Listening to Mother Nature
Apparently, Mother Nature says I should take this weekend off. She's decided to make it rain all weekend long, off and on, more specifically when I would have liked to run. And given the near-fainting spell I had yesterday during the yoga session, I'm thinking my body agrees with her. I was hoping to run on Friday, actually, and then praying I could run today when Friday dawned with the weather channel decreeing "Rain, at times heavy", only to sleep past the point where it was only overcast today. I don't mind rain while I'm running. "Partly cloudy, with a chance of rain" sounds perfect to me, because I know that I'm going to be wanting a light sprinkle when the sweat really starts to pour. And I actually hate running with the sun beating down upon me. But to start out drenched is an invitation to pneumonia. It wasn't so bad back in high school when my distance didn't top 5km--I was done in 20~25 minutes max. Then I could dry off and warm up again. But not when I'm running for an hour or two. I hope the race weekend doesn't get rained out--long term forecast has me hopeful for the moment. As it is, this being Mother's Day, a couple years ago this would have been the race weekend.
I managed to complete my fourth run last Sunday, a full-course run. The new running wear did its thing, and I didn't chafe myself anywhere inconvenient or otherwise. The new socks, however, are not the perfect solution to blisters on my feet, which tells me two things; a) I need to be careful of where the seam at the toes rests when I put them on, and, b) I probably need new shoes. Sadly, I can't afford to break in a new pair this close to the race weekend, otherwise I'd switch them right now. So, instead, I'm going to pre-empt further blistering by wearing bandaids on the susceptible spots--I think, in part, the reason I got more blisters this time around was that I was still nursing blisters from the last couple of times. The socks are specially designed to prevent blisters by reducing friction between my feet and everything else, and they did feel much more comfortable than the old tube socks I was wearing before. Also, it took longer for any blistering to occur, that is, I was much farther along in the course before I felt that familiar heated feeling anywhere on my feet. I was mostly just relieved that I didn't feel any discomfort anywhere else--my feet always take the most punishment, period, and I was more concerned with avoiding a repeat of the injury from the previous run.
But I did have to stop during my run, to attempt to adjust the seam of my sock so that it wasn't irritating my left baby toe--it was too late to do anything more than that and continue on. I hate stopping during a run. It messes up my time, I feel like I lose my momentum, and I know it isn't good for my heart/circulatory system. I remember my coach telling us after a run to walk it off, bring our heartrates down gradually, rather than shocking our system by flopping down on the ground right after finishing a run (I never did that, but it did look tempting when others would do it). Stopping to fix my sock during this past run I felt very lightheaded and wobbly, which is why I had to sit on the grass beside the path--I wouldn't have been able to maintain my balance on one foot while taking care of the other one. This meant that I was curled up on the grass, and my tired leg muscles wanted very much to cramp up in protest, too. If I could have avoided stopping, I would have. Which is why I hope to pre-empt this sort of thing--I know that that particular toe is very susceptible to being irritated, between the seam of the sock right on it and the side of my shoe right beside it. This is the second time this season that I've gotten a blister on it, and I don't think it can take much more punishment. It is getting a bandaid next time, for certain--I thought, after the first one healed fairly well, that it would be okay, but I don't think I can adjust the seams on the new socks to save my pinky the irritation. I only hope that this issue is resolved when I get a new pair of shoes in June.
In the spirit of not pushing myself too hard and hampering my performance in the race at the end of the month, I'm going to pull back on my yoga committment for the time being. I'm sticking with the Saturday afternoon class, of course, however, I'm going to wait to commit to the Tuesday evening classes until after the upcoming race. Part of it is that right now my work schedule makes it difficult (not impossible, but difficult) to get home and back downtown with the right clothes/accessories in time for the class. Part of it is that my workload right now is zapping a lot of my energy, so I want to conserve myself for the workouts that really matter to me. And part of it is that it will allow a bit more recuperative time between workout sessions. Though I must admit, while my ankles were really bothering me Monday, once two days had passed since my last run I found myself feeling much recovered. I think that my body is starting to toughen up to the rigors of all this exercise, which gives me hope that I will be able to continue training past this month's race, and that I'll be able to add the second yoga class back into the schedule for the start of June. By then, my scheduled work hours will be reduced which will give me more time to get changed at home and return downtown, as well as possibly having completed enough training of new support staff such that I can concentrate on the duties of my acting position, and leaving the temps to handle their tasks on their own. But all of that probably is contributing to the weakening I'm experiencing right now in my yoga classes--I have been spending more energy elsewhere of late, and the yoga's been suffering a bit for it. Especially the near-faint yesterday...I'm not sure what that was all about, but I'm on guard against it in the future.
So, the plan is to do two runs next week, since I have a four-day weekend: one on Friday, one on Monday. Forecast is saying "Cloudy with showers" for Friday, and a sun with just a touch of cloud for Monday, temperatures in the teens. That's Victoria Day weekend, and it's usually pretty sunny and warm, so I'm hopeful. I'm figuring I'll do the half-course on the Friday (so that I don't tempt soakage for nearly as long) and then the full on the Monday. My attitude towards the race weekend is that it's simply another weekend run...with a lot of other people, and a slightly altered course (for variety). Any run, for me, is serious business, while I'm running...so I know I'll be properly focussed for the race. But I'm really just racing myself, trying to improve my own time and performance in general. There's more than just the finish time that I take into consideration--do I cramp up, get short of breath, hurt myself--these are other factors that mitigate a drop in finish time. If I feel really good about myself, does it matter if I showed an improvement in time? I enjoy running, when you get right down to it...I'm proud of what I can accomplish, and there is such a freedom in running, when I'm not caught up in my body's protest through injury/cramping/what-have-you. In the end, that's why it's my first choice for physical exercise, and why I lament the times when outdoor conditions aren't favourable. I don't like tracks or treadmills--I find them boring. I need to know that I've gone somewhere with my run. This is my favourite way of enjoying the Tulip Festival in May, for instance. And I look forward to seeing the seasons change this year in the city I have chosen to call home.
