Patience, Grasshopper

Patience.  It’s one thing that I am not particularly good at.  Add in the fact that I tend to be competitive by nature, and we have a recipe for disaster.  So, as I mentioned in my opening blog, I am recovering from:  1) a year of sloth-like activity level, and 2) a sprained ankle.  Therefore I have been trying to get back into my former running shape through a walk/run program, which is how I became a “runner” to begin with (I use the term “runner” loosely.  I was really more of a slow jogger.)

Becoming a runner has been an education in patience.  Although all of the resources out there warn against going from 0 – runner too quickly, I am sure there are plenty of people out there who have done it without incident.  I am not one of those people.  I have had collapsing arches since I was 13.  I had an ACL reconstruction on each of my knees in 1997 (and for good measure, they took some meniscus out of my left knee, too.)  I am overweight.  All of these things scream “DO NOT BECOME A RUNNER!” But I wanted to become a runner.  So after consulting with my old PT, I did one mile – “run a pole, walk a pole.”  Then “Run 2 poles, walk a pole.” And so on.  I iced my shins after every one because I had a shin splint scare, and I stretched religiously.  It took a couple of months of constantly telling myself to stick with the plan and not to do too much even though all I wanted to do was ramp up the mileage.  When I went through my triathlon training and was able to finish the run portion with a 5K PR at the time, I knew that I never would have gotten there without patience.

Now I am starting over from scratch.  Adding a recovery from injury to the mix has been especially frustrating for me.  The sprained ankle wasn’t the big problem – it was the 2 months between the initial injury and getting into physical therapy that really messed things up.  I was overcompensating and ended up weakening my right leg.  So…I had to go even more slowly.  Also, I had already signed up for the Margaritas Cinco de Mayo 5K on 5/1, and I knew that there would be no way I could run the whole thing.  LAME.

Fast forward to this week.  I had gotten a couple of good 34% run/67% walk for 2.5 miles at a pace that was almost as fast as my 5K PR pace.  I felt great, so I bumped it up to 3 miles on Easter.  Still felt great, and I held the same pace!  The patient runner would continue to train at this pace and intensity for a couple of runs before increasing, right?  Well, I got greedy on Tuesday and did 3 miles at 50%walk/50%run.  Did I mention that this was also the first time that I had rested less than 2 days between runs?  Yeah.

The run started out well enough.  I was definitely feeling winded but OK.  Every time I would run my shins would hurt but that has been typical for me while ramping up.  About a mile in I took a step and suddenly the shin pain upon impact was sharp, but only for one step and then it went back to normal.  I told myself I would stop if it happened again.  I finished up without any trouble, but after stretching I decided to skip the ice and jump in the shower, because I am dumb like that sometimes.

I am supposed to run today, and I know I should get some miles in before Sunday, but my left leg has other plans.  It does not hurt to walk, but my lower leg is really tight.  I tried to massage the inner part myself, and it is very tender.  The competitor in me wants to run tonight, but the realist in me knows that I should rest.  Besides, if I can’t keep my patience in check today, how will I be able to do it on Sunday during a 5K?  Knowing that I will probably push the limit on Sunday, I am better off letting things calm down a bit.  I think I will take Cash for a long, slow walk tonight.

First Post - You've got to start somewhere!

My name is Sue Dawson, and I am a triathlete.  Well, sort of.  Two years ago I got bored with working out at the gym for seemingly little purpose (aside from the obvious health benefits) and was looking for a little motivation.  I am not quite sure how, but I ended up researching triathlons.

I think it is worth mentioning that at the time I was not a runner, nor a cyclist, nor a swimmer.  A triathlon made perfect sense!  After researching reviews of various sprint triathlons in the New England area and considering the amount of training time I figured I would need (a LOT), I settled on The Pumpkinman Triathlon in South Berwick, Maine.  I downloaded a 20 week training schedule, and off I went! 

I started out on a run/walk program, as I am a little tubby and I have had an ACL reconstruction on each knee.  I finished my first 5K running the entire distance 2 months later with an epic 14:30 pace (yes; I do know that I could have walked it at that pace.)

I continued on with my training and eventually made it to race day.  I finished in 2:13:04.  I finished ahead of four people.  FOUR!  But I finished.  Looking back, I did a lot of things wrong during training which prevented me from doing any more than simply finishing. 

After slacking off for a year (more on that in another post), I have signed up for the 2011 Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon and am  committed to changing my fate. I plan to use this blog to document my journey to the triathlon as well as some other events and everything in between that has to do with running and tri-ing.  Maybe I will make a few friends along the way.