Tag: hamstring injury

BAA Half Marathon in 19 days

As of today I have 19 days until the BAA Half Marathon

It makes me both a little excited and a little nervous.

Anyone who has indulged me and read this blog for any amount of time knows I’ve been working through a hamstring or piriformis injury since early this summer. The physical therapists at Harvard Vanguard in Somerville have been doing a great job and I feel like I’m on the road to recovery.

After running the Lake Winnie Relay and the Lone Gull 10K this past weekend, my confidence has returned. I’m still in pain sometimes but it takes longer to hurt and the pain is less intense. Even with “competitive” running these past few weekends my leg continues to improve. I know that I’m not out of the woods with this yet, but I feel that I can salvage the rest of my running season.

The Lone Gull 10K turned out to be an amazing run for me. I didn’t spend a lot of time planning or specifically training for it, but everything worked. I’m going to follow the same routine for the BAA Half. No high fiber food but high glycemic food instead, like Fig Newtons. I want to have my blood sugar nice and high during the race. During the 10K I took a GU around 2.6 miles, less than half way. I’ll probably take 2 or 3 GUs with me on the Half and take one every 3 miles or so. The GU is designed to boost blood sugar to give that boost of energy.

I’ve learned to stop drinking about 30 minutes before start time. I get in line for the porta-potty and do not start drinking again until a few minutes before the start. This way I get all of the “processed” fluid out of my body before the race. The water I drink in the gate will be in my system to do what it’s supposed to do and will be eliminated as sweat.

Usually the BAA has paper cups for their water stops. I’ve learned to pinch the top of the cup, keep running and take a gulp. I often only get one mouth full, but it is usually enough if I hit all of the water stops. I’ve come to call this “The Runners Gulp”. Pinching the cup helps keep me from pouring water in my shoes as I run also.

So, 19 days to stretch and get a few “long” runs in. 19 days to avoid over doing it or getting injured. When the club runs on Tuesday nights it is now pitch black out. This can be very dangerous and last week one of my friends took a spill during our run. I’ve done it, just about everyone has. Usually it’s no big deal. But, a twisted ankle or worse can ruin a race if you do not have a few weeks to recover. so, it’s almost time to step cautiously and be a bit more careful.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great run!

©2012 andrew nagelin

Half full glass

Monday, monday

Monday I wrote about my disaster in the locker room where a bottle of spray-on sun screen discharged completely into my gym bag and ruined my brand new, never worn tie. I’m still determined to salvage the tie and I’m having some luck.

I ran 10K Monday morning before work and thought I was doing great. I’ve never run before work and I was able to knock a good piece of my weekly mileage off. Over the course of the day my right hamstring got tight and started to hurt. Every time I got up from my desk my leg was killing me. On the drive home my leg hurt so bad that my foot was getting numb! It was unbelievable. So while I thought it was a great thing getting in a Monday morning run I had actually just caused myself problems.

roller, running injury recoveryAfter supper Monday night I ran over to Marathon Sports and bought a Thera-Roll. People have been raving about these rollers and what they can do for sore muscles. After my killer ride home from work I was desperate and willing to pay “whatever the cost may be” to get some relief.

As I mentioned Tuesday, the guy at Marathon Sports answered all of my questions and let me try out all of the rollers until I found the one that was just right.

I’ve used the roller every night this week and it seems to be working. But I can’t tell if the improvement is from not running or from rolling. Probably a little of both. I’m going to keep using the roller and see what happens. People have an almost religious zeal for these things. I’m also making an appointment with a physical therapist.

If you want to see what the roller is all about click on the photo.

I had my summer race season planned out in the spring. Part of it was running the BAA Distance Medley. This was the 5K the day before the Boston Marathon and now a 10K this weekend. So now I’m trying to figure out if my hamstring will allow me to run this race and if running this race is going to take me out of action for the rest of the summer. I know I can’t go for a PR and that just finishing is going to be an accomplishment. I’m taking it day by day right now.

Oh, and the third race in the BAA Distance Medley is the BAA Half Marathon the Sunday before the ING Hartford Marathon which is on a Saturday. So my hamstring is a mess, I have a 10K before I have enough time to recover and then I have a half marathon with barely enough time for a healthy runner to recover before a full marathon!

I know that injuries are just part of being a runner. Earlier this year I hurt my foot because I bought the wrong shoes. This time I was just being dumb, over ambitious and thought I was invincible. And at my age I’m supposed to know better! Ha!

Here is my pontification

I’m always hearing people talk about the glass being half-full or half empty. In my mind this congers up an image of people sitting around contemplating the “glass of life” and merely ruminating or stewing on it. Well isn’t that special.

I say pick the freaking thing up and drink down the glass of life! Half-full or half-empty, chug that bad boy down until it is dripping down your chin and you are gasping for air. I assure you, that you will find it quite refreshing!

Cheers!

Chug down the half full glass and enjoy life!