Circle of running life

Week 08-05-13 to 08-11-13

Day		Distance	Time	Speed	Route
Mon (Aug 05 13)	Rest
Tue (Aug 06 13)	Rest
Wed (Aug 07 13)		11.6 kilometers	1:04:19 min	5:34 min/kilometer
	Easy
Thu (Aug 08 13)		24.8 kilometers	2:07:11 min	5:08 min/kilometer
	Medium-long Run
Fri (Aug 09 13)
	Water Running, Notes: Water Running: 6x2:30 hard 30 sec east recovery Leisure swim 500 m pre and 400 m post.
Saturday (Aug 10 13)	Rest
Sun (Aug 11 13)	Rest

• 	Run Distance:	36.36 kilometers
  	Run Time:	3:11:30 min
  	Total Time:	3:11:30 min

There's a song from The Lion King that I learnt when I was in primary school - The Circle of Life. The meaning of the phrase is big. However, looking at my running life for just a few years, I can notice a few things come in circle (or cycle) too. This include injury.

After taken 3 days off from the road, I return for an easy 11 km on Wednesday. The site on the upper inner ankle was slightly painful when compressed after the run. On Thursday, I proceeded with 24 km medium long run. The first plan was to avoid Padang Polo, the field that cause my current pain on the foot. However, I don't feel right to run all 24 km at slightly hilly Botanical Garden and Jesselton, thinking of it make me feel bored and unexcited. Therefore, I went to the Padang for the second half of the run. Telling myself to run slowly and carefully will avoid the injury. However, at the last 3 km at the field another runner paced with me, I tried to keep up the pace and that's when I feel that little pain coming back.

All this while, the Padang has become my 'treat' in daily training. Putting Padang on my training route fully lessen the burden of the training day. It's one of the spot that I can "run with ease". It's my place for tempo, interval and recovery too. Once stepping on the field I feel refresh and relax.

I tried to analyse what were the changes that cause the injury. Nothing has changed except: 1) It's the longest distance I ever ran on that field continuously - 23 loops 2) The surface as become slightly uneven than before 3) I've been trying to change running stride for the past few weeks

Taking lesson from last year injury, I rest at the first sight of pain before it become worse.

And I decided to rest. And being reluctant to be fully rest, the next morning I put on my swimming trunk and took the kick board to do water running in the pool. And on the next day after water running, I feel exactly the pain pattern of ITB on right leg that I had last year. And the sequence is exactly the same.

Injury - rest (stop running) - cross train to maintain fitness (water running) - ITB type pain

Now I reckon, my second injury last year was due to the water running.

This could be the problem with my kicking in the water. When running on the road, my imagination is that my feet touch the ground and lift it. In the water, I occupied knee very much to kick downward and backward into the water, and pull the leg up again And of course the right leg use all the energy it can. Whatever it is, I'll stop water running too.

And that is where I am, with next training cycle to be started next week.
The plan for now is, to rest both legs, and will probably delay the training cycle for one week, and start it with 80% of mileage.

Not being able to train, is as difficult as to keep up with training. Besides the worry of losing fitness, it's my worry also for losing the habit and passion. The mind needs to be adjusted at this moment. Give and take. I read recently somewhere someone quoted Oprah Winfrey, "Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it." It is not applicable in my current situation, but it is the same as how to face the things in life. Sometimes in life, you may not get out of what you put into. And you have to learn to accept it, keep a balance, and be grateful for it.

An image from The Lion King