You, of course, throw that wrench right back. And waving fists in the air yell, "take that wrench thrower!" Or not. Sometimes that stupid wrench trips me and I fall flat on my face. In fact, that happens more than I would like to admit.What the heck am I going on about? Well, Kaylee had a stomach bug last week, which made me think about training obstacles. She only wound up being sick for about 24 hours. We were lucky this time. In November, however, she had an evil stomach bug that landed her in the hospital. No running happened that week, and honestly running was the last thing on my mind because as soon as Kaylee came home from the hospital I was dealing with a wicked case of croup with Emily.
It happens though, we manage to schedule running into our already hectic lives, then BAM, you get whacked with a wrench. I'm not sure there's much we can do to mitigate the wrench risk. The week Kaylee and Emily were super sick, there's nothing I could have done differently that would have changed the outcome. How did it impact my training? Minimally, I think. I picked up where I left off, and chose not to linger on any negative thoughts. One poor running week probably doesn't mean much. I like to look at several months when trying to characterize how I'm doing on the running front. One missed week out of several months of good consistent running is fine. Now if I were to start stumbling every other week, then I'd need to reassess how I'm doing and perhaps make changes.
I know some runners that never miss a workout, and that's awesome. I'm not one of them though. I do miss workouts from time to time. I don't think I'm lazy or uncommitted, but you know, there's life and stuff going on...
From a numbers perspective, training was awesome last week. I missed the day Kaylee was sick, but turned around and ran a nice interval workout that turned into a 12 miler. I had also done a tempo run at the beginning of the week that turned into a 12 miler. My mileage total for the week was 55. Overall a good week, but my right knee is twinging ever so slightly. I am certain that it's a case of "runner's knee" and given that I've never had "runner's knee" in my almost two decades of running, I'm fairly certain it's from too much interval running. I may need to limit my workouts to one hard run per week.
How about you? Do you ever feel like someone is throwing a wrench at you while you run? How do you deal training obstacles?
9 comments:
Great post here Katie! I've got my wrench going on right now...or the last 2 weeks. But my wrench is that my body isn't keeping up with my desires. Obviously getting weaker in my 30's but these strains are healing up nicely and the wrench is almost gone. :) But I am also not one of those "never miss a workout gals"...for me, I have to miss them sometimes in order to take care of this body. and take care of my kids. Sick kids...so hard. :( Sorry. But sounds like you've got your priorities straight...being a mother is way more important than training. Remind me of this when I'm about to rip my hair out today because my son won't nap anymore and has started waking up at 6:30 so my morning run time is out too. Ha! You're doing so great from what I've seen. I'd imagine that the few days of down time could be a good thing and you'll probably be even stronger for it!
We all have different life circumstances. I don't miss workouts but I only have 1 kid and a husband who works PT.
You are doing great. Runner's knee, yes, overuse. May want to check out some knee strengthening exercises.
I did a post recently with this similar topic. So funny. Wrenches must be getting tossed around all over the place, lol!
I try to modify my training if I can. I read somewhere that if you try to follow a schedule too rigidly, you end up killing the fun. I agree. Life happens. We just have to make the best of it.
I miss workouts from time to time. It's actually what motivates me to get out the door some days. I tell myself, I can't skip this one because sometime I'm not going to have a choice and have to skip a workout.
@Amanda: Hope you get your runs in w/o ripping out your hair! ;) Sometimes I have to be creative too...
@AM: I know you don't miss workouts. :P That's okay though, we're all on our own program. And I have started doing the strength exercises again. I was getting lazy (or over confident) and had stopped for a bit.
@Amy: Stupid wrenches! I don't really follow any schedule. I mostly make it up as I go, which makes me a little odd.
@SSB: I do that too. I've actually stopped planning rest days, b/c inevitably something comes up and I get rest day regardless of me wanting one.
Very good info here! I agree with all you say about taking time off here and there. The important thing really is consistency over time. A few days off can actually help at times. I tend to get neurotic about getting in workouts though.
Runner's knee..Oof. Not fun. I am not sure the cause, but have a tendency to get knee /hip probs when my shoes break down and anle problems from big mileage or speed increases.
Get better!!
I definitely have to be flexible with training. I have a full-time job, two young children and a husband with an ever-changing schedule.
I bring my running clothes with me every day to work -- and run as far as I can on the days I can get out. And I try to get up early and go on the days that works. I did find that I can't skip on a day I can go, because if I do, I swear, the next day something will go wrong, and I will have to miss a workout -- sick kid, work meeting, weather, whatever.
I also don't follow a training plan at all, so I don't freak out about missing workouts. I just try to run 5-6 days a week and remind myself I have years of a base to fall back on for one missed day.
Life is a balance, and it's kind of refreshing to read someone state "I miss workouts from time to time"! It reminds us that we are human!
I missed Monday's easy miles (redonkulous cold + vacation wknd = I sat on the couch), but I also took the flexible point of view. There's always a way to shuffle things around for the sake of kids, work, weather, etc. My hamstrings, on the other hand, need to back off their uptight, Type A personality ;)
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