Quite a bit happened involving running these past two weeks. My back injury has been very on and off, feeling great sometimes but awful others. So far, it's been a cycle of healing and feeling normal but then totally messing it up again when trying a workout or race. Besides one race and two hill workouts, I haven't done anything fast since April 15.
May 1 to 7
Monday: 8 Miles. Moderate river road loop (Pawcatuck). Back tightness and leg fatigue were present most of the run, so this wasn't enjoyable or smooth. Saw a chiropractor after practice, who pushed on parts of my back to realign my spine (which would happen again Tuesday and Friday).
Tuesday: 8 Miles. Beach street, riverbend cemetery and roads around there. Felt okay: some back pain and leg fatigue/weakness. Nothing out of the ordinary route-wise.
Wednesday: 7 Miles. Went to watch the last dual meet at Narragansett and did a moderately-paced flat loop on some of the blessing roads. Back didn't feel good at all, but overall I felt much better than I had the last two days besides some foot discomfort (although still breaking in new shoes).
Thursday: 7 Miles. Canal/high street loop, nothing exciting, but the real development was my back felt suddenly much better than usual. Cruised at moderate pace again feeling pretty good. Strides bothered it a little bit, so just took them easy.
Friday: 6 Miles. Ran easy and shorter than usual, yet had leg fatigue and back discomfort when unexpected. Apache neighborhood roads, pretty boring route. Decided to skip strides altogether to try not to make things before race day.
Saturday: 7 Miles, Schomp Invitational. Schomp is always a really stacked meet in all three distance events- 1500, 800 and 3000. In other words, it's the place to run fast times. I ended up not being able to do the 4x800 as I was taking the SAT until early afternoon, but still arrived in time for the 1500. I didn't know what to expect, but wanted a sub-4:10 time to give me confidence to run faster times later in the season. I talked to other guys in the race, and it seemed many were shooting for that same goal. I was nervous, but less than usual. I wasn't feeling great as my warm-ups and eating schedule were thrown off from me arriving a little later than usual and I felt weak and full on warm-ups. Strides felt fine however and after a long wait, our race was about to go off.
1500
With such a stacked field, I was hoping I could tuck into the middle of the pack and just run there for the whole race. I was the 10th seed so I had to cut in a bit. I went out fast but comfortably from the gun and immediately found that the lead was mine, if I wanted it. I had no interest in leading, especially at this stage, so I slowed down a little and allowed EG's Hank Perretta to pass. I stayed right on his shoulder for the next lap before deciding that the pace didn't feel fast enough and took over control. We went through 400 in about 65. I felt that I made a surge on the backstretch and the pacing was going well, but was very surprised that no one would pass. I felt really good and thought the race was going very well. I still had the lead with 800 and tried to keep pushing. At 600, I still felt comfortable and ready to kick and thought the race may be mine. Shortly after, I lost the lead. Even though I thought I had been running fast I was only clocking 68s and I had no response to being passed. It was over. 4 or 5 guys went right by and were moving while I was suddenly really feeling it and couldn't muster any additional strength. I didn't end up having anything that lap and closed in a 68, while the leaders closed sub-60. I went from 1st to 9th and finished in 4:14.8.
I have never lost some many places in a track race before, and certainly never done so when leading. Disappointing and unexpected. Not only was it a bad performance, but it reactivated my back pain. On/off as usual, but bending it seriously hurt. I still went through and ran the 4x400 in 57.8, but had some discomfort while doing so and the pain that evening.
Sunday: 1 Mile. Planned 8 on the bike path in SK, but was immediately greeted with extreme discomfort/pain despite feeling much better when waking up. Tried stopping, walking and stretching but after a half mile decided to turn around and get back. Walking was pretty much just as painful as running so forced myself to run back. Went to urgent care later, where I was told I couldn't run at all until cleared by an orthopedic.
Weekly Total: 44 Miles
YTD Total: 678 Miles
May 8 to 14
Monday-Tuesday: 0 Miles
Wednesday: 5 Miles. Cleared to run again but scheduled to go to Physical Therapy. Only high-6s and flat roads/paths in Ninigret, but back was extremely tight and uncomfortable and my legs had all sorts of weird pains that were slowing me down. Nothing like Sunday, but not exactly encouraging.
Thursday: 7 Miles. Went back to the bike path to get the run in that I attempted Saturday. Had some weakness and some back tightness, but after a few miles I was feeling really good. Splits were fast, with a enjoyable and comfortable Mile 6 in 5:42 the highlight (downhill smooth roads with shade). Enjoyable and feeling better besides having to run with keys and phone in hand, which was extremely annoying.
Friday: 8 Miles. Thought I may have a shot at racing Saturday, but disappointed not to see my name on the performance list. Normal east ave run, not too hard on the pace. Pick-ups afterwards felt pretty good.
Saturday: 8 Miles. Ran the bike path again, this time from the Narragansett side. Really fun route and once again run started out weak, but gradually felt better and overall was comfortable and enjoyed it. Nowhere near as fast as Tuesday, but overall a good start to the day. Some back pain/tightness.
Sunday: 10 Miles
AM 8 with Dad on Sakonnet Greenway grass trails in Portsmouth. Wanted to get off the asphalt without getting onto uneven or slow terrain, and this seemed like a perfect choice. It wasn't. It poured Saturday night and a large portion of the trails were soaked, including ankle-deep sections. Overall not bad, just not a great day to come here.
PM 2 Breaking in Spikes on the track. .5 Warm-up, 4x150 strides in each new spike: New Balance MD800v5 for mid-distance and Saucony Endorphin for distance. NB felt good, but the three-ounce endorphin's felt a thick sock, or in other words there wasn't much too them. Will have to get used to that as I will race with them Saturday.
Sorry for the late posts. Will do better with keeping this updated next week.
Weekly Total: 38 Miles
YTD Total: 716 Miles
Racing 1500 and 3000 at Class B Championships on Saturday. 10AM at Westerly.
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