while I know each year everyone seems to talk about how fast the time goes, for real this year seems even speedier. I’m just hoping this isn’t a sign of getting older…24 is ripe, I’ll tell you.
But let’s celebrate the time instead of commiserate its passing, shall we?
Plus, I have THINGS TO TELL YOU.
Friday Faves (obvs), AND I have some encouraging news. It’s not exclamation point encouraging, but exciting nonetheless.
;
I RAN. Well, ran-walked. And unlike Sunday’s fail of a walk-run attempt, I can confidently say that this excursion went well! Let’s back track a bit though and do a little lack-of-running recap.
Since doomsdaythe Tacoma Marathon, I haven’t been running at all. I tried a few times, realized very quickly that my IT band is shot, and since then I’ve been desperately trying to massage and ice and exorcise the stubborn demons out of my leg. It has been a month, which is pretty hard to believe—since it seems like only a little bit ago I felt fully recovered. Pathetic.
And no, I haven’t really been performing exorcisms on body parts. Yet.
Anyway, I have been sad, you have heard a lot about it, I have become a grumpy injured runner, etc. Whine whine whine.
Despite being peeved at anyone and everyone with fully-functioning legs, I actually have been more okay with this running leave-of-absence than I thought. After getting myself back together after that race, I realized that taking a step back was probably just what I needed. Although I’m sad it took an injury to fully solidify my “rest period,” the timing is without question the universe telling me to slow down. And slowing I have been.
Cue, Wednesday afternoon. I wanted to try walk/running again. I was/am tired of being inside on a spin bike while everyone in the entire world is out running.
(By the way, when you all of a sudden can’t run, every single person and their puppy seems to start running.)
It only took about 2 minutes in for my knee to seize in that all-too-familiar way, and so I started to walk, per run/walk standard procedure. After a minute, I started to run again, and after another two minutes…I realized my knee felt better. Not great, but not bad. While I am always hoping that one day I’ll wake up and the running gods will have waved their wands (the Stick) and made my ailments completely go away, at this point…I’ll take what I can get.
And guess what? I was out on my favorite route for 45 minutes!! 32 of which were running, and the others were spent stretching/walking. I didn’t even really care that I was having to walk at some points when I otherwise would have been flying by other people. It felt so good to be outside, by the water, and actually sweating from running. I know I had a big smile on my face the whole time, and I felt better after each spurt of running.
;
;
It would be a lie to say that my knee didn’t hurt afterwards, because it did. However, although the running is bringing on the IT band flare, it doesn’t seem to be making it worse, does that make sense? As in, the pain is there…but it’s not getting any more significant through movement.
The next day, I was sore but still pleased that for the first time in a month, I can say that I covered over 4.5 miles.
You cannot see my sweat, but it’s there!! And it’s from running!!
YAY
I’m going to try again perhaps Sunday, and with any luck this next attempt will be even better. Wednesday’s run was the first time I’ve actually felt hopeful about my running endeavors in a while, and that’s a good feeling.
ALSO. In other news regarding feeling like a runner…remember back when how I told you about my two dead toenails holding on for dear life? Yes, well, they have been hanging around, black and beautiful. I figured since I haven’t been running, they would calm themselves down and return to a semi-normal look.
So I go to cut my toenails last night, and I realize that one of my black nails is COMING OFF. Like, I could easily pick it up.
I’ll spare you details, you get it, but I am officially toenail-less. Which is nasty, no doubt, but it’s also a friendly little reminder that I am, in fact, a runner…injury or not.
Moving on…let’s get onto some Friday favorites eh? I’ve been slacking recently, sorry, but I’m back and ready to deliver the goods. And by “goods,” I mean “random shit that I like that I’m going to tell you about because this is my blog and you are reading it.”
It’s fine.
Christian The Lion
If you have not seen this video, STOP what you are doing, no I don’t care if your boss can see, and watch this video. It is almost certain that everyone has seen it, but if not…you will not be disappointed.
This never fails to bring a smile to my face and actual tears to my eyes. I don’t cry from movies people, ever. But this is perfect. Animals really have the whole unconditional love thing figured out…if only we could catch on.
How much do you want to hug a lion after watching this? Also, Whitney is crucial to building the anticipation.
(Side note: When I say I don’t cry in movies, I’m really not kidding. However I need to inform you that no matter how immune to tv/movie crying you may be, if you watch the Glee season finale from this year while on a foam roller you WILL burst into heavy uncontrollable tears. Seriously, SOBS.)
Dixie Cup Ice Massages
Every runner should know about this contraption. Oh wait, I was the only runner who wasn’t doing it? Dang.
BUT I have made a few discoveries regarding the usefulness of freezing a Dixie cup full of water.
1) The functionality of icing your leg is highly improved by using this method as opposed to holding individual ice cubes and pointlessly running them along your leg.
