Category Archives: rest day

Rest days, rolled ankles and a quick return to running

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As is often the case it has been awhile since I wrote here. It has been an interesting month or so of running or not running as the case might be.

At the start of the month I found myself taking several rest days in a row. Between laziness, weather and music I ended up not running for 12 days straight. I was surprised to discover it had been so long, I had figured it was 5-6 days at most a week. But the diary reveals all. So after a few false starts, I managed to go beyond just thinking about running and actually doing it. My first day back was a little rough but not that bad. I was slow and feeling sluggish, but I managed to push myself through it at a reasonable pace. The following day I got back on the horse and found myself running a pace close to 10 min miles, actually just over. I had initially intended to try to do four days in a row to get back into running form, but I ended up taking a day off before running back to back a second time. The second pair of runs was a lot better in terms of pace, well I should say the first one was, cause right at the start of the second run I…

Rolled my ankle.

It was pretty dumb actually. There were two cars coming towards me in the street. I was running on the asphalt to make life easier on my knees and staying close to the edge of the road to allow the cars to easily get by me. All of a sudden the front car stopped in the middle of the road. I kept an eye on them to see if they were upset I was running in their street or if they were just being a crappy driver, neither option was all that great. So distracted I managed to step right into a pothole and down I went. As soon as I face planted both cars sped away, it was weird. Not even a rolled down window to ask if I was ok or even to laugh at me. I tried to walk it off and decided I had better end my run (I hadn’t even gone a mile) so I turned around and headed home. About a block later the pain subsided and I foolishly decided I could finish my run. And I did without any problems or pain though I was a little gimpy. Pretty quickly after I stopped running my ankle swelled up nice and big. I strapped on an ankle brace and headed to band practice. I got around fine but by the time I came home and got the brace off my ankle was pretty angry, swollen and hot. The brace was a far infra-red brace that might have been partly responsible for the heat as that is what they are supposed to do (somehow, I don’t actually get it…) The next night I played a Go-Go show and though I didn’t dance, I was up and about on it until 4 in the morning, again swollen! For the next couple of days I took it easy and even though I really wanted to run I didn’t. But today, I couldn’t hold back any longer and I did…

A quick return to running.

This morning my ankle seemed quite a bit less swollen. The weird thing over the last couple of days is I had very little pain in my ankle. The swelling was occurring on the outside of my left ankle. IIRC my usual ankle problem area has been on the inside of my right ankle, which is my shorter leg (I’d always partly blamed the shortness on my past ankle sprains.) But this was on the outside of the ankle and didn’t really hurt to boot. I had found myself running after the dog in the front yard without even realizing it on several occasions. So I figured I could try a short run today to get back into things (once again). Well the short run started out really well, no pain or discomfort at all, so I extended it into a base run of 6.2 miles and it felt great. I didn’t push the pace so no major success on that end, but just running again so quickly and pain free after the roll was a success all on its own. And now after as I type I feel no extra pain or swelling.

Sluggish break

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I sit here writing this having just eaten an entire sugary cinnamon role and feeling sort of gross. I am now working on a fourth day of not running. What happened? I think this is actually a typical pattern that often happens when life gets in the way. Could be weather, injury, family, anything that keeps us from running. I think my only excuse has been general laziness for some reason. Doesn’t really matter why you haven’t run, what matters is turning it around and getting out there again. As easy as that might be, it is actually a pretty tough mental hurdle to get over.

I am not sure what the cause of the mental hurdle is, but it is real and it is there. When things are going well we are inspired to get out there and do another run. Building on our past successes seems like such a natural thing. Excuses come really easy. Like right now I am thinking I feel sort of sick after all that sugar and can’t possibly run. Of course I can, I just have to get moving,

Maybe the block I feel after taking time off is similar to the motivation I feel after running well for several days in a row. An inner quest to regulate or do the same thing I did yesterday. My body gets used to not making the effort and just sits there waiting for what? Me to get off my butt and go I guess. So that is my goal today, get out there and run

Rest day

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Today I am taking a rest day. After the four in a row I took a day off and then ran yesterday. I am seeing some good improvements already which I think is pretty par for the course. The improvement from steady running comes really quickly, it isn’t until you reach a solid fitness level that things seem to slow down. I guess this shows the reality of the benefits to cross training. If you can show multiple quick gains in different areas of physical activity then you can keep on the path of improvements. Even though a gain in say cycling performance might not totally relate to running, the improvement is not only a general mental gain but also adds to the overall physical fitness. That being said I am pretty one-dimensional at the moment when it comes to physical activity. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the recent improvement in my running and fitness level and wait out the plateau. Actually, what I will do is go from what has been essentially junk runs to a more focused training routine aimed at HR training (as usual!). Then I probably will see another spike in fitness and running mentality. For now I am just going to focus on miles and repetition of runs. Less rest days and more running days. I am still riding that plateau. No reason to get another…yet.

Yesterday at the track, today rest

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Yesterday before procrastination set in . I wanted to wait for the sun to burn off clouds before I left but I I layered up and headed out into the cold fog On the way after a mile and a half the sun broke through. It quickly got warm and I tied my jacket around my waist. As I neared the track I saw a couple of runners doing their rounds, I filed in behind them. One of them was going really fast, though I did get to pass him on a straight. He returned the favor several times passing me effortlessly.

