When we left for Hawaii, back in the day, I was up to 11 miles in my oh-so-technical half marathon training schedule.
Not 11 glorious, graceful, fast miles - but 11 miles nonetheless.
Then we went on vacation. Before which I decided that I would not run. No, I would take a break and "let my body rest" in preparation for The Race. And also because running, or routine exercising in general, while on vacation is for losers. Something which I reminded many losers about (from the comfort and safety of my rolled down car window) while vacationing. It would appear that I am the only person in the whole wide fit world that thinks that vacationing is for binge drinking, lazing about, eating and cavorting.
Who are these losers out in the humid Hawaii heat in their running shoes and visors sweating away their misbehaving vacation hours?
I mean, shit, I can run at home - why not instead burn my excess calories (and oh, I do gather some excess calories on vacation, letmetellyou) doing stuff I can't do at home. Like kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, improperly boogie boarding and staggering around on the beach looking for the pool bar.
These are things you do on vacation in my world.
Running? No. Running is for when you're home with access to all your gear and close to your primary care physician.
Despite all my vacation resting, I still managed to injure myself. Which, frankly, is not all that surprising since I made my way through the better part of a bottle of gin while also spending most of my waking hours in the ocean.
To quote a wise man, "Late night swimming and alcohol: it's a winning combination!"
Either way, during one of my many turtle stalking snorkel outings I got a vicious evil cramp in my shin meat, which I initially ignored because I wasn't ready to go in yet. I guess I'm still, like, 10 years old or something. By the time I made it to shore and hobbled up to the deck, I thought I was in the clear. The cramp was gone.
I was AOK.Nuh huh.
Woke up the next day with sore SORE shin meat. Like reliving the shin splints of my youth, I'll tell you. Not pleasant. But it was vacation in my world, so I made a cocktail and let the soothing powers of gin heal my wounds.
When I got home (and sobered up) I went for a short run, thinking my soreness would melt away when I hit the pavement.
Neow.
I planned to run five miles, but ran closer to four. The last mile of which I completed with tears in my eyes. Ouch. Sore shin meat strikes again.
I hobbled all last week. I took it way easy this weekend - getting new insoles for all my shoes (hello! I'm gellin'!) and I think I'm on the road to recovery. Finally.
Chuh! And only two weeks later. Geez man.
So, update is this: I have been resting for practically three whole weeks with only a few short runs to my name during this time and I just got my race packet for the race which is in, like, TWO WEEKS.
Holy crap. I think I just threw up a little bit.
*sweating*
And I don't think I'll be completing that 12 mile run I added to the schedule, despite my fear that I won't be able to go beyond the 11 mile mark having never seen myself do it in real life.
And I don't think I'll be resuming a regular training schedule because I would have to immediately scrap it for the ever important Taper.
And I think I'll be arriving at Race Day with little more than my *hopefully* fully recovered bod and 11 miles under my belt.
And I've stopped carrying my iPod with me because I can't manage the technical difficulties while I'm sweating like a wild hog and dodging traffic. So, I'll be doing this race tunes-free. (Never thought I'd say that)
Will I be able to man-up and run the race without keeling the hell over? Mmm, we'll see.
Ouch! I hope your shins start feeling better! You might already do this, but I know this really works for my shins. If you write out each letter of the alphabet with your feet (in the air), it helps to stretch all the muscles in different directions. I know that sounds weird.
ReplyDeleteI bet you'll do great at the race. Just imagine a giant margarita at the finish line!
Hey, you should be fine with 11 miles done - my training only took me up to 10, then back down to 6/8 the weekend before the race.
ReplyDeleteAs for the ipod, I'm sorry to say I had to have my tunes while running - I got a little "running belt" and stuck it in there...
Hope your shin feels better soon.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the race, you'll finish it. Last year I was over half way through training for a 1/2 marathon at the beginning of September. The on July 4th I unexpectedly had to have my gallbladder removed. Put a bit of a crimp in the training and the mileage.
I still did the race. I walked a huge chunk of it, and was a lot slower than planned, but I finished. Before the cut off time.
Remember DFL (DLF) => DNF => DNS!
In English....
Dead F***ing Last (Dead Last Finish) beats did not finish, which beats did not start.
My dad (a runner too) always told me that if you know you can run halfway, you can run the whole thing. So you know you can run 11, no problem! You could probably handle a 20 mile race! You can do it!
ReplyDeleteCould you get one of those doo-dads I see some tourists wearing, where there's like a belt with bottles attached to it, and a plastic straw that comes up through your shirt, and basically get an I.V. of G&T during the race? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressed with your training. My couch gets a good workout but that's about it.
Best of luck with the race. I think if you are doing 11 miles in training, you should be fine for the half-marathon. I've been training for a 10K and I never thought I'd say this, but the 6 miles doesn't seem like much of a challenge anymore. I upped my last run to 7 miles, perhaps I need to find a half-marathon myself!
ReplyDeletefinny,
ReplyDeletei too am running a half in 2 weeks, and have 11 miles to run on sunday. yuck and double yuck. the whole thing makes me nervous, and i've run 3 1/2s before!
if you can, download (for free on itunes podcasts) the august 18, 2007 edition of "Only a Game" on NPR. Bill Littlefield has a segment done by one of his producers who was running the new york half for her first time. It's all about how POORLY named the 1/2 marathon is, that most people who hear you're running it say "when are you going to run a WHOLE marathon"--as if 13.2 miles isn't enough!! It's a great piece, and very motivating. Personally, i think the 1/2 marathon should be called the "Twenty-two" (as in 22K)--it sounds more impressive then "1/2 marathon".
good luck!
namaste,
amy
You are going to do so great. You know that. 11 miles is HUGE and it will make 13 seem like a walk in the park. I'd only run 16 before I did my first marathon.
ReplyDeleteSo, shin meat, time to heal. And Fin? Countdown to your time to ROCK.