A Passion for Running

Welcome to the home of Mark aka The Running Blogfather – a 40 year-old dad, husband and marathon runner who’s beaten injury and is on the comeback trail!

struggling to get back on the horse

passion for running category: running on Wednesday, April 11 2007

I got the “all clear” from Dr. Gregg last Wednesday (April 4) and got back to running the next day. Thankfully, the foot did not give me any grief. However, life has not been without its problems since then…

A couple of days before I started back to running, I was doing some work around the house when a cramp of epic proportions hit my left hamstring. I spent five minutes writhing around in pain trying to straighten my leg out. Icing and gentle stretching only seemed to help marginally.

Fast forward to my return to running and I was still bothered by major hamstring tightness. Day two of running resulted in “hammy” almost cramping up. To make matters worse, the tightness in my hamstring lead to more tightness in my left calf muscle. Friday’s and Saturday’s runs were not fun. Not fun at all.

My daughter and I became ill on Easter Sunday. No running.

Monday (my long run day) I was still ill and did not run (two long runs missed in a row). The worst symptom was terrible dizziness. The good news was I was able to stretch and ice my hamstring a lot those couple of days and returned (again!) to running yesterday feeling pretty fantastic.

I think my worst problem at this moment is mental. My confidence is …not good after missing two long runs and I have started to doubt whether I’ll be ready for a May 20th marathon.

That said, I’ve resolved to ease into hill training today and see if I can force a change in my perspective.




8 Comments

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Comment by Andrew Seeley

Wednesday April 11, 2007 @

Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder where you went.

Struggles after many weeks of successful training are common.

Drop me a line.

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Comment by Linda

Wednesday April 11, 2007 @

I sometimes find (sespecially after I’ve been sick)that I get cramps in my legs. Taking magnesium helps prevent them. I wonder if I eat differently during this time and end up lacking it or maybe my body just needs more. Just a thought.

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Comment by La Lynx

Wednesday April 11, 2007 @

Don’t fret about the missed training runs. You’ve got a lot of training banked and you’re fit and strong. Your legs are just resting. Have you tried heating your hamstring? When my hamstrings are tight, I sleep with a lower-back ThermaCare pad wrapped around my thigh and they’re nice and loose by the time I wake up.

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Comment by Anne

Wednesday April 11, 2007 @

The operative word in that post is “ease into.” Easier said than done. But do it, Mark. And I second the magnesium for cramps.

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Comment by jank

Wednesday April 11, 2007 @

buck up, camper, things will get better.

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Comment by Elizabeth

Friday April 13, 2007 @

Have you tried yoga? I really feel like my hamstrings and hips have been so much better just from one class a week. It might be worth a try to loosen up those hamstrings!

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Comment by Kurt

Sunday April 15, 2007 @

Fighting mental problems can be just as, if not more, challenging than physical problems. I’ll save the Hallmark platitudes and let you choose your own way of finding your happy place. But don’t doubt yourself–you can accomplish anything you set your mind too. Oops. I just faltered and let a platitude slip out!

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Comment by aprilanne

Monday April 16, 2007 @

Hi Mark. Thanks for saying hi on my blog. Best of luck with your marathon training. What number M is this for you? You are a rock star runner! :)

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