Three Things Thursday: Slacker Edition
1. I still have not done my race report for the BMO Vancouver Marathon and it happened almost 2 weeks ago. I keep finding other things to do and when I sit down with enough time I just don’t have any desire to do it. I want to write about it, but I’m still a mixed bag of emotions. Obviously I’ll have to do a separate post on that.
2. I haven’t gone out for a run since the race. The marathon was on a Sunday and I thought I did really well helping my legs recover. I wore compression socks a couple days before the race, had on my sleeves during and was back in socks for a couple days after. Unfortunately by last Tuesday or Wednesday I was having some pain in my right shin. All of my consulting with Dr. Google determined that I probably gave myself shin splints during the run due to the road cant and the stress of running on concrete/asphalt the whole time. It’s been better the last couple of days, but I’ve yet to get the motivation to get out the door.
3. Okay, nothing to do with being a slacker, but I need to complain about my other race-induced injury. I have a black toenail. Not that it’s a big deal or that it’s my first. But I went the whole training cycle without one. I was so proud of myself. And it’s the stupid one (right foot, next to baby toe – would you call that your ring toe?) that I couldn’t get rid of for a year before due to re-injury. AARRGGHH!!! I’m not even sure how I did it. It’s not the shoe – I know that for certain since my running shoes are one size larger than my regular size. I’m banking on it being from walking around town after the marathon. I was probably shuffling and every time I took a step I unknowingly rammed my toes to the end of my shoe. I was in so much pain that I didn’t notice anything different!
Oops, it’s been a while since I wrote something!
My last week went a little like this:
1. Got C to pick up my new shoes.
2. Wore/broke in new shoes on 20km run. The trail around Burnaby Lake is mostly boardwalks and pea-gravel, so it was pretty and decently shady. However, the ground was not level and in a few spots it was so soft you could tell that there was probably mulch underneath which was BAD FOR A KNEE THAT WAS ALREADY HAVING PROBLEMS! You know you aren’t having a stellar run when it takes you 15km to “get into” it. I’ve been doing Colin’s physio exercises ever since…
Ended up with re-blackened toenail – that sucker has been in various states of purple since OCTOBER. Enough already… and it didn’t even come from running. At least this time it seems more like a badge of honour. Also have an awesome blister on side of my right big toe – good thing my callous is “protecting” it. I won’t post pictures out of respect for your eyes, but let’s just say that I won’t be going to get a pedicure anytime soon.
3. Took M to a commercial shoot on Monday and Tuesday. Long days with a 3 year old, but he was paid handsomely for doing squat diddle playing in the backyard.
4. Ran on Tuesday evening – 6km tempo. Leg felt like crap at 4km. Kept saying that I wanted to quit, but somehow ran through it and my last 2km were around 5:15 per/km = SCORE! Total run was about 36 minutes. Awesome for something that felt like it wasn’t going well.
5. Read some more “Run Like A Mother” – the chapter on mental toughness was really appropriate (see #4). I am loving this book – it’s even better than everyone says it is.
6. Skipped scheduled 10km tempo run to take M to hospital for “Nursemaid’s Elbow” (read: partial dislocation). Awarded self “Worst Mother” trophy for having pulled him up too fast and caused injury (it’s really common, but still…).
7. 2nd Thursday night clinic. Went out for a 7.18km steady run. At 6.23min/km average – 45:50min total – it was a little quick for our pace group. I blame the run up the tree-lined river for the speediness… none of our GPS units were keeping reliable pace. It was a good run and it helped that it was on the cool side tonight (I actually pulled out the hoody, which was only overkill by a little bit). I’m very happy that I’m coming up to my half marathon taper run this Sunday. 6km will be a nice change from the 20km I ran last week.
T-Minus 10 days to the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon!
Love My Runners 