I can’t believe my first half marathon is exactly two weeks from tomorrow. Eek! I’m getting so excited!
Unfortunately, I am also getting frustrated.
Two and a half weeks ago, I took 3 much-needed rest days because of a twinging left IT band. After a few days off, I was ready for a long run, and did an amazing 7 miles! I followed it with a ton of foam rolling, stretching, and icing.
Three days later, I tried to do another long run, but had to stop after 3.5 miles because of shin splints in my left leg. So, I took some more time off of running to let my shins feel better.
This week, I got a great 4 miler in, and planned to do 8 miles yesterday. However, the inside of my left knee has been tender and swollen for the past few days, so I will not be running until tomorrow at the earliest.
Essentially, every time I run, a different part of my left leg hurts for the next few days. I’m doing lots of foam rolling, icing, and strength training, and my shoes are not even close to being worn out.
So what’s the issue here? Why do I keep feeling different injuries? What am I doing wrong?
And also, what do I do for the rest of my training? I was supposed to do 8 miles yesterday, a few shorter runs plus a nine miler next week, and then one or two short runs with a few days rest before the Big Day the week after. Should I still try to do the longer training runs, or just the shorter 3-5 mile ones? I’m trying to find that tricky balance between being well prepared for the half marathon, without being injured.
Any advice would be welcome, and appreciated!
Despite my workout frustrations, there were lots of great things going on this week, too, like:
1. The opening of my Open Sky Shop! Check it out; even though this is just my ‘Sneak Peek,’ there are already a lot of exciting products for sale there. Like the Cacao Bliss I reviewed the other day!
2. A Red Mango fro-yo date with the lovely Allison, Kristie, and Holly.
3. E-Week, or Engineer’s Week. At UW-Madison, the entire week is filled with fun competitions and games between the student orgs, as well as some charity events. I participated in the Food Drive, and Box Top collection, as well as the Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament, Engineer’s Spelling Bee (the word ‘permittivity’ was my downfall…couldn’t remember if there was one t or two!), and E-Weekopoly (the Engineering Campus Monopoly game). To wrap up the week, I watched the Mr. and Mrs. Engineer ‘pageant.’ Overall, SWE took fourth for the week, I think!
4. A great 4-mile run, and two intense strength training workouts!
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