Wednesday Not-so-long Run

Put in a 2.5 mile run/walk this morning. My knee is feeling a bit more loose and my mobility is improving. One thing has become abundantly clear to me over the last 24 hours; proper recovery a la significantly lower mileage and less intensity is going to be the name of the game for the rest of the month. It is high time I am true to myself and honest with my body, no worries, no regrets... just a change. I want to feel good both while I am running and while I am resting and that can only happen through honest running. That is the only way I can say it; honest runnning.

You ultra-runners out there know what I am talking about... without question, pain is a part of training and assuredly a part of racing, but as we learn more about our physical limits (and possibilities) we learn to listen to our aches, pains, twangs and "oh craps!" in a different way. There is a point where pains must be dealt with - they move in our mind (and in reality) from growing pains to imminent injuries. Unfortunately, the line between training pains and injuries can be ambiguous and often an area of grey fills the expanse between the two categories. What's more, we strong-willed, never-say-never, no-pain, no gain, OCD runners (ascetics?) are often able to wish away our pains, mentally disguising them or dismissing the often torturous feelings altogether.

The only cure? or remedy? Perhaps change? is experience. Experience, if disseminated with great discernment and care will inform us of what really is too much (injurous) and what is simply a fact of training at high volume/intensity mileage (growing pains). That is where I am. Experience has taught me what aches and pains I ought to take more seriously than others and experience has taught me how to take care of those problems as to expedite the recovery process. Call it maturation, call it growth. Whatever you call it, it is real to me and I am at peace with this lesson. My body wants rest? I will give it rest and be peaceful in that rest. The Lord is in it. Peace.

[A] snap back to reality...

About this time last year, I started up my mileage build-up for Spring/Summer races. Since the build-up last year, I have run nearly 6000 miles (averaging 18 miles a day, everyday). About this time, this year (in a word, now), my body is telling me that it is time to rest. The daily twanginess and nightly cramping of my left knee has hit critical mass. I worked through my runner's knee at the start of the new year and thought myself free and clear and ready to run hard... but alas! I cannot pretend away the pain any longer, the pain is back and the only sure remedy is rest. It is nothing serious - I have been down this road many times before. It is an over-use injury. The solution? less use. 

Admittedly, I am a stubborn, immature, overzealous runner. These are all descriptors that I am working to curve. The problem lies in my head and heart and had firmly manifested itself in my passion for running. NO LONGER will I punish my running life - it is unfair to the sport and disruptive to the rest of my life - by training hastily. Undoubtedly, I have matured significantly in the last year in my approach to running, adding structure to my training. The problem? No rest... and too many deviations from that structure:

- Taking easy runs at a dishonest, moderate pace.

- Running on tired legs for about 7 months, thinking that that was a good training practice (maybe for how to deal with pain, but not for increasing fitness).

- 2 runs a day, everyday.

All of this being said, in retrospect I wouldn't have changed a thing. I have learned so much about myself -  my virtues, my vices, my limits, my abilities. All of the running over the last several years has helped me to appreciate the distances that my body is able to cover and when I come back to training this Spring I will still have that training with me. I am a new person. 

No serious changes in my Spring training plan, but there is going to be a bit of a break between now and then (the end of February, early March) - my original plan was to maintain my mileage load through the winter. Silly! Ridiculous! My body needs a rest. My lifestyle needs a change. I need to prove to myself that I can live without running running my  life. Balance must be restored! I have been out of balance for several years, to be sure, and I am wise enough to know that moments of perfect homeostasis possess the smaller part of the fleeting nanosecond; that true peace, balance and life exists only with my Lord and Savior (one glad morning when this life is o'er). But... I do believe that God is constantly pushing us, leading us, counseling us, on how to live the most balanced, harmonious life possible on Earth. We rise! Grow! Rise Higher! Never look back, always look up... loving and learning, growing and caring.

I have much to learn and feel ever so young this day. The closer we come to Divine Truth the younger, more immature, sillier we become in that humbling moment of exposure. This is my moment, this is my humbling moment of complete and total exposure. So much to learn... 

The world this afternoon was not the world that I woke up to this morning. Everything looks and feels different. The world feels new, not necessarily in a new toy on Christmas day sort of way, but rather there appears to be more texture on this planetary orb. Truthfully, it is a move from looking at myself towards looking at others. Worrying less about myself and thinking more about others.

It is off to the day. Snap back to reality.

Last Week's Mileage

140 strong miles last week. I almost cut it a mile short on Saturday to stay under the 140 mark - my mileage max. until April (a self-imposed limit to keep my mileage under control and my body injury free).

I was feeling it this morning on my easy 10sy, but a great running week nonetheless.

Over the weekend...

SA - 19 moderate AM, 7 moderate PM
SU - 10 easy AM, 8 steady PM

Now... time to recover with a fairly easy running week - a bit lower mileage with significantly less intensity. Peace.

Friday Shenanigans

This morning:

10-11 mile solid-state, super steady, super cleansy.

I clipped this morning. After 5 minutes of scooting along I was hitting a beautiful, quick and clean stride this morning. My cadence and pace felt very comfortable for the entire run. I didn't push the pace (the previous two days were work out days), but I can't honestly say I took it easy either. It felt right - 6:30 or faster pace.

A Poem

It was fun, this morning's run.
Fun was the run, before the sun.

Dark and quiet, the city sits idle.
Hours before its people rise vital,

to go to work, toil and struggle,
and fight against lethargies bungle.

Doubtless, this peace, this movement, this feeling, this glorious, glorious, cadence i'm reeling,
is personal, real, spiritual and true - I pray to God that these people find you.

Thursday Recovery

Great day yesterday - both running and at work.

Running update:

Wednesday: 15 tempo in the AM + 8 in the PM
Today: 9 moderate in the AM + 9 in the PM

Peace

So far this week...

Sunday: 10 + 8 (easy sneezy)
Monday: 10 + 8 (easy breezy)
Tuesday: 10 (tempo) + 7 (moderately easy)
Wednesday: Long run morning... Easy run afternoon...

Blah!

Last Week's Mileage

129 miles last week.