Ending My Thirties With a Whimper

Tags

injury, recovery, running, training

I hate being injured. Really, really hate it.

After having my hamstring cramp quite badly during the Hypo Half and again during my only run during the week I somehow thought that still doing the Valentine’s Day run in Amherst was a good idea. Turns out it was not. Less than halfway through the race, I felt a pop in my left leg which resulted in me walking far more than I would have liked.

I had a pretty good idea with the cramping and residual tenderness that running 40km on my birthday (tomorrow – the 16^th) was not going to happen. Even if I somehow managed to do it, the strain and wear on my legs at this point in the year AND the wonky hamstring would likely have resulted in having my season compromised even more so than it is at this current time.

I really had been looking forward to entering my forties in style – I was going to break the 40km into a couple of different runs. Part of the total was going to be with friends who have helped me with my training and life in general over the past little while and part was going to be solo – a time to reflect, be grateful for what running has added to my life and to just be at peace.

Overall, even with this hiccup I really do feel that this year will be just as fun as last year and that, more likely than not, I will see more improvements in my running. There is a lot of time left 2016, and my forties haven’t even started – a new decade to tackle!

I received a perfectly timed kick in the ass from Michelle yesterday who reminded me that there is a) plenty of time to recover from this injury b) lots I can do to prevent a relapse once I am healed but most important of all that there is a lot of strength and cross training that I can be doing (and should have been doing all along, admittedly) so that I won’t lose any fitness and may actually come back stronger than before.

So instead of celebrating by running 40km, I’m going to start my forties by planning my recovery, scheduling my cross training workouts and reaffirming my dedication to my spring goals. Tomorrow is just the start of another chapter and one I am excited to write.

Challenge Medals

Tags

Atlantic Chip, Bluenose Marathon, challenge medals, dopey challenge, Fredericton Marathon, injury, Legs for Literacy, maritime race weekend, marthon by the sea, Miramichi Rock N Run, PEI Marathon, tartan twosome, training

 

Even though they have been around for a while now, I really only became aware of “challenge” based bonus medals in the past year or two. In case there are any of you out there who have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, here it is in a nutshell. Many races have evolved into “race weekends” or even “race weeks”. While the majority of events with multiple options for distances, etc still occur on the same day, more and more runners want the opportunity to run multiple distances. When people compete in multiple races – say a 5km on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday, for example – they receive medals for each race as well as a special “bonus” medal for having done both races.

The most famous examples of these bonus medal opportunities are the Disney events. The Goofy Challenge (a half marathon one day, a full marathon the next), the Dumbo Double Dare (a 10k followed by a half marathon) and the Dopey Challenge (a 5, 10, half and full on four consecutive days – see above for the medal haul from 2014) are just three of the challenges that Disney Running have created, with more themed challenges popping up every year.

Local races are no exception, with the Cross Border Challenge in Amherst offering a bonus medal last year to runners who competed in a Friday night 5km event followed by a 10km or half marathon on Saturday morning. There is also the famous Maritime Race Weekend in Eastern Passage, NS which offers a “Tartan Twosome” which entails a Friday night 5 km race, followed by a 5km, 10km, half or full marathon on Saturday.

Another twist on this trend is for different races to collaborate and offer bonus medals to runners who participate in any distance at separate events. In the Maritimes this year, two such challenges have been created – the New Brunswick Challenge and the Maritime Challenge. In the New Brunswick Challenge, runners who compete in any distance at the Fredericton Marathon, Miramichi Rock n Run, Marathon by the Sea and Legs for Literacy get an extra medal. For the Maritime Challenge, runners who compete in any distance at the Bluenose Marathon, Marathon by the Sea and the PEI Marathon get an extra medal. If you are inspired enough to complete BOTH challenges, Atlantic Chip actually has a third bonus medal for the Ultimate Challenge. As you can see below – nice medals to be sure.

I’ve actually never done any challenge races and I’m still not sure how I feel about them which is the main reason I figured I should write about them. Anything that encourages people to get active obviously has some positive things going for it. Also, a themed weekend such as Maritime Race Weekend is unique and exposes many people to an area of Nova Scotia that they may otherwise never explore.

