Setbacks

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I think I hit a little harder then I had anticipated when I crashed last week. Beyond the normal aches and bruises, my right shoulder still aches and I've been really dragging and unusually cranky. I've had an AC sprain on that shoulder before, so I know that will just take time to heal up. It's the general fatigue and the abnormally tight hamstring that's starting to frustrate me. Like a bad athlete, I only took a few days off because my hamstring was hurting. I should have realized that my crash was harder then I wanted to admit and just chilled out. It's impossible to say if my hamstring wouldn't have flared up if I'd taken a few days off. But it wouldn't have hurt. 

So now I'm dealing with a minor (major?) setback to not just my running but my riding as well. I was just starting back up with my track workouts and building up my speed. And now... Last Saturday my "run" was more of a frustrating shuffle where no matter how hard I tried to run normal or fast. Every time I tried to pick up the pace, the hamstring grabbed and started hurting. No speed and no enjoyment of the run. Ugh. Again, it's the bad athlete in me who is afraid of losing my hard-won fitness. But at what cost? The mental frustration of a painful shuffle and the hindered recovery from my crash? I should be smarter. I know better - that in order to be at my best when it counts I have to manage the little setbacks that happen. That means chilling out, riding comfortably instead of cranking out intervals. It means backing off the mileage and being oaky with an easy run instead of a track workout. Now is not the time to be pushing it. I have nine months to build and prepare. 

Comments

  1. RolandNovember 3, 2015 at 7:13 AM

    I can relate completely to your frustrations on recovery, been struggling with this since my crash. Lost 10 lbs since the crash, but thats ok,just have a tough time dealing with the all the inactivity, the down time and constant pain.....
    but I think its getting better???

    ReplyDelete

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