I’ve known for a little while that I was going to have to take a break but I was hoping it would be after my upcoming halfs. See, this race season, I got a little antsy and signed up for multiple halfs with eagerness. My ultimate “goal” of qualifying for Boston has been on the backburner because I knew I haven’t mentally been ready to train for another full yet. But hurting myself training for halfs hasn’t been the answer either.
I’ve had my “goals,” in several places. I’ve been starting up my blogging and social media, I’ve been working on my coaching certification and been trying to hit or surpass my half PR. All great “goals,” but not my ultimate goal. And when I think about why, I know it’s because I am honestly not ready to commit to qualifying right now.
For nearly 3 years, I’ve been dealing with hamstring tendinopathy. Here’s what it feels like (from www.runnersconnect.net):
First diagnosed as piriformis syndrome and often thought as a glute issue. I have attempted to strengthen my glutes, but I am awful at weight training and I don’t even fire my glute muscles properly. I have actually recently researched that much of the “why” behind why I may suffer from this is due to overstriding and slow cadence (foot falls per minute). I’m not suggesting my injury is why I am not BQing, but I continue to run injured whether running a 5K or a full and I keep thinking of the definition of insanity: doing the same thing and expecting different results. That’s me! I can’t continue to run in pain and train the same and expect to hit my ultimate “goal.”
So when I went to the orthopedic doctor Thursday, he injected me with 3ml of cortisone in each hamstring near the ischial tuberosity and said to take 2-4 weeks off (I had already taken 4 days off so planned to finish out that week and take an additional 2 off). I will attempt to run on January 1st for the first time in 3 weeks and see how it goes. It will be the longest break I’ve had in I don’t know how long. I’m crosstraining in the mean time and learning a lot about patience. I appreciate you all following my roller coaster of a ride through training!
XOXO,
Jess
Hi Jessica, sorry to hear about your frustrations with your hamstrings, but it is good that you are being smart and listening to your body. Thank you for mentioning that our article on HHT has been helpful and comforting to you, hopefully the discussion on there is helping you see that you are not alone! In the meantime, while you recover, check out our podcast episode on cross training and how you can stay in good shape if you do it right, this should help you stay positive 🙂 http://runnersconnect.net/crosstrain Hope this helps! Best of luck with your recovery!