I've been struggling getting my running legs back. It's to be expected, though--even though I was slow as molasses at IMLP, I still did a marathon, and oh, yeah an Ironman.
Up until today, my legs have pretty much felt like bricks whenever I've run. I am not a runner. Running has never come naturally to me, although I've had some really good runs. But I still don't consider myself a runner. I just get it done when I need to. I'd rather ride a bike!
I have pushed myself through some really bad runs in the last 2 weeks. "Really bad" meaning my legs hurt like hell. I do realize that a marathon causes all sorts of muscular damage (I did 3 of them in 2007--Disney and then those 2 Ironmans), and I know it would be better if I had access to a trail nearby to lessen the impact, but I don't, so run on roads I must most of the time.
Tuesday I was not supposed to run off the bike, but that is just a hassle (extra showers and the eating thing), so I went ahead and ran off the bike. I wasn't able to ride very hard (I guess I blew my wad, as they say, on Sunday riding like hell into the wind), so I shouldn't feel too bad running. I didn't feel all that bad, but since no matter which way I go from my house I'm running hills, well, it's one thing to recover from a marathon, another to be able to run on flats, and another thing entirely to be able to cope with hills. I didn't do as poorly as I thought I would, though. The workout was made harder by the fact that on Monday I went back to my normal level of weights, including legs, so I knew I was asking for it on Tuesday to think I could ride with power and then run off the bike! But I did it anyway, and I'm never sorry for pushing myself through stuff like that, because it has to be done if I'm going to regain my strength.
Yesterday I swam leisurely in the morning (2800 meters is all), and went for a run in the middle of the day. I did not drink any Coke (besides who knows how many calories are in a can anyway?) before I left, but in retrospect maybe could have used some. I decided to run west instead of my usual east (thinking the winds were out of the west, but I was wrong--they were out of the north), and the first mile is mostly uphill, and then more uphill and then more uphill, and my legs felt like rocks. But I was laughing and smiling about it because I'm doing it to myself! When I was almost done, I took a different way home (the last about .3 miles), which normally would be downhill, but it was uphill! Sometimes I swear everywhere I run is uphill, but I am used to it, which is why when I'm recovering from something major, it sucks because I pretty much have to run hills. All good, though!
I felt pretty wasted after running yesterday, but I really wanted to finish up my core routine (which includes some leg work) so I didn't have to do it today. I knew it would only take about 15 minutes, but I kept putting it off until finally I decided, fuck it, it's go time. All I was doing was watching mindless TV anyway (waiting for the Olympics to be on), so I may as well get it done. My legs protested mightily, and I wondered while doing it whether I was digging myself into a hole. I stretched really well afterwards, ate some more spaghetti and meatballs, decided I needed to get a good night's sleep, and was fast asleep at 8:30. I mean I passed out in like 5 seconds after my head hit the pillow!
When I woke up this morning, I could tell as soon as I got out of bed that I felt really great! My legs felt the best they've felt in weeks--going downstairs I felt nice and loose. I filled my 2 12-oz. bottles with partially defizzed Coke (I opened the cans yesterday and left them in the fridge, and one day in a can is not professional defizzing), put them in the cooler, ate a Powerbar and had some coffee, and I was off to Waterfall Glen for a 2-hour run. It was a very cool morning (high 50's) so no swimsuit today.
As I started to run (at 6:15), I knew I wasn't going very fast, but I felt comfortable, and I didn't want to jinx myself, but I thought this might be a good run. About 1.5 miles in, I saw 6 bucks all just hanging out browsing! They just looked at me and went back to their early morning snack. I didn't want any Coke until about 2 miles in (I had woken up at 5:00). As soon as I took a sip, it worked its magic (probably more the sugar than anything), and I continued to feel great. I think I was about 3.5 miles in when I decided I would go out for :45 and back, but as I wasn't feeling like I needed much liquids, I decided to just keep going around the full loop (about 9.7 miles) and then add on.
During Mile 8, I thought about when was the last time I ran the entire loop? It was back in April during one of my half NothingMan's, and I remembered how great I felt that day, and I know I was smiling a lot today, too. When I finished the loop, my watch told me that this was probably the second fastest time I've had going around.
I grabbed my other 12-oz. bottle of Coke from my car and headed out for another 1/2 hour or so. The fog had burned off, but it was still very humid. I chucked my singlet back at my car, as it was soaked through and through. That last bit of running seemed to go by pretty fast, and it made me look forward to next week's long run which will be 2:15.
When I got back to my car, I saw a cyclist that I had seen while running and have seen several other times I've run there. He asked me (after seeing the sticker on my car) if I'm really a "Triathlon Freak." Answer: YES! I told him how happy I was to have a good run today after last week's death march. He told me he's done one Ironman, Great Floridian, and how during the marathon it was like an out of body experience, like he was floating even though he knew he was in pain and...well you can guess the rest. About all I could say is that this is why I do this. Only it took me 4 Ironman's to get to that point! We exchanged information, and I hope he comes out and joins us for part of NothingMan. He got that concept--how you strip away everything except just the DOING of the sports.
I don't know how the next few weeks of training will go, but today was perfect! Tomorrow I'm going to swim 3 miles total (2.5 straight) and see how that feels. I'll probably end up riding 100 miles on Sunday all by my lonesome, but that's OK...last Sunday was pretty much that way, too. And then I get to enjoy a bike race afterwards!
Right now I feel "appropriately tired" from my run, and am getting a massage tonight, so I should be good to go tomorrow. I am almost feeling as strong as I wanted to feel about 4 weeks ago, and now I am really looking forward to NothingMan! I know there will be other runs coming up where I'll struggle, but that's OK. It's in the pushing through when you feel like crap that you really learn what your body can do, and I'm amazed that I'm able to do this at all most days.
Life is good!
No comments:
Post a Comment