First the good news, from my running log book on Friday 9/19:
"I woke up edgy, a bit stressed and cranky. Felt some nervousness when I thought about the workouts: 4 x 800 + 4 x 400. I tried to calm down by saying, 'It's just 800s and 400s' but still felt nervous. I ate 2 pieces of toast with butter and strawberry jelly and 1-1/2 cups of coffee, lots of water. During the warm up and workout, I drank 20 oz. of Cytomax (concentrated mixture).
Before the workout as I was getting sunscreen on, I visualized my body running the 800s and 400s -- relaxed shoulders, calm face, gliding legs. I visualized me breathing hard, but in control. I KNEW it'd be a hard workout because it's V02 Max work. During the warm up I still visualized and said affirmations: RELAX, CALM, GLIDE, STRONG. Sometimes I'd say, 'Soft is strong.'
The striders felt great. No tightness at all. I was ready for the workout. I practiced exactly what I visualized. I DID NOT let my body get tense. I FELT the lactic acid coming and I remained calm through the end of each interval. In between intervals I said, 'Hurt is good. It's not hurt, it's good stuff. I feel strong. This is what V02 work feels like. Yes!' I also said a couple, 'Thank you God. Please be with me.' I am so happy with the workout. God was with me!" -end of entry
The 800s were done with 2 minute active recoveries:
2:54, 2:55, 2:58, 3:01 ( all four were faster than I've ever run 800s on the road before)!
The 400s were done with 1 minute recoveries:
1:25, 1:28, 1:29, 1:25 (the 1:25 is a new 400 'pr' for me on the road).
SPECIAL NOTE: I did not have the Pace or Time function visible on my Garmin screen, only the distance. I literally had no idea, other than FEEL, what paces I was running. This forced me to pay attention to my breathing and to my entire body. I went with what felt hard, but controlled and by the good grace of God, it worked! :)
Now the Break: I was not able to do my long run on Sunday because late Saturday evening my neck and upper back seized. I could not move my head more than one inch in either direction and the pain was just excruciating. I felt it all night long, despite taking a lot of ibuprofen and icing it. Woke up Sunday completely stiff from the waist up. Horrible! I rested a lot. :(
Today the pain is not so severe and I have better range of motion, but any kind of pulling on the upper back and neck muscles causes sharp shooting pains to go up and down my neck/upper back. If the pains persist through the night, I'm going to call the doctor and or chiropractor tomorrow morning.
I might try to ride the stationary bike at the gym, but leaning forward on the handlebars is out of the question. :(
Take care and stay healthy!
Managing Hydration When You Are a Runner
4 years ago
9 comments:
Sorry to hear about the back and neck pain. I'm sure it's just a temporary setback. Before I got to that part I was just amazed at your 400 and 800 numbers. I can't believe how fast you are! Awesome. Good luck with the healing.
Nooooo! Take care of yourself! I'm sending you lots of nice healing thoughts. Just to let you know-- I was totally inspired by your last post and tried to focus on running calm and relaxed at Skyline to the Sea, which was working really, really well until I fell at about mile 22. Recuperate well though-- you are running so well right now!
Ugh, I'm sorry to hear about your neck and back pain. I hope it goes away as quickly as it came on! Great work on the intervals and hang in there. :)
I like how you got all nervous about the 800s and 400s. Me too. I get nervous about that stuff as well. I think I'll run this next week, I don't have a track coach anymore! Well GB those are some fast 800s. That sounds serious, your muscles seizing. Pinched nerve? I hope you're ok.
You were talked about by the way during Skyline to the Sea. I was with Mike and he was talking to two other ladies at the start and your name came up, something about "fast", "training" and "track workouts".
So sorry to hear about the "break". Actually, I would hold off from the chiropractor... he/she will say "your spine is out of alignment" and want to 'crack' your neck. I have a similar problem with 3 bulging discs in my neck, and I spasm all the time esp during long runs. But that running by FEEL is something you should recommend for everybody. I'm working on it, because when I grow up, I wanna be just like GB... or is it The Skirt... or is it Silly Lilly. LOL. Take care.
Wow, way to nail the intervals without using the Garmin as a crutch, I couldn't do that. Sorry to hear about your pains, that's the kind of stuff that reminds us runners that we're actually mortal :)
Nice times on your workout! I hope you are feeling better now.
I just noticed that something is up with your RW account. I hope everything is o.k..
Keep up the hard work. You have to make up for me dropping it. I'm giving the Hadd training a shot for 6-18 weeks depending on how things go. So no training over 85% HRM for me for awhile. It will be interesting to see how this goes. I am at about your speed right now and we have the same goal. Different training plans, but we will both break 3 hrs in 2009!
So glad the neck pain is finally over, though you owe us a blog entry saying so :).
I love that you used the affirmations to go into the workout calmly and kept it that way. No doubt in my mind that our brains are in control of so much of our output, it's a no lose situation to guide it in the most positive manner possible. Sure beats the alternative negative chatter, lol.
Last thing I want to say is I'm so impressed with your ability to feel your pace. I hope to get there one day, I'm too Garmin dependent still and can't imagine the freedom that must come from listening to and relying on body cues alone.
Keep trucking, woman, you're pure inspiration to me!
I'm glad your neck is better today. I've done the same thing with my neck two or three times during my left, the first time when I was just a teenager, the last a few years ago.
And I had a strange pain in my left ankle on Monday that lasted for one day and then vanished. Who knows where these things come from.
John
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