You would think after 45 years I would have learned my lesson but no, I keep repeating the same thing I am always telling other not to do. So often I get a nagging injury and I take a day or two off thinking if I just rest a few days I can get back into it and not miss much. But all too often I do this cycle over and over and the injury is still there till finally I have to take two plus weeks off. To add insult to “injury”, pun intended, since my reason for trying to keep running usually is an up coming event so what tends to happen is the that I finally have to take time off right at the events date and miss the run as it is. Now taking the two weeks off at the start, or just avoiding the injury all together but more on that in a moment, may or may not have solved the issue but it invariably would have been a better choice and leave me with a better opportunity to race later.I understand why even experienced runners who can afford it have coaches because no matter how much you know there seems to be that element of “DO as I say NOT as I DO.” When you coach others you can look at them from a perspective that often you cannot see about yourself and that loss of perspective can lead to decisions and directions that may end up being detrimental. Now, even if you do not have a coach you can surround yourself with those that are not afraid to tell you to “take a break” which may also be able to help avoid the injury trap. Now when I speak of injuries I am not talking about those that may come from other areas of life but those that crop up due most often to over-use or maybe just going to far too fast. Whatever the reason it often takes a perspective that is detached from you to see the issue. I do not say this to give myself an excuse but I have to admit I often from my perspective am not over doing it. When I look back I can see that while I may not have been suddenly throwing in a 100 mile week after never running more than 40 but instead because I was feeling good I just kept going and did not take a break from training or racing as I should have.
The lesson I need to learn is that we need to take a break before we are broke – hey maybe I need to copywrite that but then again I am sure someone has said that before. I was joking with my wife the other day that taking time off would be easy if I disliked running but then again I run because I enjoy it. Thus, while I admit there are times I want a certain amount of miles or need to run a certain distance to make sure I can tick of my training box more often than not I cut my rest short just because I like to run. That does not mean I enjoy every run but as a whole I just like to run.
So what of this latest issue? While I do not have Plantar Fasciitis, yet, I do have a very sore heel where the achilles attaches. If I look back the achilles issue did not come directly from too many miles but stems from calf issues that came about during a hard run after having quite a few miles. The miles themselves were not necessarily high but looking back I can see I had not had a long enough period of rest when I needed it and not just wait till it is convenient. Sad thing on my part was that I had this issue the year before and had talked about taking a break every 5 weeks or so but in the midst of travel and work and racing I just ended up not taking those needed days thus never taking a planned break. Well my body said it is time for one and that is not the way I, we, should decide on when to take a break.
I had been struggling with calf issues and was trying to keep up the training as I had Hood to Coast coming up so tried to run through it and in many ways was able to but it was not always comfortable. I had planned after Hood to Coast during a family vacation to take a week or two off. Well my love for running and especially finding trials up mountains got in the way. I had told myself that a 16 mile run up 3500ft would be no big deal and the previous 4 miler was just a shakeout run. The issue is that what those runs did, while enjoyable with a little pain, was disrupt the rest so that while I may have only run three days during the week I did not get the consecutive days of rest my achilles needed. To top this off we were driving back from Idaho across the county back home to KY and of course I had to run in Yellowstone as well as another run on a beautiful morning but the part I had not accounted for was how driving a few thousand miles would affect my Achilles especially when I would run in the AM then get in the car and drive – let me tell you that is a bad idea if you can avoid it do so. I then took a week off of running once I got home before I had to go back out to CA for work and rode 3 days, telling myself that it was not running, but then I got to CA and was sore from flying and went for a short run – another bad idea and a stop to a week off from running before I actually got the week – do you see a trend here. I then took one more day off and the heel felt a little better and I tried to run the next day and while sore it was not unbearable, that is until later that night and all the next day. Man did it hurt the next day and it did not subside most of the day.
So that is where I am. I wrote some time ago about having a long term perspective and that perspective is to run long term and while I do have “A” Races and Goals running for long into the future is at the top of my list. When I see things from that perspective and put aside my pride in not running a race I had planned on it makes things easier, not easy but easier, to say whoa. I am not one to enter lots of races and do not show up as I only enter races I plan on running but this year due to work and now injuries I have had to back out of a few races. The reason I am going to shut it down for a month or so from racing and thus pass on The Bourbon Chase Relay in KY which I really wanted to run as well as the Colossal-Vail 50 Miler in AZ is that it is the wise thing to do. I have some big plans for next year which include the Land Between the Lakes 50 miler in March 2018 and the Yamacraw 50K (this is a maybe as it is 30 days after LBL but may do it as a training run) in April then my first 100 miler at Tunnel Hill in 2018. After that my current plan is to work to qualify for Boston at The Kentucky Derby Marathon in 2019 so I can run the 2020 Boston when I am 60. I think taking the rest now and then training so that these events in the future can take place is what needs to be done. There is a chance I may be able to run a 30K in mid November but only if I have no pain and also it will be a pretty much day of the race decision and it will be run in a manner that readies me for the future and not jeopardize it.
Also, when taking a look back at my last two years of trying I have had some very good weeks but I have a hard time making it to November as I had to DNS the Indy Marathon due to issues. This tells me I am not taking the mid-season break that I need and will factor that in this coming year. Also, in this coming year I need to work on more mobility and strength and not just say I will do it. I just need to figure out how to make time even if it means running less.
Well that is a quick look at how things are ending for my year and I hope you can learn some Lessons from my mistakes. I may not learn quickly but I hope you do. Take to heart to that rest is much a part of training and the activity of training is and make sure you “Take a Break Before You Are Broke.” Do not put off what needs to be done, rest, as your body will make you rest at some point and that point is usually more painful and often conflicts with what you avoided rest to try and do. If you can afford a coach, and you may even find your company may even cover part of it like they do for some people with health clubs, do so and if not find people who will help you progress. With this be careful not to surround yourself with people like you as often that means the advise will be “just gut it out”, or “work through it.” It is OK to have those people but make sure you have those that will be honest with you and say take a break when you need it or will tell you to cut back when you are maybe getting a little over zealous.
Again - “Take a Break Before You're Broke”
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