some folks just don’t listen

Just about every running plan that is worth anything includes something along the lines of “listen to your body.” This is because while running plans look good on paper, if your body isn’t responding the right way, you might need to make adjustments.

Ahem.

May I present Exhibit A, the Fat Old Guy that somehow managed to Overdo It? Ah, here he is. Limping around.

Actually, I’m past the limping around stage, that hit right after Thanksgiving. Now I’m well into the recovery stage. And I even wrote in my “fat guy” log about how great I was doing. That was a few days before it hit me – literally – how much my legs were hurting me.

My wife explained to me (patiently, as usual) that as we get older we lose flexibility, and blood flow, and lots of other things. In a nutshell I pushed too hard too soon, and my body responded by giving a big “ouch” in the Shin Department. (ever wonder why soccer players wear shinguards? And why they lay writhing in agony when they get hit just right in the lower legs? I don’t wonder any more).

The number one cure for shin problems is rest, and the number one prevention strategy is not to push too hard when training, both lessons I have now learned. I took some multiple days off (which I hadn’t done in months). Then one week I ran about five miles, then did about ten the next, this week will be twelve (I’ve run eight already spread over three days, and should run 4 or so Saturday). This is after I had built up (a little too quickly) to around eighteen miles a week. I’m hoping to stay at the twelve to fifteen stage for a while. Maybe a long while. And see how my body handles it.

I was looking at my running plan (on my spreadsheet. I’m an accountant, I can’t help it. Shut up.) and see that by New Years I was supposed to be up to 25 miles a week, and by February in the mid-thirties. That ain’t gonna happen. And that was WITH rest weeks every three weeks or so. I see now I’m gonna have to add mileage a lot slower, since my body gets to a certain point and says “Yo, I need a break.”

Anyway, I’m writing all this down, not so much to serve as a warning to others, but so I have something to read the next time I give myself an overuse injury and can’t run for a few days. And to give y’all something to laugh about just before Christmas.

9 thoughts on “some folks just don’t listen”

  1. But look how far you’ve come – and in such a short period of time! Whatever your body is saying, you should listen, of course, but I think you are doing GREAT!

  4. I’m not laughing. At least not laughing AT you. I’ve got no place to laugh, considering I can’t even make it to the end of the block without giving myself two black eyes and going into respiratory arrest…

  7. shoes. new shoes! We gravitationally-challenged runners (aka Clydesdales/Athenas, etc.) are harder on our shoes than the average bear. You need to change shoes out every 300 miles or so. Count up your mileage and see. perfect excuse for new gear. heh.

    Also, be sure you have a cutback week built in about every 3-4 weeks, so that you give yourself a breathing and recovery room while still moving toward a higher total weekly mileage. so your buildup looks like this:

    week 1 – 10 total miles
    week 2 – 11 total miles
    week 3 – 12 total miles
    week 4 – 14 total miles
    week 5 – 11 total miles
    week 6 – 13 total miles
    week 7 – 14 total miles
    week 8 – 15 total miles
    week 9 – 12 total miles….

    and so on.

    And, in the true spirit of do as I say, not as I do: Stretch. For goodness’ sakes, stretch AFTER runs.

    Hope it’s better soon. But take it slowly. You’ve made amazing progress and I’d hate to see you lose too much ground by doing too much

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