Sunday, June 29, 2008

A Series of Unfortunate Events

June - I had set to run quite a bit this month. In fact, I originally had planned a marathon and a 50k, and then of course all the training that comes along with it. The month started out great with a great marathon at Nisene Marks, Muddy Buddy which I had ran a 10 mile training run in the hills before that. So first week went great. Close to 40 miles.

Then I had to cancel the Pacifica 50k. I had wanted to run it for redemption, since I only ran the first 30k of this race earlier in the year. Oh well. The a string of three events happened that ruined running for the rest of the month. First we had a week of horrible heat ranging from 100-105. Not fun. Then had a huge fire in Santa Cruz that congested the air and made it unhealthy to run in. Just as you thought everything would look great for running. So the air cleared up, only to be congested again by over 1,000 fires, many sparked by lightning. Still today the air is extremely unhealthy.

I suppose I could have ran more on the treadmill, and I did do some running. But I can't stand running on the treadmill anymore. Outside I can run for 1-2 hours no problem. On a treadmill? About 20-25 minutes before I can't stand it anymore and have to stop. I used to be able to run for an hour, but not anymore.

Then, during an agility test for a job, I pulled a muscle! My right quad. I've ran how many miles in the last 2 years, ran how many marathons, and a 90 yard obstacle course pulls a muscle? I couldn't believe it. I still can't as my leg hurts still. Luckily, I guess, I pulled it yesterday and the air is still unhealthy to run in. So at least there is a good side, right? While I can't run because of my leg, I wouldn't run in the healthy conditions. But the muscle will take at least a week to heal, probably 2. Oh well.

Anyway, strange month, only was able to run 60 miles, 40 less than the at least 100 I had originally planned to run.

3 comments:

Jill said...

seriously---try deep tissue massage! it is awesome. I didn't blog about the 50 miler ride because it wasn't a super noteworthy event...except that Dennis and I were so hungry we went to 2 places for dinner.

Red Sox Fan on the West Side Highway said...

excellent blog, i'm glad i found you! as a new blogger and a novice runner, i'm intrigued by the writings of other runners. i also wanted to say that after switching from the treadmill to running outside, i also hate the treadmill! i used to love it and be able to go one forever. now, when it rains or is ridiculously hot and i HAVE to run on the mill, i get fed up so fast. i never thought i would feel that way. anyway, sorry to hear your month had so many speed bumps. i hope it gets better for you in the near future.

Brian Hawkinson said...

beckett,

Thanks for your comments. I write mostly for myself, but love it when I hear from other readers who can also take something away from my blog. I haven't done much recently, but I think it time to resume my training and racing, so you should hear more from me in the coming future.

you can learn a lot from blogs. insight into any number of conditions and terrains, advice for the newcomers. I know I certainly learn a lot from reading running blogs.

And the dread mill. Oh the dread mill. I still can't last longer than 20 minutes anymore, even though I used to be able to spend an hour on there no problem. Oh well.

anyway, hope to here from you again in the future. and keep on running. Slow progress is the best for beginners, mainly because it slowly introduces the stress of running to the body, and thus helps prevent injuries down the road.

Brian