March training was better than the last few. I started March off by coming from a small training hiccup. My peroneal tendon “injury” lasted all of 7 days, but it was just another small hiccup. Since falling way back in November, running has not felt great.
I struggle to get into a rhythm, and the sport has just felt hard. Even before my fall, training has felt hard since my calcaneus stress fracture at the start of the pandemic. Since March 2020, paces have just felt harder. Was it the injury? Was is it the pandemic? Was it moving twice? Who knows, but I haven’t found my rhythm as well as I would like to.
Anyway, this month felt like I am starting to build back some endurance. I don’t feel great, but I feel better than in March and February, and that’s all I can really ask.
As always, you can follow along on Strava.
Miles run: 268
Races:
Shamrock Half Marathon (1:35.27)
Bakersfield 6k- A Recap of Never Going the Right Way(7:13 pace)
Rest Days: 5
Range of Paces: 6:40-12:30-untimed
Swimming: 33.43 miles
Thoughts:
Most people know that Shamrock is my favorite race. When I left for my brother’s wedding the first week of March, my tendon was bothering me. I had no idea whether I would be able to run Shamrock. With proper rest, my ankle and peroneal tendon healed, and I was able to run. The thing about my pain was that it felt familiar. It had bothered e two years prior, and I ran on it. That ended up stressing my calcaneus, which broke. So when I felt the pain this time, I knew I needed to rest until it felt 100% better. If that meant missing more races, then so be it.
Going into Shamrock, I didn’t know what to expect either, but I was about 90 seconds faster than Surf City 6 weeks prior. Is 1:35 still one of my slowest half marathons? Yes, but all I can ask for is progress. After Shamrock, I made my way back to the west coast.
The Bakersfield 6k was a wash. I had gone in confident it would be a good race for me. But due to lack of organization, man runners went the wrong way, and I ran just over 5 miles. Was I ever on the course? Who knows. I was disappointed, but all I could do was move forward.
My actual training for March felt fairly good. I felt like I was making progress. I didn’t get to get on the trails much (at all) during the month of March, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to get on some trails this month.
Going into April, I’m hoping to race more. I enjoy and thrive on racing often, so I hope I can do that.
Swimming:
Right now, swimming is just as “big” in my training for running. For the past few months, I’ve been training for my swim meet. I swam competitively in college and haven’t done any swim meets since 2011. The other day I went off the blocks for the first time. I am looking forward to testing myself with the meet and seeing how it goes. Do I think swim meets are something I’ll do regularly? Probably not, but it’s a fun change of pace. Swimming has felt fairly good the last few weeks, so I am excited.
Posts from the month:
Shoe Reviews:
Brooks Launch 9 Shoe Review
Saucony Type A9 Shoe Review
Nike Zoom Fly 4 Shoe Review
Nike React Infinity Run 2 Shoe Review
adidas Adizero Boston 10 Shoe Review
Nike ZoomX Streakfly Review
Gear Review:
Dormi Headphone Review
Ener-C Review
Land Art Aloe Vera Review
Nathan QuickSqueeze View 18 oz Insulated Handheld Review
SIS Beta Energy Fuel Chews Review
Thinksport Review
IQBar Review
Blogs:
Tips for Moving
12 Years Ago, I Began Running
The Treadmill: A GOOD Tool for Running Faster
Best Recovery Devices for Runners
Questions for you:
How was your month of training?
What is your next race?