I Feel Old Lately

I signed up for the White Rock half marathon about two months ago at that point in my prep for Austin 70.3 when all of the hard training was behind me, taper was underway and I was starting to think about what was next.

I'd had success running a half marathon about 5-6 weeks after Austin in 2008, so I figured that model was worth repeating. So I put my money down, along with several of my friends both locally and those from farther away who would travel to Dallas for the race.

My recovery from Austin hasn't gone quite as well as I'd hoped, and I'm carrying a very sore/strained hamstring into this race that despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to get under control.

Training has been spotty at best. I've logged just 2 swims, and 3 rides since the race on Oct 17. I began running after 5 days off, and ramped up to 5 runs (nothing longer than 6 miles) the following week. I did 4 runs the week after that (11/1-7) and was able to get in a semi long run of 9.5 miles, but it, along with the track session that week left my hamstring in shatters.

I scheduled a Dr. appointment to have the hamstring looked at where I was diagnosed with a strained hamstring tendon at the point where the tendon joins the pelvic bone. Essentially right at the bottom of your butt cheek. Doc didn't have much for me other than a steroid prescription and orders to skip my long run and tempo session the following week. I still haven't started the steroid prescription opting to save it for after the race.

I took about 10 days off where I only logged a couple of light runs but it doesn't seem to have helped things much. I have an appointment with a chiropractor next week to get some thoughts from him on ART, any adjustments that might help, and recommended stretches and exercises. I've noticed that I've developed some pretty serious muscular imbalances that I think he might be able to help me fix in the off season.

So I got back to running on Wed this week in hopes of being able to make the best of my race in a few days. I had a decent run today in the cooler temps, but know I'm about 2-3 12 milers short of being prepared. The hammy was pretty barky about 3 miles in.

As I was running today, I was trying to decide what the right pacing strategy should be for next week given I'm not sure what I'm capable and think the opportunity to go for too much too early is very real. I'm still unsure, but think I'm going to treat it like I would any real hard swim set. Break it down in to manageable mental pieces, play it conservative until I know what kind of hand I'll be playing with, then make the best with what I've got.