My latest struggle (out of many, since I was obviously not made for running) has been your common, everyday cold that I probably picked up from a family member. Most would think it's no biggie, and you're right- it shouldn't be. But I would almost rather get the stomach flu than a cold, and the reason why is strange. As you probably know from my past posts (that is, if you have been reading, and if you have-thanks so much for following me!) I have asthma. This "setback" has different shapes and forms. The lucky ones have gotten it only once in their lifetime during usually some form of bronchitis or other air-way sickness, and others, like me, have it so awful that it is year round, requiring twice a day medications, extra hospital and doctors visits, and notice it daily.
So with my asthma, you're probably running why I would even run in the first place. You're right- I'm an idiot. And to be honest, I just wanted to prove the doctors wrong. But I'm here now and I'm used to it, so might as well keep on chugging along. (I should get to my point now, right?) With my certain circumstances with asthma and all, catching the tiniest cold is a really big deal for me. Asthma absolutely amplifies everything. I end up hooked to breathing machines and with a fever and throwing up just from coughing so hard! (The only plus, abs of steal!)
Being in the track season, and not wanting to simply skip practice, I found myself questioning whether I should indeed be running or not, especially for those anaerobic workouts that leave you breathless in the first place. Is it a good idea to even run when you're sick? Here's what I know...
First off, your immune system is weakened by what your body considers to be difficult training. (Probably how I picked up this cold of mine so quickly and intensely) There's this rule I go by, I must have picked it up somewhere along my running "career" and it's called the neck check. If there is no fever and all of your symptoms are in your head, then you're okay to do just an easy workout. Don't push yourself, maybe stick to some simple aerobic running, like three or four miles!
If it's more than just in your head and you have a cough, or are sore, have muscle aches, or anything like that (especially a fever!) then please, for your own good, take a day off. I'm no doctor, but I can tell you from experience, allow yourself to heal and rest. There's nothing worse than pushing yourself too hard on a day that your body could not be pushed, and being punished by it for the next week or so.
Track athletes, I know it's hard to miss practice, especially when your running is also important to others like your coach and team and not just yourself. But for the sake of yourself, please take it easy! If your coach is a good coach, they will understand. (517)
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Monday, March 16, 2015
For the Days When You're Just Not Feelin' It
This isn't specific science or anything I would appreciate someone quoting me on, but it's pretty safe to say that any runner can agree that for every three to six good days of running, there is bound of be a bad day of running somewhere in there. What I mean by this is that there are days where your typical five mile run feels much more sluggish and slow, and after looking down at your watch, you could not hit your goal times.
It saddens me to say that the worst part about your "bad day" of running is not the painful ache in your calves and the feeling that your legs are made out of lead, but the little voice that is begging you to give up.
This is something I witness nearly every day at practice in both myself and some of my teammates when we OD (over distance!) and I wish that I didn't. The fact is, when your coach isn't watching you, it doesn't matter what the little voice in your head is saying, because your coach's voice scares the voice beggin you to give up away. However, when your coach sends you on an aerobic workout and doesn't watch you, the little voice inside that head of yours is the coach, and it's wrong.
This can be displayed during a simple five mile run, where the distance runners run to "just about" the two and a half mile mark (that's where you turn around) and cut the distance by what they think is just a little distance, but if you measure it it's actually about 300 or 400 meters.
When running as a team it is easy conform to what other runners are doing on your team. One person's inner coach influences the entire rest of the group you are running with in your let it. "Turning back early" is said so casually, and I don't blame anyone for it, we've all done it.
The difference this makes may not seem to appear in your athletic performance, but it may alter other daily work. There is a quote I always tell myself, esecially when I see people cheating themselves: CHARACTER IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN NOBODY IS WATCHING.
While it may be easy to listen to your inner coach, especially on your bad days, I promise you if you allow yourself to suffer through to the actual destination, you will not only feel better about yourself (I gaurantee) but you will earn the respect of others. (421)
It saddens me to say that the worst part about your "bad day" of running is not the painful ache in your calves and the feeling that your legs are made out of lead, but the little voice that is begging you to give up.
This is something I witness nearly every day at practice in both myself and some of my teammates when we OD (over distance!) and I wish that I didn't. The fact is, when your coach isn't watching you, it doesn't matter what the little voice in your head is saying, because your coach's voice scares the voice beggin you to give up away. However, when your coach sends you on an aerobic workout and doesn't watch you, the little voice inside that head of yours is the coach, and it's wrong.
This can be displayed during a simple five mile run, where the distance runners run to "just about" the two and a half mile mark (that's where you turn around) and cut the distance by what they think is just a little distance, but if you measure it it's actually about 300 or 400 meters.
When running as a team it is easy conform to what other runners are doing on your team. One person's inner coach influences the entire rest of the group you are running with in your let it. "Turning back early" is said so casually, and I don't blame anyone for it, we've all done it.
The difference this makes may not seem to appear in your athletic performance, but it may alter other daily work. There is a quote I always tell myself, esecially when I see people cheating themselves: CHARACTER IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN NOBODY IS WATCHING.