My workout felt good. I did 2 miles of straights & curves which worked out to 16 HR intervals for the sprints on the straights. I did them all strong up to the last lap (though I was fading at the end). My HR was pretty high for the intervals but I was able to get it down to 144ish on the way back. I ran the canyon hoping for no mud. There wasn’t much on the trails, pretty dry for the most part.

Oh, I almost forgot. I wore my other new pair of shoes for the run (Asics gel kayano 16), again breaking the golden rule of doing a short break-in run first. They were also 2E, which I have never done before. I always thought I might want to try a wide shoe thinking my feet might like the extra room (especially on the side I wear my lift). They were actually reasonably snug and I think I like the wider shoe so far.

I had lots of work today and it just made sense. Made it a rest day. My mileage is pretty high for the week already – 18 mi. I’ll do at least 14 more before Sunday is done.

Mentioning a break = run 10.5 miles

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In my previous post I talked about taking a break and how much I needed it. I exposed on the glories of rest and how valuable it is to do it. My body was feeling somewhat fatigued and worn out and I seriously began to consider that I have been over-training. Ahh yes, how proud I was to be taking five days off from running. How proud I was to listen to my body and cut back on the running.

Umm, no.


All it took was one text from my running partner asking me if I wanted to go for a long run. I could barely text her “sure” before I had my running shorts on and was struggling to find clean socks. Oh well, good ideas are made to be not followed. Actually the run tonight was a great LSD run for me. My HR averaged 141 on the 10.5 miles and we took it really slow coming in at just over 2 hours.

While I may not have given myself the full 5 days of rest, I did get in three so had its benefits. I could tell a difference when we hit 10 miles. I usually start to lose my form there a bit and get sloppy. Today I felt none of that and was strong throughout. All in all a very successful run for the both of us. Now its time to eat and get some fluids in me.

Not sure if I will run tomorrow or not, probably not but I might try to get a short run in just for kicks.

Busy week just in time for a needed break

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Its been three days since I have run. Part of me is dieing to get out and hit the streets, but another part of me is relishing the rest. I have been feeling particularly fatigues lately which I attribute more to over-training rather than the dreaded (and often spoken of) ms fatigue. But I suppose it could easily be a part of things. Still I think the hard training is making itself known and it is angry! Well not that angry, but certainly it is speaking out loudly enough so that I am listening. The great thing is I have had a very busy set of days and it promises to stay busy for at least a few more. So I am skeptical that I will run soon. Though I could get up early and get a run in tomorrow, maybe a short one as I have band rehearsal later that evening and don’t want to be too tired (running before rehearsal/concerts is a bad idea for me, I get too tired to concentrate on the notes!)

I am reading Matt Fitzgerald’s new book called The Runner’s Edge. It focuses on a scientific approach to training using heart rate and pace analysis. I am curious to see what I can pull from it. It looks like it will contain some good advice about refining what I have been doing lately with HR training. I am hoping that the specifics are worth the time. So far the reading has been very breezy as he talks about the watches and monitors. I feel like I am flying through it. The upcoming sections are supposed to talk about specific zones of training for specific performance increases. I’ll let you know.

Day of rest

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Despite not adding anything to the blog, I have been running. Seven days in a row in fact. Today I woke up after sleeping 10 hours and felt exhausted. Not sure why exactly, but I am sure the running didn’t help. So today I take what I think is a much needed rest day, from running anyway. An impending garage sale will keep me busy enough. I am scheduled for a quality run today but it is not going to happen. We have a heat wave coming as well, so I doubt I will get one in tomorrow as well. I guess that is ok. Actually I know it is. Rest is good.

Rest day

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No run for me today, I’ll be surprised if I get up for one tomorrow as well. Rest days are really important and I don’t mind taking several! Gives the body and mind a chance to normalize and heal. I can’t even imagine the damage that running must cause the body, obviously plenty of good things too, but running has its far share of the bad.

This week at some point I hyper-extended my left knee somehow. Not bad, but I can feel it if I lock my knees and pull my feet back. It didn’t bother my running at all, in fact I never even thought about it much less felt it. Still a rest day or two will be good for this minor injury.

The green drinks keep flowing. I just made one with a zucchini from the garden, the first of the year. I hope it is good as you always have way more of them than you know what to do with. My last batch was hands down the best I have made. I think because I added more yogurt than I have been to use up the container. I also whipped the hell out of it. It was so light and airy. Yum.

Rest day

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No run for me today, I’ll be surprised if I get up for one tomorrow as well. Rest days are really important and I don’t mind taking several! Gives the body and mind a chance to normalize and heal. I can’t even imagine the damage that running must cause the body, obviously plenty of good things too, but running has its far share of the bad.

This week at some point I hyper-extended my left knee somehow. Not bad, but I can feel it if I lock my knees and pull my feet back. It didn’t bother my running at all, in fact I never even thought about it much less felt it. Still a rest day or two will be good for this minor injury.

The green drinks keep flowing. I just made one with a zucchini from the garden, the first of the year. I hope it is good as you always have way more of them than you know what to do with. My last batch was hands down the best I have made. I think because I added more yogurt than I have been to use up the container. I also whipped the hell out of it. It was so light and airy. Yum.