Well, I Officially Overdid It

I mentioned how I overdid it last week with strides, speedwork, hills, and poorly timed strength training here. I re-evaluated my choices after a scrapped tempo on Saturday and decided I had done too much. Since my legs weren't recovering as quickly as usual after my Saturday long run I decided to do a pull back week this week, putting in 45 miles rather than 50 and reining in my speedwork to an easier workout than I had been doing. Things seemed to be going well. I rocked my speedwork Wednesday evening and felt great. But then this morning I woke up and my knee was so sore it hurt to walk. I immediately panicked, thinking of all the things it could be and how it could potentially destroy my chances at a PR this spring. I foam rolled while the kids ate breakfast and then iced while I ate breakfast. I started looking things up online and decided it might be tendinitis. One possible cause could be shoes without much support. I realized I've had my shoes since the beginning of September and after counting up my weekly mileage, I was shocked to realize I'd put over 800 miles on my shoes. I was hopeful that might be part of my problem so I decided to head to the local running store to discuss my issue and pick up new shoes after dropping Carter off at school.

Elise was such a good girl at the running store while the awesome shoe expert there showed me some different foam rolling moves to help target my sore area. I ended up getting to talk with the same guy who helped me out last spring when I was having a recurring blister. I discussed with him what was going on and he was shocked when I said I had been doing strides, speed work, hill repeats, and a tempo all in one week. He told me I needed to stick to 2 hard workouts per week, only occasionally throwing in some strides. I told him I had been running easy on my off days and just doing the strides or hills at the end of the run. He insisted that my easy days need to be just that, easy. I knew doing all 4 workouts in a week was too much for me already, but after talking to him I was convinced I need to stick to my 2 hard workouts a week from here on out and maybe throw strides in every other week or so. He suggested I take off running until my knee no longer hurts and then take it easy for the first couple days back. He was fairly confident I would be back to running in a couple of days which was very reassuring. I felt so much better when I left the store, Runner's World Tulsa to the rescue once again. If you are ever in the area, you have to check them out! And honestly the timing of this is great because I still have 8 weeks of training left so I have plenty of time to get back into it and push for that PR.

I've never had a serious running-related injury, meaning I've never had an injury due to running that has caused me to take more than a few days off running. I had a stint of bursitis in my hip in high school that was fixed with special stretches and some tendinitis in my foot during college that was resolved by lacing my shoe differently and that's it. My body can handle a high volume of miles really well, but I'm also not the most patient with taking time off running. I do feel like I'm pretty good at listening to my body and taking my foot off the gas when things start to feel off. Before my knee was even acting up, I had already planned a back off week and was re-evaluating the intensity of my running in the form of strides and hill repeats. My main problem was that I was feeling so good with higher mileage and the two hard workouts (speed work and tempo) each week. I decided if I felt so good, I should add some more intensity to my week. Looking back now that was a huge mistake. I really wish I had just stuck to my 2 hard work outs a week but without trying I wouldn't have known it was too much. After my 7 mile tempo at 6:47 pace I started getting really excited, thinking sub-1:30 this spring was a real possibility and I wanted to up the ante and really push for that. But I pushed too much and it has come back to bite me in the butt! I'm so bad about thinking, if this feels good, I can do even more. And as my dad reminded me, I'm 30. It takes my body longer to recover and I need those easy days in between hard workouts to allow my body to do so. I also need to remember that I spent about 5 years either pregnant or recovering from childbirth so I haven't run over 30 mile weeks for very long and I need to increase things a little bit at a time. Lesson learned again and it has definitely sunk in. I'm bummed to miss out on a few runs but am excited to get back into things when my knee is feeling better!

I guess shoe shopping was too exciting for Elise. She fell asleep on the way home after picking Carter up from school.