a running haiku for the day...

so wanted to sleep.
got up and ran five instead,
so proud of myself.

TIaRT - Running Injuries and Treatment

This is for Runner's Lounge Take It and Run Thursday. This week's theme was running injuries and treatment, which is a really interesting topic for me. I've always envied those runners who seem to effortlessly run 100+ mile months, run days and days in a row without rest in between, or who can run half marathons and marathons on back-to-back weekends without becoming crippled. I am not one of those runners. So much so that the other evening when we were out and met a massage therapist and I said I could use a massage, my husband agreed and said "there's always something wrong with her."

Well, I wouldn't go quite that far, but I have had plenty of times where it feels like I'm moving from injury to injury to injury, getting one ache and pain healed only to find another on the next run. I had a particularly nasty string of injuries training for my first half marathon that went like this: left hip flexor, right hip flexor, right foot, left piriformis, right piriformis, right knee, right shin, right foot again, left foot. Along the way I made several visits to the doctor, the physical therapist, an orthopedic specialist, and the bone scan people. The best thing that I heard through the entire ordeal was this from my friend and yoga teacher who was training for her first Full Ironman at the time - "if you're any sort of athlete you're going to end up dealing with injury problems like this at some point in your life." Well, that hit it home for me. I never considered myself any sort of athlete before - but maybe after running my first half marathon and my first full marathon in back-to-back months I can finally call myself that.

At any rate, that doesn't resolve the issue - what do you do with all those injuries? I'm certainly not a pro, but here are my top 5 ways of dealing with my own injuries:

1. Yoga, yoga, yoga - I've found yoga to be amazing to both help me prevent injuries and treat them after they happen, and even when I can't make it to class I use yoga poses at home to target areas that I know are problems for me, like my hips.

2. Ice, ice, ice - I never really bought into the ice thing until I started running. Now the minute something starts to hurt, I slap ice on it. And when I started being religious about my icing after 13+ mile runs, I noticed a huge decrease in soreness and achiness the day afterward.

3. Rest - I really hate to take days off. I mean, I REALLY hate it. But I've gradually had to accept that sometimes it's better not to run than it is to run. And that it's okay to run easy some days. Some days I have to remind myself that I don't always have to run until I'm exhausted or something hurts.

4. Foam roller - I love my foam roller so much, it sits out right next to my bed. I can't afford to get a massage every week, so this thing is a lifesaver for my hamstrings, quads, and IT bands. BUY ONE!

5. Don't be afraid to ask for PT - There's no way I would have made it through half marathon/marathon training without my PT. Luckily I have a doctor who is a runner that understands the problems we runners have, and doesn't hesitate to refer me to PT if I need it. And I think that it definitely helps to get a sports-medicine PT who understands running and the unique problems runners have.

getting back on the horse

I think running a marathon is a bit like falling off a horse - you can see it coming, everything seems to be moving in slow motion, and yet you can't really do anything to avoid the inevitable crash. (I've fallen off a few horses in my day, and that was generally my experience). But at some point you just have to get back on the horse, even if you might not want to.

I got back on my racing horse last weekend by doing the River Run 10k in Wichita, Kansas. I'm pretty attached to the River Run, it was the first race that I ever did, and I think it's one of the best local races there is, period. Tons of runners, a great course, lots of cheering spectators as you turn the corner toward the finish line. This year was really exciting because I was expecting to set a new PR in this race and had lots of friends running this race with me.

The weather was pretty close to perfect for a race - cool but not too cold, not much wind (for Kansas) and slightly overcast. Not to mention that I was wearing my awesome brand-new running dress thanks to my mom (thanks Mom!!) who just happened to be down in Wichita to watch my race. As the race started off, I just felt really happy to be running and racing just two weeks after my first marathon, because I know that things could have turned out much differently. In fact, within the first couple of miles of the race I passed (yeah, you read that right - I passed them) two guys talking about how one of them had run a marathon and afterward completely lost his desire to run again for awhile afterward. And I thought "not me!" Running the marathon just made me want to run more, work harder, train smarter, get faster, build more endurance - so that when the next marathon rolls around, I'll go into it knowing that I did everything in my power to have a great race.

Saturday was a great race. I felt great the entire time, I held a good, steady, fast (for me) pace for the entire race, and in the end I had a new PR of 57:53. Definitely not the fastest 10k time ever run, not even close to "fast" for some people, and not even the fastest I've ever run in a race (that would be an average of 8:45/mile in a 4-mile race). But to put that time into perspective, you have to know that a year ago my time for the River Run was 1:09 and that just before the marathon my 10k time was 1:00:24. Given the circumstances, I'm thrilled with the 57:53.

That's me, bringing it home in the green dress. Best part of the day? Celebrating my new PR with my wonderful Mom and my #1 cheerleader the Fair Weather Runner.