Tina’s Favorite Quote Said To Her While On Holidays:
“You must lead an empty life if you are excited to go jogging”
Tina’s Definition of Dumb:
Eating an entire watermelon right before bedtime. That was a long night…
Tina’s Next Half Marathon In May:
The Daily News Boogie the Bridge in Kamloops, BC
Want To Be INSPIRED? Watch This:
This is an amazing video of strength, courage and a father’s incredible love for his son. Make sure you read the entire description as he completed an ironman competition. Truly incredible.
I had no expectations with my jogging when I left for Mexico. I took my runners and workout gear but decided if I wanted to run, I’d run, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t. My friend and trainer, Jody Kennett from Leapfit, totally agreed that resting is as important in training as challenging yourself, eating well and listening to your body.
Well, my body made the decision for me as I ended up with a couple minor injuries. I don’t know if it was due to dehydration or altitude but I had a severe Charlie horse in my right calf on the plane. It was excruciating and held on for a long time. Sitting on the beach, it happened again. My calf was sore to touch for days following. I decided to jog midweek and was excited to go. That’s when someone jokingly said to me,
“You must lead an empty life if you are excited to go jogging!”
That comment kept me giggling for the rest of the trip.
Midweek my friend and I ran along the ocean. It was gorgeous. Endless. Beautiful. It was also very difficult. The sand is a tough jogging surface and the slant of the beach increased so I crept closer to the water to try and get flatter, more stable ground. I dodged a few waves but eventually I was soaked. I laughed and then jogged in heavy, squishy, sandy runners. The water was warm, the view was spectacular and the company was great. It was a tough jog stabilizing myself in the sand but absolutely worth it.
Unfortunately that jog irritated my right hip flexor and I was literally limping for a couple days probably due to my body constantly having to adjust to the uneven and shifting sand underneath and a sore and tender calf the day prior. From that point onward, I took it easy.
Here’s what I’ve been doing since I got back:
March 4, 2011 – SPEED TRAINING / CROSS TRAINING
It’s been a struggle since my holiday and the funeral. Today I was suppose to run four minutes fast, two minutes slow. I was able to do that for two reps, then the third time I stopped at three minutes…then I tried again and stopped at two minutes, so then I got mad and ran as hard as I could to make up for the lost minutes prior.
March 5, 2011 – REST
March 6, 2011 – JOG 18K (Jog 10 min/walk 1 min)
I went to a free running group today. It was good because I wasn’t running alone but disappointing because I didn’t feel they did a very good job of welcoming people. The woman I ran with was also new to the group so we just ran together. I didn’t really hear instructions nor did they wait for you so people got separated. It was a very hilly route, which was a challenge for me being out of the running routine but I managed to get through it. Towards the end my right hip flexor was irritated but I walked it out with a good 3k walk with my dog afterwards. In total I jogged 14K and walked 3K today. I’m satisfied with that considering the last two weeks.
March 7, 2011 – CROSS TRAIN
I am using my cross training/core training as a meditation. I like it.
March 8, 2011 – EASY 5K JOG (Run 10 minutes / walk 1 minute)
This was the perfect distance for me today because I had to do some processing. I have a little stress and anxiety building over a situation I have to deal with and this jog gave me perspective and completion. I ran at a pace that I could talk to myself, which I did. Yes, I’ve come to the point in my running career that I am now talking to myself.
March 9, 2011 – HILL TRAINING (5-8 minute warm up, 2 blocks of hills, repeat 5x)
I did lots of stretching this morning and warmed up as mentioned with an easy walk and jog but I did not do 5 repeats of hills. I started to feel pain and I stopped because this pain is not going away after I quit jogging, so I know it’s not just my brain trying to convince me to stop. I am monitoring what I am doing because I want to KEEP jogging, not injure myself and have to stop. That would be devastating to me, so I stopped after 3 repeats. I will talk to Jody tomorrow when we go through some new cross training exercises.
I’m only two years into this running thing so maybe this is normal for runners to have aches and pains but I don’t want to ignore those aches and pains and then they turn into a full blown injury. Stopping was hard for me, but the reality is I want to run forever…as long as I can…I also want to push myself…so it’s a fine balance. Today, stopping, I stood there and wept. Maybe I was scared, frustrated, a little angry I couldn’t continue or a combination of all three. Whatever it was, it felt good to cry.
I met with my chiropractor Benita, at Ocean Wellness and she confirmed that I was definitely out of alignment. I’m so grateful to her because I can feel the difference once I leave her office.
If you are training, make sure you are listening to your body. Happy training and have a great weekend. I’ll see you on Tuesday!
