EN OS Wk 9 (Injury)

The week began normally enough.  Monday was a work/rest day other than that Joe was out of town for a job interview in Colorado.  He hasn’t gone out of town since before Christmas, so I had to get my mojo back.  Thankfully, it came back quickly since we’re all well versed in Dad being out of town.  Despite the never-ending fatigue from the EN workouts, my body didn’t want to shut down for the night until much later than it’s been used to lately.  That’s definitely a hold over from Joe’s earlier TDY days.  Tuesday I did my bike workout in the morning and saved my run for the afternoon so that I could run w/my son’s running club at school.  I was the rabbit for the kids to chase around our makeshift “track”.

My favorite little runners

I really enjoy this time with the kids.  They range in ages from 3^rd – 5^th grade and are of all skill levels, from the My parents said that I had to join running club kids to the I have soccer/swim practice right after this.  They are all so sweet, many of them full of energy and confidence.  The others are appreciative of the attention, even when it’s just to tell them to hustle up or tie their shoes.  None of them has ever held a grudge against me for holding them back or making them hurry up.  They all greet my enthusiastically by name when they see me at school.  I know their faces, but I wish I could remember all of their names. 

I always have one or two boys who are faster than me to start out, but they eventually fade, even with me pacing them.  I typically try to keep them between a 8:30 and 9:00 min/mile.  Reigning in a bunch of mostly 5^th grade boys is like herding cats!  And, dodging the buses and cars at dismissal time just adds to the fun.  Despite that the kids listen to me pretty well and are mindful of the traffic, I think I’ve given one of the assistant principals heart palpitations a time or two.  My fast boys think that they can smoke this old mom, but in the end, it is usually I who is having to encourage them, cajole them, go mom on them to finish strong.  I love sharing something with my son that I used to do with my own dad.

My Boy Scout

Tuesday night, I took Jamie to his first Boy Scout meeting.  Gosh.  He’s growing up too.  Last week he moved from Cub Scouts to full-fledged Boy Scouts.  I felt very wistful as I drove away, like the first day we dropped him off at Montessori school.  He, of course, didn’t notice when I left.

Wednesday was another busy day; which translates to an early wake up call for me to get my workout in.  I am definitely a morning workout person.  Morning workouts, while sometimes very tough to get started, energize me.  I much prefer to start the day with a workout under my belt than going about my day knowing that I will have to get it done later.  My life is so hectic and sometimes so fluid, it’s just easier to get up early and knock it out.  Besides, I am one of those people who has trouble falling asleep if I work out too late in the day. 

Thursday was one of those days that I dread – chock full of appointment after appointment.  My agenda looked like that of a minor CEO.  If I could squeeze it all in, I’d be happy.  Surprisingly, I charged through my morning appointments and suddenly had a break.  A break?  What to do?  What to do?  And, suddenly, I had the compulsion to head to the gym and get in a quick swim.

I know that the EN Outseason Training Plan does not have any swim workouts; that there is such a small return on your investment with swimming, but I wanted to go for a swim.  I hadn’t swam in over three months at least.  I found that I was missing my bi-weekly swims. 

After a quick trip home to gather the necessary gear, it was off to the gym.  Soon enough, I was slipping into the cool, well cold, water and pushing off.  Much to Joe’s dismay, I don’t warm up or do drills when I swim; I just swim.  I do focus on my form, but I’ve found that if I do intervals, I tend to get short of breath and my legs or feet cramp up faster than normal.  Again, this is pretty much a direct result of the chemo/cancer/asthma.  I always swim next to the wall, even if I have to share a lane, in case I get a leg/foot cramp that I have to work out. 

My personal trainer/cheerleader
for Saturday's bike workout

The first two laps were hard; my arms were burning and I wanted to stop.  I didn’t and the next twenty-eight laps felt pretty good.  I really enjoyed slipping smoothly through the water.  By the last two laps however, my form was breaking down, my arms were tired again, and my feet were threatening to cramp up.  Focus on your form, I told myself.  In the end, I swam 1600 yards and felt pretty good about my time.  I was centered enough to finish the rest of my crazy-busy day.

The weekend was as weekends always are - busy.  The weather was finally going to cooperate again and I planned to go out for a fun ride on Sunday afternoon.  Saturday’s bike was intense, but I had a great little cheerleader – Louie and a great book on my Shuffle. 

Sunday, because of Daylight Savings, I got up at what my body thought was 0330, but was, according to the clock, my usual Sunday wakeup time of 0430.  At my appointed time, I hopped onto the treadmill and started my warm-up.  Joe got on his bike next to me and stared pedaling.  Suddenly, I had an intense pain in my left hamstring.  I tried to do a couple of quick warm-up intervals.  No dice.  I got off, stretched and tried again.  I found a pace that it wasn’t too uncomfortable to run at and pressed on.   Joe regarded me dubiously, cautioned me to not hurt myself. 

Cooking with the youngest

I got nine of my planned on twelve miles in and NONE of my intervals.  I felt terrible, but knew that I had somehow injured myself and wouldn’t be doing myself any favors if I pushed it.  I was actually kind of looking forward to those intervals too. Darn.  I stretched, showered, put KT Tape on my hamstring, popped some Motrin, iced my leg, and hoped for the best. 

After church, I slowly got on my bike, church clothes and all, and did a couple of exploratory laps around the cul-de-sac to see how my leg felt.  It wasn’t too bad, so I decided to try the group ride w/my friends.  Three miles in, I wanted to turn around and head home.  My leg hurt, I had a rumbly in my tummy and I was so stinkin’ tired from losing that precious hour of sleep.  Instead, I kept going.  Lo and behold, I started to feel better.  I actually ended up out in front several times.  Those EN workouts do seem to be working. =) 

Today, the leg is still sore, too sore to even do a small transition run.  We’ll see how the rest of the week goes.  For now, I’m going to do Motrin, rest, ice and repeat.