It’s really easy to blog when you are in a good spot with training and life. When you get injured or when you are in a rough patch with life…it gets harder. I hate to report negative news or be negative on my LOLZ space but I can’t paint a scene of rainbows and butterflies when it’s not.
And right now it’s not.
Last week I posted about needing some time off of running. It seemed weird for me. My legs were tight, my muscles were sore and something felt off. I was right and as I took a few days off I realized my right plantar fascia hurt badly. Not a good, hard workout bad but an injury bad. Then on Sunday I logged a 0 mile week and admitted I was injured. While my heel doesn’t hurt, my arch hurts.
It’s Tuesday and I haven’t run in 10 days. So far I’ve missed a 5k I wanted to do. I know in another week I’ll begin losing fitness as well as missing the Boilermaker 15k (a race I have wanted to do for years).
Could I run the Boilermaker on July 13th and probably finish with more pain than I have now?
Yes, but that isn’t worth it to me. It’s not worth it to me to travel (or run) any race and further injure myself. Maybe I’ll magically feel better but maybe not.
I would rather let myself heal. That being said I’m thankful I’ve been able to cross train. I’m going to do whatever I can to keep my base for a while.
Right now I’ve narrowed down my pain to only hurting when I run. (I’ve run a few steps and it hurts) but I can walk, I do the elliptical, I could bike (LOL) or I could swim (also LOL). I will probably stay with the elliptical, the AMT and weight lifting. The pool is about 10 miles down the road where the gym is a quarter of a mile. Plus I have no interest to get into the pool.
My goal right now is to go the gym daily and do an hour on the AMT. On Sunday I’ll probably go longer to simulate long runs. I want to keep as much fitness as possible but I’m not running until my body is injury free. If that means eventually letting go of running my marathon this fall, so be it.
So right now my plan is something like this:
| Monday: | 1 hour AMT (high resistance) | Core, strength for legs |
| Tuesday: | 1 hour AMT (low resistance) | Core |
| Wednesday: | OFF |
I’m honestly playing everything by ear but I’m trying to be as proactive as possible. I’m not doing anything that hurts (which is running) but I am using recovery methods as well as cross training. You can (and I have before) save a lot of your base by being proactive. Yesterday I had an hour deep tissue massage focused exclusively on my right leg. It hurt and I’m bruised. I hope that is a god sign. On Thursday I have a doctors appointment.
Oh and I’m attempting to stay positive but some days are obviously easier than others so I really appreciate people (Laura you are the best) dealing with my whining at some points. It’s not the end of the world and I know that but it still stinks. I’m making the best of the situation right now.
Questions for you:
What is your favorite cross training method?