Table of Marathons

11 MCM (not for time) 11 Wineglass (950/1442)
10 MCM (not for time) 09 MCM (348/1076)
09 Washington's Birthday Marathon (22/44) 08 MC Historic Half (51/210)
07 Frederick Marathon (32/60) 06 MCM (394/1076)
05 MCM (547/1047)

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 Life Injury

George Sheehan said that every runner is an experiment of one. Over the years, I've learned that the rules of running are mostly for older runners. When I was in my twenties, I routinely ignored the hard/easy rule, the 10% rule, or the "listen to your body" rule. The biggest price I'd pay would be sore muscles for a couple of days. I'd get new shoes when my knees started to ache. That was the extent of my running injury awareness. Since coming back to running, I've learned that my body is not as resilient it was in my twenties. My body speaks to me loudly now, though not often clearly. If I don't listen, there can be a substantial price to be paid.

This season, it did not talk to me. I was breaking 40 miles per week with no residual soreness or tiredness. I kept the spring in my step, even the day after my longer runs. As I felt no stress in my arches and calves, I returned to my zero drop minimalist shoes for daily wear. By end of week, I was feeling so good and strong, I reduced my time sitting at work to 4 hours. There were no warnings, it just felt empowering.

The next week, both calves were sore at the beginning of my routine 7-miler on Tuesday. I reduced my run to 3 miles, deciding it was a "down" week, a week of reduced mileage to cut back stress. Wednesday, they were too sore to run.

That was 3 weeks ago, now.  After Internet research, I have decided that I have two strained calves. I don't think they're running injuries. Rather, I think the zero-drop shoes over-stretched them.