A pain in the butt

One of the most frustrating things I've experienced is my body failing to do what I ask of it. At age 25, I expect my body to be fit, healthy, and responsive to my demands. I'm under no illusions that this will always be the case, but for now, I've trained this body to be a well-oiled machine that clicks off lap splits on request. Brain says run, body goes.

Sadly, this body hasn't quite been up to the task in the past few weeks. I asked too much of it, and it screamed its outrage loud and clear on the last rep of a recent workout. A little tweak that I wrote off as nothing is actually something - a strain in my piriformis/glute muscle. Quite literally, a pain in the butt.

I ran through this minor tweak over the past week and a half, being diligent about foam rolling, stretching, and icing as I tried to mitigate the pain. However, in my tuneup workout last week, this pain in the butt roared its head again. I woke up on Friday barely able to stumble through 2 miles.

I made an emergency visit to Agile Physical Therapy (a New Balance Silicon Valley community partner), pleading with the PT to work her magic and fix me so I could run pain-free. Ultrasound and massage definitely helped, but as I did strides last night in preparation to race the 10k at Payton Jordan, the pain resurfaced.

Fast-forward 3 miles into the race and I stepped off the track. Every step around the oval was painful - a shooting pain through my butt with every stride. My body was saying no. After 12 laps, I veered out of lane 1 and slipped off my spikes. Body, you win.

Sometimes the smartest decision is the toughest one. No one likes to DNF (Do Not Finish) - not gonna lie, it's a really crappy feeling. Like what I imagine it'd feel like to go through a breakup while having the stomach flu and getting run over by a truck, all at the same time. Did I eat some "I'm feeling sorry for myself" cookies last night? You betcha.

Thanks Aunt Sue for the snickerdoodles!

But after a night of sleep, I know the decision to step off the track was the right one. Pushing through an injury is a no-no. Now, it's time to get treatment and get healthy, because there's still a lot of running to be done in this track season! Thanks to all for your words of support and encouragement before, during, and after the race last night - it is much appreciated!

As I sign off, I've got an apology to make:

Body, I'm sorry I pushed you so hard and asked so much of you. You have my attention, I'm listening now. I'm slowing down, getting treatment, and fixing you up. Rehab, here we go!

Run joyfully, and run smart!

You don't always hit the bullseye with the first arrow

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

I'll be trying again this Sunday at the Payton Jordan meet at Stanford, running my 2nd 10k of the month. Earlier in April I ran a 33:16, eclipsing the Olympic Trials B Standard by 44 seconds and running a huge PR. While in years past, this time would have been fast enough to get me to the Olympic Trials (or US Championships in a non-Olympic year), in 2012 I'm not sure it'll be enough. Ladies have upped their game and it will likely take a sub-33 minute 10k to earn a spot on the line in Eugene in 2 months. So, I'm giving it another go this weekend.

While watching my latest addiction, Downton Abbey, I heard this one-liner: "You don't always hit the bullseye with the first arrow." True story! Realistically, I wasn't going to run the A Standard of 32:45 on my first attempt - that would have meant running a PR by over a minute! For my first 10k of the season, I simply needed a strong race that would build my confidence. Now, with 33:16 under my belt, I've realigned my goals and expectations and am going after that A Standard bullseye.

There's a strong field assembled for Sunday's race - many women will be chasing the A Standard right along with me. I was excited to look at the entries and see the names of so many friends and teammates - we'll work together through those 25 laps.

Not gonna lie, 32:45 scares me a little bit, especially because in the last 3 weeks I've had a LOT going on at work: planning and coordinating a big fundraiser for 150 people at a Victorian mansion! But I'm trying not to stress about chasing the A Standard and instead focus on being a competitive racer.

At SNBC's Sunset Soiree fundraiser last week

With many long work hours and late nights, recent training hasn't gone as well as I'd hoped - I've been pretty wiped. But, that's the nature of being a working runner. Those of us without individual contracts support our running dreams with side jobs, fitting in our training between work hours. It's the reality of many of us who will be racing on Sunday, so I'm not going to let the stress from recent weeks discourage me from chasing my goals.

On race day, work will be far from my mind and I'll be focused on that bullseye. Here we go! Tune into Flotrack on Sunday for race coverage!