Tuesday, December 29, 2015

It's Only Tuesday...

~ Adam Goucher
.
Christmas was great and my vacation (which is still ongoing) has been uneventful, but training has been hard. On Boxing Day (Dec 26th) I did a 3.5 mile run on the sand...

...followed by an hour of plyometrics. Running on the sand is not easy at all! I managed to maintain a pretty decent pace for the first two miles, but by mile three I was exhausted...

My legs are sore (especially my quads) and my knee hurts. Not a "soreness" kind of pain, more like an "injury is present or immediately imminent" kind of pain. So I've been icing and massaging and I actually got a really great full body massage yesterday (courtesy of the best twin sister in the world!). Today I'm feeling better, not 100% better, but better. 

I've only run twice since vacation started (the beach run and a very painful two mile run on the 27th) so sadly I'm not ending this year on a running high. But I'm also trying not to end this year injured so it's all about perspective right? I'm hoping this week will be a good training week but...
(I'm really not exhausted, just slightly frustrated that I'm not getting enough training done)

I've been going back and forth with what to do about Miami (again). The truth is I'm concerned about my knee and for once I'm trying not to ignore the signs of a potential issue, but at the same time I really really really want to run the full...
I started a mental pros/cons list a few days ago (there are more cons at the moment) but I'm not going to make a final decision until the deadline to change my entry (two weeks before); and then I'll just stick with whatever decision I've made.

In the meantime I'm trying to get as much training done as I can (based on what my body can handle). Which means more non-impact cross training until my knee is back to 100%. And I'm spending some time working on my 2016 running & training goals. I don't have a set mileage goal or # of races goal yet, but I do want to get stronger and faster (even if only a little faster) and run injury free in 2016. Right now I have a race registered or tentatively scheduled each month (except July and August), and I don't think I'm going to plan for much more than that (maybe my race goal should be to complete one event (running or swimming) every month?). And my mileage goal may simply be just to run more miles next year than I did this year (that's simple enough right?). 

What are your goals for 2016?

Are you ending the year on a running high or taking it easy during the holidays?

What's your favorite non-impact cross training activity?

4 comments:

  1. Maybe you should think of 2016 as a year you want to achieve your running goals, and listen to your body right now? A knee injury would not be a good start to the year. You know better than anyone else, but it would be a shame if your blog turned into a "recovering from injury" blog....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know :( It's been a real struggle with all these injuries and I'm definitely leaving towards not doing the full (especially because it's probably going to be a humid race). I may just focus on 1/2 marathons next year and then do another full in 2017.

      Delete
  2. You know, today I actually compared running on the snow to running on sand. I have no idea if they are even nearly the same, minus the obvious temperature difference lol. But, I feel like the traction would have to be similar???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is definitely a traction issue for both. In snow you're more likely to slip and fall though. In the sand your foot sinks and you can loose your balance that way. I guess since they both could potentially lead to me falling on my face I would opt for the sand.. simply because the sound of the waves is soothing so as I'm falling at least I would have that to listen to ;)

      Delete

Thanks for your comment!