Sunday, March 15, 2015

How to Dodge a Bullet (or just simply avoid a training catastrophe)

The longer I pursue any kind of run training, the more I realize I will never stop learning. It's a tough pill to swallow sometimes, but is a good thing re. the big picture.

Oh, what a couple weeks it has been: I will begin to say that I am really, really fortunate to be writing about this topic and not something from my "greatest hits" album on this blog..... You know the post where"girl trains, girl runs race, girl is then out for 6-8 weeks and has to start again...." Sigh.

Honestly, if this was again the case and I was a reader of this blog, I'd be pretty tired of myself and begin to question my motivation and sanity. As the writer of this blog, I try to keep it as fresh and positive as possible without losing the honesty I like to convey on these pages. I digress....

So anyway-and hopefully less dramatic- I am on day 6 of a 7-10 day running break that I voluntarily took. Yep, I volunteered to do this. Actually I told my coach I needed it. A total first for yours truly. So why did I elect to do this when it appeared a few weeks ago that things were going so well? A few things, actually.

The first couple weeks of February were some of the best training weeks I've had in a long time. Running was fluid and fun. I felt strong and had no issues hitting intervals and paces. I even exercised restraint when I wanted to just crush an interval , you know, just because. I felt awesome. Then I didn't. Actually, the current state of affairs is different than I've experienced probably ever. After my epic February of running a lot, getting sick (and crazy dehydrated), going skiing days later, and coming back and back into workouts and then traveling more, you get the idea. For me, it was a lot.

I started getting this weird soreness in my quads. At first I shook it off and almost enjoyed the feeling. (you know, breakdown means progress, right?!) But it didn't go away, and it got to the point where runs were not fun anymore. That and I was getting more and more tired. Oh, and standing up from a chair or getting up in the morning felt a little something like this:


Noting like a dumb Jim Carrey movie to get my point across:)

Luckily I heeded my  'check engine' light  This was a critical point in my season: do I push through and risk something more serious or do I be a grown-up and back off. I chose Option B this time. And it really wasn't as hard as I thought. I decided I wasn't going to let my ego get the best of me. I needed to rest-it's part of training after all. Not just a day or two, but several.

After talking to Coach  and carefully researching, I came up with a game plan kind of like this:

- Rest (duh!). I took three days off completely from working out-weights, biking, yoga, everything. It was fortunately easier than I thought. I was tired and also busy at work so I had plenty of distraction. I had a number of nights of low-quality or not enough sleep, so I made a deal with myself to just wake up naturally-not my usual arbitrary 5:00 AM. I am fortunate to be able to go into the office later in the day, so eyelid-watching became my morning workout. Resting takes guts. Sometimes more than actually facing a hard workout or race.

- Hydration. I hit the water and electrolytes hard. In addition to the fluids I increased my potassium intake and took 500 mg of magnesium (a natural muscle relaxer) every day to help loosen the white knuckled fists that had become my legs.

-Anti-inflammatory foods. Caffeine and wine were reduced. (Sorry, I gotta have my coffee in the AM) and avocados, almonds, leafy vegetables, berries, and foods high in Omega-3's were in. Good thing I like salmon, because I ate a heck of a lot of it this week.

-Ice. Cold therapy seems to calm down flaky muscles pretty fast. I read article written by pro triathlete and trainer Ben Greenfield and took a couple pointers and put a more realistic spin on them. I probably have gone through at least 60 pounds of ice in the past few days on my legs. Greenfield recommends immersing yourself in cold water 2 x 20 minutes a day. I came close to that and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Slowly the soreness started fading into the background, at least for daily tasks. Wearing blue blocking sunglasses after 4 PM and taking 90 dollar supplements was something I just wasn't willing to do. Speaking of supplements....

-Adaptogens. Greenfield mentioned using the 90 dollar drink mix in his article. I have heard a lot of whispers on the street when it comes to taking adaptogens to combat training stress. From the overtraining errors I made a few years ago, my endocrine system and HPA axis ( Hypothalamic-Adrenal-Pituitary; just think the ability to bring it in workouts and then recover and manage life) systems have taken a beating.

