Recently I was having shin pain. It wasn't the pain that worried me because I could run and it would just get numb but the swelling did. My ankle swelled up about twice its size. I really didn't want to do any damage that would make me miss my upcoming marathon in October so I took a couple weeks off to heal.
Now by "take off" what I actually mean is I just didn't run but instead I substituted another workout for each run I missed and threw in a lot of calf stretching. In case you haven't read all my posts what I do is a workout in the early morning then a run after I get home from work. Usually the workouts last 45 minutes and the runs anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. Then on Saturday I do a long run which varies from a low of 8 miles to a high of 20 miles (last weekend). As I just let the cat out of the bag, my two week shin rest ended and I ran an "easy" 7 miles then 5 miles then ran my long run of 20 miles. The healing helped as there was no swelling or so little I couldn't see it and only a slight tightness. I'd consider that pretty good for a 20 mile run even if I hadn't had shin issues.
I think this is important to share because you can see that even if you get injured you don't have to stop, just adjust to it and heal.
It is three weeks until the marathon so I am trying to lose the last few percent of fat so I can reach my target body fat of 4% - 5% and hopefully that "lightness" will translate to speed. To do that I'm limiting my carbs and fat and keeping to my running plan. It is getting tough. I'm a carboholic big time. My favorites are mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, cake with tons of frosting and did I mention mashed potatoes and gravy? So of course, cutting those tasty carbs is causing my energy level to hit the floor.
A couple tips I've been using - Strange as it seems the more I move around the more energy I have. In the morning I have a wonderful wife who always makes sure I wake up and don't hit the snooze. I take a pre-workout supplement (N.O.-Xplode) and then my morning workout gets the blood pumping so I'm ready to go. At work I get up and walk around a bit when I feel myself drifting off and I allow myself two diet Mountain Dew cans during the day. Another technique I'm using at work is drinking lots of water. That keeps me cold and makes sure I need to get up from my desk often. I always try to use the bathroom furthest away too to keep me moving. My runs help me make it through the rest of the evening until bed. I'm a night owl with an early morning schedule so I don't usually get as much sleep as I should. I need to work on that. If you have any tips on that let me know.
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