Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Good pain and bad pain

Here's a recap of my running since last Thursday:

Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 0 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
Monday: 0 miles
Tuesday: 0 miles

Despite that, I'm extremely sore all the way from my hamstring to my upper arms. I'm fine with the upper body soreness because it's the result of exercise. I decided to act on my new resolution to add strength training to my routine and did a 45 minute workout on Sunday. Don't be impressed. I used two 10 lb. hand weights and barely broke a sweat.

I didn't want to overdo it, because the last time I worked with weights, I ended up straining my back. The fact that a light workout has resulted in so much soreness tells me that I need to spend much more time on upper body training. All the same, it's nice knowing that this discomfort is due to effort, not injury.

The soreness I'm feeling in my glutes and hamstring is not making me very happy. I've always coped with minor injuries by taking a few days off from running. A short rest usually had me back on the road within a week. The pain I felt during last week's Hangover Run wasn't debilitating, but it was a clear signal that I needed a lot more recovery time.

It's been five days since my last run and I think I'm going to take a sixth day off tomorrow. The pain has dulled, but a quick jog down the hall tells me more mending time is needed. I'll probably try an elliptical session on Thursday morning to gauge my progress. Depending on that result, I'll either plan for a Friday morning run or make an appointment with an orthopedist.

10 comments:

  1. You didn't post the total weekly mileage!

    Good for you with the strength training. It will definitely help your running, particularly a nice core workout. Hopefully, this week off will do the trick. Whatever you do, don't put your back out! That will just be the icing on the cake.

    Mmm, cake...

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    1. I figured that people could use a calculator if they wanted to see how my miles added up.

      Maybe not icing on the cake, but certainly icing on my back to go with the ice packs I've been putting on my gluteus maximus...

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  2. 25 push ups for every beer I drink. That's all the strength training I need.

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    Replies
    1. If I could do 25 push ups I wouldn't need strength training.

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    2. Great upper body and core exercise. Do a few sets of 5-10 during commercial breaks while watching TV, and you'll be up to 25 in no time. Just like running. You gotta start somewhere.

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    3. I'm flattered that you think I could do 10 push ups. Or 5.

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    4. You sound like me responding to a couple of friends of mine who are always telling me to do pull ups. "How many sets of zero should I do?"

      Do a few sets of whatever you can do, a few times a week. You'll improve quickly, Body weight exercises are all you really need to do. I do push ups and crunches on the living room floor a couple of nights a week while watching TV, and push ups when I indulge in alcohol as punishment/reward. My wife thinks I'm crazy, cranking out 100s of push ups while drinking beers and watching football games on sunday afternoons. Once you master the push up, then its time for pull ups and dips.

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    5. I'm sure you "crank"ed out a fair share of push ups back in your martial arts days. I certainly did. I couldn't do one, then I could do 50 after a few months. Now I'm back at one. It's like meth, if you don't use it, you lose it. I meant a foreign language, not meth.

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    6. We all know what you meant. Thank god the Breaking Bad marathon is over.

      Yes, I used to be pretty good with both pull-ups and pushups in my Uechi-ryu days. Remind me to tell you about Kotekitai training some time.

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