My endocrine system still seems to not be what used to be-so recovery is still sometimes harder for me and balance is critical.I am getting closer to facing the fact that it may always be touchy and I have to be extra diligent with balance and load.

Training is a stressor in itself, and add everything else in the body is working overtime. In response to a system that clearly needs some help-I decided to experiment with Rhodiola -a supplement that has been shown to help with stress response (i.e. training, life, work, etc.) and hopefully help with the recovery process recommended by Greenfield and other professional sources. Maybe it's a placebo effect, but I do feel a difference three days in, especially in sleep quality. If you can't sleep deeply you can't heal. Oh, and the supplement I picked up was just 17 bucks!

-*Realizing it's 'just running'. Do I really have to prove something? I have to constantly remind myself that this is just something I do, not who I am. I need to continue to find ways to manage my stress and make smart decisions-for my own quality of life but also others around me.

 I get a lot of empowerment from running but in the grand scheme, the world does not stop spinning on its axis because I didn't run for a few days. In fact I don't think the world really notices:)

So sitting here typing this, I hear the bullet whizzing by my head. This could have gotten out of control in a hurry. I won't lie, this was not an easy week and had its mental challenges, but sometimes you have to slow down to speed back up later.

Goals were meant to be adjusted sometimes, and we just have to go with it and carry on. And the learning curve continues.....at least I don't feel like I have spears in my thighs anymore!

Stay the course.


7 comments:

MJ said...

This is a great post. Glad you were smart, no doubt it will pay off in the long term. Thanks for sharing the details. I think many runners will recognize themselves in your post and may dodge because you showed it was okay to do so!

I'd be interested to know how you knew in the past you were overtraining....I think I'm teetering on the edge of burnout, 5 weeks before my first Boston, and fighting it every way I know how, including some ways similar to yours. (and I know my endocrine system is twitchy having had my thyroid removed and being under lots of stress plus now being in perimenopause) My body is wiling to do some mileage - less than I want - but suddenly decided last week that speedwork wasn't going to happen, nuh uh. And my hamstrings and glutes are really cranky. Sleep is also crap. Working on all of it and trying to be okay with backing off a little.

I have to take a lot of magnesium anyway for medical reasons, so I can't really up it. But I do use magnesium spray and lotion on muscles, which helps. How did you up your potassium, just with foods or some sort of supplement? I've found rhodiola - alone or with other stuff - somewhat helpful in the past. I do wonder if you "adapt" to the adaptogen though and then need to go off it for a while to get the effect back again.

Hope this turns out to have been a great decision, I look forward to reading more as you move forward. Thanks again for sharing.

Adrienne said...

Hey MJ! Thanks for your thoughtful response. You're more than welcome to shoot me an email if you'd like a little more info.!

L.A. Runner said...

Rest takes more guts than a tough workout or race…. TRUTH!!!!!!!!

You're so wise, opposite of me that loves to beat the dead horse. LOL.


Ps. Let's phone date one night this week. (I shut down my blog.)

Raina R. said...

Bullet dodged!
I think it's a sign of advancing intelligence that you took the week off. This kind of stuff is so much harder on the mind than the body though! I know your legs will thank you.

Elizabeth said...

I'm sure this was not easy to take some time off when there was no specific injury to point to. It really sounds like the right decision and hopefully you'll be feeling like new again soon.

Marvin Dittfurth said...

Resting takes guts. Sometimes more than actually facing a hard workout or race.

I have found this to be so true. But, I have also found that resting can bring results like a hard workout or race. Last year at this time - I dropped out of IM Texas training ...my second time to drop out. I thought that was it. Injuries, soreness, etc - I was done, I thought. What can it hurt then to take some time off then; to let yourself up; let yourself off? So, I did. Thankfully we had a houseful of company for the week I took off. And time off was not as hard as I thought. It was the best thing I could have done for my lifestyle..."humbled to be exalted."

Yo Momma Runs said...

Good timing for me to find this post! I have a hint of pain coming on just under my hip flexor, and I'm a little sick from allergies backing up. So I took today off and am now evaluating. This was a great reminder that rest is a good thing!