training pain & insane rain

Taper Tantrum

We are now in the taper period of training--our weekday short runs and weekend long runs are getting progressively shorter. The idea is to allow our muscles time to rest before the Marathon, although our coach encouraged us to incorporate faster speeds and hills into the shorter runs.

Erin and I took that advice seriously. I joked with her that since we're now down from 8-mile morning runs to 4, she made it her business to design The Most Difficult 4-Miler Possible. After running back-to-back Somerville hills in the pouring rain at a pace quite quicker than our usual AM jog, I feel pretty entitled to capitalize the title of that route! =)

According to my coach and several other folks who have run a marathon, the taper is tough on your brain. Our coach's wife told us--perfectly deadpan--that during the final weeks before the marathon, we should (I quote) "get a hobby." Otherwise, we would drive ourselves crazy worrying that we hadn't trained hard enough or, worse yet, act on that worry by running more than we should. The rest is the most crucial thing at this point.

Happily, the taper comes at a time in my work-life where this is a non-issue. We've been busily planning the Boston Partners in Education annual Gala, so work has been occupying the place in my mind that might otherwise stress over training.

It was my body--not my mind--that decided to throw a tantrum.

About a week after the 21-miler, Baby-Runner [read: me] got her very first injury. Anytime I either walked or ran on it, my left leg hurt. This, I did make time to stress about. How could I possibly get hurt now, so close to the April 19? What I don't have time for it to recover? Should I stop running for a while, and deal with the fear that I'm not training enough in the final weeks right before the big day? Or should I continue running through the pain, and deal with the fear that I'm not giving myself a chance to get better before the big day?

My first major frustration was that this came during the taper. Never mind that pain during tapers is apparently common. If my injury was the result of a blistering long run completed in record time, I could deal with that. It would be a badge of honor, one of those well-earned bruises you want to make sure people see. But what pride could I possibly have in an injury that had apparently resulted from a couple of four- or five-mile runs?

The second (and more practical) frustration was my lack of vocabulary to describe what was wrong. I knew that my left leg hurt, and I knew it wasn't shin splints--thanks to my old pair of Nikes, that was the only runner's ailment I could put a name to.

I walked into Erin's office one day and said, a bit defeated, "I am asking you this because you're smarter than me." I described what hurt, when it hurt, and approximately how much it hurt. She diagnosed the problem to be with my left IT band.

Once I knew what to call it, I emailed my coach to see what course of action I should take. He recommended to eat fresh pineapple and papaya (natural anti-inflammatories), take more rest and cross days, avoid hills and speed for a while, and ice the leg in question.

This leads me to my third frustration--forcing myself to actually take that advice. I secretly planned to listen to the icing and pineapple parts (I love pineapple anyway--no downside there!) and push the rest aside for awhile, hoping that just those two things would make the pain go away. So when the time came for last Saturday's long run, I told Erin and Laura I would meet them as usual. My IT band had other plans: Just the short jog over to our starting point was a painful one, and I gave up and turned around. The rest of my boring Saturday consisted of a couch, a bag of ice, and a marathon of Seinfeld.

That was four days ago. I'm happy to announce that since taking another day off, cross-training at the gym a bit, and finally taking the time to properly stretch out the muscle (again, thanks to Erin for showing me how), the left leg is healing nicely. It's already gotten to the point that it no longer hurts to walk, and I was especially encouraged after yesterday's run to work, when it didn't ache any more intensely at the end of the run than it did at the beginning. I'm hoping that with continued proper stretching, I'll be back to 100% by the end of the week.


Early Morning Swim

In other news, you may have heard: There's been flooding in Boston.

Last week, the clouds clearly didn't want to stop raining--and most days, I can assure you that it was not particularly light rain. That didn't stop Erin and I from running to work per usual, and we've got post-run photos in my new favorite Central Square coffee shop to prove it!

Erin's water-resistant coat shows the water droplets better,
but my jacket isn't usually this dark a shade of purple...

The picture both Erin and I wish we had is a snapshot of one girl's face during the very same Most Difficult 4-Miler Possible run. We were descending Walnut St. in the midst of that day's downpour, and we passed a girl that gave us the most blatant "ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?!" look ever.

The short answer, Dearest Walnut St. Girl, is yes.