While preparing for this race I had an unexpected injury.
On Sept 6th I was participating in an Olympic distance race where I made a wrong turn and wound up dropping out of the race. I was pretty upset but oh well.
Since I didn't run I decided to run later in the evening, I needed a long easy run and this was a good opportunity to do it. The run was supposed to be 10 miles, nothing extraordinary, but didn't go as planned.
The run started off easy like normal but about 3 miles in my left hamstring started twitching. I've had aches and pains before so I decided to run through it. About 4 miles in I slowed way down and was getting a bit concerned, Karen drove by to check on me but the pain was going away so i waved her on.
It got better for the next mile or so, Karen drove by again and I waved her by like before. Right after that it started to hurt really bad, I was about 7 miles in and started taking walk breaks, then I wished I would have gotten in the car with Karen. I ran/walked for another 3/4 mile and saw Karen waiting for me near my 8 mile mark, I hobbled to the car thankful I didn't have to walk another 2 miles and drove to our destination.
It's unusual for me to get an injury, normally when I take time off it's because I've tired. I'm so close to a big race I needed to make sure it healed up completely rather than have it at 75% and still be fast. I've got 2 more races after this one so my season is no where near over.
I took the day after (Monday 9/7) off from running,
Tuesday I rode my bike, tried running but quickly bagged it.
Wednesday I rode easy then tried to run again, I got around a mile and bagged it.
Thursday I ran a mile after riding and then bagged it, it felt better though.
Friday I ran 4 miles at lunch, the hamstring still twitched a bit but it was better,
Saturday I rode 80 miles and ran 3 miles, it was OK.
Sunday I ran 7 miles at Island Lake, it was twitching around 6 miles so I just ran back to the car and waited for Karen to finish swimming. I ran 2 miles later that evening, it was OK.
Monday I took off from running and just swam, I felt great in the pool and got 4000 yards in.
Tuesday I ran 4 miles at lunch, I stretched my hamstrings very thoroughly and felt much better. Later that day I rode, 3X10' very strong and felt great, I wanted to run afterwards but didn't just because I was concerned about healing up.
Wednesday I wanted to run long, my goal was 10 miles and hoped to run 12 if I was feeling well but would have been happy with 8 miles. I wound up running 13.1 miles and felt pretty good. I felt a few twinges but I really think they were from my lack of running and not from the injury. All the miles were easy so I wouldn't stress anything.
Thursday (yesterday) I rode 3X20' HIM pace on the bike then ran 5K afterwards, I felt good but noticed my lack of fast run practice. The leg/hamstring felt good and stretching seems to help a lot.
Now Friday, 8 days out from LCN I feel healthy but and concerned about run speed. I need to have a very good run to make Team USA, I figure I need to go under 1:40 combined with a strong swim and bike. Today I'll swim only to make sure my leg is healing up.
Plans for the near future:
Saturday: Swim open water, bike ~45 miles and run easy
Sunday: Run 10 miles max with last half at HIM pace ~7:45
Monday: Swim, Run easy
Tuesday: Bike moderate maybe run
Wednesday: Run easy, start driving
Thursday: Finish driving, maybe bike
Friday: Easy bike, run a mile or two
Saturday: Race, start driving home
Sunday: Finish driving home