I managed to complete my fourth run last Sunday, a full-course run. The new running wear did its thing, and I didn't chafe myself anywhere inconvenient or otherwise. The new socks, however, are not the perfect solution to blisters on my feet, which tells me two things; a) I need to be careful of where the seam at the toes rests when I put them on, and, b) I probably need new shoes. Sadly, I can't afford to break in a new pair this close to the race weekend, otherwise I'd switch them right now. So, instead, I'm going to pre-empt further blistering by wearing bandaids on the susceptible spots--I think, in part, the reason I got more blisters this time around was that I was still nursing blisters from the last couple of times. The socks are specially designed to prevent blisters by reducing friction between my feet and everything else, and they did feel much more comfortable than the old tube socks I was wearing before. Also, it took longer for any blistering to occur, that is, I was much farther along in the course before I felt that familiar heated feeling anywhere on my feet. I was mostly just relieved that I didn't feel any discomfort anywhere else--my feet always take the most punishment, period, and I was more concerned with avoiding a repeat of the injury from the previous run.
But I did have to stop during my run, to attempt to adjust the seam of my sock so that it wasn't irritating my left baby toe--it was too late to do anything more than that and continue on. I hate stopping during a run. It messes up my time, I feel like I lose my momentum, and I know it isn't good for my heart/circulatory system. I remember my coach telling us after a run to walk it off, bring our heartrates down gradually, rather than shocking our system by flopping down on the ground right after finishing a run (I never did that, but it did look tempting when others would do it). Stopping to fix my sock during this past run I felt very lightheaded and wobbly, which is why I had to sit on the grass beside the path--I wouldn't have been able to maintain my balance on one foot while taking care of the other one. This meant that I was curled up on the grass, and my tired leg muscles wanted very much to cramp up in protest, too. If I could have avoided stopping, I would have. Which is why I hope to pre-empt this sort of thing--I know that that particular toe is very susceptible to being irritated, between the seam of the sock right on it and the side of my shoe right beside it. This is the second time this season that I've gotten a blister on it, and I don't think it can take much more punishment. It is getting a bandaid next time, for certain--I thought, after the first one healed fairly well, that it would be okay, but I don't think I can adjust the seams on the new socks to save my pinky the irritation. I only hope that this issue is resolved when I get a new pair of shoes in June.
In the spirit of not pushing myself too hard and hampering my performance in the race at the end of the month, I'm going to pull back on my yoga committment for the time being. I'm sticking with the Saturday afternoon class, of course, however, I'm going to wait to commit to the Tuesday evening classes until after the upcoming race. Part of it is that right now my work schedule makes it difficult (not impossible, but difficult) to get home and back downtown with the right clothes/accessories in time for the class. Part of it is that my workload right now is zapping a lot of my energy, so I want to conserve myself for the workouts that really matter to me. And part of it is that it will allow a bit more recuperative time between workout sessions. Though I must admit, while my ankles were really bothering me Monday, once two days had passed since my last run I found myself feeling much recovered. I think that my body is starting to toughen up to the rigors of all this exercise, which gives me hope that I will be able to continue training past this month's race, and that I'll be able to add the second yoga class back into the schedule for the start of June. By then, my scheduled work hours will be reduced which will give me more time to get changed at home and return downtown, as well as possibly having completed enough training of new support staff such that I can concentrate on the duties of my acting position, and leaving the temps to handle their tasks on their own. But all of that probably is contributing to the weakening I'm experiencing right now in my yoga classes--I have been spending more energy elsewhere of late, and the yoga's been suffering a bit for it. Especially the near-faint yesterday...I'm not sure what that was all about, but I'm on guard against it in the future.
So, the plan is to do two runs next week, since I have a four-day weekend: one on Friday, one on Monday. Forecast is saying "Cloudy with showers" for Friday, and a sun with just a touch of cloud for Monday, temperatures in the teens. That's Victoria Day weekend, and it's usually pretty sunny and warm, so I'm hopeful. I'm figuring I'll do the half-course on the Friday (so that I don't tempt soakage for nearly as long) and then the full on the Monday. My attitude towards the race weekend is that it's simply another weekend run...with a lot of other people, and a slightly altered course (for variety). Any run, for me, is serious business, while I'm running...so I know I'll be properly focussed for the race. But I'm really just racing myself, trying to improve my own time and performance in general. There's more than just the finish time that I take into consideration--do I cramp up, get short of breath, hurt myself--these are other factors that mitigate a drop in finish time. If I feel really good about myself, does it matter if I showed an improvement in time? I enjoy running, when you get right down to it...I'm proud of what I can accomplish, and there is such a freedom in running, when I'm not caught up in my body's protest through injury/cramping/what-have-you. In the end, that's why it's my first choice for physical exercise, and why I lament the times when outdoor conditions aren't favourable. I don't like tracks or treadmills--I find them boring. I need to know that I've gone somewhere with my run. This is my favourite way of enjoying the Tulip Festival in May, for instance. And I look forward to seeing the seasons change this year in the city I have chosen to call home.