11.20 miles (to be precise) in the cold rain was very hard

Today's scheduled long run was 11 miles.  I ran 11.20 miles at the Shoe Factory Road Forest Preserve.  I dressed for a cold and dry day.  I ended up with a cool but very wet morning instead.  The combination of the distance and the cold rain made today's run very hard.

This is the route I ran:


I felt great on the "out" leg of the run (I run out to the halfway point of my planned run and the run back "in").  There was an intermittent mist all morning, but by the time I got turned around and was only about 1/2 mile into the "in" leg the mist became a steady rain and that rain continued for a solid 30 minutes.

The rain made my run harder.  I was wearing a knit hat on my head.   That's not a great choice of headgear as the cotton hat was water-logged within minutes.  I wore a cotton henley long-sleeve on top of my cold weather Under Armor long sleeve mock turtleneck shirt.  Again, it was water-logged within minutes.  My shoes and socks were soaked pretty quickly once the heavy rain started coming down.

The clothing became heavier with the water and this certainly played a role in making the run more difficult.  But as I look back on this morning's run I think the rain hurt me the most by breaking my focus and distracting me.  I should have tried harder to remain focused.  Instead of focusing on my running form and my speed and thinking about the importance of every training day leading up to the half marathon (that's a little mantra I have: "make every training day count!"), I let myself think about how cold and miserable I was.  That was dumb.  I started worrying that my wet feet would blister.  I started worrying that I'd catch a cold.  Dumb and dumber still.

I finished the run but I was dragging during the last 2.5 miles.  It should have finished the run in about 2 hours and a few minutes.  Instead, it took me 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Ugh.

I'm not beating myself up over the time.  I'm not deluding myself into trying to work on speed already.  Rather, I'm upset that (1) I didn't prepare properly for the weather, and (2) I allowed myself to lose focus.  If I would have worn a water-repellant jacket (I have one) and remained focused on the mechanics of my running I would have had a much better training day.

Today was a great hands-on lesson in the power of focus and on the mental aspect of an athletic endeavor.  I'm convinced that my negative thoughts played a significant role in the slower and more painful second part of my morning run.  I'll try to learn from today's experience and find a way to avoid the same mistake in the coming weeks.

Oh my aching hamstring!

The upside is that I was smiling through the ache!

I finally did it. I got cocky, I lost my focus and I got caught up in vacation fun and in so doing, I ran a sprint race on the beach, barefoot, without any stretching and strained my left hamstring muscle.

Damn.

I did this last week. It was last Wednesday. I haven’t run since.

Damn.

I’ve worked out since last week. The next day (last Thursday) I went to the gym (Planet Fitness in Tampa because that’s where we were vacationing). Walking fast and any movement that stretched the hamstring caused pain but not to the point where I was debilitated. So I did strength training for my back and biceps.

I need a good run in order to round out my workouts and not being able to run since last Wednesday has been hard. I didn’t work out on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I did get back into the gym of Monday and did 1 hour on the stationary bike and 20 minutes on an elliptical machine but it wasn’t the same as running (it was even less satisfying because I held back on the intensity).

I skipped Tuesday and yesterday I did a strength training routine focused on chest, shoulders and triceps. I did try to run.

I took an ace bandage to the gym and tightly wrapped my left upper leg to keep the hamstring muscle snug. I got on the treadmill and started out with a walk. It felt a bit awkward having the ace bandage on but I couldn’t feel any aches or pain in my left hamstring.

After about 5 minutes I tried to increase the speed. My plan was to jog at 5.0 miles per hour. No dice. As I got to 4.0 miles per hour I could clearly feel my left hamstring straining (it wasn’t quite a “pain” but I know something’s wrong when I can feel a sensation in my hamstring that isn’t normally present).

I forced myself to stop. I want this injury to heal quickly. I don’t have the luxury of really “treating it” other than with rest and stretches (and even these aren’t extensive). Given that I can’t really rehab it actively, I need to err on the side of resting the muscle to hasten a full recovery (and hopefully a fast one).

I don’t remember the last time I hurt a hamstring muscle so I don’t know how long it will take to heal. I’d like to get back on the treadmill and on the road ASAP! I’ll keep testing it out everyday to assess the healing progress.

The silver lining in this little injury is that I’ve been reminded (by my body) that I need to be more mindful of my abilities, limitations and goals. I’d love to run around at will and without thinking but I don’t have that luxury. In part due to age and in larger part due to my unhealthy lifestyle over the past 13 to 16 years my body simply isn’t up to these exertions. Maybe, if I really get in shape, I’ll be able to do more, but for now, I need to be mindful of what my limits are so that I can keep improving and not get sidelined by dumb injuries.

3 mile run in a light freezing rain! That's a sign of commitment!

Outstanding!

Today I ran 3 miles.  Outside.  In a light freezing drizzle.  In 34 minutes.

It felt great!

I was out all day - kids soccer games and then a fundraiser for a state political candidate - and when I got home around 5:30pm it was cold and cloudy but there was no rain (it rained earlier in the day at the soccer games).  My original plan was to head to the gym for a treadmill and weight training workout.  It turned out, however, that my wife wanted to workout too and for us to manage both of us working out with dinner and getting the kids to better etc., I'd need to stay home.

No problem.  I changed into my workout gear and walked out the front door.  Drizzle.  Damn.

I actually walked back into the front door but checked myself before I could say anything.  I turned around, closed the door behind me and walked down the driveway.  As I set my timer and hit the road I realized that it was a very light freezing rain that was falling.

I was wearing two outer layers and a knit hat and gloves so I was adequately attired.  I ran the two block circuit which is 0.75 miles per round/lap.  I ran 4 times around this two block route in 34 minutes.  That's 3 miles in 34 minutes.  That seems to be my new pace - a little over 11 minutes per mile.

I walked back into the house and felt very excited.  The emotion wasn't pride and joy but excitement.  I felt excited that I was able to get out in bad weather conditions and still run.  I think that bodes well for the rest of the Spring and hopeful for the Summer too.  If I can run in this weather, then I should be good to run on most days between now and next winter!

As for winter running, well, lets not get ahead of ourselves...