Marathon Recovery: Week 4

I admittedly have a lot going on in my life right now. Running has been my one constant. I’m grateful for every step I can take. Running usually provides me a brief respite from every day life and allows me to clear my head. What I can’t believe is that I’m already a full month out from my marathon. It’s crazy how time flies when your calendar is chock full of activities, meetings, and ‘homework.’

Last week I had one hiccup but overall the week was great. I’m making big improvements in terms of my injuries and I am grateful to be on the mend. This week officially kicks off my half marathon training and while not too long ago I wasn’t so confident about what my racing future would look like, I’m recovering and building more strength as each day passes.

Here’s how week 4 of my marathon recovery went:

Monday — 3.25 miles

Nice and easy on Monday. Very high humidity but my overall pace felt good and I was strong and confident.

Wednesday — 3 miles (barely)

Wednesday was not great. When I got ready for my run, I debated whether I should wear my Mizunos or the Newtons. I ultimately decided on the Newtons because I figured switching up footwear would be good for my form. I set out to run a 4-mile out-and-back and started off feeling quite strong. But as I hit 2.7 miles, my right IT band flared up. I struggled with calling it quits or run/walking the last mile. I made it to 3 miles and ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the risk to aggravate my IT band any further. Plus my husband had a big meeting Wednesday morning and I knew if I walked I would make him late for work. So I sadly called for a ride. A mile from my house. I felt so truly defeated. But I knew I made the right decision. And an hour or so after I got home, I remembered what my chiropractor had said about having setbacks every now and again. Hey, I made it 3 miles. For two weeks I was making it zero miles. I felt better after I realized how far I’ve come in a short time.

I don’t know if the Mizuno v. Newton debate had any bearing on what happened, and I’m sure it didn’t, but you never know. I’m going to experiment with a shorter run this week to see if footwear had anything to do with it.

Friday — 3.13 miles

On Friday morning I set out to run until I felt pain. Given Wednesday’s events, I wasn’t expecting to get very far and I told my husband I could possibly end up calling for a ride. Lo and behold, I ran over 3 miles, with NO PAIN. (In my training log, NO PAIN is always in caps. Because let’s face it, NO PAIN is amazing.)

After my 3.13 pain-free miles, I headed to the doc for my weekly ART and Graston. I told him how the events of the week unfolded, and he proceeded to mutilate my legs. He warned me by telling me he was going to be very aggressive and wow — was he right. It hurt so much. At one point I was almost in tears. But, after he was done, my legs felt like jello and it was a nice feeling.

Saturday — 4.2 miles

I met up with Sara and David for some easy miles on Saturday. We ran partial trail, and partial road. I was a touch worried the trail would twist my knees and pinch my IT bands, but in the end it all felt great. We ran a decent clip, and even ran “off trail” by a house we saw for sale. And once there, we were greeted by a very “friendly” boxer. And I say “friendly” because not.

It was really nice to run with Sara and David again. I’ve missed my Saturday morning group runs and I’m looking forward to starting them up again. Sara is training for a half marathon in September, so I’ll have a training buddy again for this cycle. Should be fun!

Aside from my Wednesday setback, week 4 of recovery was great. I’m looking forward to this week of following a schedule from my coach and being held accountable for miles and workouts.