Running Off The Mark

Early this year I set a personal goal to average three running miles per day in 2019.

In 2018 I ran 809 miles for an average of 2.22 miles per day. Moving the bar to three miles per day would be 1095 miles for 2019.

You would think that adding 0.78 miles per day would be easy.

Running Off The Mark

Early in the year I was doing pretty good and on more than a few days I was ahead of my three-miles-per-day goal.

Between training for The Boston Marathon and running three half marathons in the first quarter, I was keeping up with my goal. Almost every Sunday I ran at least a half marathon either as a race or a training run.

In one day I could cover 4 days of my mileage quota with a bit to spare. Adding in the Tuesday Night Club Run and one or two shorter training runs and I was doing okay.

In March I ran almost 131 miles. I hardly ever run more than 100 miles in a month!

In April I ran The Boston Marathon and ran a total of 84.68 miles for the month. Still on the mark.

Then in early May I pulled a muscle doing some work around the house. I know exactly when it happened.

The pull didn’t hurt but I noticed it after the Portsmouth Half Marathon.

It’s not unusual to have a few aches and pains after a half marathon, but this time the ache was in my lower belly.

An odd place to feel discomfort after a race. But I figured I must have done something and waited for it to go away like any other running injury.

After a week I consulted with my doctor and he agreed I probably pulled a muscle while working on my car. I didn’t have any symptoms of a hernia or other internal injury.

Waiting it out

There isn’t much you can do for a muscle pull. Doc said to rest and apply heat.

I applied a Frozen Peaz PeazPak each evening while watching TV. These paks have glass beads and fluid in them that hold heat. You just microwave them for a minute or so and you’re good to go.

After a few days of rest and heat paks I still felt some discomfort in the area when I ran. Even light stretching in the gym aggravated the pull.

I’ve had to go back into my foggy memory and remember what a muscle pull is like. They take time, just like any other injury.

In 2016 I had a quad pull and that took months to heal. I kept running but my 5K times were generally four minutes slower than the previous year. My BAA 10K time was off by 23 minutes!

I’ve stopped running long on the weekends and usually only run once or twice a week now. I’m trying not to push it and it’s a challenge.

Year to Date

If I look at the past 365 days my miles are 875.4 or 2.4 miles per day.

Looking at year to date (153 days) I’ve run 444.93 miles for an average of 2.91 miles per day.

With a total mile goal of 1,095 I need to run 650.07 miles over the next 212 days of 2019.

That will require an average of 3.06 miles per day from now on.

Looking at the numbers I’m not so far off of my mark. But the longer my injury lingers the harder it will be to hit that 3.06 miles per day mark.

Each week that I let up on my running schedule my fitness level decreases and I become more accustomed to the sedentary lifestyle.

I’m trying to keep things in perspective and to remember other injuries and how long they have taken to go away.

The good news it that almost all of my injuries heal 100% given enough time. Even my knees are doing much better than last year.

So grasshopper must have patience!

Run well my Friends!

Andy