Last night after calculating my miles (because I’m a little behind schedule and didn’t calculate last week), I realized this…
————-
It’s kind of a big deal in my life, so much so I decided to post about it. Pre July 12th (ie injury..), I ran every single run as hard as I could and ran roughly 50-55 miles weekly. Every run was at a 7:10-7:30 pace weather my body liked it or not. Want to know how I accomplished such a feet?
I did a lot of runs on the treadmill where it didn’t matter weather my body wanted to go fast or not. My ass would be flying off the back and smashing glass if it didn’t. I began to love the treadmill (but only because it forced me to run fast).
Even though I was running (count this 20 LESS miles) weekly than I am now…I was more tired. As a running n00b, I learned my lesson with that injury. Don’t get me wrong I won’t sugar coat it and say I didn’t cry every other day, but it did teach me a lot of life lessons.
Not every run you do needs to be a PR (in fact wouldn’t that take away from PRing?). Your body only possesses a certain amount of energy…no need to waste it all in practice every single run.
I know a lot of my blogging bffs are injured right now, but I promise you-you will get through it and you will run/swim/cycle to where you once were (and faster).
It may suck now (believe me, I spent a solid month crying), but you will get through it. It’s 1 or 2 months of your life. The average life span is roughly 78 years (it was on my exam today ;)) and 1-2 months is not going to make a difference, I promise. As you may know, I have been racing again and not gone personal bests yet, but I am very close to honing into them and feeling the best I have ever felt in 99.9% of my runs. I can guarantee you if I were to run a half right now I’d PR that thing like it was my job.
Getting injured was probably a pretty good thing for me, because it showed me more and faster is not always better. I can run 2 miles in 20 minutes or 2 miles in 12 minutes, and the thing is…I’ve still run 2 miles. I’m still going to improve and most important, I’m still going to be happy.
Just thoughts that entered my mind today when I ran. Stay Strong my friends and listen to that awesome body of yours, you will make it through your injuries.
Question for you:
- 1. Have you ever been injured?
You are smart–and everyone can learn from you! My worst injury was 3.5 years ago–stress fracture. It sucked. But I came back from it and PRed at 10K a couple months later—and haven’t looked back.
My new rule of thumb is if I have three bad runs in a row, it’s time to back down. Miles are miles…my rule…train to race–don’t race your training runs. So glad to see you back at 100%!
Awe you are too sweet! 🙂 Maybe in just this one regard. That is a good idea though-three bad runs in a row, I think I might also use that. 🙂
I agree you do come back faster! Getting injured as annoying as it is, made me concentrate on other aspects of running. I’ve changed my running style, worked on my upper body and given myself a rest. Honestly it was probably the best thing for me to get injured!
I can not tell you how much I NEEDED this post tonight. I am at the ‘cry every other day’ stage. Injuries flat out suck balls 🙂 anyways – thanks for the hope post, your great.
YAYYY Hollie you just made my day. I needed that. My knee has been killing me all day and I think it’s because I was a little overkill on the treadmill last night. I’m gonna stop running on that thing for as long as I can because I need to listen to my legs. It’s too easy to go too hard. It feels good in the moment because who doesn’t love kicking ass? But in the end, it is so not worth it. Thanks so much for this – it was a little boost I needed!
I’m so glad girl. I can’t wait for you to heal on up. The Spring is yours. 🙂
glad to hear you are doing better!
yep… injured my foot… then it got better… and now guess what? my knee’s bothering me too… hooray. -.- it’s really frustrating. I’d love to be able to run but every time I try this happens……
You are amazing! I am fairly jealous of your running ability! I have injured my shoulder numerous times, my ankle, and now my hip! But it’s healing! Improvement for the win.
You are brilliant! 73 miles. 😉 YOU GO GIRL.
I love this post. After a period of not running, ANYONE can come back feeling better and running faster and stronger. No matter how fast you run 2 miles, you’ve still run 2 miles!
Hmm.. Very interesting post… The former Hollie is the current Chuck…
Oh. My God. I have NEVER read that many miles in a week! I think my max was likeeeeee 25? Yousamonsta.
This gives me so much hope. Seeing how strong and amazing you have come back it just SO inspiring. Seriously you are so awesome! As a person and a runner!
Wow girl, this is huge. 73 miles is an incredible volume!
Sounds like a great lesson and I’m glad you are back to running! Congrats on your mileage!
Um can I just say that I love this post? I think every athlete needs to read this Hollie! SO much wisdom and TRUTH! I’m glad you were able to learn from your injury and take a good lesson out of it AND share it will all your blogging besties. 🙂
This is probably one of the most important lessons to learn. It’s always a challenge to keep yourself from racing a training run, but like you found out, I also noticed a change in my running when I stuck to a proper pace. My injury a few years ago was mostly due to doing too many challenging runs, not so much how often I ran (because I ran less than then I do now).
Hollikins! I love you for this post so much. I really am going to try to learn to take it slow once this injury is finally over. This post reminded me just how patient I need to be. I <3 You!
be careful about doing all your runs in flats! I was just reading today that even for pro’s trainers are good because it helps take the stress off those particular areas of your foot that are exposed in flats. ( maybe in your case, on the ball of your foot)