Today's run was supposed to be 12 miles. My first thought on waking up was that it was rainy, and with an extra week in the schedule, I could do the long 12 mile run next week instead. The benefit to that would be that it would allow the proper taper - at least, it would allow the taper as prescribed in the training plan. It was definately not lack of desire or motivation.
On the other hand - rain is part of running. You sometimes just have to deal with it. Plus, it's not like I'm so competitive that the training plan as to be incredibly precise for me to achieve my goals.
The other factor in my mind is medical in nature, and wondering whether doing a long run at the moment is the best thing. In short, I think I have developed an inguinal hernia on my left side. Four years ago, I had developed one on my right side and had it repaired. Without going into all the details, the main point is that running did not cause my predisposition to the condition, genetics did. Running certainly doesn't help with all the jarring - but when I developed one on the other side, I wasn't running at all. So for me, chances are the blowing out the left side was only a matter of time. This Friday I have an appointment with my doctor to get an official diagnosis, and discuss options for allowing me to continue with the half marathon without making things worse in the meantime. As odd as it sounds, I hope it comes back positive, and I can get the ball rolling on surgical repair this winter. I'd rather enter next spring all fixed up and ready to go rather than have a lingering issue to worry about. Plus, I have LOTS of use-it-or-lose-it vacation time.
So, all things considered, this week will likely be a short run week. For a few days now I've found that at about the 4-5 mile mark, I start feeling the effects of said medical condition - so until I get to the doctor, long runs are on hold.
Total Distance: 4.65 miles
Total Time: 45:59
Avg HR: 147
No comments:
Post a Comment