2) This shit hurts. Due to increased grippage (thanks Dixie people), you can really dig into your muscles with this baby. Ice AND massage= two for one special! The concentration of a huge hunk of ice on a knotty IT band yields a good deal of pain, and with enough effort, this can be as brutal as the foam roller.
*Question for anyone who has done this…is it normal for me to be sore the next day from doing this last night?? I think I might be bruising.
Pink Lady Apples
I cannot believe I haven’t done this one before, but I actually don’t think this favorite has been on my list.
I can safely say that I eat an apple every single day. I love them, they are easily transportable, and they accent other things so well. With that said, I have made the rounds in terms of trying all different kinds of apples.
My key components are: crispiness, tartness, and size.
I love me a huge apple, which often times dictates which ones I pick up. Also lucky I live in WA, where the big apples are ample.
Through all my experimentation, Pink Lady apples are the winners in terms of consistency and appeasing all my apple must-haves. The are always hard, tart with a subtle sweetness, and they are generally big.
Galas and honeycrisps suffice when my favorite PLs are absent, but otherwise I will be a Pink Lady lover for life.
Bridesmaids
I know, I know. Old news, everyone has already ranted and quoted on and on about this movie.
Don’t care, it’s on the favorites.
This movie gets funnier every time I watch it, and so far I haven’t gotten sick of quoting or rewatching it. There are SO many funny things that aren’t even that obvious at first, and I credit it to the brilliance of Kristin Wiig and the probable ad-libbing that went on. Megan is obviously the best character, with Annie’s (K. Wiig) female roommate as a close second.
This is not going to be interesting whatsoever, but in case you are as obsessed as me and can identify these nuances, I’ll share some of my favorite lines which frequently make their way into my daily vocabulary. If you’re over this movie, just go ahead and skip ahead:
“Oh that’s prickly.”
“I’m glad he’s single cause I’m gonna climb that like a tree.”
“No it’s not… me.”
“Yea oh shit. Yea oh shit.”
“I’m just gonna snowball off of that and say Fight Club. Female Fight Club.”
“Well only because I’ve never had a drink!”
OK. Done.
National Food Holidays
I love food. I love when everyone else loves food, too. I don’t always participate, admittedly, but I think it’s a hoot when everyone’s all of a sudden buying grilled cheeses or cupcakes or eating peanut butter by the spoonful—which is super fun, any day of the year.
With that said…
Today is National Doughnut Day.
Celebrate accordingly.
I don’t really need an excuse for most things, but doughnuts are something I rarely have…so why not today, right?
PLAY WITH ME! What are your favorite things? What kind of apples do you like? Favorite Bridesmaids lines? Is my post-ice massage soreness kosher? Are you kosher? Is anyone really kosher? I’m done I’m done.
I am going to be completely honest here and tell you that I really never thought much about exercise classes.
I always considered myself self-sufficient enough to take care of my own fitness, and in a completely judgmental and unfair way, I thought the reverse about people who went to classes. I’m a jerk, I know, and all I can plead is ignorance. I preferred keeping myself disciplined and designing my own workouts as opposed to someone telling me what to do. I figured classes were there for people who didn’t know how to exercise and needed encouragement and motivation from an instructor. Asshole, I know.
Fast forward to March 2011 (Or I guess rewind? Go with it):
Injured Robyn: Completely incapable of running, or even walking for that matter. Also, really effing grumpy.
Universe: “HA! Want to rethink judging those exercise classes, or drown in an out-of-shape pile of couch-sitting and Phish Food pints?”
Now, the Phish Food definitely happened, however at this point I realized that despite my aforementioned preference toward solo-cizing, in order to maintain a level of fitness—I would need to surrender at least some of my gym time to a professional instructor.
(Robyn, stop trying to make “solo-cizing” happen, it’s not going to happen. Thanks, Regina George.)
And you know what? I converted (ish). Spinning is a really darn good workout, and it necessitates a killer instructor who is kind of scary. Yoga is one of my most favorite things now, and not only does it make me stretchy and flexible (good for running), but it calms me down.
fyi: I NEED CALMING A LOT OF THE TIME.
Anyway, I am fairly certain that had I not been literally forced off the running-only wagon, I would never have found these other forms of sweating. Even when I was able to run again, I kept rolling on the cross-training bus, much of which included group-exercise classes.
Where am I going with all this? Well, if you haven’t been listening to my incessant blog rants, tweets, and merciful pleas to the universe(joke-ish), I am currently not able to run. I was robbed of a happy IT band in the Tacoma City Marathon, and since then I have had to be creative.
Luckily, thanks to last year’s injury, I was better prepared for how to keep myself in shape. (Dear world, if I must get hurt, let’s go for the winter months next time, cool?) In essence, I’ve been spinning and swimming like a madwoman. You would think I was preparing for a tri. Wait, am I? But, this time I wanted to actually try and take advantage of this temporary loss of my run love.