While it may be easy to listen to your inner coach, especially on your bad days, I promise you if you allow yourself to suffer through to the actual destination, you will not only feel better about yourself (I gaurantee) but you will earn the respect of others. (421)
An Update on the Ankle
This post is written about three and a half weeks after my previous post on my ankle sprain. What a difference three weeks can make!
By taking it easy and icing more than you could ever believe, my ankle's healing has progressed very smoothly. Sadly, I must admit that this progression has not been a steady incline, but rather a rigid hill with many bumps and ridges.
Kicking off the track season, I was very very nervous about running on my ankle. There wasn't a whole lot of things I could do to make my ankle recover any quicker than it already was, so I simply found an ankle brace that would give my ankle so assistance and lessen the blow, and decided to trek on off to practice expecting nothing less than pain.
I was happily surprised with how well my ankle held up during practice, and despite the high mileage, my ankle didn't even need to be iced once I finished practice. I cannot put into words the glee I felt when finishing my first week of practice with no extra pain in my ankle.
As track practice continued on into this season and we near closer to our first meet, I began to notice that we (distance girls, who generally run the minimum of an 800 in a meet) had not done very little, probably two at the most, anaerobic workouts. This is something that would soon change.
Living in the midwest, the snow had not yet melted off of the track. You would not think that this is a problem. Running in the school parking lot is similar to the distance of a 400, except our school parking lot is on an incline, so the first 200 is downhill and the last 200 is uphill!!!
The first anaerobic workout I noticed that my ankle suddenly made a turn for the worst, which made me greatly concerned. The minute I took my ankle brace off I noticed my ankle was once again swollen and it hurt a lot more than it had in a while. I asked my physical trainer what she thought was up, and she said that it was because we had run on the uneven parking lot surface very quickly, which really irritated my ankle.
This is an excellent thing to know, seeing as running fast time intervals are much better on a softer and even surface. Take this into consideration next time you decided to get a faster workout in! As for my ankle now, it has been over a month since my injury, and it is not swollen, but still bruised! (439)
Ankle Sprains for Runners?
Training for the upcoming track season, I managed to completely injure myself with something that has nothing to do with running. In my morning weight lifting class, I was simply doing the exercises (jumping over boxes) when all of the sudden I was on the ground, a pain I hadn't quite experienced. Next thing I know, people are starring at me, a few jaws slightly dropped, and that's when I knew I had messed up. Suddenly I realized my ankle hurt, and I became instantly panicked.
Having never experienced an ankle injury I was more scared than anything. The pain was by far not the worst pain I had experienced but it was defiantly enough to worry myself. Too scared to look down and see what the damage was, the weight lifting coach came over and took me to the trainers room, where I iced myself for the rest of the hour.
After swelling, popped blood vessels, some artistic bruising, my sprained ankle seemed to be doing okay. So what is a sprained ankle anyways? It's the tearing of ligaments in the ankle. If you're like me you probably think that it sounds scary. You're right, it is, but you're a runner, and nothing can stop you!
Lucky for me, track started yesterday and I was able to run on it, despite it being sprained! Here's how: for the four days I had until the beginning of track, I stayed off my feet for as much as possible. Along with that, I accumulated an air splint and an ankle brace to help ensure some stability.
I cannot praise enough the importance and wonders of icing. I'm pretty sure that the reason my swelling went down so quickly was because I iced so often. Create a mini ice bath for your ankle that you can put your entire foot in up to your mid shin in order to target your entire ankle, and all the surrounding parts.
Don't forget to elevate your foot too (the one that's injured). I didn't find this one as important and keeping my weight off of it and icing, but my trainer and others encourage it to me, so you may as well give it a go!
Along with taking care and tending to your injury, don't forget to strengthen it to prevent another injury from happening. (plus, who couldn't benefit from getting just a little stronger?!) (401)
Having never experienced an ankle injury I was more scared than anything. The pain was by far not the worst pain I had experienced but it was defiantly enough to worry myself. Too scared to look down and see what the damage was, the weight lifting coach came over and took me to the trainers room, where I iced myself for the rest of the hour.
After swelling, popped blood vessels, some artistic bruising, my sprained ankle seemed to be doing okay. So what is a sprained ankle anyways? It's the tearing of ligaments in the ankle. If you're like me you probably think that it sounds scary. You're right, it is, but you're a runner, and nothing can stop you!
Lucky for me, track started yesterday and I was able to run on it, despite it being sprained! Here's how: for the four days I had until the beginning of track, I stayed off my feet for as much as possible. Along with that, I accumulated an air splint and an ankle brace to help ensure some stability.
I cannot praise enough the importance and wonders of icing. I'm pretty sure that the reason my swelling went down so quickly was because I iced so often. Create a mini ice bath for your ankle that you can put your entire foot in up to your mid shin in order to target your entire ankle, and all the surrounding parts.
Don't forget to elevate your foot too (the one that's injured). I didn't find this one as important and keeping my weight off of it and icing, but my trainer and others encourage it to me, so you may as well give it a go!
Along with taking care and tending to your injury, don't forget to strengthen it to prevent another injury from happening. (plus, who couldn't benefit from getting just a little stronger?!) (401)
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