No Running Week #2

No running week morphed into a second week. And I think it's pretty likely that there's at least one more of these in my immediate future. Le sigh.

I had already given up the idea of running the Eugene Marathon, but was kind of hoping that I might be able to run the half. I saw my PT today for a torture session and his basic advice was: "Yes, you COULD run the race, if you were absolutely desperate to do so. But, it would hurt and it would definitely delay your recovery. I don't think you SHOULD run the race, but that's your decision." With a bit of sadness, I think I'm going to have to take his advice on that one, because I'd rather get healthy than worry about missing one race. When I'm 80 and doing laps of my retirement community, I won't regret missing Eugene 2013 one bit. And there's no reason I can't just run it next year. Or maybe plan on a summer marathon - it isn't like the weather around here is prohibitive for summer training/racing!

I WOULD note that if this had happened last year, I highly suspect that I still would have run London. I'm wiling to take a hit on a race fee, but I'm not sure I would have been willing to take it on plane tickets.

So, what HAVE I been doing with myself in the meantime, since I'm not running?

1) Seeing a PT. I like the guy, I really do, but OMG PAINFUL. Basically, this involves digging into the sore spots on my leg. I KNOW it helps, I really do, but it isn't particularly fun. Today's session also involved the use of a plunger. Yes. Like the kind you use on your toilet. ON MY SHIN. WTF.

He's also taken note of where I have biomechanical imbalances that I can work to correct. Apparently those are called "my back side." I'm working on strengthening my glutes, hips, and hamstrings ALOT now. Yeah, I know: I'm a stereotypical runner - I have very strong quads and nothing to balance them out in back.

2) Strength. I'll admit it, I've rarely been hitting my goal of two strength sessions a week in the gym during marathon training. So, I'm back on that pretty seriously, plus working on my back side muscles somewhere between most and every day(s).

www.precor.com

3) Adaptive Motion Trainer. This thing is like the elliptical on steroids. Because the foot pedals are suspended, rather than on a set track, your stride can adjust in length and step height/climb. I like it a lot better than the regular elliptical because it really gets my heart rate & sweat going and because I think it more closely resembles running (but still without the impact). I SAY it resembles running, but I think it's what running feels like if you're running on sand or through a pool of molasses. That thing is HARD and such a great alternative workout. I've made it up to 3.5 miles, but I'm kind of hoping to hit 4 today. Last night, I "ran" intervals on it. ZOMG.

4. JASYOGA!!! This was by far my favorite workout of the week. I'd been meaning to try this forever and I'm pretty convinced that if my life had involved more stretching for the past few months, I might be in better shape today. And, yes, I'm plan to make Jasyoga a weekly ritual (even once I'm back running).

The idea behind Jasyoga, which is a local Seattle company (ahem, "mobile yoga studio"), is yoga for athletes. No chanting, no co-opting Eastern spirituality, no silly promises that breathing properly would make me one with the earth, and no weird homeopathy. I like yoga because it stretches and strengthens me, but that other stuff drives me nuts. I LOVED that my Jasyoga class was about how yoga, as active recovery, can make us better athletes. Have YOU ever had a yoga teacher talk about stretching your IT band before or read a "meditation" out of a sports psychology book? Yeah, that was exactly what my body, especially my poor tight hammies and glutes, and my mind needed! Plus, the class was only 3 people, so the teacher could make corrections and assist with our stretches. I felt amazing afterwards and, the next day, my leg felt better than it had since I stopped running. Yay!!!

5. Planning. Ok, not really. I'm not sure what's next or when I'll be back for running. I'm hoping it won't be too long and hoping that the workouts I'm doing in the meantime will mean that I won't lose much of my aerobic capacity. I'm very optimistic that I'll still be pacing at the Seattle Rock'n'Roll half and then, unless I decide to throw in a summer full marathon, it'll be on to figure out a good plan for training for the Disneyland Half! I want to make that my fall A race and I've never seriously trained for a half before, so that should make for a fun summer!