Back in 2016 I ran too fast in my first 5K race, and tweaked something, which I felt for a week or so afterwards.
Sometime later, my lower back was hurting. Saw a doctor. He laid me down, raised my leg, and asked, “do you stretch?” Uhhh… so I started stretching more, and wow, my lower back felt better.
A week before the 2019 Broad Street 10 mile race I tweaked my ankle on the stair climber machine, of all things.
Each time, I took it easy, stayed mobile, stretched, got plenty of rest, and things worked out.
Earlier this week I knew I was too sore to run. Today is my third day in a row of not running, my longest time off since December.
My marathon is 25 days away. Stinks to not be ON TARGET with my training, but it’d stink more if I powered through and hurt myself even more.
Worst case? I don’t finish my marathon. But I learned so much from this training block; working with a coach, discovering new abilities, building mental toughness for long distance… none of this will be a waste.