Just Ice It...You'll Be Fine
R.I.C.E....Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. The principles of acute injury healing that have been drilled into your head since before you can even remember. I live and die by the cold pack. I love my compression garments. Elevation? Sure, why not?
The Rest part is what always gets me though. I'm not a "real" runner if I'm not actually running, right? It doesn't matter if I'm training for a half marathon and consistently running week in and week out. If I don't hit my training run today, I'm a failure. At least in my head.
Thursday was probably the worst day for my back, I spent most of it in the car. I drove about an hour each way to return something to a store because I didn't way to pay to ship it back. I know, I know. I probably spent more in gas money, but it got me off the Cape for a little bit. It also made my back tighten up even more. I was supposed to go to a Yoga for Runners workshop, but had to skip it.
And then I woke up today and couldn't even bend forward to touch my toes. Crap. I should have gone to that yoga class, I thought. I am in the lucky position of being a physical therapist and working with a bunch of people that will gladly give you a little trigger point massage whenever needed. So at lunch I got worked on a little bit, but still didn't feel quite right.
My coworker offered to Kinesio Tape me, but I didn't know if I wanted to go that far yet.
So I was faced with a decision when work ended. Do I suck it up and do my 5 miler on the schedule for today? Or do I listen to my body, take an extra rest day, and gear up for my second 13 miler tomorrow?
I didn't want to rest. I still don't love my decision to rest. I want to be out there running. I feel like I let myself down. But I also know that if I ran today, I might have tweaked my back even more and been out of commission for the ever important long run this weekend and possibly even longer. It's not an easy decision to make or accept, but I did it.
So like a good girl, I spent the afternoon when I would have been running stretching and foam rolling. And I'll probably ice a little. And maybe even through some Kinesio Tape on there for good measure.
I have to look ahead and keep pushing toward my goals. 13 miles is on the schedule tomorrow. I'm going to give it everything I have, but I'm also going to be smart and listen to my body. If I need to stop and stretch, I'll do it. ALWAYS listen to your body. It's the only one you have!
The Rest part is what always gets me though. I'm not a "real" runner if I'm not actually running, right? It doesn't matter if I'm training for a half marathon and consistently running week in and week out. If I don't hit my training run today, I'm a failure. At least in my head.
Runners are tough. That's one thing I've learned on this journey. I've heard a lot of battle stories. I personally know 2 people that have run Boston with stress fractures (not advised, although it is Boston...)
So when I started to get some back pain on my run on Wednesday I thought, "Eh, I'll continue on. It'll go away." I finished my run and stretched out, but things still didn't feel right.
Thursday was probably the worst day for my back, I spent most of it in the car. I drove about an hour each way to return something to a store because I didn't way to pay to ship it back. I know, I know. I probably spent more in gas money, but it got me off the Cape for a little bit. It also made my back tighten up even more. I was supposed to go to a Yoga for Runners workshop, but had to skip it.
And then I woke up today and couldn't even bend forward to touch my toes. Crap. I should have gone to that yoga class, I thought. I am in the lucky position of being a physical therapist and working with a bunch of people that will gladly give you a little trigger point massage whenever needed. So at lunch I got worked on a little bit, but still didn't feel quite right.
My coworker offered to Kinesio Tape me, but I didn't know if I wanted to go that far yet.
So I was faced with a decision when work ended. Do I suck it up and do my 5 miler on the schedule for today? Or do I listen to my body, take an extra rest day, and gear up for my second 13 miler tomorrow?
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| I didn't really want that to be me |
So like a good girl, I spent the afternoon when I would have been running stretching and foam rolling. And I'll probably ice a little. And maybe even through some Kinesio Tape on there for good measure.
I have to look ahead and keep pushing toward my goals. 13 miles is on the schedule tomorrow. I'm going to give it everything I have, but I'm also going to be smart and listen to my body. If I need to stop and stretch, I'll do it. ALWAYS listen to your body. It's the only one you have!
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| #FlatSara ready for 13 tomorrow |
Do you have a hard time resting and listening to your body?
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