Another running blog
When two runners chat, it starts somewhere along the lines of, this is what’s hurting me, what’s hurting you?
That’s the reality for runners, masochists to the end, right? You have to be something of a masochist to get yourself to run more than a few yards to the mailbox, much less 5K, 10K, 13.1 miles, 26.2 miles, further.
The hard part is knowing when to take a break to heal, or to put that more accurately, to admit that you know that you need to take a break to heal.
That’s where I am right now. I’ve been dealing with runner’s knee in my left knee off and on for four months, and I’m pretty sure that the new case of plantar fasciitis in my right heel is the result of compensating for the runner’s knee in the left knee.
I’ve been trying to tweak my training schedule – going with shorter, more frequent runs for a few weeks, then of late cutting back to three runs, one long, one medium and one short, with more time off in between – but the pains are still there.
Last night, I made the call to shut it down for at least the next week, to get things healthy.
I’ll maintain my cardio fitness as best I can on the elliptical in the meantime.
The hard thing is waking up this morning, it’s 59 degrees as I’m writing this, roughly 15 degrees cooler than I’ve had for a running temperature in recent weeks, and not getting out for my morning run.
I’m telling myself that there will be more days like this as we get into fall, and I’ll be wanting to run then without feeling like I’m getting stabbed with meat cleavers in my knee and heel.
Yeah, ouch.
Column by Chris Graham
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