I'm getting nervous as Germany approaches, as I can't seem to shake my injuries, despite dosing up on Meloxicam and sticking Lidocaine patches on my aching body. I feel great from a cardio perspective, but beyond 8 or 9 miles the pain and tightness in my lower abs, right piriformis, hamstring and sciatic nerve start up, which turn the end of each of my twice-a-day workouts into a bit of a death march. I'm getting through 20+ miles a day relatively comfortably, but there's a big difference between 20 and the 45 miles I'll be averaging for 17 days in Germany.
I've been inspired by a couple of athlete friends lately. Steve Sisson was talking over dinner the other night about 100-mile races, and the need to go out and *suffer* in training. That's a good thought to keep in my mind, as I do just that through soreness and pain. I'm adding "suffer" to my usual running mantra of "relax and float".
And yesterday, as I was running to work, I saw my long-distance swimming friend David Blanke heading to a workout. We chatted briefly; seeing him again reminded me that, however hard ultra running may feel, it can't match the mental and physical effort required to ultra swim. Running for 9 hours, even in bad conditions, can't match to toughness required to swim across big expanses of sea.
These are good thoughts for me to carry across Germany.
2 comments:
I beg to differ...running for 9 hours would be much harder than open water swimming...however, 'tis all in ones perspective (and strengths) is it not? Good Luck in Germany!! Just do what you love to do, it's really that simple.
I beg to differ, running for 9 hours for days on end is much harder than an open water ultra swim...but then maybe it is all in ones perspective (or, strengths...) In any case, best of luck in Germany! Just do what you love to do, that makes it simple. :)
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