big sur marathon training: week 6 workouts + coping with injury during marathon training

Injury is a reality, and a nemesis, of marathon training. I’ve done well with pre-hab and recovery this cycle, probably better than most prior, but still I’ve landed with an angry left calf. Kind of unusual since my right side is usually, in some capacity, the one to act up.

This time around I’m attempting wisdom with regards to coping: rest, keep extremely meticulous about rehab, not staging a comeback before my body gives me the okay. Optimism flits away at some points. Hiatus from sport is not joyful and often involves some degree of identity severance. I do not feel like myself when I’m not running, even if I find another activity I enjoy.

But adapt I must. As I write, I sit at day three of no running. I wrapped my calf in a heating pad and propped it on an ottoman below my desk. Garbed in pajamas after gym session number two. Eating oatmeal at 4 p.m. Not glamorous, not exactly loads of fun, but glad I got work in and, somewhere in there, hopeful tomorrow might show more signs of improvement.

How I Cope with Injury

Sometimes, the blatant truth is that I do not cope well. I cry, I’ve thrown more than one pity party, I swirl down into a drain of doom talk and apocalyptic fear. One on hand, I know such detrimental mechanisms are quite extreme and uncalled for. We athletes, though, do not view our sport as a simple bodily activity. Whether running, cycling, swimming, skiing, or surfing, sport nourishes the heart and brings forth peace, satisfaction, calm, any number of positive emotions. Forced removal worsens the matter since it was not by our individual design to quit training. The timelines, too, are often vague. Much works against the injured athlete, who craves definitive answers, but often cannot receive them.

I can say I have moments of evenness. A few choices lead up to such acceptance.

1. Crosstrain with something you LIKE.

In the case of running, some forms of crosstraining are more specific to the sport than others, and thus maintain running fitness more vigorously. Pool running is often cited as the pinnacle of running XT, but I am not a fan of it. I myself enjoy swimming most. Funnily, swimming is the least specific of my options, but I figure it works unaddressed areas in my body and benefits healing due to the lack of impact. Swimming allows me time in nature. Plus, since I’m rather bad at it, any progress I see is enormously satiating to my natural competitive drive.

2. But don’t forget your gym time

Chances are, if injured, you have a muscle imbalance you need to address. Assuming a strength workout can be done without excruciating pain, hitting the weight room or the resistance bands will rebuild these weak areas and also help in keeping fitness in check. Hips, glutes, hamstrings, and core are often the suspect regions. Even if you can’t lift heavy, don’t discount the benefits of a mean mat session – my Sunday core workout below left me sore for days!

3. Get off of Google

Guilty as charged. For the love of all things good, don’t work yourself up over what Dr. Goog says about your injury. Go see a trained professional for a true diagnosis, particularly if you suspect a bone injury or a full tear/rupture.

4. Evaluate your training log

Looking back at workouts often gives you guidance as to what may have cultivated the injury. For me, I’m pretty sure I got too eager with speedwork after my half marathon PR. I ALWAYS get excited when I hit new milestones and I think such bites me in the bum more often than not. Though I smack myself for being such a doofus, it’s enlightening to invite the knowledge of my errors in and motivates me to improve in the future. When you return from your injury, cut down on quality sessions and invite more easy runs into the regimen. If unsure how to proceed, invest in a good coach to help you with your goals.

5. Talk to someone who understands

Or cry to them. Support is so useful during periods of halted training, and someone who gets how dejected you feel, or leastwise is empathetic enough to try, can help boost your mentality when you feel really down. You know they’ll be there, too, to cheer you on during joyful periods, too.

How do you cope with injury?

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Monday, 2/3: 3.45 miles, 9:20 pace

VERY creaky post-race run at J’s family farmhouse near Tallahassee. I ran perhaps a mile total on soft grass and the others on asphalt. My calves felt quite tight and my shoes not so springy after yesterday’s effort – unsurprising, but I’m still caught off guard every time I embark on a post-race run by just how much my body has gone through! Still, a beautiful, quiet morning for an early run. 42 degrees and my breath clouded in front and around me as I exhaled. I even saw a family of deer at one point.

Tuesday, 2/4: 8.57 miles, 8:44 pace – fartlek run

This workout proved a big ole failure, not because of the effort put in, but a very annoying watch mishap. I programmed this workout in three stages based on pace targets, and in two of them forgot to change the default rest time from 3:00 down to 1:00. I stopped to fix the workout almost 4 miles in, and it mucked up again by skipping to and from different stages for some inexplicable reason! I would’ve run 16 intervals had I humored the bizarre technological behavior. By the end I was 100% through with fighting the damn thing, but wound up completing the sets respectably. I performed 10 x 2 min hard and clocked 7:50, 7:50, 7:53, 7:45, 7:42, 7:40, 7:40, 7:39, 7:20, and 7:24 for the paces. Basically what I wanted to do, just not with all the glitches.

Wednesday, 2/5: 20 min easy elliptical + 35 minute upper body & core + 10 min easy elliptical

Work was ROUGH today so the gym was a welcome reprieve from everyday worries. I’ve started toying with using the elliptical hands-free the past couple sessions and am loving it! While not something I recommend to those new to the machine, experienced elliptical users may benefit from peddling sans a grip on the hand rails: it’s a wonderful core and stability workout and mimics running even better than the traditional method of use. I kept the resistance low and enjoyed moving about without working too hard.

