Back to Running

    Ah, back to running. It is time, maybe even past time for me to get back to running. It is my Achilles' Heel, and definitely not my favorite way to work up a sweat. But run I must. This year I am taking a slower approach. I know I can run further, but I started with a slow and easy 1-1/2 mile sandwiched between cycling. Last year, I strained my piriformis muscle in early February and it gave me problems well into summer. This year, I am starting slow and easy, and not increasing my mileage by more than maybe a quarter mile every week or so to begin with. Last year I suffered ridiculous leg cramps in my second trail half-marathon in August, and then again during the run of my 70.3. I think many factors were involved, including how much more difficult a trail run is than a nice, level pavement pounding road run. And I think that the leg cramps during the trail run tweaked muscles in ways that certainly did me no good six weeks later when my half marathon came on the heels of a 58 mile bike ride. So, slow and steady. Well, steady-ish. I do have a six mile trail run on the calender in late February, but I am going to be sensible. Well, sensible-ish. I will run what I can, and power walk if need be. I have to get running events on the calender, I have to have the motivation of fun races to help get my base built up. I know that soon I should be doing one long run nearly every week, and the best way for me to do that, no wimping out, no excuses, is to enter a race. If I pay good money for something I will damned well do it. Besides, it is much easier to keep running with that whiff of competition, not to mention the fact that there are people watching.
    My biggest concern with running, and racking up mileage, is the potential for repetitive use injuries. My knees are delicate, and I also have a bit of trouble with hips and ankles. Yeah, I'm kind of a wreck from the waist down. This is why I am going to keep focusing on sport specific strength training, as well as CrossFit style, explosive workouts for endurance athletes. It has been shown that you can substitute intense, explosive weight training for a lot of miles, lowering the chance of injury. This year, I think I will limit my trail runs to 6 or 7 miles, because they are more intense, and fit in a few run-of-the-mill, paved half marathons. The first half I plan on doing will be mid-April, a run on paved trail from Vernonia to Banks. Yes, I know that is a few more miles than if I were only increasing my mileage by .25 a week, I did say, "steady-ish."
    So, anyhoo, back to running for me. One thing I love about adding running into the mix is that I don't plan on cutting back on the swimming or cycling, so I'm going to get to eat, a lot.