On the flip side, I have heard many people discuss the cost of completing challenges and whether or not it is simply a way for some races to get even more money out of runners. Obviously running in a single Disney race (for example) is expensive by comparison to regular races, but there is more to the experience as well.

A bigger question for me is the health risks for people competing some of these challenges. Depending on your goals, experience and injury history, racing more frequently can be beneficial. However, every runner knows someone who frequently overdoes it in training or racing and ends up sidelined for far too long. One of the hardest thing for many of us is to line up on race day and not give it our all. I’m certainly guilty of signing up “just for fun” and going much harder than I should have on a particular day. It’s the stubbornness, ego and pride that many of us have that lead to injuries that are in many cases completely avoidable.

What are your thoughts on racing challenges? Have you done any before and, if so, what was your experience like? I’d love for you to share your opinions and experiences! Post below and share your thoughts!

Happy running!

Friday the 13th!!!

Tags

Atlantic Chip, Bluenose Marathon, Fredericton Fall Challenge, Fredericton Marathon, injury, Legs for Literacy, marathon, Marathon by the Sea, Miramichi Rock N Run, Northface Endurance Challenge, PEI Marathon, training

I’m not exactly sure why I’ve been writing so sporadically lately, but I feel as though it has some correlation to the running – or relative lack, thereof – in my life. This isn’t going to be a “woe is me” piece of writing and despite the title, it will also have little to nothing to do with superstitions. I’m just taking the approach that I will start to write and see what comes out. Dangerous? Perhaps. Boring? Possibly. Random? Almost assuredly.

My First Injury of the Year. Or is it?

That is literally the first time I have spoken (or written) some level of acknowledgement to my current status. There is definitely still some aspect of denial happening, but the bottom line is that I cannot currently run pain free, which is by definition, an injury. I’m still confident that it is only minor, but the pain in my hip is not something that I can just ignore and run through. Running hasn’t made it worse, but it certainly hasn’t helped. What has helped has been reducing my mileage and doing the stretches and exercises that my physio gave me. Not ground breaking, I know, but still good for me to remind myself of rule number one – “listen to your body”.

Rejigging the Race Schedule and Goals

Fortunately, I’ve already made peace with the slowdown in my training and revaluated my schedule for 2014. The two main time goals are still the same – sub 3:45 for a full marathon and sub 1:45 for a half marathon. I’ve already registered for the PEI Marathon in October and it has become the main focus for the second half of the year. I’m more confident in getting my half marathon goal at the Fredericton Fall Classic but I’m also well aware that putting too much stock in a single race or goal is a fool’s errand. I just plan on giving myself the best chance of success possible and be ok with whatever happens.

The biggest change I’ve made in my race schedule is to change the distance I will be running at next month’s Northface Endurance Challenge in Ontario. Instead of trying my first ultra, I will instead be doing the half marathon. Given that I haven’t done a trail race before and I have specific goals for my fall races now, I finally relented and made the decision to change events. Add in the issues I’ve been having with my hip and it really is a no brainer. Plus, my amazing wife has already said that if I want to, I can go back there next summer to do the 50 km event. She’s definitely a keeper!!

As an added bonus, I have an amazing guide for my trip to Toronto – Michelle from michelletherunner.com It will be great being able to dip my toe into the Toronto running scene with someone who is so involved with the community. This trip will be my first real racecation so I’m really planning on just enjoying the experience, meeting some of the TO runners I’ve gotten to know on Twitter and diving in to the trail running experience.

I also caved in to the temptation and registered for the other races in the Atlantic Chip Ultimate Challenge. This means that I will be doing the 5 km events at the Miramichi Rock n Run, Marathon by the Sea and Legs for Literacy. Having already done the full at Fredericton and the 5k at the Bluenose, I will pick up three “bonus” medals for competing in all 6 events. I don’t know how I feel about challenges – I guess I’ll have more of an opinion come October.

Happy Running!!