Weights focused on arms and back to give my legs a break from the past few days of training:

• 2 x 12 + 2 x 8 single leg rows, increasing weight in second set
• 3 x 15 good mornings with barbell
• 3 x 12 bench press
• 3 x 20 side bends, increasing weight
• 3 x 15 pistol squats
• 3 x 15 skullcrushers
• Core: 1 min plank / 1 min flutter kicks / 1 min plank / 1 min weighted Russian twists
• 5 min cooldown stretch

Thursday, 2/6: 10 miles, 9:03 pace – marathon pace miles

Crappy sleep and restlessness led me to pull myself out of bed at 4:30a to get ready to run. I initially worked later in the day but swapped with someone, and I wasn’t sure if I’d get the 10 planned miles in without doubling and modifying my workout. The early awakening, however, ensured that I did. I chugged down some caffeinated Nuun and a pair of orange Clif Bloks before lacing up and heading out. My workout called for 2 x 3 miles at marathon pace descending into half marathon, and I accomplished it neatly. The first trio clocked at 8:47, 8:45, and 8:45, before a four minute recovery jog. The second set ended at 8:37, 8:34, and 8:25. Windy and warm describe the early morning, and the trail was packed with fellow exercisers. I don’t mind the extra company in the dark hours, really. Makes me feel a bit less insane.

Friday, 2/7: 2,300 yard swim (1:00:00)

Searing wind from a passing cold front destroyed any possibility of sleep for a couple of hours overnight: for a spell we were under a tornado warning and I heard the mentioned cell pass over the island in a fury and in a hurry. Once I did knock out, it was brief and dissatisfying, and I was forced to wake at 3:20 for my shift. I headed to the city pool straight after and my workout was long but gentle and so refreshing. I warmed up for 250 yards of breaststroke/backstroke, then performed 500-400-300-200-100 freestyle with 50 breaststroke recovery in between. Finished with 4 x 50 yards pull with the buoy, and a 100 yard alternating breaststroke/backstroke cooldown.

Saturday, 2/8: 17 miles, 9:48 pace

Cruised through the first 16 miles until my calf suddenly clenched up from knee to heel. One mile from my finish line and I reduced from holding a steady pace to hobbling the final quarter mile, and clocking a 12:02, so my mom could drive over and pick me up. I could not have completed the 18th mile unless I crawled and I wasn’t exactly thrilled with that option.

I blubbered A LOT on the ride, but later evaluation convinced me the injury may not be as bad as initially feared. For one, I felt no sharp stab or pop, just an overall laxness in the muscles and tendons. No bruises or swelling, though I detected a point of tenderness right in the back of my knee that, while certainly present, is not so severe to cause me to leap out of my chair when pressed. Walking was quite difficult the remainder of the day, though, so after an errand I glued myself to the couch with an ice pack, took some ibuprofen, and stayed off it as much as possible.

I think I may have a mild muscle strain, though a severe cramp is also not out of the question. I did not drink enough water, nor did my Bloks have added sodium, and the final 4-5 miles I ran straight into the sun. Not being a doctor, self-diagnosis is rather useless, but whatever happened I’m not so sure it’s going to put me out of commission for an extended period. Day by day is the only protocol for now.

Sunday, 2/9: 55 minute light yoga/core work + 2,700 yard swim (1:05:23)

Still very difficult to walk upon waking, but I created quite an efficient core workout that involved no weight bearing yet still, I think, benefits my overall running fitness. I performed 5 minutes of active yoga stretches, and followed with this workout:

• 1 min plank
• 3 x 30 fire hydrants
• 3 x 20 bird dogs (per side)
• 1 min plank
• 3 x 20 banded bicycle kicks
• 3 x 20 banded supine hip flexions
• 1 min plank
• 3 x 40 clamshells
• 3 x 20 banded, seated one-armed rows
• 1 min plank
• 3 x 20 donkey kicks with full water bottle behind knee
• 1 min plank
• :30 boat hold

Finished with a 5 minute cooldown stretch.

Later in the morning I took myself to the rooftop pool for a long swim in the gorgeous weather. I did all but maybe 250 yards with the pull buoy to avoid aggravating my leg and had a fantastic time. I did 3 sets of 400/200/100 yards freestyle with rest as needed in between, and 50 yard slow freestyle in between where I tried kicking very gently. I swam 100 yards, then 5 sets of 50 yards with 25 fast and 25 easy, finishing with a 150 yard gentle cooldown. My arms struggled to lift me onto the pool ledge afterwards. 2,700 is the longest I’ve ever swam and, though I’m painfully unconditioned in the water speed-wise, it’s nice to see some endurance!

Total mileage: 39.02

Not what I wanted but still a respectable bank of miles. Better to experience reductions now than later in training: I still have 11 weeks until race day, which is plenty of time to hone in on my marathon gains.

Sunday my leg felt markedly better, though I still walked about with a limp and experienced difficulty pressing into a proper gait on the ball of my foot. I passed a lot of time with an ice pack and reduced my upright time as much as possible. I keep reminding myself that my fitness will NOT vanish in a few days so long as I’m intelligent about treatment and recovery. This week involves planned lower mileage, anyway, and it seems it came at a good time as I hopefully return to normal training early in the week.