I committed to focusing the energy that is normally occupied with race registrations, long runs, and PRs on other aspects of my health—like getting stronger and more bendy. I knew this would entail doing some of the things I normally avoid—such as venturing outside of the familiar spin room to—gasp!—another class. I have the yoga and spinning thing down…I’m a regular, the instructors know me, I’m comfortable with both. However these are the extent of my class experience.
My lack of attendance in other classes was due primarily to two things: 1) No time with marathon training and (honestly, more so) 2) apprehension. When I work out, I like knowing what I’m getting myself into. I like knowing beforehand that it will be worth my time, as in difficult and a good sweat, and I like knowing that I can get through it no problem. I didn’t really think that other group exercise classes would be beyond my physical condition, however as someone who is used to getting along no problem in a group exercise setting, I don’t like thinking of being the newbie who knows nothing.
Yes, I am psychotically competitive.
HOWEVER, I did vow to try. And try I have!
More specifically, I’ve been going to a “Maximum Sculpt” class at my gym, which was the least frightening choice when reading the online description. I knew the instructor, and the paragraph detailing what it included had enough familiar terms that I was comfortable testing it out.
It seems that I was not alone in preferencing this class—because when I arrived at 5:55 for a 6:00 am class, the entire room was full of everyone with their little stations of a step and weights and omg how much crap do we need??. So, obviously I pretended like I had been before, didn’t ask for help, and found the very last spot in the back of the room—which honestly I was grateful for.
And just like that, I was sweaty, tired, and humbled. Despite having a fairly strict routine myself, switching to something new proved that I have things I can definitely work on. My hammies were screaming after that first class, and lifting my arms to shampoo my hair was equivalent to bench-pressing BF.
Yes, you read that right—I do shower.
In essence, I was out of my comfort zone. And you know what? I’m totally digging it. As a creature of habit in all aspects of my life, I rarely stray from my normal routines—and exercise is perhaps the most perfect example. Because I can(could, sad face) run really long distances and lift weights on a semi-regular basis, I gave myself an out on not really pushing my body otherwise. I was so focused on running, and not having too sore of legs, that I was wary of ever doing anything else. And I didn’t care. I gave myself a get-out-of-jail free card and simply refused to try anything else.
Now, PLEASE remind me that I said this when I can run again, but I am realizing that we aren’t actually reaching our full potential by doing the same things over and over again. I know every exercise know-it-all preaches this, but I never really internalized it until I realized all the things my body couldn’t do. Naively, I figured that because my endurance was tip-top and I could run 26.2 miles, I had everything else in the bag.
Wrong.
Guess what? Running might be fantastic for many things, however just because you can run for three hours does not mean you have the fitness thing completely figured out. In that same breath, I am hoping to use this whole humbling I-actually-have-room-to-improve experience to teach me that while running might be my numero uno, I still need to focus on strengthening myself in other vacinities.
Running actually leaves a lot of our body parts quite weak, as I’m finding, and it’s due to these imbalances that a lot of injuries occur. Pounding out miles doesn’t always mean we’re getting better, and I’m recognizing the fact that the only way for us to get better is to do things that are uncomfortable.
In this respect, I’ve sort of admitted to myself one of the biggest reasons I haven’t tried on any other exercise caps. It’s because I was/am afraid of it being hard. I know that sounds funny coming from someone who will willingly run 12 miles before the sun is up, however running is something that I know I can do. When I don’t know that I have the ability to excel at something, I get scared that it will be beyond my physical condition. Hence, the underlying reason why I never wanted to try out anything else.
Sure, it’s really easy for me to say these things when I don’t have the availability to run whenever I want, but it’s something I hope that injured and non-injured runners alike can recognize in their own habits. In running, in all physical conditioning, and in life, it’s the hard things, the things that are outside of our comfort zone, that actually make us better. It’s great to get comfortable…to know that we can knock out effortless miles day after day. But, that’s exactly the time that we should be looking at our weaknesses, and figuring how to improve upon those things. Plateauing is really easy when we stick to one repetitive routine, and it can be one of the fastest ways to injury, boredom, and actually losing our strength. I’m realizing now that I was absolutely plateauing when I was running a lot, and had I been a little less obsessive perhaps I would be in a different spot today.
So, I suppose for now—I am a “class person.” I am really, really enjoying getting my butt kicked by workouts, specifically when it’s facilitated by someone else. It’s good to see that despite having a lot of endurance strength, I have a lot of room to improve. Because despite how humbling it might be, it’s really exciting to see that I have a lot more potential—which gives me a lot of hope for my racing future, whensoever that may be.
I know I will always prefer to workout alone, but a little socialization never hurt anyone—and for someone desperate for another best friend while running takes a time out, a group setting could be just the ticket.
Now, talk to me: Are you a class person? Do you try to shake up your routine? Have you ever hit a running plateau?
