Thursday, February 19, 2015
That time I ran a marathon and my legs hated me for it
I have mentioned it before on here about how I am struggling with an injury. It is calf and outer leg pain which is being lumped into the category of shin splints. Basically, after the marathon I didn't stretch or roll, and now my body hates me. I usually stretch after every run. I did not after the marathon because it was raining, and I was starving. Plus I had to hunt down my dad because he was lost. I also didn't foam roll or stretch that night before bed. The odd thing is I felt great after the race. I was walking without any problems. I felt fine the next day as well. I took 6 days off and tried to run. My calves locked up on me, and I was done after a mile. I tried the next day and it was a bit better. I was told to rest, roll, stretch, ice, and all that stuff. I couldn't though. I was too stubborn, and I think I made it worse. Finally, E started treating me like a child and put me in time out. He was not going to let me out of the house to run. One time I tried to sneak out by claiming I was going for a walk, but he knew I was going to run. He gathered the dogs and the kids, and we all went together. So, I decided to listen to him. In the month of February I have only run 5 times for 13 miles. I am usually at the 40 or 50 mile mark by this point in the month. Most of my runs have come in the last week when my legs were feeling better. I have been using compression sleeves and intervals. Two days ago I was able to run 3 miles without any pain. Today I ran 4 with no pain. There is some tightness, but no pain. Unfortunately, my endurance is gone. My legs are fatigued pretty quickly so I am going to stick with intervals to finish out this racing season. I have a 15K in March and a 10K in April. I had grand goals of a PR in the 15K. I have changed my goals to finishing the race. I have been playing around with intervals, and I have found that 2 minutes of running to 30 seconds of walking worked really well for me. I will stick with that and see if it works as my distance increases. Hopefully, taking a bit of time off in April will heal whatever is wrong with my legs, and I can start fresh in May.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My legs hated me for days afterwards!!!
ReplyDeleteI expected to be sore, but I never expected the shin splints. Now I know for next time to make sure I stretch and roll immediately. (I can't believe I just talked about running another marathon. I swore I wouldn't do it again.)
DeleteGood luck!! I've always wished that I could be a long distance runner. I've finally realized that my breathing won't allow me to do it. Something to work on..
ReplyDeleteGive your body the time it needs to heal. I've heard so many say how much easier it is to recover from a 1/2 than a full. It sounds like you're on the mend (yay!), but keep listening to your body!!
ReplyDeleteUgh. I am so sorry you are still struggling. It is so hard to rest when your body just wants to go, and especially when you have other races on your calendar. Hang in there. GATE will around next year for your PR.
ReplyDeleteIt is so tough! I have been doing some strength training, and a ton of stretching. It seems to be helping. My last three runs have been pain free. Now I need to work on endurance again to cover the 9 miles. Maybe the mimosas on the course will help. :)
DeleteUgh, injuries really stink!! I'm trying to come back from one and I'm right there with you on the endurance - mine has gone out the window. I'm doing intervals now too, I've worked up to 5 run/1 walk and I'm dying by the end of the 5 minutes. It makes me wondered how I ran for over 2 hours without stopping!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the Gate though, it'll be fun even if it takes us 'til noon to finish!