Training: Small Issues along the Way

me running grass

Last week was the week from hell. I’ve had a lot going on, but on a personal level all of these things happened over the previous two weeks:

  • I’ve fallen on my tailbone and bruised it which takes up to four weeks to heal
  • I’ve had two corneal abrasions
  • I cut my finger open cutting beets and nearly had to go to the ER
  • I had a migraine bad enough I had aura and also puked

By themselves, none of these are “all that bad” but having them happen over the course of two weeks have been…something.  Luckily, this weekend I was able to take time for myself, and that seemed to help.

Monday: Easy 60 minute run
Tuesday: 5 mile walk around Turkey Swamp Park
Wednesday: 4X1 miles at 6:15 pace
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 60-minute run
Saturday: Making Strides 5k (19:08)
Sunday: 12 Mile Long Run fast finish

Thoughts:

My easy runs were just that, easy.  I don’t care about pace, and it’s not a race.

Wednesday: 4X1 mile average 6:15 with 90 seconds rest

I didn’t feel great during my workout but not awful either. I’ve been trying to get back to being consistent which is easier said than done.  I’ve been doing my workouts on roads which I like better because I typically race on roads.

Saturday: Making Strides 5k (19:08) 5:49, 6:08, 6:13

The goal of the race was to see how my tailbone would handle a race environment and in flats.  With Broad Street next weekend, I didn’t want to jump in a 10-mile race, only to realize by a quarter of a mile my tailbone wasn’t happy.  It hasn’t hurt during workouts, but that isn’t the race setting.

I’m happy to report my tailbone didn’t bother me at all during the race and has progressively gotten better in the last 48 hours (the first two weeks, it felt achy all of the time and the most when I sat).  I don’t want to jinx myself though!

The race itself was a mix of cross country grass, road, and even track.  I’ll have a full recap this week, but I ran most of the race alone.  While the time itself is not “fast” right now for me, I am proud of it for the terrain.  I got everything I wanted out of the race.

Sunday Long Run:

Over the past few months, I’ve been doing faster finish runs.  On Sunday, I attempted to my longest run since the April Fools Half.  It went well and my last half averaged around 7:03 pace.  My tailbone felt normal and it gave me confidence that I’ll be able to run Broad Street next weekend.

Posts of the Week:

Exploring Turkey Swamp Park

Blogging is Dying 

Questions for you:

Have you ever had “one of those weeks”?

Do you prefer road races, track, or trail?

10 Comments

  1. I hope this week is better for you. I agree that all the stressful stuff happens at once- for me it’s been injury, feeling fatigued tired (turns out it was low ferritin), dealing with financial issues with the credit card company, and craziness at work. But you will get through it, you’ve gotten through a lot of tough things before and have a 100% success rate.

    Hope your tailbone will continue healing! Four weeks is not a long time in the grand scheme of things, and I’m glad it is not any worse… but I know how good it feels to have the door close on one “tough thing you have to deal with” and how that makes everything else just a little easier.

  2. I’m so glad your tailbone didn’t hurt during the race and hopefully it will continue to get better!

    I’m so sorry you’ve had such a rough couple of weeks. I hope this week is much better for you!

    I always love reading your training updates. I’ve read your blog for over 3 years now and one thing I always remember and love reading is that you are so fast but you keep your easy runs truly easy! Do you typically do your easy runs without a watch? How many miles do you usually run a week on average?

    Have a great week Hollie!

    1. I appreciate you reading and commenting Megan. I’ll Time my runs and occasionally I’ll use a GPS watch to know how far I’ve gone. When I say my easy runs are anywhere between 8:30-10 min miles, I mean that. Pace never bothers me.

  3. When it rains, it pours? Sending you healthy vibes for May though lady. I’ve only done a few trail races and don’t run ont rails much so it’s always a little out of my comfort zone. Also on trails I always almost twist my ankle at least once which kinda freaks me out, haha. So we’ll say I prefer road for now.

  4. I’m glad the long run helped get you feeling normal and got your confidence up. That is a pretty tough week. I don’t think I can top it.

  5. oh man. What weeks. Sorry especially about the migraine. That sounds pretty bad.
    As for the tailbone, that sucks, but it thankfully shouldn’t be bad for too long. I bruised it playing soccer during lunch once in high school. Didn’t know it, so I sat through two more classes and tried to take the bus home. Worst ride ever. By the next day though, it was tolerable. Still was playing soccer and tennis by the end of the week. Good luck at Broadstreet next week!

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