Joining Coco and Deborah for the March Ultimate Coffee Date. I actually do wish we were having coffee together, perhaps with some Baileys, after a nice long run.
If we were having coffee….
I would tell you… that although I fear that I’ve injured my hip badly and may not be able to run the half marathon tomorrow, I’m quite happy with how my training for the Chilly Half went. When I first won race entry way back at the beginning of November, running was a huge struggle, but I put together a training plan and followed it diligently. I completed a RunBet in November, and another one in January. For 16 weeks I consistently ran 4 times a week, with some weeks running 5 times. I built up my mileage from barely being able to run 5k, to two 18k long runs!
I’m so happy that I met my goals:
- to train consistently
- to get back into the training mindset
- to run hard on hard days, and run easy on easy days
I was doing great until my last speed workout two weeks ago – after that everything hurt, especially my left shin and my right hip. I stubbornly stuck with a RunBet I was doing for another week and painfully ran for 30 minutes four times that week. I’ve taken the past week and a half off to recover and I’m optimistic that I can run the race on Sunday – if I can’t then so be it – my goal was to prove to myself that 43 isn’t too old to train and I’ve accomplished that.
If we were having coffee….
I would share with you… my January and February mileage – I’m actually quite proud of the fact that I ran over 100km both months! These were my two highest mileage months in a few years (hence how I’ve ended up injured).
If we were having coffee….
I would tell you…. that I’ve already begun thinking about how I’m going to continue my training momentum and maintain the fitness I’ve built over the past 16 weeks. I’ve not only begun thinking about how I can continue to fit training in with our crazy sports schedule (OMG! Why do my daughters have to join every single sports team? Hockey, fast pitch, volleyball, and basketball! We’re going NUTS trying to drive them everywhere!), but also how I can train smarter. Training at 43 is different than training at 25 – those 18 years do make a difference. It is so much easier to get injured now.
Over my last training cycle because I trained like I was 25 with no stretching and no strength training, I could feel my body getting tighter – and not in the toned fit kind of way, but in the OMG I have no flexibility kind of way. I totally learned that strength training and stretching are critical at this age, especially while returning to running.
If we were having coffee….
I would tell you…. that I’m thinking about blogging more consistently here on Mom on the Run. Can you believe that I’ve had this domain name since 2004! I blew away the old content as it wasn’t much about running, but more of a personal journal while I tried to deal with post partum depression. I do enjoy having an outlet to talk about all things running – to talk about the running things my family just doesn’t understand. I am kind of stuck though between deciding if this should be solely a personal running journal, or an informative blog about running through your 40’s, 50’s and beyond. Perhaps it can be a little of both? Either way I know I have all of you guys to talk running with even if my family doesn’t appreciate it :).
Want to keep in touch? It would be nice if you subscribed on Bloglovin’ or followed me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Happy running!
Oh I’m so sorry to hear about your injury! Have you seen someone to figure out exactly what the problem is?
I also had really high mileage in Feb at least – 106KM. This is bizarre to me because I’m NOT training for anything over a 10K! But somehow I managed that!
As far as age and training, this is what I’ve learned; I’m 50 now and I generally don’t run more than 3 times a week anymore BUT I do a lot of cross training. RPM (spinning), BodyPump (Strength) and now Pilates are all in the mix with one rest day per week. I feel much stronger as a runner now. I have other issues that have caused me to not really improve on my pace but since medication (for nerve pain) I have now seen that my pace is getting faster. So yes, training at 43 is different, but still doable to reach goals!
I’ve been blogging for 10 years almost and it’s always pretty much been just about me, running, things that are going on, travel (and running). I’m not an expert in anything (though I am a certified sport massage practitioner so I know a few things here and there ☺ ) so my blog is just a journal of sorts I guess. Whatever you decide to do, I’m sure just genuinely sharing your journey will attract readers. I mean, that’s what I look for anyway in bloggers ☺
Thanks for stopping by Renee! You’re the first to comment on the blog since I resurrected it – thank you!
105km is a fantastic month! Especially when you’re not specifically training for anything. I definitely want to get back into cross training. You’re quite right that it’s even more needed now. When the girls were younger and not playing travel sports I had all the time in the world to go to classes. It’s much harder to fit it in now, but there’s definitely time to do home workouts – it’s just a matter of convincing myself to just do it!
No – I haven’t gone to see anyone. I have a B.Sc. in Kinesiology and I’m an Athletic Therapist. I know that the cause of my injury is overuse, essentially it’s a classic case of too much too soon (plus the 20lbs I gained in the years off of training). I know that I increased my mileage too fast, didn’t allow for enough recovery and pretty much just ran too often. I’m treating the injury with rest, and gentle range of motion exercises to treat any potential scar tissue. Because I can only recreate the pain by weight bearing – it doesn’t hurt with active resistance, and doesn’t hurt with passive movement, I suspect that it may be the beginning of a stress fracture to the neck of the femur. I go through the roof in pain when I stork stand on one leg, and the pain is in the hip joint. My brain says not to run tomorrow, but my heart wants to run. The smartest thing to do is to just go and cheer my friends on tomorrow, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m planning on taking the next month off, letting the injury heal, then returning to running slowly.
Thanks for stopping by!
PS – I love your blog name!
All the best,
Janice
oh wow that’s such a bummer on your hip! Injuries never come at good time do they? I’ve also been obsessed with runbet the past 8 weeks. I am not sure which one you did, but I am able to do a walk as well and have it count. My body kind of feels like it needs a rest today so I am going to walk for the last one. I am so into it that I decided to host one starting Monday. Gets me outside on not so nice winter days. Thanks for joining our coffee date today. Hope to see you there again or at our weekly run down link up each Sunday. Hope you feel better!
Great to hear! I’ll have to look into doing another one once I’m healed from this injury. Good luck with the RunBet!
I’m so sorry about your injury. I hope you can run your half, and that if you do, it doesn’t get worse. Hugs.
I’m LOL at your comment that 43 isn’t too old to train. I was about 48 before I ever ran period. 50 when I ran my first half. Now, I am slow and generally a BOTPer, but I also do train hard & I have improved! And I’m now 57.
I don’t know how you moms do it! You are all Super Women.
It’s your blog, so I always tell everyone write what’s in your heart. Or, as in my case, running, food, furkids …
Good point – I can do whatever I want to here. For now, I’m leaning towards using it as an online journal. Spoiler – I was stubborn and ran the race anyways, it was a total sufferfest.
Bummer on the injury,but at least you have an idea on what may have caused it (the high mileage without as much stretching, etc.)…..not that makes the injury any better to live with. I just found your page on Facebook, so I”ll try to keep up with you on all your running stuff. I started my running page (Running on the Fly) and blog for the same reason because I feared my non-running friends were rolling their eyes every time i mentioned running LOL
Thanks for following on Facebook!
First, I’m really glad to see your post and excited that you joined the coffee date! Second, you have a much better attitude about your hip than I do about my sprained ankle. Although, I’m not so much bummed about missing my 10 miler as not being able to do my usual day-to-day running. I find myself drawn to personal blogs, and think you naturally will touch on the differences/challenges of running in your 40s+, especially if you throw in your professional perspective. Personally, I’ve added more variety to my schedule (cycling, yoga) so I didn’t choose to do less running but chose to do more of other things.
I think it’s because I won race entry and signed up for the half instead of the 10k to force myself to get back to a training mindest and running consistently – I reached my goal. I was stubborn and did the race anyways – it was a complete sufferfest. Once I recover I’m going to have to look into training with more variety. Thanks for coming by!