Keeping Things In Perspective

After I finished TransRockies almost a month ago, which is hard to believe, I felt like a million bucks.  I felt strong and practically invincible on the trail.  I felt fast and everything felt easy.  I had this little voice in the back of my head telling me to be careful ~ it would be too easy to suddenly feel overtrained and tired.

And guess what?  That's exactly what happened.  After a couple of weeks of strong, nearly-effortless running, my body told me to stop.  I kept running last week, but didn't feel right.  Little things were suddenly hurting a lot.  I went and got a massage and felt a little better, but still things were not quite right.  I think I've narrowed it down~ my quads got so strong that they have pulled my pelvis out of alignment, tipping it forward, which puts strain on my hips, lower back, and upper hamstrings attachment.

So I decided to take a bit of my own advice.  Which is tough, because I've committed to running the Bear 100 on September 28th, just two weeks away.  What would I tell one of my patients, if they came to me with the same complaints?  I would tell them to back off, literally.

So now I find myself doing easy dog walks both in the city and in the foothills.  Mostly flat terrain, and mostly at three miles per hour.  I'm using the foam roller daily, taking ibuprofen three times per day, and stretching.  I have two more massages booked before the race.  The one thing I could improve upon is drinking more water ~ I need to drink at least 3 liters per day and I'm probably drinking one and a half.

Now the little voice in the back of my head is telling me, "Don't worry.  The hay is in the barn and you have plenty of training miles banked up from a great summer of running, without injury.  Don't blow it!  Take this time to enjoy the scenery and keep things in perspective."

So that's what I'm doing.  Dog walks, no running for the last three days, and enjoying the scenery.  I'm keeping things in perspective and looking forward to my event two weeks from today.